Central Park is a park in

Chelmsford Chelmsford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in the City of Chelmsford district in the county of Essex, England. It is the county town of Essex and one of three cities in the county, along with Southend-on-Sea and Colchester. It ...

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and Grea ...

, England.

History

The park was originally called the Recreation Ground. In 1842 the

Eastern Counties Railway The Eastern Counties Railway (ECR) was an English railway company incorporated in 1836 intended to link London with Ipswich via Colchester, and then extend to Norwich and Yarmouth. Construction began in 1837 on the first nine miles at the Lond ...

arrived in Chelmsford and an 18 arch

railway viaduct A viaduct is a specific type of bridge that consists of a series of arches, piers or columns supporting a long elevated railway or road. Typically a viaduct connects two points of roughly equal elevation, allowing direct overpass across a wide ...

was built through the ground. In 1917 the council ran its services through a series of committees, each November the mayor was changed and planted an oak tree in the recreation ground, the trees now mature, form an avenue. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

the park was the location of a gun emplacement which fired a

gun battery In military organizations, an artillery battery is a unit or multiple systems of artillery, mortar systems, rocket artillery, multiple rocket launchers, surface-to-surface missiles, ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, etc., so grouped to facil ...

of 64 twin rockets.

Location

The park is in central Chelmsford and formally incorporates two other green spaces - Bell Meadow and Sky Blue Pasture. Admirals Park and Tower Gardens while formally separate are a short walk away and contain further facilities and an additional children's play area. West Park is formally separate but adjacent and contains a

pitch and putt Pitch and putt is an amateur sport very similar to, and derived from, golf, where the hole length is typically up to and just 2–3 clubs are typically used. The game was organised and developed in Ireland during the early 20th century, befo ...

golf course. Noticeable features of the park are the lake, the railway viaduct and the

River Can The River Can is a river in Essex, England. Chelmsford is centred on the confluence of the Can and the River Chelmer. The Can enters Chelmsford from the west, joining the Chelmer to the east of the city. From the confluence, the Can becomes pa ...

. On the other side of the river there is Essex County Cricket Club.

Facilities

There are riverside walks, children's play zones, a cafe, flower beds, picnicking, seating, memorial gardens, a sports area and Marconi Ponds local nature reserve. Chelmsford Central

Parkrun Parkrun (stylised as parkrun) is a collection of events for walkers, runners and volunteers that take place every Saturday morning at more than 2,000 locations in 23 countries across six continents. Junior Parkrun (stylised as junior parkrun) ...

takes place every Saturday morning, the course starts in Central Park, follows the River Can to Admiral Park and then returns.

References

{{reflist Parks and open spaces in Essex Chelmsford