Gheluvelt 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 ...

Worcester Worcester may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Worcester, England, a city and the county town of Worcestershire in England ** Worcester (UK Parliament constituency), an area represented by a Member of Parliament * Worcester Park, London, Englan ...

, England, which opened on 17 June 1922 to commemorate the

Worcestershire Regiment The Worcestershire Regiment was a line infantry regiment in the British Army, formed in 1881 under the Childers Reforms by the amalgamation of the 29th (Worcestershire) Regiment of Foot and the 36th (Herefordshire) Regiment of Foot. The regimen ...

's 2nd Battalion after their part in Battle of Gheluvelt, a

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

battle that took place on 31 October 1914 in Gheluvelt (near

Ypres Ypres ( , ; nl, Ieper ; vls, Yper; german: Ypern ) is a Belgian city and municipality in the province of West Flanders. Though the Dutch name is the official one, the city's French name is most commonly used in English. The municipality co ...

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

. It was opened by

Field Marshal Field marshal (or field-marshal, abbreviated as FM) is the most senior military rank, ordinarily senior to the general officer ranks. Usually, it is the highest rank in an army and as such few persons are appointed to it. It is considered as ...

John French, 1st Earl of Ypres Field Marshal John Denton Pinkstone French, 1st Earl of Ypres, (28 September 1852 – 22 May 1925), known as Sir John French from 1901 to 1916, and as The Viscount French between 1916 and 1922, was a senior British Army officer. Born in Kent to ...

, who stated, "on that day the 2nd Worcesters saved the British Empire." A plaque inside the park commemorates Captain Gerald Ernest Lea, who died on 15 September 1914 while commanding D. Company of the 2nd Battalion. The park is located in Worcester, along the

A449 The A449 is a major road in the United Kingdom. It runs north from junction 24 of the M4 motorway at Newport in South Wales to Stafford in Staffordshire. The southern section of the road, between Ross on Wye and Newport forms part of the tru ...

(Barbourne Road) and stretches across to the

River Severn , name_etymology = , image = SevernFromCastleCB.JPG , image_size = 288 , image_caption = The river seen from Shrewsbury Castle , map = RiverSevernMap.jpg , map_size = 288 , map_c ...

. The Barbourne Brook, which leads to the Severn, feeds a duck pond within which is a bandstand. The park contains a children's play area and a supervised

paddling pool A swimming pool, swimming bath, wading pool, paddling pool, or simply pool, is a structure designed to hold water to enable swimming or other leisure activities. Pools can be built into the ground (in-ground pools) or built above ground (as ...

. A conservation site is managed by the

Duckworth Worcestershire Trust Cecil Duckworth CBE (1937 – 15 November 2020) was an English businessman and the founder of Worcester Bosch and executive chairman of Rugby Union team Worcester Warriors. He also founded the Worcestershire Duckworth Trust, a Worcestershire cha ...

and, following renovations to the old Victorian Pump House, the Environment Centre provides information about environmental issues as well as

sustainability Specific definitions of sustainability are difficult to agree on and have varied in the literature and over time. The concept of sustainability can be used to guide decisions at the global, national, and individual levels (e.g. sustainable livi ...

. The Friends of Gheluvelt Park organisation helps maintain the parks and organise events such as Carols in the Park and a St George's Day celebration. A significant area of the park, including the children's play area, was flooded by the Severn and the Barbourne Brook during the

2007 United Kingdom floods A series of large floods occurred in parts of the United Kingdom during the summer of 2007. The worst of the flooding occurred across Scotland on 14 June; East Yorkshire and the Midlands on 15 June; Yorkshire, the Midlands, Gloucestershire, Here ...

in July. Gheluvelt Park has received £850,000 from the Heritage Lottery Fund, in order to improve the park. A new play area has been created, a Splash Pad built for toddlers to early teens, the railings have been reinstated along Barbourne Road, and the bandstand has been renovated. Recently, a sculpture costing £33,000 was installed, to symbolise the fallen soldiers, and a funding application has been submitted for outdoor fitness equipment for adults, (2011), including six exercise units and also two concrete table tennis tables. Funding applications have also been made to host a community "Fitness event" in Autumn 2011.

Links

Worcester City Council; accessed 22 November 2005.
Pumphouse Environment Centre
Worcestershire County Council; accessed 22 November 2005.

at ''The Long, Long Trail''; accessed 22 November 2005. {{coord, 52.206634, -2.228336, display=title Buildings and structures completed in 1922 Parks established in the 1920s Protected areas established in 1922 1922 establishments in England Geography of Worcester, England Tourist attractions in Worcester, England Parks and open spaces in Worcestershire