Marking the completion this year of an ambitious £9million project to revitalise the park and bring the House back into public use, Wesley Kerr said: “London is unique among world cities for its large number of publicly owned country mansions which with their estates have survived intact at the heart of outstanding public parks. Clissold House and Park are among the finest in London, and the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) and Big Lottery Fund (BIG) are immensely proud to have awarded a grant of £4.46million to this superb restoration of the beautiful Georgian house, the pleasure grounds, park, buildings, trees and watercourses, including a section of the 400 year old New River.   The play areas are already a great hit with locals, there’s an imaginative programme of events and activities and a great new café. Serendipitously we re-open the House 125 years after the Act of Parliament making it public property; greatly cherished by locals then, since and in centuries to come; and the first of nine park restorations HLF has supported to be launched in greater London this Jubilee and Olympic year.”

Hackney's Mayor, Jules Pipe said:  "Hackney Council is committed to investing in and improving its parks and open spaces, and we are lucky to have more green spaces than any other inner London borough. Public spaces like Clissold Park – in which we have invested around £4.1million - are important to Hackney's residents as many don't have access to gardens. Thanks to the Heritage Lottery Fund and Big Lottery Fund sharing the cost, we have been able to beautifully restore Clissold House and make improvements to the park. We are looking forward to continuing to work closely with the Clissold Park User Group to ensure the Park and House becomes the community hub that we know it can be."

Further information:
HLF Press Office: Vicky Wilford, HLF press office; 020 7591 6046, email vickyw@hlf.org.uk