Description
Eton Grove Open Space was laid out as a sports ground for the new residents of the surrounding housing, developed from the early 1930s following the arrival of the railway. To the north is Laings Estate. Bacon Lane was an ancient track, parts of which remain, and maps up to the 1920s show its route through agricultural land. New roads in the area were named after famous public schools, including Rugby, Girton, Sandhurst and Winchester. The recreation ground later was provided with a bowling green, pavilions, tennis courts and a playground.
Practical Information
| Site location | Rugby Road/North Way |
|---|---|
| Postcode | NW9 9LD |
| What3Words | ///burst.nation.sock |
| Type of Site | Public Park |
| Borough | Brent |
| Open to Public | Yes |
| Opening Times | unrestricted |
| Facilities | Playground, tennis courts, cricket wicket, bowling green |
| Public Transport | Tube: Queensbury (Jubilee). Bus: 305. |
| Last Updated | 18 October 2026 |
Further Information
| Grid Reference | TQ195895 |
|---|---|
| Size in hectares | 4.28 |
| Site Ownership | LB Brent |
| Site Management | Parks Service |
| Dates | C20th |
| On National Heritage List for England (NHLE), Parks & Gardens | No |
| Registered common or village green on Commons Registration Act 1965 | No |
| Protected under London Squares Preservation Act 1931 | No |
| Local Authority | Brent |
| In Conservation Area | No |
| Tree Preservation Order | No |
| Nature Conservation Area | No |
| 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
Roe Green Village was built in 1916-18 by the Government's Office of Works, designed by its Chief Architect Sir Frank Baines and constructed with assistance from prisoners of war. It was designed on ‘garden village' principles to house aircraft and munitions workers in the factories in Kingsbury. Planned taking into account the existing fields and hedgerows, the estate focussed around a village green, and originally consisted of 250 cottage-style properties, a mix of houses and maisonettes with large gardens, and included a communal pocket park. Roe Green House was formerly located near here, and according to John Allsop's Will of 24 July 1840 the garden village is on part of his freehold estate. The fields here included Hooked Field (formerly known as the Ploughed Field), Shorts Croft, North Furlong, Common Field and Frian Field, Common Field and wasteland known as Roes Tenement. Even in the 1920s, the Roe Green Village remained surrounded by open fields.
The park is predominantly on former farmland, and includes the grounds of a house built in 1899 for Lady Mary Caroline Blair, Duchess of Sutherland. Originally called The Cottage, it was later renamed Kingsbury Manor, and remains within the park today together with the former coach-house, stables and walled garden. The site for the park was purchased by the local council in 2 stages, in 1935 and 1938 when Kingsbury Manor was acquired as a home for the elderly. From 1928 the coach house had been rented by television pioneer John Logie Baird. Roe Green Walled Garden has been run as a community garden project since 1990. Prior to the public park, there were private polo fields on part of the site established by James Buchanon, a well-known whisky producer who owned land in the area. Between 1939 and 1985 the park's facilities included a popular lido, Kingsbury Swimming Pool.
Silkstream Park is within the Watling Estate, a large LCC housing estate built in the 1920s, its design influenced by Arts and Crafts and the Garden City movement. The park was one of a number of tracts of open space created through the estate, following the meandering course of Silk Stream and its tributary. Silkstream Park has natural landscaping either side of the Silk Stream, the banks of which have some mature trees, otherwise the park has grass and small areas of ornamental shrubs, with a few old oak and hawthorn from the time when there were fields and hedgerows here.
