Philips Park, Manchester

Last updated

Philips Park
Philips Park - geograph.org.uk - 1770035.jpg
Philips Park
Philips Park, Manchester
Type Municipal park
Location Manchester, England
Coordinates 53°29′21″N2°11′44″W / 53.48917°N 2.19556°W / 53.48917; -2.19556 Coordinates: 53°29′21″N2°11′44″W / 53.48917°N 2.19556°W / 53.48917; -2.19556
Area31 acres (13 ha)
Created1846 (1846)
Operated by Manchester City Council
Website Philips Park

Philips Park lies in the valley of the River Medlock, in east Manchester, England.

Philips Park provides a mix of woodland, wild grassland, water and rolling hills. The park's other facilities include a visitor centre, park warden service, toilets, children's play area, hard standing ball court, junior football pitch, allotments, community orchard, bowling green and pavilion, a show-field for events, picnic area, seating and quiet areas along with a pond and dipping platform.

The park has a thriving friends group who, alongside the wardens, help organise environmental and educational activities as well as health walks.

Philips Park is well used by the local community and visitors to the area, and is particularly popular for annual events such as Party in the Park, which takes place in the summer as well as hosting one of Manchester's biggest free firework display in November.

Philips Park opened on 22 August 1846 as one of the world's first municipal parks, intended for free use by the public to encourage a mixing of the classes. It was established by funds raised by public subscription and purchased from the 31-acre estate of Lady Hoghton, a local landowner, for £6,200 (approximately £400,000 in today's money). [1]

The formation and opening of the park was largely due to the commitment of Mark Philips, a local MP, who lobbied considerably for the creation of parks for the working people of the city. In 1844, following seven years of intense campaigning, the ‘Committee for Public Walks, Gardens and Playgrounds’ was set up, and the first three parks were opened on the same day in 1846. The popularity of the park continued for over a century. Many of its original features remain to this day, including the carriage drive, serpentine paths, amphitheatre and the Head Gardener's house. Archaeological finds include a Roman coin, minted in the reign of Emperor Gallienus, and a halberd (a type of spear) from the 16th century.

In 2001, the park was given Grade II Listed status with the National Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in England and was awarded its first Green Flag in 2005.

The park is 2 miles east of Manchester city centre and covers almost 31 acres, bounded to the north by the River Medlock which flows westwards in an open terracotta brick culvert with level banks and central channel within stone walls which retain embankments rising almost 8 feet on both sides. To the west is Alan Turing Way (formerly Mill Street) which has a high stone boundary wall topped with 20th century railings between stone piers. The southern boundary has a high 19th century brick wall with housing to the west end and a bus depot to the east end. To the south-east the boundary is an early-20th century brick-arched mineral railway. [2] The park is adjacent to the City of Manchester Stadium, the Manchester Velodrome and Philips Park Cemetery. The area was once heavily industrialised and the site of Bradford Colliery and much of the area has been cleared and landscaped as a country park.

The park's visitor centre is housed in a lodge commissioned in 1868 from the architect Alfred Darbyshire, who also designed Manchester's Palace Theatre.

Related Research Articles

Chorlton-cum-Hardy Human settlement in England

Chorlton-cum-Hardy is a suburban area of Manchester, England, three miles (4.8 km) southwest of the city centre. Chorlton ward had a population of 14,138 at the 2011 census, and Chorlton Park 15,147.

Abbey Park, Leicester

Abbey Park is a public park in Leicester, England, through which the River Soar flows. It is owned and managed by Leicester City Council. It opened in 1882 on the flood plain of the River Soar, and expanded in 1932 to include the area west of the river that had formerly been the medieval St Mary's Abbey, still bounded by large medieval walls. The park includes the archaeological sites of the Abbey and the ruins of Cavendish House, along with a wide range of decorative and recreational parkland features.

Rusholme Human settlement in England

Rusholme is an urban suburb of Manchester, England, about two miles south of the city centre. The population of Rusholme ward at the 2011 census was 13,643. Rusholme is bounded by the neighbourhoods of Chorlton-on-Medlock to the north, Victoria Park and Longsight to the east, Fallowfield to the south and Moss Side to the west. It has a large student population, with several student halls and many students renting terraced houses, and suburban houses towards the Victoria Park area.

Newton Heath Human settlement in England

Newton Heath is an area of Manchester, England, 2.8 miles (4.5 km) north-east of Manchester city centre and with a population of 9,883.

Chorlton-on-Medlock Human settlement in England

Chorlton-on-Medlock is an inner city area of Manchester, England.

Hulme Human settlement in England

Hulme is an inner city area and electoral ward of Manchester, England, immediately south of Manchester city centre. It has a significant industrial heritage.

Clayton, Manchester Human settlement in England

Clayton is a suburb of Manchester, England, 3 miles east of the city centre on Ashton New Road.

Hollingworth Lake

Hollingworth Lake is a 130-acre (53 ha) reservoir at Smithy Bridge in Littleborough, Greater Manchester, England. It was originally built as the main water source for the Rochdale Canal, but developed as a tourist resort from the 1860s. Hotels were built around it, helped by the arrival of the railway in 1839, which brought day-trippers and weekend visitors from Manchester, Bradford and Leeds.

Heaton Park Municipal park in Manchester, England

Heaton Park is a municipal park in Manchester, England, covering an area of over 600 acres (242.8 ha). The park includes the grounds of a Grade I listed, neoclassical 18th century country house, Heaton Hall. The hall, remodelled by James Wyatt in 1772, is now only open to the public on an occasional basis as a museum and events venue.

Bradford-with-Beswick

Bradford-with-Beswick is an inner city area in Manchester, England. It consists of the ancient townships of Bradford, Manchester, and Beswick, Manchester, both in the ancient parish of Manchester and hundred of Salford.

Bradford, Manchester Human settlement in England

Bradford is a district of east Manchester, England, two miles north east of the city centre. The population at the 2011 census was 15,784. Historically in Lancashire, after the closure of its heavy industries Bradford was for many years an economically deprived area but has undergone regeneration with the building of the City of Manchester Stadium which hosted the 2002 Commonwealth Games and is now home to Manchester City F.C.. Bradford is neighboured by Beswick to the south and the two areas are sometimes referred to as Bradford-with-Beswick. The River Medlock and the Ashton Canal run through Bradford.

Birkenhead Park Public park in Birkenhead, Wirral, England

Birkenhead Park is a major public park located in the centre of Birkenhead, Merseyside, England. It was designed by Joseph Paxton and opened on 5 April 1847. It is generally acknowledged as the first publicly funded civic park in the world. The park was designated a conservation area in 1977 and declared a Grade I listed landscape by English Heritage in 1995. The park influenced the design of Central Park in New York and Sefton Park in Liverpool.

Saltwell Park Park in Gateshead, England

Saltwell Park is a Victorian park in Gateshead, Tyne and Wear, England. Opened in 1876, the park was designed by Edward Kemp and incorporates the mansion and associated grounds of the Saltwellgate estate owner, William Wailes, who sold his estate to Gateshead Council for £35,000. Upon opening, it became known as "The People's Park". The park was expanded in 1920 when the council purchased the adjacent gardens to the Saltwell Grove estate and added these to the park. This extended the park's total size to 55 acres (22 ha). Towards the end of the 20th century, the park had fallen into disrepair, but between 1999 and 2005, it was subject to a £9.6 million restoration project, funded collaboratively by the Heritage Lottery Fund and Gateshead Council and is now host to around 2 million visitors per year.

Cusworth Hall C18 country house near Doncaster, England

Cusworth Hall is an 18th-century Grade I listed country house in Cusworth, near Doncaster, South Yorkshire in the north of England. Set in the landscaped parklands of Cusworth Park, Cusworth Hall is a good example of a Georgian country house. It is now a country house museum.

Arley Hall Country house in Cheshire, England

Arley Hall is a country house in the village of Arley, Cheshire, England, about 4 miles (6 km) south of Lymm and 5 miles (8 km) north of Northwich. It is home to the owner, Viscount Ashbrook, and his family. The house is a Grade II* listed building, as is its adjacent chapel. Formal gardens to the southwest of the hall are also listed as Grade II* on the National Register of Historic Parks and Gardens. In the grounds are more listed buildings, a cruck barn being listed as Grade I, and the other buildings as Grade II.

Clayton Vale

Clayton Vale is an area of green space in Clayton, Manchester, through which the River Medlock flows. Redeveloped in 1986, the land has a rich industrial and social history. Today the area is a natural habitat for wildlife and it has been designated a Local Nature Reserve.

Architecture of Manchester Overview of the architecture of Manchester, England

The architecture of Manchester demonstrates a rich variety of architectural styles. The city is a product of the Industrial Revolution and is known as the first modern, industrial city. Manchester is noted for its warehouses, railway viaducts, cotton mills and canals - remnants of its past when the city produced and traded goods. Manchester has minimal Georgian or medieval architecture to speak of and consequently has a vast array of 19th and early 20th-century architecture styles; examples include Palazzo, Neo-Gothic, Venetian Gothic, Edwardian baroque, Art Nouveau, Art Deco and the Neo-Classical.

Philips Park is an area of parkland situated within the Metropolitan Borough of Bury on the boundary of Whitefield and Prestwich, in Greater Manchester. The park consists of rich woodland and grassland habitat and is home to an assortment of wildlife. Two thirds of the site was once the Philips family estate, and the remainder, known as Waterdale, is Irwell Valley land reclaimed following the demolition of two bleach and dye works. The park is a local nature reserve.

Peel Park, Salford Urban park

Peel Park is a public urban park in Salford, Greater Manchester, England, located on the flood plain of the River Irwell below Salford Crescent and adjacent to the University of Salford. It was the first of three public parks to be opened on 22 August 1846, for the people of Manchester and Salford, paid for by public subscription. The park was the main public venue for the 1851 royal visit of Queen Victoria to Manchester and Salford and has been the subject of a number of paintings by the Salford artist, L.S. Lowry.

Haigh Hall

Haigh Hall is a historic country house in Haigh, Metropolitan Borough of Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. Built between 1827 and 1840 for James Lindsay, 7th Earl of Balcarres, it replaced an ancient manor house and was a Lindsay family home until 1947, when it was sold to Wigan Corporation. The hall is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II* listed building and is owned by Metropolitan Borough of Wigan.

References

  1. McGarr, Ben (2013). The Manchester Book of Days. The History Press. p. 241. ISBN   978 0 7524 8308 5.
  2. Philips Park, Manchester, Parks and Gardens UK, archived from the original on 23 December 2012, retrieved 23 October 2011