Finsbury Park
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Finsbury Park | |
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| Location | |
|---|---|
| OS grid reference: | TQ314872 |
| Latitude: | 51.56830420533322° |
| Longitude: | -0.10315910691278996° |
| Administration | |
| London borough: | |
| County level: | Greater London |
| Region: | London |
| Constituent country: | England |
| Sovereign state: | United Kingdom |
| Other | |
| Ceremonial county: | Greater London |
| Historic county: | Middlesex |
| Services | |
| Police force: | Metropolitan Police |
| Fire brigade: | London Fire Brigade |
| Ambulance service: | London Ambulance |
| Post office and telephone | |
| Post town: | LONDON |
| Postal district: | N4 |
| Dialling code: | 020 |
| Politics | |
| UK Parliament: | |
| London Assembly: | |
| European Parliament: | London |
| London | List of places in London | |
Finsbury Park is a place in London, England, at the junction of the London Boroughs of Islington, Haringey and Hackney. The park itself is in the borough of Haringey, with the border between Haringey and Hackney running along the Seven Sisters Road (the A503) to its south-east. The area south-west of Stroud Green Road/Blackstock Road (the A1201) is part of Islington.
It is not to be confused with Finsbury, which is some miles further south, close to the City of London. Persons attending weddings at Finsbury Registry Office (also known as Islington Registry Office), need to be wary of this common confusion: the registry office is in Finsbury, not Finsbury Park.
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[edit] The park
The large public park (112 acres) which gives the area its name was one of the first of the great London parks that appeared in Victorian times. It is situated in the old parish of Hornsey, in the county of Middlesex. As early as 1833, a select committee reported to the House of Commons in favour of the establishment of parks for the eastern, southern and northern districts of the Metropolis. Over the next few years, Battersea Park in the South and Victoria Park in the east were created, but it was not until 1857 that the Finsbury Park Act gave the Metropolitan Board of Works the right to compulsory purchase 250 acres of land in north London situated north and south of Seven Sister's Road. Finsbury Park is therefore the first municipal park in the UK. However, due to the nature of the politics of the Board, where each vestry representative fought for benfits of his parish and voted against expenditure in other parts of London, and due to the spiralling costs of the proposed land, it was not until the early 1860s that the Board decided to purchase 121 acres north of Seven Sisters Road for the creation of Finsbury Park. Alexander MacKenzie (1829-93), who designed Alexander Park, Southwark Park and the Victoria & Albert Embankment Gardens, was appointed to design it, and it was opened in 1869. Although the park was now just outside the Finsbury parliamentary constituency (created in 1832), and nowhere near the area called Finsbury just north of Smithfield market, the park was still called Finsbury Park.
The park was landscaped on the north-eastern extremity of what was originally Hornsey Wood, a large expanse of woodland that was cut further and further back during the period of London's great expansion in the 19th century. Londoners have been using the area as a recreation ground for much longer. In the mid eighteenth century a tea rooms had opened on the knoll on which Finsbury Park is situated, to which Londoners would walk out to where they could escape the smoke of the capital, enjoy the remains of the old Hornsey Wood, and get a fabulous view over London to the south and Essex to the east. Around 1800 the tea rooms were developed into a larger building which became known as the Hornsey Wood House/Tavern, and a lake was built on the top of the knoll with water pumped up from the nearby New River. There was boating, a shooting and archery range, and probably cock fighting and other blood sports. The Hornsey Wood Tavern was destroyed in the process of making the area into a park, but the lake was enlarged.
There has been some confusion with Finsbury Fields, an area just north of the old City of London, roughly where Finsbury Square is situated today. Finsbury Fields was used by Londoners in medieval times for archery and sports. It was built over in the early nineteenth century and its closure almost certainly helped create the pressure on successive governments to create an alternative open space in North London. When the Victoria Line was built in the 1960s, mosaics of hot air balloons and duelling pistols were part of the design at Finsbury Park. However, it was Finsbury Fields that held one of the first hot air balloon flights and also duels in the eighteenth century, not Finsbury Park.
Once the park had opened, a pub across the road from its eastern entrance along Seven Sisters Road called itself the Hornsey Wood Tavern after the original (The pub has now been re-named the Alexandra Dining Room).
Today, Finsbury Park is managed by Haringey Council who budget the parks income for the Parks service at £225, 000 per year. Its use for large music events such as Madstock, the Fleadh and Big Gay Out has in recent years become contentious, with some local residents arguing that these events destroy the infrastructure of the park, put too much of a strain on the local facilities (shutting underground stations etc), and have become a noise nuisance. The council, on the other hand, argues that it needs the money that such events generate, and that the events are popular and have attracted large audiences.
Thanks to a £5 million Heritage Lottery Award, the lake has been cleaned out and new cafe and children's playground have been built. The tennis courts have been resurfaced and repaired. There is one of the few permanent softball and baseball diamonds in London. There is also an athletics stadium and facilities for football and hurling. Since the start of 2006 the stadium has been home to the London Blitz American football team.
The Friends of Finsbury Park [1] (founded in 1986) publish a history of the park and organise a range of environmental and arts activities in the park. They have produced a Vision for Finsbury Park supported by many local people and community groups.—
[edit] Controversy
Finsbury Park mosque has become associated with Islamic extremism in recent years, with the Charities Commission expressing concerns about the management of the mosque, and its apparent use for political activities. Finsbury Park mosque was raided by police in 2003. More recently, the mosque has taken successful strides towards throwing off its links with extremist preachers.
However, the Mosque continues to exert a very powerful attraction for refugees from North African countries who operate and visit numerous cafes and shops on the nearby Blackstock Road.
[edit] Nearest places
Nearest tube and rail station:
