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 Gunnersbury Park |
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The large mansion is now converted into the Gunnersbury Park Museum - opened in 1929 - a showcase for local history. In here can be found memorabilia of the Rothschilds, including a number of their horse-drawn coaches. There is a boating pond nearby, overlooked by a temple folly dating from 1760 - the only eighteenth century building still standing in the park. Opposite this is a large pitch and putt next to some tennis courts. There is an Orangery built in 1836 by Sydney Smirke , who designed the British Museum Library , and the remains of a Gothic fantasy disguising the old stables. Close to the Orangery is what is left of the western half of the Horseshoe Lake . The 18th century temple on the east side of the park, adjacent to the boundary with the North Circular Road is what is left of the Japanese water garden, laid out in 1901 as a home for Leopold de Rothschild s water lilies.
The Small Mansion with the Large Mansion in the background to the left has researchers pointing out that the visible building is 19th century, although the 18th century foundations of the original bathhouse have been identified under the floor.
Gunnersbury Park used to be a haven for small boys wanting to fly kites and model aeroplanes and float model boats in the pond, and avoid being evicted by vigilant park-keepers for riding their bikes. The large mansion is quite recognizable as the venue for the police exhibition in the climax of the Ealing Studios comedy, the Lavender Hill Mob, when the model Eiffel Towers were exposed as being made from stolen gold bullion.
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