Alexandra Park is a public

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 ...

located in

Hastings Hastings () is a large seaside town and borough in East Sussex on the south coast of England, east to the county town of Lewes and south east of London. The town gives its name to the Battle of Hastings, which took place to the north-west ...

East Sussex East Sussex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England on the English Channel coast. It is bordered by Kent to the north and east, West Sussex to the west, and Surrey to the north-west. The largest settlement in East Su ...

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 ...

. Originally named St Andrews Gardens at its opening in 1864, it was then redesigned by

Robert Marnock Robert Marnock (1800–1889) was one of the outstanding English horticulturalists and garden designers of the 19th century. He was considered by his contemporaries to be the best exponent of the Gardenesque school of landscape gardening. Life Bef ...

during 1877.Hastings History Wiki
/ref> The park grew in a series of increments and now occupies approximately of the town. Its linear area stretches from the town centre out to residential areas. It was formally opened by the

Prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. Th ...

and

Princess of Wales Princess of Wales (Welsh: ''Tywysoges Cymru'') is a courtesy title used since the 14th century by the wife of the heir apparent to the English and later British throne. The current title-holder is Catherine (née Middleton). The title was firs ...

on 26 June 1882, and named after the latter. During 1998, much of the lower portion of the park was closed and given to an ambitious storm drain project by

Southern Water Southern Water is the private utility company responsible for the public wastewater collection and treatment in Hampshire, the Isle of Wight, West Sussex, East Sussex and Kent, and for the public water supply and distribution in approximately ...

, which also involved tunnelling in several other areas throughout the town. At the close of the project, the park's lawns and entrances were returned to their original state as designed by Marnock. In April 2004, the park was officially reopened by

Charlie Dimmock Charlotte Elouise Dimmock (born 10 August 1966) is an English gardening expert and television presenter. She was a member of the team on ''Ground Force'', a BBC gardening makeover programme, airing from 1997 to 2005. Since then, Dimmock has pr ...

and the Mayor of Hastings after a large regeneration scheme costing £3.46m. Initial surveys suggest that park visitor numbers have dramatically increased since the completion of the scheme. The whole park is grade II listed

Wildlife

The park fauna consists of

grey squirrels Gray squirrel or grey squirrel may refer to several species of squirrel indigenous to North America: *The eastern gray squirrel (''Sciurus carolinensis''), from the eastern United States and southeastern Canada; introduced into the United Kingdom, I ...

Canada geese The Canada goose (''Branta canadensis''), or Canadian goose, is a large wild goose with a black head and neck, white cheeks, white under its chin, and a brown body. It is native to the arctic and temperate regions of North America, and it is o ...

and

mallard ducks The mallard () or wild duck (''Anas platyrhynchos'') is a dabbling duck that breeds throughout the temperate and subtropical Americas, Eurasia, and North Africa, and has been introduced to New Zealand, Australia, Peru, Brazil, Uruguay, Argen ...

as well as an array of different bird life.

Facilities

Full train at Alexander Park Miniature Railway

The park features several small water reservoirs that provide popular locations for leisure fishing within the town. The lower area of the park has several public facilities including a lake, war memorial, bowls green, information point, toilets, café, events areas, bandstand and adventure playground. There is a water thoroughfare all around the park linking the reservoirs. There is a gauge miniature railway at the northern end of the park.

Events

The park used to host the annual Hastings Beer and Music Festival, which takes place in July, but now takes place on The Oval showground. In addition, the open air

bandstand A bandstand (sometimes music kiosk) is a circular, semicircular or polygonal structure set in a park, garden, pier, or indoor space, designed to accommodate musical bands performing concerts. A simple construction, it both creates an orname ...

is used for various band concerts throughout the summer months. Further up the park there is a

Chalybeate Chalybeate () waters, also known as ferruginous waters, are mineral spring waters containing salts of iron. Name The word ''chalybeate'' is derived from the Latin word for steel, , which follows from the Greek word . is the singular form of ...

Spring.

References

{{Reflist

External links

Park information, including history of the parkInformation on the cafe
Hastings Parks and open spaces in East Sussex 7¼ in gauge railways in England