Park Buildings

Buildings and glass houses can be seen on Ordnance Survey maps from 1901 onwards, by the eastern boundary and slightly north of Greenfield Avenue. The 1938 Buildings and Equipment Inventory listed these and other buildings:

According to Ordnance Survey maps an additional building was placed in this position between the 1950s and 1970s, and this was a wooden hut that served as a mess room. Opposite the kidney shaped lily pond a short path led north east to the mess room. This was burnt down in the 1990s.[1] Up the hill, the main path lead to a double gateway into a fenced off area which reached as far as the brow of the hill.

Inside the fenced area were a potting shed beside the gateway, a glass house and two cold frames as well as lean-to sheds against the eastern boundary. These sheds stored tools, machinery and chemicals together with a cast iron stove.[1]

Drinking fountain

The buildings as they existed in the 1980s

In the mid 1990s these buildings were demolished and a playground created there. The playground was removed in the late 1990s.[1][2]

The park rangers' hut was destroyed by fire on Saturday 18th April 1992,[3] and a replacement for this was approved in October 1993, along with demolition of a derelict toilet building at the entrance to the park. The new building was to be constructed in brick, at the entrance to the park, and would include both park rangers' office and public toilet.[4] In 2019, after being disused for some years, this building was converted to a coffee bar.

Sources of information

  1. Personal communication (PH)
  2. Personal communication (TD)
  3. Leisure and Amenities Committee 1st May 1992
  4. Leisure and Amenities Committee 4th October 1993