Updates : BTCV Summer programme for children - link from the Diary page Photos of the Café 'Green Roof' now on the pictures page See the plans for the works from the Links page See the latest programme for the works from the Diary page See Catherine Perrys fascinating history of the park from the Links page

The park has 5 entrances and is 7.6 hectares in size. There are various different areas and facilities within the park, these include;
• Formal football pitches
• Open grass / multi use area
• Children’s playground
• Stonebridge Brook (culverted)
• Old Moselle Brook
• Rose garden
• All weather pitch (temporary)
• Markfield Museum
• Walled areas of old sewage filter beds, settling and precipitation tanks
• Bowls club
• Picnic area
• Markfield Project
• Community garden
• BMX area
• Graffiti walls

The Markfield Project are a community centre based in the park which promotes rights, independence, choice and inclusion for disabled people and their families.
A number of water courses flow through, or are situated on the edge of the park before discharging into the River Lee and the park is designated as a flood plain in the UDP.
Based on 2001 Census figures, the population for Haringey as a whole is 216,507. The most recent figure from the 2006 mid year estimates for the borough’s population is 225,700. We are not able to make an exact calculation for the catchments of the park, however we have estimated that the local catchment (people living within 400m) is approximately 5469. The district catchment (people living within one kilometre) is approximately 20,043.

Historical value
Markfield Park has special historical significance in the borough as the Tottenham and Wood Green Joint Drainage Board established a sewage works here in circa 1885. The concrete walls of filter beds survive along with a plain, stock brick engine house. Inside is a Woolf compound rotative beam pumping engine by Wood Brothers of Sowerby Bridge, 1886, with high-pressure cylinder 21 inch diameter by 52 inch stroke and low-pressure cylinder 36 inch diameter by 72 inch stroke. It is self contained with decorated entablature supported by eight fluted cast-iron columns. The beam, 21 feet long, is fabricated from riveted wrought iron-plates and the flywheel is 27 feet in diameter. The engine stopped being productive in 1964, and it has been preserved by Lee Valley Regional Park Authority and Industrial Archaeology Group. The Museum exhibits are owned by Haringey Council and the Markfield Beam Engine and Museum (MBEAM) Trustees currently have a rolling licence to occupy the building, which they open monthly to the visiting public. During the development of the park, Haringey’s Libraries, Archives & Museum Service have made a commitment to take on the management of the Museum and a legal agreement is in the process of being drawn up to finalise this arrangement. They will work in partnership with the MBEAM Trustees to increase the audiences to the Museum and turn it into a marketable visitor attraction. See section 24 in the application folders for further details.

As Markfield started life as a sewage pumping site, it has a water based history that has continued until the present day. The park is situated on a floodplain and there are two major watercourses that flow through the park, the culverted Stonebridge Brook and the open channel of the Old Moselle Brook. Both discharge into the River Lee that forms the eastern boundary of the park. The Old Moselle Brook flows adjacent to the railway line which forms the northern boundary of the park and because of safety fencing, cannot be easily accessed from the park.

Markfield Park is located within an Area of Archaeological Importance (AAI) as it is located within the Lee Valley Regional Park. The Lee Valley is one of the greatest potential archaeological areas in the borough, as the alluvial floodplains and resources have been exploited since the earliest times. Remains from the pre-historic periods, including wooden structures and a dug out canoe have been recovered, as has evidence for early occupation areas. The Lee was used as a navigation route in the Roman period, and remains from this date are common. By the medieval period much of the river was in use, with farmsteads located on its banks. A quay was established at Tottenham Hale, and watermills are known from the Ferry Lane area. The waterlogged conditions of ground adjacent to the Lee can lead to excellent survival of organic and environmental remains, and such deposits are very important to our understanding of past environments and land conditions. The site is also designated as a Site of Industrial Heritage Interest because of the former sewage works.

Works proposed for Markfield Park
In the autumn of 2005, consultation took place with the main stakeholders of the park in order for Recreation Services to make a Growth Area Fund bid to the then Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (now Communities and Local Government CLG). This process started people thinking about how Markfield could be improved and interest really started to grow when the application was approved and the park was awarded £1 million in February 2006. From April 2006 onwards, a team of consultants were appointed by Haringey to produce plans that would bring about the regeneration of Markfield Park. Additional consultation has taken place since then with the result being that a full masterplan for the park and buildings has been produced. The full funding package has been secured –
CLG £1 million
Heritage Lottery Fund £1.5 million
Big Lottery Fund play allocation £110,000
Haringey capital resources £525,000
Football Foundation £328,000
Total £3.5 million

The works will take place in 2 stages.
Stage 1 is already taking place in the park – new café construction, full regeneration of the playground and drainage improvement works to the Old Moselle Brook.
Stages 2 and 3 starting in September 2008 – extensive park landscaping and building improvement works to the pavilion, Museum and Markfield Project.