Hylands Park is a public

park A park is an area of natural, semi-natural or planted space set aside for human enjoyment and recreation or for the protection of wildlife or natural habitats. Urban parks are urban green space, green spaces set aside for recreation inside t ...

in the

London Borough of Havering The London Borough of Havering () in East London, England, forms part of Outer London. It has a population of 259,552 inhabitants; the principal town is Romford, while other communities are Hornchurch, Upminster, Collier Row and Rainham. The ...

in northwest

Hornchurch Hornchurch is a suburban town in East London, England, and part of the London Borough of Havering. It is located east-northeast of Charing Cross. It comprises a number of shopping streets and a large residential area. It historically formed ...

, near to

Romford Romford is a large town in east London and the administrative centre of the London Borough of Havering. It is located northeast of Charing Cross and is one of the major metropolitan centres identified in the London Plan. Historically, Romford ...

. It is owned and managed by

Havering London Borough Council Havering London Borough Council is the local authority for the London Borough of Havering in Greater London, England. It is a London borough council, one of 32 in the United Kingdom capital of London. Havering is divided into 18 wards, each elect ...

and has

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, ...

status. There is also a ward of the London Borough of Havering called Hylands. The population at the 2011 Census was 13,334.

History

The land was purchased in 1920 by the owners of the Oak Public House in Victoria Road, Romford. In 1925 a trotting track was laid out on the land and a race meeting was held.

Hornchurch Urban District Council Hornchurch was a local government district in southwest Essex from 1926 to 1965, formed as an Urban district (Great Britain and Ireland), urban district for the civil parish of Hornchurch. It was greatly expanded in 1934 with the addition of Cran ...

was established in 1926 and in 1927 they purchased the land, to be laid out as public park. In October 1940 a

Spitfire The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft used by the Royal Air Force and other Allied countries before, during, and after World War II. Many variants of the Spitfire were built, from the Mk 1 to the Rolls-Royce Griff ...

piloted by John McAdam from

RAF Hornchurch Royal Air Force Hornchurch or RAF Hornchurch is a former Royal Air Force sector station in the parish of Hornchurch, Essex (now the London Borough of Havering in Greater London), located to the southeast of Romford. The airfield was known as Sut ...

narrowly avoided crashing in the crowded park, by crash landing in a gap between two houses.

Features

The former trotting track has been converted to a large oval path, which encircles cricket and football pitches. The entrance to Osborne Road features stone and wrought iron gates that were transferred from nearby

Grey Towers Grey Towers was a crenellated mansion with 85 acres of grounds on Hornchurch Road in Hornchurch, England. It was built in 1876 and brought into public use as the New Zealand Convalescent Hospital during the First World War. In the interwar period ...

, that was demolished in 1931. There is a rose garden.

Management

The park is owned and managed by

and has

status.Hylands Park Management Plan
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References

{{Parks and open spaces in London Parks and open spaces in the London Borough of Havering Hornchurch