The Headstone Manor Park ‘Parks for People’ project.
Travel back 500 years and this park was part of a noisy, bustling farm supplying the residents of Headstone Manor and people in the City of London, with food. As you wander around you can still catch glimpses of its past from woodlands and hedgerows and a water-filled moat.
Today it’s a place for local people and wildlife, and the restoration work that was carried out between 2019 and 2021 has helped improve the Park for all. But the Park’s value doesn’t stop there – Headstone Manor Park is helping to prevent pollution running into our rivers and reduce the risk of flooding for local communities.
Wetlands and flood basins have been recently added and Yeading Brook (which runs into the River Crane) has been opened up for people and wildlife to enjoy after years of running underground.
The Parks for People project is now complete, and the park has some great new facilities such as footpaths, picnic areas and a refurbished playground; new areas of habitat including seasonal ponds, reedbeds, an orchard and meadows. The new wetland spaces are fantastic places for wildlife and help to reduce the flood risk in Harrow by temporarily storing rainwater as well naturally cleaning the polluted water coming into the Park.
This restoration project, and the activity programme it funded, came about thanks to significant awards from the National Lottery Heritage Fund and the National Lottery Community Fund; the GLA via their Green Capital grant and further funding from Harrow Parks, Green Grid and Developer Contributions.
Following the delivery of the activity programme by Thames21, a river charity, which included walks, workshops, training and family events the Friends of Headstone Manor Park are working with facilitators to continue to offer some events and activities. Sign up to their mailing list to be sure of hearing about what’s on at the park. And get in touch with the Friends if are you interested in being more involved with the Park: helping to look after the new habitats such as the Orchard; looking out for nature and recording what you see; caring for the woodland; helping to run events – every little bit helps.
The Friends of Headstone Manor Park https://www.headstonemanorpark.org/
‘For more information about the works undertaken in the park and the way in which this helps to tackle pollution and reduce flooding please visit the project page on Thames 21’s website where you can also find links to the Headstone Manor Park Wayfinder trail, the Wild Fun leaflet, and a self-guided education pack for schools.
Take a bird’s eye view of the works in the Park as they progressed by watching drone footage via these links: Phase 1 Phase 2 and this link to see the project celebration day and the finished project.
To report an issue with the Park please visit: