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.