A short hop on the Jubilee Line northbound service takes you to a place which we call our own with
many of the boys visiting on a weekly basis for a variety of reasons. From lessons of a varying nature,
such as History to Forest School to sports festivals and drama productions. We look to take advantage
of this incredible 7 acre site which the school bought back in 1991, but has been a part of Arnold House
for much longer. Let’s delve back into the history of Canons Park.
Arnold House’s long association with the playing fields started in the early 50s when the grounds were
owned by The Working Men’s College and were nothing more than a green space with a shed in the
corner for changing facilities and toilets. It had been a long-term goal of the Governing Board to
purchase playing fields for the School and in the early 90s the perfect opportunity arose. The College
at the time was short of cash and was seeking to raise urgently needed funds from the sale. It was a
saga that lasted several years resulting in the site being sold to a developer prior to planning consent
being granted. It is unsurprising that this raised much local opposition and the Arnold House Board of
Governors joined forces with the scheme’s opponents. The campaign was successful and the plans
were rejected giving the School the perfect opportunity to buy the land. In December 1991, Arnold
House officially purchased the ground and have steadily improved the facilities in the decades ever
since. The Centre lies alongside Canons Park, a newly restored open space which is the remnants of
the grounds of a stately home belonging to the 1st Duke of Chandos.
In 2005-06, the buildings of the Canons Park Activity Centre were transformed to provide two large
rooms for teaching, a new stage, tiered-seating in the hall and new changing rooms. With the new
facilities in place, the School was able to make ever increasing use of this valuable and versatile
resource.
More recently, and a very surprising positive from COVID-19 was that two year groups a day would
begin having lessons up at Canons Park from Year 3 all the way to Year 8. This relieved some of the
strain away from the busy site at Loudoun Road and ensured that year groups could keep to their
bubbles. It also allowed the boys to have more space and freedom, which they absolutely loved. With
the classrooms already set up it seemed like a fantastic option to utilise the space and facilities for the
various lessons, something which has continues today and we have just welcomed the boys and staff
from our Early Years every Friday for PE and Forest School.
The theatre hosts Arnold House boys performing in concerts and drama productions throughout the
year. The Centre has close links with the community providing a meeting place for the Friends of Canons
Park and other similar organisations. The local population can also enjoy bowls and tennis as members
of affiliated clubs. But also we have external hirers in the summer utilising the fantastic cricket facilities,
clubs such as Primrose Hill, Hampstead CC, London Schools and more recently the MCC foundation.
Personally I feel very lucky to work at a school within the heart of London which boasts such a fantastic
space that of the course the school owns. Each time we welcome opposition from another school they
comment on how well the pitches look and what facilities we have, even after the extreme weather this
summer or the heavy rain we normally see in the rugby term. But the biggest thing for me is seeing
how much the boys love being up at Canons Park and the enjoyment they have. We see many smiley
faces on a day to day basis up there now. We also look forward to what the future may hold up at
Canons Park.
I would like to finish with a few quotes from some of the boys;
A(1H)- “I really enjoyed Canons Park because I got to see the tractors and climb on the climbing
wall”.
A(3H) “I love playing football at Canons Park in the wide open space where I can develop my
skills”.
A(4A) - “I enjoy playing fixtures against other schools and playing with my teammates”.
C (7A)- “I enjoy playing football with my friends and having the extra break. I like that we have
lessons up there because we have a good view of Canons Park and the breeze is very nice too. We do
not go there often but I love it when we get to go there.”
D(7H) “Drama at Canons Park is filled with joy, especially when we have so much space to create
and explore the diverse scripts and monologues of different people. The thing I really enjoy about
Canons Park is that every time you breathe in the air of the freshly mown lawn you feel like you are in
a different place.”
Alex Ingram
Canons Park Co-Ordinator