It was originally part of the ancient Forest of Middlesex which covered much of London, Hertfordshire and Essex and was mentioned in the Domesday Book.

[2] The wood is an ancient oak-hornbeam woodland, which features English oak and occasional beech which provide a canopy above cherry, field maple, hazel, holly, hornbeam, midland hawthorn, mountain ash and both species of lowland birch.

[5] The ground flora is particularly rich given its proximity to central London (the wood is within a six-mile radius of Charing Cross railway station).

A small paddling pool which had fallen into disuse has been converted into a pond with wild aquatic plants.

[citation needed] The park is also the source of the Moselle, a stream that runs across parts of North London on its way (nowadays via Pymmes Brook) to the River Lea in Tottenham.