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Clissold Park
Clissold Park is a 22 hectares (54 acres) community park in Stoke Newington within the London Borough of Hackney (map; OS grid reference TQ325863). It includes a variety of mature trees and three stretches of water.
Hackney Wildlife survey the site regularly, monitor its birdlife, advise on conservation issues and lead public events. Visible migration and raptor migration studies are conducted in spring and autumn. Latest sightings, updated daily, can be found here. Sightings from visitors are welcome, as are requests for information - see website for details.
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History 
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Much of Clissold Park was originally the grounds of a country villa built in the 1790s for a local Quaker banker, Jonathan Hoare, who planted the estate with a fine collection of trees. In 1811 the house passed into the ownership of the Crawshay family. In the 1820s, despite objections from her parents, Eliza Crawshay married the Reverend Augustus Clissold, and after the death of her parents they moved into the house and renamed it Clissold House.
In the 1880s the grounds of the house and the adjacent common land of Newington Common were threatened with development and the Metropolitan Board of Works was persuaded to buy the land and create a public park.
The park was created in 1889 by the newly formed London County Council. Like many other London parks Clissold Park was managed and maintained by the London County Council and then the Greater London Council until the GLC was abolished in 1986. It then passed into the hands of Hackney Council.
The two lakes at the north end of the park lie on the line of Hackney Brook and are the result of the production of clay bricks in the 18th century. The brook was subsequently diverted and became part of the Victorian sewer system. The lakes are named the Beckmere and the Runtzmere in honour of the park’s principal founders, Joseph Beck of the City of London and John Runtz of the Metropolitan Board of Work. The house still exists and is a Grade II listed building. It now houses a cafeteria.
The L-shaped stretch of water in front of Clissold House was originally part of the New River, constructed in 1610 to bring clean water from Amwell in Hertfordshire to London (via a reservoir at Sadlers Wells). The river was diverted into pipes in the late 19th century, but the section in front of the house was retained as an ornamental feature.
Habitat Edit
The park includes sports fields, tree-lined footpaths, a deer enclosure, a bowling green and tennis courts. On the northern edge of the park are two lakes with islands. Near the middle of the park is an L-shaped ribbon of water.
Species (contributed by Hackney Wildlife) Edit
Clissold Park is essentially a generic medium-sized urban park, and the habitat reflects its limited range of breeding and resident species and its limited attraction to others. Breeding birds include Goldcrest, Blackcap, Little Grebe, Coot, Moorhen, Mallard, Great Spotted Woodpecker, (occasionally) Willow Warbler and (frequently) Common Pochard, as well as the expected parkland / garden species. Rose-ringed Parakeets, Green Woodpeckers, Stock Doves, Coal Tits and Chiffchaffs are also all near-omnipresent, Shovelers winter on the lakes, and a Collared Dove roost on Beckmere Island holds up to 20 birds. However, the park attracts a host of migrants during passage periods - Garden, Sedge, Reed and Phylloscopus Warblers, Common and Lesser Whitethroats, Common Terns, Spotted Flycatchers, Siskins, Lesser Redpolls and Bramblings are all annual in small numbers, and winter thrushes can be numerous. Sparrowhawks and Kestrels are near-ubiquitous, Peregrines are regular, and Hobbys are recorded in double figures annually (May - Sep).
Rarer visitors in recent years include Waxwings, Northern Wheatear, Ring Ouzel, Bullfinch, Firecrest, Woodcock and Water Rail, while the small lakes have attracted occasional Common Sandpipers, Common Snipe and Little Ringed Plover. Visible migration in spring and (especially) autumn can be productive - see website for details. The open panorama is also good for raptor-watching, especially in spring, and Hackney Wildlife's contributors have studied the park's airspace intensively over recent years. Rewards have included multiple Common Buzzards and Red Kites, plus rarities including Ospreys, Honey-buzzards, Goshawk and Marsh Harriers.
The best places to look for migrants are along the northern perimeter, on and around the lakes, and in and around the deer enclosure. Early morning is recommended as the park is extremely busy and disturbed much of the time. With enough coverage, anything can turn up in an unremarkable urban greenspace, and the exceptionally accomodating Cetti's Warbler presently on territory on the edge of Runtzmere Lake is ample proof of this.
Practicalities Edit
Directions
The park’s nearest railway station is Stoke Newington, on the National Rail line from Liverpool Street to Cheshunt and Enfield. It is about 1km from the edge of the park. Slightly farther away are three Underground stations — Arsenal, Finsbury Park and Manor House. All are on the Piccadilly line and Finsbury Park is also served by the Victoria Line.
Buses 141, 341 and 393 pass along the edge of the park and routes 73, 106 and 476 pass nearby.
Access
The park opens daily at 7.30am, closing at 7.30pm in summer and 4.30pm in winter. The park has a network of surfaced paths providing easy access for wheelchair users.
Facilities
The park includes an organic nature garden, a butterfly tunnel and a pond with a dipping platform. The park cafe offers a range of food from take-away snacks to three-course meals. Shops and pubs can be found close to the park.
This information has been cobbled together from various online sources by Andrew Haynes, who has not visited Clissold Park in 30 years but thinks that it deserves a page on this website. If you are familiar with the site, please correct, expand and/or update this information. Please! Andrew, it was a pleasure, and thanks for your initial legwork. Mark, Hackney Wildlife
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