Gunnersbury Park

About this book

Exploring this much-loved public park reveals its story. In the Middle Ages, Gunnersbury belonged to the powerful mistress of a medieval king. Prosperous Tudor merchants and City aldermen followed; its first transformation saw the building of a huge Palladian mansion with formal gardens around 1660. After years of neglect it was reborn as a centre of Georgian society; a merchant politician and art collector and then a Hanoverian princess each softened the landscape and built follies. In 1800 the mansion was demolished and development plots sold off; two neighbouring villas emerged which still survive. From 1835 one was home to the banking family who eventually reunited the estate, and this building is now the Gunnersbury Park Museum. Gunnersbury was opened as a public park in 1926. This book marks the completion of the recent and extensive conservation programme - its 21st century transformation - in the lead-up to the Park centenary. Published to coincide with the Gunnersbury Park Museum's reopening in spring/summer 2018. Gunnersbury Park receives 30,000-40,000 visitors per year, and this is expected to rise to as many as 1 million visitors per year after the renovation and conservation programme is completed.