History
It is said that Broomfield Park was named after John Broomfield, a
London Currier (purveyor of leather goods) who in 1556 sold the land to
Geoffrey Walkeden. By 1599 the estate was in the possession of the
wealthy London Alderman Sir John Spencer.
The 500 acres of land including Broomfield House were purchased by
Joseph Jackson in the early seventeenth century and remained in the
family until the owner Mary Jackson married William Tash (who in 1777
became part of the owner of Oakwood Park) in 1773.
Mary Tash left her estate to her friend Louisa Powys in her will and
it was eventually passed to the Powys family after the death of William
Tash in 1816.
It is probable that Broomfield Park is a surviving former baroque water
garden. These gardens were created in large numbers around the houses
of the gentry in the early 18th century.
In 1751 the site of the sports track was known as the Warren Field,
where little cottages stood. On the site of the memorial gardens were
stables, outbuildings and later, a rifle range.
In front of Broomfield house animals such as sheep, cows and pigs
grazed. Horses and carriages could approach the house through the once
double avenue of elms. Unfortunately this was destroyed by Dutch
Elm disease in 1978 but was replanted with silver lime trees.
In 1903 54 acres were purchased by Southgate Urban District Council for
thesum of £25,000 and opened to the public as Broomfield Park on the
25th of April 1903. It was the first park to be opened in the Southgate
Area.
The House was listed as Grade II * in 1950 and the grounds have been
included as Grade II in the Department of Environment Register Historic
Parks and Gardens. | 
