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Canons Park is a public park and the name of its surrounding residential area, in the Edgware district of the London Borough of Harrow, north-west London. Canons Park was a country estate which partially survives today as a public park. St. Lawrence's Church, the parish church of Little Stanmore, and the accompanying Chandos Mausoleum are located here.
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A few years after the Duke's death in 1744 this house was also demolished. The current building on the site housing the North London Collegiate School was built around 1760 by the gentleman cabinet-maker William Hallett. The original house-site, transformed into ambitious Edwardian gardens was bought in 1929 by the school for £17,500 (). A large portion of the original gardens of James Brydges' house now form the public pleasure gardens of Canons Park. The modern park includes the Memorial Gardens, a folly known as 'the Temple' (not to be confused with a different folly of the same name within the North London Collegiate School grounds) and an orchard.
Canons Drive follows the original path of the entrance to James Brydges'
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The main park has entrances at Howberry Road on the West side - with a bridge going over the Jubilee underground line, Whitchurch lane and Donnefield Avenue to the South and the end of Canons Drive on the East side. Across from the Howberry Road entrance is an extension - essentially a footpath - connecting Howberry Road with Marsh Lane.
The park contains several listed buildings including a bothy, now used as the base for Liam's in the Park coffee shop (the "Good Friends of Canon's Park" cafe) and the Garden Temple.
The King George V Memorial Garden is a walled garden in the park. This area was originally part of the duke's and was re-designed in the 1930s, after the park became public. The garden reflects the 1930s period, with a structure of evergreens highlighted by seasonal displays. It features a central square pool surrounded by a raised terrace with steps, formal flower beds and a pavilion. In 2006-7 the garden and the park were restored with the support of the Heritage Lottery Fund.
Two woodland walks on each side of the park preserve the woodland. The first and shorter walk goes from just after the railway bridge near the Howberry Road entrance, to the green just below the Bothy and the Good Friends Cafe. The second walk goes from Canons Park Drive down the whole park to St Lawrence's Church. Parallel to this is the tree-lined carriage way leading from Whitchurch Lane to what is now North London Collegiate School but was originally the path taken by carriages to the mansion itself.
There is a large enclosed play area with swings, a slide, and various other children's playground equipment to the south of the coffee shop. Nearby is a climbing rock, a basketball hoop and two table-tennis tables. Near the cafe is an outside activity gym and a garden centre operated by the Shaw Trust.
On the north side of the church is the Chandos Mausoleum, again built to the order of the first Duke of Chandos. The centrepiece documented by Grinling Gibbons, 1717, is a Baroque monument to the Duke and his first two wives, for which the Duke felt he had overpaid.Rupert Gunnis, Dictionary of British Sculptors 1660–1851 (rev. ed.): "Grinling Gibbons" In addition to James Brydges, 1st Duke of Chandos and his first two wives, James Brydges, 3rd Duke of Chandos has also been buried here.
Arthur Du Cros purchased Canons in the 1890s.http://www.canonsparkestate.com/history
Du Cros's involvement is commemorated in some local street names - specifically Du Cros Drive, Craigweil Drive and Craigweil Close named after Du Cros's house in Bognor Regis.
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