The blues and browns of Finsbury Park in the autumn sunshine

One of the first of the great London parks laid out in the Victorian era, Finsbury PRK park borders the residential neighbourhoods of Harringay, Finsbury Park, Stroud Green, and Manor House.

Here’s 34 photos taken on Sunday on a rare sunny day:

Stunning autumnal shades against a dramatic hazy blue sky.

The Parks & Gardens website has more on the park’s history:

Finsbury Park is a late-19th-century public park, occupying 46.5 hectares.

Although much of the original design was lost over the years, many of the park’s original features have now been restored including the re-landscaping of the American Gardens and Alexander McKenzie’s historical flower gardens.

Finsbury Park is situated on what used to be Brownswood, a sub-manor of the vast manor of Hornsey and part of the ancient Forest of Middlesex, used for hunting.

In the mid-18th century the site became known as Hornsey Wood House and became a popular Tea House and Pleasure Gardens. In 1796 the house was enlarged and partly rebuilt.

A public park for the area was first proposed in 1850. The public park was created following The Finsbury Park Act of 1857 in order to provide a much-needed municipal park for local residents and was officially opened in 1869.

The structure of the park was designed by Frederick Manable, Superintending Architect to the Metropolitan Board of Works. The park opened in August 1869.