Talacre Gardens

Talacre Gardens – London's only Town Green

Just north of Camden Town and to the west of Kentish Town, Talacre Gardens is an oasis of greenery on Prince of Wales Road. What's more this delightful patch of greenery became London's first Town Green in 2010, under a 2006 central government law brought to protect open space – which means it will forever be safeguarded as a public space.

Interestingly, Talacre Gardens wasn't actually created as a park originally. A bomb site full of semi-demolished slum terraces, it had been an unofficial playground for local Talacre children for years following World War Two. It in fact only really became what we'd envisage a public space to be due to the clearing of slum terraces on the site during the 1970s.

Local residents fought to keep the open space and it thrived. In 2003, the space was redeveloped and renamed Talacre Gardens, at the same time the Talacre Community Sports Centre, which can be found behind the new Prince's Park residential development, off Dalby Street was opened.

Today, Talacre Gardens and the Talacre Sports Centre offer a great way for children and adults alike from the Kentish Town community to stay fit and healthy. The Dalby Street Sports Centre offers a whole host of sporting activities, while the park has an array of playground equipment for all ages. Talacre Park is at the heart of the community and will continue to be so for hundreds more years.