Royal Victoria Park, Bath

Royal Victoria Park

The park overlooked by the Royal Crescent
Location Bath England
Area 57 acres (23 ha)
Created 1830
Operated by Bath and North East Somerset
Status Open all year

Royal Victoria Park is located in Bath, England. It was opened in 1830 by the 11 year old Princess Victoria,[1] it was the first park to carry her name, and includes an obelisk dedicated to her. It was privately run as part of the Victorian public park movement until 1921 when it was taken over by the Bath Corporation.

The park is overlooked by the Royal Crescent and consists of 57 acres (231,000 m²) with attractions that include a skateboard ramp, tennis, bowling a putting green and 12 and 18 hole golf course, a boating pond, open air concerts, a children's play area and a 9-acre (36,000 m²) botanical garden.

It has received a "Green Flag award", the national standard for parks and green spaces in England and Wales and is registered by English Heritage on the Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in England.[2]

Contents

The Botanical Gardens

The gardens were formed in 1887 and contain one of the finest collections of plants on limestone in the West country. The replica of a Roman Temple was used at the British Empire Exhibition at Wembley in 1924.[4] In 1987 the gardens were extended to include the Great Dell, a disused quarry that was formally part of the park, which contains a large collection of conifers.

2007 restoration

In 2007 a programme of reconstruction and restoration was undertaken by Bath and North East Somerset Council and supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund. This included the renovation of two lion statues on plinths each side of the Queen’s Gate entrance to the park, replacing the original iron supports inside the limbs, returning them to their bronze colour, and giving each a gilt ball under its front paw. Further work will add two 8 feet (2.4 m) cast iron replicas of the original lanterns and the replacement of the decorative iron gates to the three main entrances to the park. The original gates were removed, along with all the railings around the park, as part of a Second World War national scrap metal campaign.[5]

Gallery

References

External links