Gunnersbury Park
- Start and finish: The Museum in the large mansion in Gunnersbury Park
- Distance: 3.2 km (1.98 miles)
- Transport: Bus E3; tube Acton Town, rail Kew Bridge then a ten-minute walk from the station across Lionel Road bridge
- Parking: Car Park in Gunnersbury Park, entrance off Popes Lane
- Facilities: Toilets (disabled accessible) and café in park
- Accessibility: This walk is suitable for wheelchairs if Princess Amelia's Bath House is left out.
Gunnersbury Park began as a walled garden around a mid seventeenth century Palladian house. Princess Amelia, daughter of George II, lived in the old Gunnersbury House from 1763-1786 and landscaped the park to eighteenth century tastes. The house was rebuilt in the early nineteenth century and Nathan Rothschild bought it in 1835. The boroughs of Ealing and Acton acquired the 190-acre park and house in 1925, with the help of Middlesex County Council and it was opened to the public in 1926.
This is a level walk around the park.
Directions
From the main house, walk on past the small mansion and public toilets to take a look at Princess Amelia's Bath House (this involves going down some steps). Return to the main path and turn left. You will pass a mock Gothic ruin on your left before coming to the stables. Keep left and follow the path through a long avenue of trees. Keep straight on, eventually passing a shelter. Follow the path into a wooded area where there is another mock gothic ruin on your right. Keep straight ahead, with the lake on your right. Follow the path right round the lake, then keep left to follow the path round the edge of the formal part of the park. You will pass the toilets and the Farm Dressing Room on your right, then the main playground. Up ahead, turn right in front of the bowling green, then take the path straight ahead (the car park is just beyond the horticultural nurseries on the left here). Walk ahead keeping the Round Pond on your right. Continue around the pond. The Italian gardens will appear on your left. The café is on your right just before the large mansion and the start point.
With thanks to the London Borough of Hounslow.