Emslie Horniman's Pleasance

View of the park

Emslie Horniman's Pleasance is a park in Kensal Town, in the Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London. It is named after Emslie John Horniman the MP for Chelsea (of which Kensal Town was then an exclave) who created it. It opened in 1914.[1] The park is the traditional starting point for the Notting Hill Carnival.[2][3]

The Pleasance contains a notable walled garden in the Arts and Crafts style, designed for Horniman by C.F.A. Voysey and Madeline Agar.[1][3][4] Voysey's walls and shelters are Grade II listed on the National Heritage List for England.[5][4]

It is located on Bosworth Road, Kensal Town, on the southern side of the Grand Union Canal, near to Notting Hill. The nearest tube station is Westbourne Park.

The park also contains tennis courts, five-a-side football pitches, a hard play area and a children's playground.[6]

It was scene of a tragedy in July 2024, during a family fun day out, in which a 15 year old teen was shot by a member of a gang.[7]

  1. ^ a b Jemima Taylor (2006). "The Voysey Garden". London Parks & Gardens Trust. Retrieved 3 December 2010.
  2. ^ "Emslie Horniman's Pleasance". The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Retrieved 3 December 2010.
  3. ^ a b "Emslie Horniman's Pleasance: Enchanted gardens". unlike.net. Archived from the original on 24 July 2011. Retrieved 3 December 2010.
  4. ^ a b "Emslie Horniman Pleasance Gardens, Kensington & Chelsea". London Parks & Gardens Trust. Retrieved 3 December 2010.
  5. ^ Historic England, "Walls and Shelters in Emslie Horniman's Pleasance Gardens (1080640)", National Heritage List for England, retrieved 15 October 2017
  6. ^ "Emslie Horniman Pleasance Gardens". The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Retrieved 3 December 2010.
  7. ^ "Boy, 15, shot dead during 'family fun day' in park". Evening Standard. Retrieved 22 October 2024.