Canons Park is part of the grounds of the old mansion Canons, which lay between Stanmore and Edgeware, Middlesex. It lies to the north of Whitchurch Lane, HA8.
It has recently been restored with a Heritage Lottery Fund grant, and this was formally completed in June 2007.The modern park has some of the significant features of the original estate. They include the avenue to the south from the original house, which allowed a vista to Whitchurch Lane to the south, almost a half mile away. There is also the former walled kitchen garden of the old house, which is now the George V Memorial Gardens, and there is a folly, the 'Temple'.
The avenue is a broad vista, lined with mixed tree varieties. Plantings and other obstructions have been removed from within it, so that the original view between the house and Whitchurch Lane is clear again. In the centre of the avenue is a raised, somewhat irregular ridge, the remains of an old raised carriageway linking the original house to the church on Whitchurch Lane.The Memorial Gardens have just been refurbished, and replanted (in spring 2007). The Temple is still being renovated.
On the east boundary of the park is a long narrow strip of woodland, 'the Spinney', with a wooded walk through it. Another section of woodland can be found to the north of the Memorial Gardens.The original house was the palace of the Duke of Chandos . It no longer exists, but the mansion of Canons was built on the sitein the earlier 18th century, and is now part of the North London Collegiate School, adjacent to the park.
The mansion has given its name both to the surrounding district, and the park of Canons Park, which is the surviving remnant of the original. The original estate was laid out by Alexander Blackwell, and Humphrey Repton is known to have made some changes to it. Later on Charles Mallows redesigned the gardens for the last owner.Part of the estate was obtained by the local authority in 1936, and the George V memorial garden was created at this time on the former kitchen gardens. Other parts of the estate now form the school grounds, and adjacent housing land.
The park is managed by the London Borough of Harrow. Contact 0845 225 2601. There are permanent staff on site during working days, and parks police are based in a building in the park.