Valentines Park

Valentines Park is a much loved local landmark which is greatly valued by borough residents for its beauty, history and ecology. Situated near Ilford Town Centre, in a densely populated and highly developed area, it is a vital green space, providing many opportunities for formal and informal recreation and a chance to escape the urban hustle and bustle and relax in a setting of rare beauty and historic value.

The park was once the parkland of Valentines Mansion, a gentleman’s residence built in 1696. The landscape reflects the changing tastes of the last three hundred years and the main elements surviving today relate to the changes made to the Mansion itself in the 1720s, the 1810s and the 1870s. During all these periods, the house was in private ownership. The greatest change was from 1912 when the whole estate became a public park and began to be used by greater numbers of people than ever before.

The heritage value is of great importance in terms of the survival of formal Rococo features in a suburban park near the Central tube line, the M11 and the main London to Norfolk trunk road