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3 of the Best Parks To Live Near In London

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Research has shown that apartments near to parks are 8% more valuable than those that aren’t. And as London’s overcrowding problems have increased, we’ve all come to treasure our local parks. Here are some of the best

Words Nigel Lewis 

For decades our city has been hailed as one of the greenest in the world. And that’s not surprising; it’s got eight million trees, 30,000 allotments, three million gardens and 3,000 parks and commons covering 47% of its surface area. And if Joanna Lumley gets her way, a garden bridge too. But green spaces have a monetary value for homeowners as well as a pleasing look. Read on to discover three of our favourites.

One of London’s best parks is the 20.5-acre flagship green space of Hammersmith & Fulham and dates back to 1883. It’s famous for cedar and plane trees as well as its lake, and has won a Green Flag several times. It has a paddling pool, kids’ beach in the summer, garden centre, café, basketball and tennis courts, AstroTurf football pitch, bowling green, netball courts and five playgrounds.

Waterlow Park is next to Highgate Cemetery and is an achingly beautiful public park overlooked by a grand mansion which is now a café, education centre and events venue. Bequeathed to the public in 1889 by Sir Sidney Waterlow as a ‘garden for the gardenless’, today it includes several tennis courts, a nature area, playground, pounds and a kitchen garden. What hasn’t changed are the panoramic views.

This pocket park (it’s just 21 acres) was originally the estate and gardens belonging to Kelsey Manor House, which is its last form was a rambling Gothic Revival style house owned by a scandal-hit banker during the early 19th century. The estate was acquired by the local council in 1911 and two years later was opened as a public park although the house was demolished in 1921. It is now a beautiful ornamental gardens with a café, tennis courts, mini golf and a large lake described by local ‘netmums’ as a ‘jewel of a park’.

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