Buile Hill Park
Buile Hill Park is a Grade II listed public park in Pendleton Salford, Greater Manchester, England.[1][2]
In 1825, cotton merchant John Potter, founder of the first Little Circle, bought land outside Pendleton on which to build a country house. After he died in the house in 1830, his son Thomas Potter, the first mayor of Manchester lived on the estate.[1]
Salford Borough Council already owned land in the area. In 1590, victims of the plague had been buried in Hart Hill Meadow, which had been bought by the local authorities.[1][2]
After his death, Thomas Potter left Buile Hill estate to the nation. On 17 June 1876, Seedley Park was merged by the council with the Buile Hill estate and the former Springfield Estate and Hart Hill Estates to form Buile Hill Park.[1] In 1906, the former Buile Hill House opened to the public, and in 1906 opened as a natural history museum. In 1975 the Lancashire Museum of Mining opened in the house, closed in 2000, after which the house was renovated as a conference centre.[1][2]
In 1906, the tennis courts opened, followed in 1934 by the 18 hole pitch and putt course. In 1938, a cafe was opened in the former Buile Hill estate conservatory.[2]
During both world wars, Buile Hill has been use as a military base. In World War I it became the site of an anti-Zeppelin gun base, while in World War II it became home to a Barrage balloon attachment. Resultantly, in 1940 the German Luftwaffe dropped a bomb on Buile Hill.[1][2]
After the end of the war, and an amount of refurbishment, the park reopened to the public in 1948. In 1963, a garden for the blind opened, and in 1972 Pets Corner.[2]
People noted to have visited the park include Pendlebury artist L.S. Lowry, a local rent collector, and author Frances Hodgson Burnett who wrote her classic children's novel The Secret Garden during one of her many visits to the estate house.[1]
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Coordinates: 53°29′30.49″N 2°18′37.62″W / 53.4918028°N 2.3104500°W