St John's Wood Church Grounds is a disused graveyard which is now a public park in St. John's Wood in London. It is a Site of Borough Importance for Nature Conservation, Grade 1, and the only Local Nature Reserve in the City of Westminster. Since 2004 it has received the Green Flag Award for excellent green spaces. It is owned and managed by Westminster Council. [1]
St. John's Wood was part of the Great Forest of Middlesex in the medieval period. From 1323 the land was owned by the Knights of the Order of St. John, after whom the area is named, but at the Dissolution of the Monasteries it passed to the Crown. In the 1732 the site was sold to Henry Samuel Eyre, and in the 18th century it was agricultural land on two fields called Great Garden Field and Willow Tree Field. The area began to be developed in the 19th century, and St John's Wood Church and burial ground were consecrated in 1814. The burial ground was closed in 1855, and converted to a public garden in 1886. There are thought to be around 50,000 graves, including those of the artist John Sell Cotman and the prophetess Joanna Southcott. [1]
The site has formal flower beds, a wildlife area and a children's playground. [2] The wildlife area has hedges, a meadow and woodland in an area mixed with gravestones, and it is a good site for butterflies. It is located opposite Lord's between St John's Wood High Street and Wellington Road. [3]
Ingrebourne Valley is a local nature reserve (LNR) in Hornchurch in the London Borough of Havering. It is owned and managed by Havering Council, and has a visitor centre managed by the Essex Wildlife Trust. Most of it is in Hornchurch Country Park west of the River Ingrebourne, but there are also areas north and south of the park which are part of the LNR. It has a wide range of habitats, including woodland, grassland, the river and marshes. It is an important site for a range of species of plants, animals and birds, including great crested newts, slow worms, the harvest mouse and the water vole.
London Wildlife Trust (LWT), founded in 1981, is a local nature conservation charity for Greater London. It is one of 46 members of the Royal Society of Wildlife Trusts, each of which is a local nature conservation charity for its area. The Trust aims to protect London's wildlife and wild spaces, and it manages over 40 nature reserves in Greater London. One of its campaigns is to turn London's gardens into mini-nature reserves, and it provides education services for schools. Local groups work on reserves and organise walks.
Queen's Wood is a 52-acre area of ancient woodland in the London Borough of Haringey, abutting Highgate Wood and lying between East Finchley, Highgate, Muswell Hill and Crouch End. It was originally part of the ancient Forest of Middlesex which covered much of London, Hertfordshire and Essex and was mentioned in the Domesday Book. It is now one of three Local Nature Reserves in the London Borough of Haringey. It is situated a few minutes' walk from Highgate tube station.
Sunny Hill Park is a park in Hendon, in the London Borough of Barnet, England. It is a large hilly park, 22 hectares, mainly grassed, which has extensive views to the north and the west. Together with the neighbouring Hendon Churchyard, it is a Site of Local Importance for Nature Conservation.
Cherry Tree Wood is a 5.3-hectare park in East Finchley in the London Borough of Barnet. It is a Site of Local Importance for Nature Conservation. Located opposite East Finchley Underground station, it contains woodland and grassland, a playground, tennis courts, a cafe and toilets.
Stanmore Country Park is a 30.7-hectare (76-acre) public park, Local Nature Reserve and Site of Metropolitan Importance for Nature Conservation in Stanmore in the London Borough of Harrow. It is owned and managed by Harrow London Borough Council.
Coppetts Wood and Scrublands is a 14.5-hectare (36-acre) Site of Borough Importance for Nature Conservation, Grade I, between Muswell Hill and Friern Barnet in the London Borough of Barnet. It is part of the Coppetts Wood and Glebelands Local Nature Reserve.
Oak Hill Wood is a 10-hectare Local Nature Reserve (LNR) and a Site of Borough Importance for Nature Conservation Grade I, in East Barnet, London. It is owned by the London Borough of Barnet, and part of it is a 5.5-hectare nature reserve managed by the London Wildlife Trust.
Avenue House Grounds is a ten-acre Site of Local Importance for Nature Conservation on East End Road in Church End, Finchley in the London Borough of Barnet. The estate is now known as Stephens House and Gardens.
Brent Park is a small public park of 2.24 hectares in Hendon in the London Borough of Barnet. It is part of the 'Lower Dollis Brook' Site of Borough Importance for Nature Conservation, Grade II.
Big Wood and Little Wood are two patches of woodland in Hampstead Garden Suburb in the London Borough of Barnet. They are a Site of Borough Importance for Nature Conservation, Grade 1, and a Local Nature Reserve. Big Wood is 7.3 hectares and Little Wood is 1.2 hectares.
Putney Old Burial Ground is a public urban park and former cemetery in the London Borough of Wandsworth near Putney town centre.
Ainslie Wood is a 2.03 hectares Local Nature Reserve and a Grade I Site of Nature Conservation Interest surrounded by urban housing in Chingford in the London Borough of Waltham Forest in England. It is owned by Waltham Forest Borough Council and operated by the council with Friends of Ainslie and Larks Woods.
Cranham Brickfields is an 8.5 hectare Local Nature Reserve and a Site of Borough Importance for Nature Conservation, Grade I, in Cranham in the London Borough of Havering. It has an area of woodland with a pond, wildflower meadows, and a grassed area with a children's playground. The site was formerly used for excavating clay to make bricks, and during the Second World War vegetables were cultivated as part of the Dig for Victory campaign. Wildlife includes bullfinches, great crested newts, stag beetles and green hairstreak butterflies. There is also dyer's greenweed, which is rare in London.
Cranham Marsh is a 15.3 hectare Local Nature Reserve and a Site of Metropolitan Importance for Nature Conservation in Cranham in the London Borough of Havering. It is owned by Havering Council and managed by the Essex Wildlife Trust.
Dagenham Village Churchyard or St Peter and St Paul's Churchyard is a 0.88 hectare Local Nature Reserve in Dagenham in the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham. It is owned by the borough council.
One Tree Hill is a defining feature of Honor Oak, mostly in London Borough of Southwark but parts also in the London Borough of Lewisham. It includes a 7 hectare public park, local nature reserve and Site of Borough Importance for Nature Conservation, Grade 1, which is owned and managed by Southwark Council. Its name, and that of the Honor Oak area, derive from the Oak of Honor, a tree on the hill which marked the southern boundary of the Norman Honour of Gloucester.
Hogsmill River Park or Hogsmill Valley is a linear park along the banks of the Hogsmill River in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames in London. It stretches from the junction of Surbiton Hill Park and Elmbridge Avenue in Berrylands in the north to the junction between the river and a footpath to Manor Close in Old Malden in the south.
