Victoria Park is in Church End in Finchley in the

London Borough of Barnet The London Borough of Barnet () is a suburban 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 London borough ...

. It covers seven hectares (17 acres). It is on the east side of Ballards Lane and fairly close to Finchley Central and

West Finchley West Finchley is a London Underground station in the Finchley area of the London Borough of Barnet. The station is on the High Barnet branch of the Northern line between Woodside Park and Finchley Central stations and is in Travelcard Zone 4. ...

tube stations.

History

Much of the park was originally part of Colby's Farm, where

Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian e ...

wrote part of ''

Martin Chuzzlewit ''The Life and Adventures of Martin Chuzzlewit'' (commonly known as ''Martin Chuzzlewit'') is a novel by Charles Dickens, considered the last of his picaresque novels. It was originally serialised between 1842 and 1844. While he was writing it ...

''. In 1887 Henry Stephens proposed converting the area to a park to commemorate

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days was longer than that of any previo ...

's Golden Jubilee, but it was not opened until 1902, a year after Queen Victoria's death. It was the only public park in the former Borough of Finchley until 1914. The park is mainly grassland, with playgrounds, fine trees and ornamental gardens, playing fields, six public tennis courts, Finchley Victoria Bowling and Croquet Club with two lawns and a clubhouse, and a

café A coffeehouse, coffee shop, or café is an establishment that primarily serves coffee of various types, notably espresso, latte, and cappuccino. Some coffeehouses may serve cold drinks, such as iced coffee and iced tea, as well as other non ...

open seven days a week. There are entrances on Ballards Lane, Long Lane, Etchingham Park Road and Park View Road.Barnet Online, Victoria Park
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Awards

Victoria Park achieved 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. The Green Flag Award Scheme is run by The Civic Trust and is intended to be the benchmark against which the quality of public parks and green spaces can be measured. It also recognises the diversity and value of green space to the local community.

Gallery

File:Victoria Park playground.JPG, Playground in snow File:Victoria Park in snow.JPG, The park in snow

References

External links

Victoria Park
described on the

website
London Gardens Online, Victoria Park
{{DEFAULTSORT:Victoria Park, Finchley, North London Parks and open spaces in the London Borough of Barnet Finchley