Welcome to Ealing Parks Foundation
Park of the Month - August 2023
Montpelier Park
The London Borough of Ealing has just won 26 Green Flag Awards for its Parks - and this month we are featuring the small but interesting Montpelier Park that is one of the winners of the Award. Despite being a mere seven acres, the Park has some interesting features and is well worth a visit. It is a quiet space with an arboretum, benches to relax, a rustic playground, and a wildlife habitat in the small woods.
Montpelier Park, set in a conservation area in Ealing W5, was originally the grounds of Princess Helena College, a private school for middle class girls which moved to Ealing from Regents Park in 1882. The school stayed in Ealing until 1933, when it moved to Hertfordshire. The Victorian school buildings were demolished with the gateposts to the college on Helena Road are the only surviving element of the College.
Ealing Municipal Borough (as was) purchased Montpelier Park in 1954 for £6350 and in 1964 the Park became an Arboretum - the site of shrubs and a collection of trees unique in the Borough. Over forty different species were planted and many survive until today - you can see the Hop Hornbeam, Wingnut, Handkerchief Tree, Persian Ironwood, Medlar and Dawn Redwood. There are also Coastal Redwood and Giant Redwood and Smooth Arizona Cypress trees in the park.
As well as the formal areas of the Park which includes a rustic children's playground and the 1st Ealing North Scout Hut, there is a wooded area and pond that provides an important wildlife habitat.
As well as the park the surrounding area is a charming place to visit. Montpelier Conservation Area has preserved the essence of a spacious suburban development of the late Victorian period. The park is surrounded by large Victorian villas together with inter- and post-War developments. The green space of Montpelier Park at the heart of this is a formal recreational space and is also designated as a Nature Conservation Site . The presence of mature broadleaved trees along the streets surrounding the Park is critical to the rural character of the conservation area and intrinsic to the historical image of Ealing as a green suburb. The trees along Park Hill, Montpelier Road and Mount Park Road surrounding the Park are particularly significant
Directions
Address: 3 Montpelier Road, London W5 2QS
A fifteen minute walk from Haven Green/Ealing Broadway Station
Bus Routes 226, E2 E9
Driving: There is freeparking available surrounding the park - check parking restriction times.