Valentines Park Ilford
Valentines Park is a large, 130 acre park in the London Borough of Redbridge, between Ilford and Gants Hill.
In 2012 the park was voted the 6th favourite park in the country. The park includes the 17th century Valentines Mansion with elegant period rooms, grand staircases and the accompanying historic gardens, featuring the Old English Garden, Long Water, The Dry Garden, the Rose Garden and Walled Gardens. The surrounding parkland has miles of footpaths taking you past the wide grass lawns and around the large lake.
The park is located right next to Gants Hill tub station and a short walk from Ilford train station.
Postcode
IG1 4SD - Please note: Postcode may be approximate for some rural locationsValentines Park Ilford Ordnance Survey Map 
- view and print off detailed OS map
Valentines Park Ilford Open Street Map 
- view and print off detailed map
Valentines Park Ilford OS Map 
- Mobile GPS OS Map with Location tracking
Valentines Park Ilford Open Street Map 
- Mobile GPS Map with Location tracking
Pubs/Cafes
Head to the on site Valentines Park Cafe for some post walk refreshment. They serve a good range of meals, snacks and delicious treats. There's a lovely garden here too where you can sit outside and enjoy the view with your meal.
Further Information and Other Local Ideas
Just to the west you will find the Wanstead Flats. The large open space includes grassy paths, wildflowers and water features. Wanstead Park lies just to the north and is also well worth a visit.
The River Roding Walk starts/finishes in Ilford. It will take you along the pleasant waterway to Roding Valley station.
Just to the north there's Fairlop Waters Country Park where there's lakeside trails and an interesting boulder park to explore.
For more walking ideas in the area see the London Walks page.
Cycle Routes and Walking Routes Nearby
Photos
_May_2005_-_geograph.org.uk_-_12137.jpg)
Valentines Park (also known as Cranbrook Park) May 2005. This image was taken the best time of year in Valentines Park, Ilford, when all the amazing spring flowers are out and at their best!
Cranbrook: Valentines Park clock tower. This view was taken looking across the boating lake in the park towards the clock tower, which was built in 1899 on the opening of the park. A plaque on the clock tower commemorates that it was presented by W. P. Griggs Esq. At its opening the park was known as Cranbrook Park, as witnessed by the plaque, but the name was changed in 1907 to register its association with the nearby Valentines Mansion.
Giant marquee in the park during the summer of 2009. Another marquee/circus in Melbourne Field.This time we have a marquee of the giant blue kind with two large apexes at the top! View taken looking west-southwest from Melbourne Field, near the Brisbane Road entrance and looking in the direction of the bowling green.
The Cran Brook. The name of a place is quite often originally derived from the watercourse running through it, and as the settlement develops the original source of the name can be forgotten. Here is an example where a small stream, the Cran Brook, a tributary of the River Roding, is running through Valentines Park in Cranbrook. The course of the brook is obviously man-made here and provides the water for the large boating lake downstream.
Valentines in its glory
The upper lake. Looking at the false bridge by the entrance to the park near Gants Hill, from the first bridge over the lake.
Valentines Mansion, front entrance
Canal-head grotto near the mansion.