For almost a hundred years it was the hallowed turf where Arsenal Football Club legends trod, greeted by the roar of football fans, but Highbury is now a place of tranquillity and calm.

The Gunners left the stadium, designed by Archibald Leitch and built in the Art Deco style, in 2006 for their new home at the Emirates and it has since been converted into private apartments with the pitch transformed into a minimalist, modern garden comprising evergreen hedges and grassy spaces, intersected by glass walls and water features.

It retains the same dimensions as the old pitch with stone paths reflecting the original chalk lines, a viewing room created from the former boardroom and a memorial garden where people can pay their respects to loved ones whose ashes reside under the pitch.

The garden has been opened up to the public for the first time as part of Open Garden Squares Weekend 2014, which will reveal the beauty of more than 200 little-known green spaces in London.

Tickets have already been awarded by a public ballot, but if you missed out there are plenty of other hidden gems to discover during the event organised by the London Parks and Gardens Trust, from the historic and traditional to the new and experimental.

They include 17 gardens in Islington, including Highbury, 31 in Camden, Queen’s Wood Lodge Organic Garden and Waterlow Park Kitchen Garden in Highgate, Bowes Park Community Garden in Haringey and Pooles Park Primary School in Finsbury Park.

Various venues, Saturday, June 14 and Sunday, June 15. Details: opensquares.org