Tyndall Park
Tyndall Park is a vibrant, 4.5-hectare community hub in Saanich that seamlessly blends premier soccer facilities and accessible walking trails with a rich, 19th-century local history.
Location
Saanich
About
Tyndall Park is a 4.5-hectare community park located in the Gordon Head area of Saanich.
The park offers a blend of athletic facilities and scenic walking routes for the community to enjoy.
Facilities & amenities
The park is a major hub for local athletics and serves as the proud home of the Saanich Fusion Football Club. It features multiple soccer fields, including an artificial turf field with a dedicated practice box, the Doug Day field, and a club house.
Washrooms: For the convenience of all visitors, a universal washroom is open year-round. It is located on the lower level of the club house, right next to the artificial turf field.
Parking: A dedicated parking lot is accessible directly from Tyndall Avenue.
Trails and pathways: A main asphalt walking pathway smoothly connects the park to San Juan Avenue, while additional gravel trails provide a peaceful walking link to Bartholomew Place (source).
Park history & evolution
While the park is a bustling community fixture today, it took many years, stretching past 1996, for Tyndall Park to be developed into what it is now. Because of a nearby school, the land on which the park currently sits was originally owned by the school board (source: Saanich Archives team).
Interestingly, while the park is well-established today, the Saanich Parks Division notes that there is no official acquisition date recorded for the park.
The origins of the land: The Dodd Family
The history of the land dates back to the mid-19th century. The property was originally part of a 276-acre plot (Section 84 Gordon Head, bordered by Torquay Drive, Pamona Way, and Kenmore Drive), which was purchased in 1859 by Captain Charles Dodd and his wife, Grace McTavish Dodd.
Captain Dodd was an employee of the Hudson’s Bay Company who married Grace at Fort Vancouver in 1842 when she was fourteen. Grace was the daughter of fur trader J.G. McTavish and his Cree wife, Nancy McKenzie. When Charles died in 1860, Grace was left with seven children, who were placed under the guardianship of William Fraser Tolmie and Roderick Finlayson. The Gordon Head property was held in trust for the children, though Grace had use of it during her lifetime.
In 1864, Grace married Alfred Gorridge, an abusive man rumored to be after the Dodd estate. Their troubled marriage and subsequent separation were highly publicized in local newspapers at the time. Grace eventually passed away in Oregon in 1881, and the Gordon Head property was divided among the Dodd children (Source: Saanich Parks Division).
What’s in a name? The origin of "Tyndall"
When the Dodd family property was later subdivided and the initial roads were mapped out, "Tyndall" became one of the dividing lines of the subdivision (Source: Saanich Parks Division).
How did it get its name? Local historians, including author Ursula Jupp in her book From Cordwood to Campus, suggest that the name Tyndall is actually a misspelling of "Tynedale." The name was likely chosen by the Charles Dodds to honour the Tynedale Valley in Northumberland, England (on the border with Scotland), which was the ancestral home of the Dodd family. The name appeared as "Tyndal" on a 1915 map of Saanich before becoming the Tyndall Avenue, and subsequently Tyndall Park, we know today (Source: Saanich Parks Division).
Lands
The District of Saanich lies within the territories of the lək̓ʷəŋən peoples represented by the Songhees and Esquimalt Nations and the W̱SÁNEĆ peoples represented by the W̱JOȽEȽP (Tsartlip), BOḰEĆEN (Pauquachin), SȾÁUTW̱ (Tsawout), W̱SIḴEM (Tseycum) and MÁLEXEȽ (Malahat) Nations.
Amenities
Parking
Walking trails
Washroom
Online
Tyndall Park @Saanich.ca
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