War Memorial Park, Coventry
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The War Memorial Park is a large park of about 48.5 hectares situated in southern Coventry.[1] The park was opened in July 1921 as a tribute to the 2,587[2] Coventrians who died between 1914 and 1918 fighting in the First World War. The most prominent construction in the park is the Coventry war memorial monument, which was built in 1927.[2][3]
The park's features include football pitches, bowling greens, a small golf course, tennis courts, a paddling pool, an aviary for small birds, and a skate board area, but it mainly comprises large open green areas with many trees and shrubberies. A perimeter path lies just inside the park's boundaries, and now encircles the entire park following completion of groundwork on the south-western segment in the Summer of 2006.
Visitors can leave their cars in the park's main car park and catch a bus to Coventry City Centre.
The park is the venue for a number of annual events including the Godiva Festival and the Donkey Derby, but after bad weather in the summer of 2007, the Donkey Derby was held at Hearsall Common, Earlsdon.[4]
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[edit] The monument
The war memorial monument is most prominent construction in the park. It was designed by local architect T. F. Tinker and £5,000 was raised from a public appeal that commenced in 1924 to fund the building work.[5] It was built in 1927 and dedicated by Field Marshall Douglas Haig on 8 October 1927.[2][6]
[edit] Car parks
The main car park is a large tarmaced area with access from Kenilworth Road. Travel De Courcey (in conjunction with Coventry City Council and Centro PTE) operates a Park & Ride scheme between this car park and Coventry city centre. There is also a much smaller car park on Coat of Arms Bridge Road on the southern side of the park and another small car park near the northern end of Leamington Road.
 A "park and ride" bus at the bus stop on the western side of the main car park. |
 A white "park and ride" bus |
 The main car park |
 Recycling point at the eastern side of the main car park |
 Steps at the base of the war memorial |
_13s06.JPG/120px-Memorial_park_(fields)_13s06.JPG) Fields |
 The small aviary |
 The skate board and BMX area |
 View from the south of the park looking northeast |
 A bowling green |
 Tennis courts |
 An old section of the perimeter path on the west side of the park. |
[edit] References
- ^ AA Street by Street. Coventry Rugby, 2nd edition (May 2003), AA Publishing, p38-39.
- ^ a b c Douglas, Alton (February 1991). Coventry: A Century of News. Coventry Evening Telegraph, p. 33. ISBN 0902464361.
- ^ Remembering those who perished. icCoventry.co.uk (2007-10-08). Retrieved on 2007-10-10.
- ^ Donkey Derby moves to Hearsall Common. Coventry City Council (2 August 2007). Retrieved on 2007-10-01.
- ^ McGrory, David. The illustrated history of Coventry's suburbs. Breedon Books, p. 114. ISBN 1859833438.
- ^ Remembering those who perished. icCoventry.co.uk (2007-10-08). Retrieved on 2007-10-10.
