Editing Finsbury Park (section)

==History==
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| image1 = Walking in Finsbury Park.jpg|caption1=Sunset in Finsbury Park
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===Before the park===
The park was landscaped on the northeastern extremity of what was originally a woodland area in the Manor or Prebend of Brownswood. It was part of a large expanse of woodland called Hornsey Wood that was cut further and further back for use as grazing land during the Middle Ages. In the mid-18th century a [[tea room]] had opened on the knoll of land on which Finsbury Park is situated. Londoners would travel north to escape the smoke of the capital and enjoy the last remains of the old Hornsey Wood. Around 1800 the tea rooms were developed into a larger building which became known as the Hornsey Wood House/Tavern. A lake was also created on the top of the knoll with water pumped up from the nearby [[New River (London)|New River]]. There was boating, a shooting and archery range, and probably [[cock fighting]] and other blood sports. The Hornsey Wood Tavern was demolished in the process of making the area into a park, but the lake was enlarged. Once the park had opened, a pub across the road from its eastern entrance along [[Seven Sisters Road]] called itself the Hornsey Wood Tavern after the original. This pub was later renamed the Alexandra Dining Room and closed for business in April 2007. It was subsequently demolished.<ref name=AParkForFinsbury>{{cite book|last=Hayes|first=Hugh|year=2001|title=A Park for Finsbury|publisher=Friends of Finsbury Park|isbn=0-9540637-0-8}}</ref>

===Creation of the park===
During the early part of the second quarter of the 19th century, following developments in [[Paris]], Londoners began to demand the creation of open spaces as an antidote to the ever-increasing urbanisation of London. In 1841 the people of [[Finsbury]] on the northern perimeter of the City of London petitioned for a park to alleviate conditions of the poor. The present-day site of Finsbury Park was one of four suggestions for the location of a park.<ref>''The Times'', 9 August 1869</ref>

Originally to be named [[Albert, Prince Consort|Albert]] Park,<ref name=AParkForFinsbury /> the first plans were drawn up in 1850.<ref name=HistoricEngland /> Renamed Finsbury Park, plans for the park's creation were ratified by an [[act of Parliament (UK)|act of Parliament]], the [[Finsbury Park Act 1857]] ([[20 & 21 Vict.]] c. cl).<ref name=ParksandGardens /> Despite some local opposition, the park was opened in 1869.

===During the wars===

During the [[First World War]] the park was known as a location for pacifist meetings.<ref name=IWM>{{cite AV media notes|title=War Office Official Topical Budget|date=May 1918|url=http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/1060023185|quote=Newsreel item on the break-up of a pacifist meeting in Finsbury Park, London|publisher=[[Imperial War Museum]]}}</ref>

During the [[Second World War]], the park was used as military training grounds and also hosted [[anti-aircraft gun]]s.<ref name="Edgerton2011">{{cite book|first=David|last=Edgerton|title=Britains War Machine: Weapons, Resources, and Experts in the Second World War|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IKZC256tZ0IC&pg=PT30|date=9 August 2011|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-991150-9|pages=30}}</ref>

===Regeneration===

Through the late 20th Century the park began to fall into a state of disrepair with most of the original features gone by the 1980s. This decline was worsened in 1986 when the then owner, [[Greater London Council]], was wound up and ownership was passed on to [[2014 Haringey London Borough Council election|Haringey Council]], but without sufficient funding or a statutory obligation for the park's upkeep.<ref name=RisingFromTheAshes>{{cite web|url=http://www.londongardenstrust.org/features/finsbury.htm|title=Rising from the Ashes:The Resurrection of Finsbury Park|first=Hazelle|last=Jackson|publisher=London Gardens Trust|date=October 2006|access-date=8 September 2016}}</ref>

A £5 million [[Heritage Lottery Fund]] Award, made in 2003, enabled significant renovations including cleaning the lake, building a new cafe and children's playground and resurfacing and repairing the tennis courts. The park now contains tennis courts, a running track, a softball field and many open spaces for various leisure activities.<ref name=HCouncilLotteryGrants>{{cite web|url=http://www.haringey.gov.uk/libraries-sport-and-leisure/parks-and-open-spaces/improving-parks/heritage-lottery-fund-improvements|title=Heritage Lottery Fund Improvements|publisher=Haringey Council|access-date=8 September 2016}}</ref><!-- In 2020 a series of events - badged as ''Your Finsbry Park: celebrating 150 years of Finsbury Park'' - were curated by the London Borough of Haringey to mark the park's 150-year existence.<ref>[https://archive.org/details/finsburypark150 ''Your Finsbry Park: celebrating 150 years of Finsbury Park''] (London: London Borough of Haringey, 2020). Online resource: PDF document, accessed 21 March 2020.</ref> Maybe include this if there's also a source for subsequent cancellations -->