Description
Park Lane existed as a route before the surrounding farmland was developed as housing. The area remained rural into the 1920s, and by 1938/9 the houses of Clydesdale Road had been built, although open land remained to the south. Park Lane Playground was laid out in the early 1950s for the use of local residents and schools. The facilities included a football pitch, children's playground and toilets and the layout included planting of shrubs. When Park Lane Housing Estate was built, a new entrance was made to the recreation ground.
Practical Information
| Previously known as | Park Lane Recreation Ground; Park Lane Playground |
|---|---|
| Site location | Park Lane, Maygreen Crescent, Hornchurch |
| Postcode | RM11 1EJ |
| What3Words | ///danger.outer.paying |
| Type of Site | Public Gardens |
| Borough | Havering |
| Open to Public | Yes |
| Facilities | Football |
| Public Transport | Rail: Romford then bus. Bus: 165, 248, 348, 365 |
| Last Updated | 18 October 2026 |
Full description
Park Lane is marked on old maps, leading from Romford to Haveringwell. Park Lane School to the north of the site of the recreation ground was built in 1893, costing £4,000, and then enlarged in 1907-8. A site was later purchased for a new boys' school, but building was postponed until after WWI.
Further Information
| Grid Reference | TQ521876 |
|---|---|
| Size in hectares | 2.25 |
| Site Ownership | LB Havering |
| Site Management | Parks and Open Spaces |
| Dates | 1950s |
| 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 | Havering |
| In Conservation Area | No |
| Tree Preservation Order | No |
| Nature Conservation Area | No |
| Green Belt | No |
| Metropolitan Open Land | 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
Havering Well Garden is a small public garden on the site of a former burial ground for the Independent Church. In 1952 the Trustees of the burial ground conveyed the site to Hornchurch UDC, who were covenanted to lay it out as a garden of rest and register it with the Charity Commissioners. The landscaping consisted of grass with shrubs and trees around the border with a commemorative stone as a centrepiece and two gravestones set into the ground. There were flower beds to the front of the garden and wooden seats were provided.
On the site of a late C19th house and estate, Hylands was initially developed in the 1920s as a trotting and racing track. The first race meeting was held in 1925 and the course apparently a great attraction on race days, and also used for prestigious athletics meetings. It eventually closed down and was bought by Hornchurch UDC and converted into Hylands Park in the late 1920s, one of the first public parks to be provided in the district. An oval path, cricket and football pitches were laid on the former trotting track and a rose garden was planted in an area previously occupied by a static water tank. The stone gate piers with wrought iron gates at the Osborne Road entrance were from Grey Towers, the C19th castellated mansion built by Colonel Holmes of Langtons.
St Leonard's Cottage Homes was established on former farmland of Harrow Lodge by the Poor Law Guardians of the Parish of St Leonard in Shoreditch, desirous of re-locating the destitute children of their parish to healthier, rural surroundings. The pioneering scheme had 11 2-storey 'cottages', each housing 30 children, built facing each other across a wide gravelled roadway that ran south from the entrance and Warden's lodge on Hornchurch Road. It was provided with a school, swimming bath, workshops and infirmary, and landscaping was an important component. A communal green space, front and back gardens as well as vegetable gardens and orchard, tennis courts and cricket were provided. The homes closed in 1984, becoming largely derelict, but from 1990 has been converted for private residence. Although the unity and much of the detail of the original layout are lost, it preserves a sense of its former character.