Downhills park
Encyclopedia
Downhills Park is a 12 hectare
park
in the West Green
area of Haringey
.
It comprises an open recreation space and a managed garden
area that includes a rose
garden, tennis
court
s and basket-ball courts. The park once had a bowling-green but this is no longer maintained or serviceable.
In 2006 and 2007, it won Green Flag award
s for maintaining excellent standards for public parks.
There is also a Sunday League football team named after the park (Downhills Park FC http://www.downhillsparkfc.co.uk) who play in the Edmonton & District Sunday Football League.
The Friends of Downhills Park
The park has an active citizen's-group, The Friends of Downhills Park which was established in 1999, developing out of the Parks Sub-Group of the West Green Residents' Association. Membership is open to any interested member of the public over 18.
"Recognizing the importance of Downhills Park, The Friends of Downhills Park. Lordship and Belmont recreation grounds to the quality of life in West Green ward, the Friends aimed to promote the public benefit and enjoyment of these open spaces by involving local people in planning and decision-making affecting these areas and encouraging more local people to use the parks and take an active interest in their future. "
Downhills Park Community Café
Downhills Park Community Café is a social enterprise that supports adults with a learning disability into employment. The café was opened in Downhills Park in 2011 by the Haringey Association for Independent Living (HAIL) thanks to support from and long term campaign from Friends of Downhills Park (above). The café is run by volunteers, both those with learning disabilities looking to gain new skills and members of the community who are supporting them and the project. The cafe also embodies other ideological elements in e.g. how it makes the food it serves and tries to source ingredients ethically (e.g. seasonal, free-range eggs). The Downhills Park Cafe is one of several social enterprises run by HAIL.
History of the Park
Downhills was a big house, first built before 1728, and rebuilt allegedly in 1729 or 1730, but more probably shortly before 1789. The house stood at the north-east corner of the present park, at the top of a hill, in the largest private park in Tottenham, and approached by a south drive, now part of Downhills Park Road, and a grand north avenue of trees. The Townsend family owned the land from 1763 to the 1890s. The last tenant of Downhills house, Bertha Cummins, and her gardener, Frank Woolmington, left between 1897 and 1899, and some of the estate was sold for building in 1899.
In 1881 the British Land Co bought the land, but building development didn't really start till 1899. After a campaign by local residents, worried at losing their open spaces, Tottenham Urban District Council bought the land and grounds in 1901, and adjoining fields about the same time. The council preserved many features of the house grounds: terrace, the woods, the hornbeams, the Italian gardens and fountain, and the croquet lawn and arbour. It restored or created the rockery, and improved the swan pond. Between 1902 and 1913 it built a superintendent's house, a conservatory, a bandstand in the recreation ground, and a children's playground. In the 1920s it created tennis courts and a bowling green. By 1938 it had built a pavilion in the rec next to Midnight Alley, and planted plane trees next to the bandstand.
After 1939 many features were demolished or destroyed: the fountain in the Italian gardens by 1947, the conservatory between 1962 and c. 1980, and by then also the pavilion, the bandstand, the swan pond, the thatched arbour, the superintendent's house, and many of the hornbeams. Haringey Council built new children's play facilities in the 1980s and 2002, and in the 1980s planted the bandstand site with trees. The old playground became a wildflower meadow in 2001.
Hectare
The hectare is a metric unit of area defined as 10,000 square metres , and primarily used in the measurement of land. In 1795, when the metric system was introduced, the are was defined as being 100 square metres and the hectare was thus 100 ares or 1/100 km2...
park
Park
A park is a protected area, in its natural or semi-natural state, or planted, and set aside for human recreation and enjoyment, or for the protection of wildlife or natural habitats. It may consist of rocks, soil, water, flora and fauna and grass areas. Many parks are legally protected by...
in the West Green
West Green, London
West Green is an area of North London in the United Kingdom and part of the London Borough of Haringey. It is an inner-suburban area located 5.7 miles north of Charing Cross....
area of Haringey
London Borough of Haringey
The London Borough of Haringey is a London borough, in North London, classified by some definitions as part of Inner London, and by others as part of Outer London. It was created in 1965 by the amalgamation of three former boroughs. It shares borders with six other London boroughs...
.
It comprises an open recreation space and a managed garden
Garden
A garden is a planned space, usually outdoors, set aside for the display, cultivation, and enjoyment of plants and other forms of nature. The garden can incorporate both natural and man-made materials. The most common form today is known as a residential garden, but the term garden has...
area that includes a rose
Rose
A rose is a woody perennial of the genus Rosa, within the family Rosaceae. There are over 100 species. They form a group of erect shrubs, and climbing or trailing plants, with stems that are often armed with sharp prickles. Flowers are large and showy, in colours ranging from white through yellows...
garden, tennis
Tennis
Tennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...
court
Tennis court
A tennis court is where the game of tennis is played. It is a firm rectangular surface with a low net stretched across the center. The same surface can be used to play both doubles and singles.-Dimensions:...
s and basket-ball courts. The park once had a bowling-green but this is no longer maintained or serviceable.
In 2006 and 2007, it won Green Flag award
Green Flag award
The Green Flag Award is the benchmark national standard for parks and green spaces in the United Kingdom. The scheme was set up in 1996 to recognise and reward green spaces in England and Wales that met the laid down high standards...
s for maintaining excellent standards for public parks.
There is also a Sunday League football team named after the park (Downhills Park FC http://www.downhillsparkfc.co.uk) who play in the Edmonton & District Sunday Football League.
The Friends of Downhills Park
The park has an active citizen's-group, The Friends of Downhills Park which was established in 1999, developing out of the Parks Sub-Group of the West Green Residents' Association. Membership is open to any interested member of the public over 18.
"Recognizing the importance of Downhills Park, The Friends of Downhills Park. Lordship and Belmont recreation grounds to the quality of life in West Green ward, the Friends aimed to promote the public benefit and enjoyment of these open spaces by involving local people in planning and decision-making affecting these areas and encouraging more local people to use the parks and take an active interest in their future. "
Downhills Park Community Café
Downhills Park Community Café is a social enterprise that supports adults with a learning disability into employment. The café was opened in Downhills Park in 2011 by the Haringey Association for Independent Living (HAIL) thanks to support from and long term campaign from Friends of Downhills Park (above). The café is run by volunteers, both those with learning disabilities looking to gain new skills and members of the community who are supporting them and the project. The cafe also embodies other ideological elements in e.g. how it makes the food it serves and tries to source ingredients ethically (e.g. seasonal, free-range eggs). The Downhills Park Cafe is one of several social enterprises run by HAIL.
History of the Park
Downhills was a big house, first built before 1728, and rebuilt allegedly in 1729 or 1730, but more probably shortly before 1789. The house stood at the north-east corner of the present park, at the top of a hill, in the largest private park in Tottenham, and approached by a south drive, now part of Downhills Park Road, and a grand north avenue of trees. The Townsend family owned the land from 1763 to the 1890s. The last tenant of Downhills house, Bertha Cummins, and her gardener, Frank Woolmington, left between 1897 and 1899, and some of the estate was sold for building in 1899.
In 1881 the British Land Co bought the land, but building development didn't really start till 1899. After a campaign by local residents, worried at losing their open spaces, Tottenham Urban District Council bought the land and grounds in 1901, and adjoining fields about the same time. The council preserved many features of the house grounds: terrace, the woods, the hornbeams, the Italian gardens and fountain, and the croquet lawn and arbour. It restored or created the rockery, and improved the swan pond. Between 1902 and 1913 it built a superintendent's house, a conservatory, a bandstand in the recreation ground, and a children's playground. In the 1920s it created tennis courts and a bowling green. By 1938 it had built a pavilion in the rec next to Midnight Alley, and planted plane trees next to the bandstand.
After 1939 many features were demolished or destroyed: the fountain in the Italian gardens by 1947, the conservatory between 1962 and c. 1980, and by then also the pavilion, the bandstand, the swan pond, the thatched arbour, the superintendent's house, and many of the hornbeams. Haringey Council built new children's play facilities in the 1980s and 2002, and in the 1980s planted the bandstand site with trees. The old playground became a wildflower meadow in 2001.