Explore Islington's largest nature reserve with woodland, meadows, ponds and an on-site ecology centre offering wildlife education and family events.

Gillespie Park is Islington's largest nature reserve, spanning 2.8 hectares and designated as a Green Flag Award winner in 2019 and London Conservation Area of the Year in 2015. The park is home to remarkable biodiversity, including 244 species of plants, 94 species of birds and 24 types of butterflies, with diverse habitats including ponds, woodland areas and meadows. The Islington Ecology Centre, located within the park, serves as a visitor and education hub offering advice on wildlife, gardening and sustainable living. The centre runs exciting, curriculum-linked education programmes for pre-school groups and primary schools, with tailored sessions designed to engage young people with their environment. Throughout the year, the centre hosts public events and activities available on their Eventbrite page. The park welcomes families with excellent accessibility features including wheelchair-suitable paths around the ecology centre and disabled parking available from Drayton Park. While most of the park is dog-free to protect wildlife, dogs are permitted in the section accessed from St Thomas Road entrance. Volunteers can join Thursday sessions (10am-3:30pm) for conservation work, while the Friends of Gillespie Park organise community events including the annual Gillespie Festival.

Venue Details

What this place offers

Toilets

Public transport nearby

Accessible toilets

Free WiFi

Baby changing facilities

Food available

On-site parking

🐕Dog-friendly

Parking nearby

Pushchair friendly

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Elizabeth Ixer

2 months ago

Lovely nature reserve with stunning meadows, a small woodland walk and pond. It was pretty quiet, despite it being the weekend. There is also an ecology centre there. We used the entrance by Finsbury Park station to access the park.

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kadiatu jalloh

a year ago

Very peaceful, not too crowded, and great scenery. However, the entrance area wasn't very clean.

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Jim Paterson

a year ago

A beautiful hidden garden of nature nestled away in a corner near the old Arsenal Highbury football ground, next to the train tracks. This is a lovely, tranquil spot to escape the hustle and bustle of urban life, where interesting creatures have made their homes.

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Akiko “Akko” Tori

2 years ago

Small but very beautiful. It has some crabapple trees, blackthorn, black berries etc But I tend to see people smoking weeds especially near the entrance area

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Oo L

5 years ago

Looked like the main part of the park was closed and not maintained, but finding a nature-full path next to this park going through to Finsbury Park beside the train tracks was a delight.

Reviews last updated: 7 October 2026