Central Park is a park in

Chelmsford Chelmsford () is a 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 Colchester and Southend-on-Sea. It is located north-east of London ...

Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

, 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 at the London end. Co ...

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 va ...

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 (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

the park was the location of a gun emplacement which fired a gun battery 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 normally used. The game was organised and developed in Ireland during the early 20th century, before ...

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 Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, ...

. On the other side of the river there is

Essex County Cricket Club Essex County Cricket Club is one of eighteen first-class county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the historic county of Essex. Founded in 1876, the club had minor county status until 1894 w ...

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 5K run, events for runners, walkers and volunteers that take place every Saturday morning at more than 2,000 locations in 23 countries across five continents. Parkrun was founded by Paul Sinto ...

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