Description
With the adjacent Wood Green Common, Avenue Gardens is part of a chain of green spaces running north and linking to Nightingale Gardens and Trinity Gardens. An irregularly shaped open area between C19th terraces, it was laid out as public gardens between 1864-94 on former rural open space with serpentine paths, shrubberies, trees and some formal beds. The original path layout remains almost intact today.
Practical Information
| Site location | Park Avenue/Station Road, Wood Green |
|---|---|
| Postcode | N22 7SJ |
| What3Words | ///clash.tilt.roof |
| Type of Site | Public Park |
| Borough | Haringey |
| Open to Public | Yes |
| Opening Times | unrestricted |
| Public Transport | Tube: Wood Green (Piccadilly); Rail: Alexandra Palace. Bus: W3, 184. |
| Research Updated | 1 April 2003 |
| Last Updated | 18 October 2026 |
Full description
Avenue Gardens is part of a chain of green spaces, 4.6 hectares altogether, which run north linking with Nightingale Gardens and Trinity Gardens (q.q.v.). Formerly rural open space, it was laid out as public gardens between 1864-94 flanked by the C19th terraces adjoining Nightingale Gardens to the north. The gardens had serpentine paths, shrubberies, trees and some formal beds. The original path layout remains almost intact today, winding through undulating grass-covered terrain, which is mounded up to nearly 3m above path level where shrubberies had been planted. There are informal groups of mature trees that include lime, Robinia pseudoacacia, holly, yew, Ailanthus, beech, prunus, horse chestnut, Quercus ilex and sycamore, and remnants of rockwork are also found in the gardens.
Adjacent to the small area south of Park Avenue is a brick culvert for the New River, Wood Green Tunnel, which was completed by 1859. The tunnel was 12 feet wide and 1,100 yards in length, and was built when the New River was re-aligned in order to cut off a detour. To the south of the site are the remains of the former Hornsey Waterworks, also dating from 1859.
Adjacent to the small area south of Park Avenue is a brick culvert for the New River, Wood Green Tunnel, which was completed by 1859. The tunnel was 12 feet wide and 1,100 yards in length, and was built when the New River was re-aligned in order to cut off a detour. To the south of the site are the remains of the former Hornsey Waterworks, also dating from 1859.
Further Information
| Grid Reference | TQ304905 |
|---|---|
| Size in hectares | 1.38 |
| Site Ownership | LB Haringey |
| Site Management | Parks Service (Woodside Neighbourhood) |
| Dates | 1864 - 1894 |
| Listed Structures | LBII: Tunnel entrance to the New River culvert |
| On National Heritage List for England (NHLE), Parks & Gardens | No |
| Registered common or village green on Commons Registration Act 1965 | Yes: Green (TVG51) |
| Protected under London Squares Preservation Act 1931 | No |
| Local Authority | Haringey |
| In Conservation Area | Yes |
| Conservation Area Name | Wood Green Common |
| Tree Preservation Order | No |
| Nature Conservation Area | Yes - Local Importance |
| Green Belt | No |
| Metropolitan Open Land | No |
| Special Policy Area | No |
Please note the Inventory and its content are provided for your general information only and are subject to change. It is your responsibility to check the accuracy.
Nearby parks and gardens
Nightingale Gardens were laid out on former rural open space between 1894 and 1913, linking the slightly earlier public gardens of Avenue Gardens to the south and Trinity Gardens to the north. The site was enlarged at the north east corner by 1956 and the path at the north end was subsequently realigned to its present position and the formal rose garden with rough artificial stone walls and crazy paving paths was created.
Wood Green Common is a remnant of the original Wood Greene, which abutted the east side of Tottenham Wood, part of the Forest of Middlesex. Wood Green was a hamlet within the parish of Tottenham until the area was developed after the opening of the station in 1859, becoming a separate authority in 1888. The park is in two sections bisected by a straight footpath, the west section open grassland and the east section laid out as a formal garden in the early C20th. In the centre is a drinking fountain in memory of C W Barratt whose confectionery factory overlooked Wood Green Common from 1880 to c.1980, and was an important local employer.
Trinity Gardens is an elongated triangle north of Bounds Green Road that was laid out as public gardens in two phases. Initially the east end of the site known as Finsbury Gardens was created between 1864-94 and in the second phase between 1896-1906 the remainder of the site was laid out, the whole area now named Trinity Gardens. At that time the obelisk drinking fountain that commemorates Mrs Catharine Smithies of Earlham Grove was relocated to its present site in Trinity Gardens.