Acton Park

Acton Park, described as 'an excellent example of a Victorian urban park' (LB Ealing Conservation Area Appraisal), was created on land that had been used in part for brick-earth extraction in the 1870s, the evidence for which remains in the uneven ground at the south of the park. In medieval times, part of the site had been Church Field, one of four medieval common fields in Acton. In 1886-88 the land for the park was assembled and purchased by Acton Local Board from various owners, including the Dean and Chapter of St Paul's, but chiefly from the Goldsmiths' Company, which had been left properties in the area by London goldsmith and alderman John Perryn, after whom a local street is named. The Goldsmiths' Almshouses (q.v.) overlook the park from Churchfield Road, which had existed as an ancient track across the Church Field from Acton to East Acton Lane, and remained unpaved until 1860. The eastern section of the parkland had been owned by the Perryn Charity, and in the south-east corner had been a Mr Reeve's market garden. The park was opened in 1888 for Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee.

Numerous mature trees are found in the park, including London planes and oaks, some of which may predate the municipal layout and early photographs suggest that they were mainly hedgerow trees; the 1842 tithe map shows regular enclosures. It is conceivable that the plane trees were planted to ornament the view across the level land from the Goldsmiths' Almshouses built in 1811. The municipal layout has radiating avenues of mature trees enclosing large grassed open spaces, and slopes southwards from East Churchfield Road giving views towards central London to the east. Tree-planting included clumps and groups of beech, hornbeam, horse chestnuts and lime, with walks lined with London plane, horse chestnut and lime. A sunken garden to the north of the Centre Avenue was laid out with rhododendrons and other shrubs. Near the main entrance one of the last elms in the borough, which died of Dutch Elm disease, has been carved to form a 28-foot sculpture called the Twilight Tree. The northern half of the park was formerly Pond Field and contained two ponds, the dry remains of which became part of a layout of walks.

By the early C20th the park had a bandstand, its site now a circular bed with ornamental planting, which had been used for popular entertainment in the early C20th, attracting large audiences. Other features dating from the mid 1930s include the bowling pavilion and café, and the brick piers and ironwork railings at the entrances on East Churchfield Road and The Vale. In the north, opposite Goldsmiths' Almshouses, stands an Obelisk created as a memorial to James Radcliffe, Earl of Derwentwater. The plaque records that he was one of the leaders of the Rebellion of 1715; he was taken prisoner at the Battle of Preston, tried and beheaded on Tower Hill in 1716. The obelisk was originally erected by Lady Derwentwater in the grounds of Derwentwater House, Horn Lane, Acton (demolished before WWI). It was given to the Acton UDC by Messrs F A and C J Kerven, then owners, and erected in the present site in 1904.

During WWII prefabs were constructed for ex-servicemen on the north boundary of the park where there were allotments. When the pre-fabs were removed a sloping bank was also taken out and an extension to the park was created on a bomb crater formed after a flying bomb destroyed Nos. 4, 6, 8 and 10 Churchfields Road. Acton Park Lodge on The Vale has been restored and is now the East Ranger Base; around this a Community Garden has been created. In the south of the park a new wildlife garden was developed c.2001 by LB Ealing's Parks Service in conjunction with the Friends of Acton Park.