Old Court House Recreation Ground is a public park in

High Barnet Chipping Barnet or High Barnet is a suburban market town in north London, forming part of the London Borough of Barnet, England. It is a suburban development built around a 12th-century settlement, and is located north-northwest of Charing Cr ...

in the

London Borough of Barnet The London Borough of Barnet () is a suburban London boroughs, London borough in North London. The borough was formed in 1965 from parts of the ceremonial counties of Middlesex and Hertfordshire. It forms part of Outer London and is the largest ...

. It is one of the borough's ''Premier Parks'' and received a

Green Flag Award The Green Flag Award is an international accreditation given to publicly accessible parks and open spaces, managed under licence from the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, a UK Government department, by Keep Britain Tidy, ...

for 2009–2010.London Borough of Barnet, Old Court House
/ref> The park has six free tennis courts, a bowling green with a pavilion, a children's playground, a café and a car park (off Manor Close). It has formal gardens, grassed areas, rockeries, and a tree trail. Some of the trees are from California, such as a

Monterey pine ''Pinus radiata'' ( syn. ''Pinus insignis''), the Monterey pine, insignis pine or radiata pine, is a species of pine native to the Central Coast of California and Mexico ( Guadalupe Island and Cedros island). It is an evergreen conifer in the f ...

and a Brewer's weeping spruce, planted in the nineteenth century.Noticeboards in the park

Conservation areas

A refurbishment plan carried out since 2007 included the introduction of three conservation areas. The Orchard Conservation Area was formerly an orchard and some fruit trees survive. Old varieties of fruit trees have also been planted and some parts, which were formerly mown short, are now managed for a variety of flowers and herbs. The Bungalow Conservation Area was formerly the park keeper's lodge. It has now been cleared and is managed for nature conservation studies by local schools. A former tennis court has been dug up and left to develop its own wildlife as the Old Disused Tennis Court Conservation Area.

History

The park is named after a county court adjacent to the site which was held until the First World War. In the nineteenth century, the land was owned by the Rumball family and leased as pasture, a brewery and stables. In 1912 the brewery site was purchased by Barnet Urban District Council, and in 1923 the council purchased the Old Court House estate. The park was opened in 1926.London Gardens Online, Old Court House Recreation Ground
/ref>

Access

The park is open from 8 a.m. until dusk. There is access from Wood Street, Manor Close, Mays Lane and Orchard Road.

Gallery

File:Old Court House flowerbeds.jpg, Formal flowerbeds File:Old Court House pond.jpg, Pond File:Old Court House rockery.jpg, Rockery File:Old Court House path.jpg, Path File:Old Court House playground.jpg, Playground File:Old Court House paths.jpg, Junction

References

External links