Allesley Park is a

park A park is an area of natural, semi-natural or planted space set aside for human enjoyment and recreation or for the protection of wildlife or natural habitats. Urban parks are urban green space, green spaces set aside for recreation inside t ...

near

Coventry Coventry ( or ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. It is on the River Sherbourne. Coventry has been a large settlement for centuries, although it was not founded and given its ...

West Midlands West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. It is also the name of the residential suburb adjacent to the park, which is approximately 2.5 miles (4 km) northwest of Coventry city centre, just east of the A45 Coventry bypass.

History

The park was originally a deer park laid out by

Henry de Hastings Henry de Hastings (c. 1235–c. 1268) of Ashill, Norfolk,G. E. Cokayne, ''The Complete Peerage'', n.s., vol.VI, p.345 was a supporter of Simon de Montfort in his rebellion against King Henry III. He led the Londoners at the Battle of Lewes in 1264 ...

in the 13th century. It was approximately 5 times larger than the current park. It was later used as a large

gentleman's farm In the United Kingdom, the United States, and Canada, a gentleman farmer is a landowner who has a farm (gentleman's farm) as part of his estate and who farms mainly for pleasure rather than for profit or sustenance. The Collins English Diction ...

of more than which was owned by the church. In the 1960s, it was bought by

Coventry City Council Coventry City Council is the local government body responsible for the governance of the City of Coventry in England, which has been a metropolitan district since 1974. The city is divided up into 18 Wards each with three councillors. Coventry ...

when it was preserved as a public park. The residential area of Allesley Park was constructed between the 1950s and 1970s and lies directly south of the park, bounded by the districts of

Chapelfields Chapelfields (also written Chapel Fields) is a suburb of Coventry, West Midlands, England. It is situated about 1.5 miles to the west of Coventry City Centre; bordering Coundon to the north, Earlsdon to the south, Spon End to the east and W ...

to the east, Mount Nod to the west and

Whoberley Whoberley is a residential suburb of the City of Coventry in the West Midlands, England. The population of the Coventry Ward at the 2011 census was 15,903. Situated approximately 2 miles to the west of the city centre, it borders Allesley ...

to the south.

Allesley Hall

The first Allesley Hall was built in the mid-17th century, but had been rebuilt before the mid-19th century, when Thomas Wyles purchased it to establish Allesley Park College, which operated until 1886. The second structure was demolished in 1908, and the present Allesley Hall mansion was built in 1909 for the newspaper magnate Iliffe family. It is now used as a

retirement home A retirement home – sometimes called an old people's home or old age home, although ''old people's home'' can also refer to a nursing home – is a multi-residence housing facility intended for the elderly. Typically, each person or couple i ...

, but was a

sanatorium A sanatorium (from Latin '' sānāre'' 'to heal, make healthy'), also sanitarium or sanitorium, are antiquated names for specialised hospitals, for the treatment of specific diseases, related ailments and convalescence. Sanatoriums are often ...

during the 1950s.

References

Parks in Coventry {{WestMidlands-geo-stub