Canons Park is largely located on the site of the magnificent early 18th-century country house Cannons built between 1713 and 1725 by James Brydges, 1st Duke of Chandos. A few years after the Duke's death in 1744 this house was also demolished. The current building on the site housing the North London Collegiate School was built about 1760 by the gentleman cabinet-maker William Hallett. The original house-site, transformed into ambitious Edwardian gardens was bought in 1929 by the school for £17,500 (). A large portion of the original gardens of James Brydges' house now form the public pleasure gardens of Canons Park. The modern park includes the Memorial Gardens, a folly known as 'the Temple' (not to be confused with a different folly of the same name within the North London Collegiate School grounds) and an orchard.