Beyond the lake
There's a whole park here.
Valentines Park is a Green Flag, top-ten UK park — the boating lake is just one corner of it. Here's what else is worth knowing before or after your row.
Valentines Park is looked after by Vision RCL, the charity that runs parks and leisure on behalf of the London Borough of Redbridge. It's held a Green Flag Award every year and been named among the UK's top ten parks in the People's Choice Awards nine times since 2012 — including 2024, and 6th out of 1,582 green spaces nationwide back in 2015. The park itself is the old parkland of Valentines Mansion, and still has the mansion's 300-year-old field maple, ornamental gardens and flowering meadows to show for it.
Everything below changes hands with Vision RCL, the Friends of Valentines Mansion, or the individual clubs that run in the park — not us — so we've linked out to their own pages wherever the details (opening times, prices, what's on) are likely to move.
300-odd years of history
Valentines Mansion & Gardens
A Grade II* listed Georgian house, built around 1696–97, sitting in its own walled gardens inside the park.
Visit the house
Free entry, open Sundays and Mondays (plus extra Open Days in school holidays). Highlights include the grand staircase, a recreated Victorian kitchen and elegant Georgian rooms with views over the parkland. The top floor is now working artists' studios — open days let you meet the artists and see work in progress — and the ground-floor gallery hosts rotating exhibitions.
Opening times & getting there →On the telly
The BBC filmed an episode of Antiques Roadshow at the mansion in June 2026 — tickets for the public filming day sold out fast.
Read about the filming →Hire the mansion
Weddings, celebrations and corporate events can be booked in the house itself, separately from anything at the lake.
Enquire with Vision RCL →Food & drink
Two cafés, not one
Neither is run by us — good for a coffee before you row, or lunch after.
Gardener's Cottage Café
Inside Valentines Mansion's walled garden, open every day of the year. Sandwiches, jacket potatoes, salads and soup.
Find them on Facebook →Valentines Park Café
By the bandstand, closer to the lake — handy if you don't fancy the walk to the mansion.
Visit their website →While you're here
Sport & things to do
The park's a working sports ground as well as a beauty spot — most of it free to turn up and use.
Tennis
Play for free before noon on weekdays; £2.50 midday–5pm weekdays; £5 evenings and weekends.
Book a court →Cricket
A full-size pitch and pavilion, home to St Clements Cricket Club. Available to hire for one-off or seasonal bookings.
Pitch hire →Bowls
Three flat greens at the western end of the park, home to the Ilford Club — new and experienced bowlers both welcome.
The Ilford Club →Outdoor gym
Free to use, 20 work stations — one of the biggest outdoor gyms in London.
Play & games
Two free children's play areas, plus a multi-use games area with two multi-goals for basketball and football — part-funded by the Football Foundation and the council's Olympic Legacy Fund.
Groups & walks
A regular parkrun, a Walking for Health group, and Dementia Walks and Talk sessions all meet in the park.
Walking activities →At a glance
Everything else in the park
The shorter list of what's dotted around Valentines Park, in case you're wondering.
- Bandstand
- Basketball court
- Bowling green (Ilford Bowls Club)
- Cycling routes
- 300-year-old field maple & wider tree collection
- Guided tours
- Rowing boats for hire — that's us
- Nature & wetland area
- Ornamental gardens & flower beds
- Outdoor gym
- Free tennis courts
- Public toilets
- Spring & summer flowering meadows
- Two free children's play areas
What's on
Regular fixtures in the park
The recurring stuff we know about — for one-off events, ticketed days and exhibitions, the calendars below are the real source and change more often than we can keep up with here.
- Sun & Mon
(next: 2–3 Aug 2026)Mansion Open DaysFree entry to Valentines Mansion, every week. 12–5pm (March–October), 11am–3pm (November–February). - 2nd Monday
(next: 10 Aug 2026)Storytime for under-5s10:30–11:15am at the mansion. Free, no need to book, just turn up. - A few times a yearArtists' Open StudiosThe mansion's top-floor studios open to the public — meet the artists and see work in progress.
- OngoingGallery exhibitionsRotating exhibitions in the mansion's ground-floor gallery, free on Open Days.
List last checked 1 August 2026.
Getting around
Entrances & parking
- Vehicle entrances on Melbourne Road, Perth Road and Cranbrook Road — Cranbrook Road is the closest to the boathouse.
- Parking by RingGo (no cash): up to 1hr £1.80, 1–2hrs £3.10, all day £6.40.
- Nearest tube: Gants Hill (Central line), ~5 minutes' walk. Nearest rail: Ilford (Elizabeth line & National Rail).