Canons Recreation Ground

The Canons Recreation Ground is 2.53 hectares of grassland, a bowling green and pond. It also has a wide range of toddler and junior equipment in a play area, and has recently had trailblazer activities installed.

Nearby is the Canons Leisure Centre – a local exercise and sports hub with 25m and teaching pools, a gym, a dance studio and toddlers’ area.

The park is named after a restoration period house called The Canons, the main part of which was built in the reign of Charles II. It and a dovecote in the grounds are listed buildings.

For nearly three centuries, the property was owned by the Cranmer family and their descendants the Simpsons. There doesn’t appear to be any link with Archbishop Thomas Cranmer. Robert Cranmer, a merchant trading with the East India Company, bought the land in 1656.