Description
Although Newton Ecology Park opened in 1990 as part of Harrow's contribution to European Year of the Environment, the land had been farmed as early as Saxon times, common fields, a Victorian sewage farm and was then part of the Council's Rayners Lane Depot.
Practical Information
| Previously known as | Newton Farm Ecology Park |
|---|---|
| Site location | Alexandra Avenue/Rayners Lane |
| Postcode | HA2 |
| What3Words | ///quiet.front.socket |
| Type of Site | Public Open Land |
| Borough | Harrow |
| Open to Public | Yes |
| Opening Times | 7.30am - dusk |
| Facilities | Children's play area, car park |
| Public Transport | Tube: Rayners Lane (Metropolitan & Piccadilly). Bus: 398, H12 |
| Research Updated | 1 January 2012 |
| Last Updated | 18 October 2026 |
Full description
The other side of Alexandra Avenue from Newton Park West (q.v.), Newton Ecology Park was created as an ecology park by the Council in the late 1980s and opened in 1990 as part of its contribution to European Year of the Environment. Plans for the park included creation of a pond, flood relief facility, wildflower meadows and woodland with a study centre for schools and opportunities to learn traditional country skills such as hedge laying, osier cutting and dry stone walling. A small area to the north has a garden with coloured mosaic and wood carving created with local children.
Further Information
| Grid Reference | TQ132867 |
|---|---|
| Size in hectares | 2.65 |
| Site Ownership | LB Harrow |
| Site Management | Environmental Services, Parks Services |
| Dates | 1990 |
| 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 | Harrow |
| In Conservation Area | No |
| Tree Preservation Order | No |
| Nature Conservation Area | Yes - Local Importance |
| Green Belt | No |
| Metropolitan Open Land | No |
| Special Policy Area | No |
| Other LA Designation | Open Space |
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
Newton Park West is backland open space to post-war council housing. It is chiefly playing fields with standard perimeter planting of birch, hawthorn, cherry and willow, but there is attractive planting of willows along the Roxbourne River.
Eastcote Lane Cemetery was established by Roxeth Burial Board and opened in 1922. It later transferred to Harrow UDC when the Burial Board disbanded. Now surrounded by suburban housing, the small cemetery has modest headstones set among the grass with trees predominantly along the Eastcote Lane boundary. At the entrance are rustic wooden gates and a picturesque red brick lodge with small turret. Around the lodge a number of palm trees and conifers have been planted. A central tarmac path runs from the entrance, crossed partway along its length by another path, the circular junction surrounded by 4 trees.
Alexandra Park was opened as a public park in 1928, laid out on land conveyed to the Harrow-on-the-Hill UDC by executors of Cllr A B Champniss. It was formerly part of the Paddocks Pleasure Grounds recreated in 1912 from Grove Farm. The park has a simple layout of curving paths, with some shrubbery planting along Alexandra Avenue, and a recent Millennium Garden. Most of the trees are mid-C20th and later, although a group of hollies may previously have backed a building.