Holden Park
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Holden Park is the only park in the village of Oakworth, West Yorkshire, England. It was given to the people of Oakworth by the family of Sir Isaac Holden in 1927.
Locally it is also known as Oakworth Park.
This park was the former grounds of Sir Isaac's house and garden. It contains the local war memorial, a stone portico entrance which is the only remnant of the former Oakworth House, and the summer house made from a steel framework and hypertufa shaped to look like wooden branches. Past the grottoes and caves there is a large grassed area which used to be the vegetable garden for the house and later a putting green, and above this are the woods, which contain many paths originally laid out by Sir Isaac Holden.
Oakworth House was partially destroyed in a fire in 1907, 10 years after Sir Isaac's death in 1897. On the site of the house there is now a bowls or bowling green, the huge glasshouses are gone and all that is left of the winter gardens are the caves and grottoes created by Sir Isaac.
There is an active Friends of Holden Park group, started in April 2004 from mostly local people, which seeks to preserve and protect the remaining features with support from the local community.
- More information can be found on the Oakworth Village Website
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