Joseph Grimaldi Park
the park where clowns come to pay respects
A tiny park in Islington that has quietly become a place of pilgrimage for clowns, with a musical grave you can dance on.
Free to visit · Islington · King's Cross St Pancras · N1 9RU
Opening: Daily, daylight hours
This small green square behind Pentonville Road is named after Joseph Grimaldi, the man who more or less invented the modern clown in Regency London, and who is buried here. To this day clowns visit to pay their respects, and once a year a service is held in his memory nearby with performers in full costume.
The clever surprise is the grave itself. The artist Henry Krokatsis laid two coffin-shaped bronze tiles into the ground, and if you dance across them they chime out the tune of Grimaldi's famous song. It is a free, faintly daft, genuinely lovely thing to stumble on in a city park.
Getting there: Off Pentonville Road on Rodney Street, a few minutes from King's Cross and Angel.
Best time to go: Any quiet weekday. The clowns gather in numbers each year on the first Sunday in February at nearby Holy Trinity church.
Insider tip: Find the two coffin-shaped bronze plates set in the path and jump from one to the other. They are tuned, and a little dance plays out Grimaldi's old song 'Hot Codlins' under your feet.
Free things to do in London · London Free Guide