Queens Park is a park in

Invercargill Invercargill ( , mi, Waihōpai is the southernmost and westernmost city in New Zealand, and one of the southernmost cities in the world. It is the commercial centre of the Southland region. The city lies in the heart of the wide expanse of t ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

, and was part of the original plan when Invercargill was founded in 1856. The park is in extent. It is just north of the city centre, bounded by Queens Drive to the east, Kelvin Street to the west, Gala Street to the south and Herbert Street to the north. The Gala Street entrance features the Feldwick Gates, built in 1924 and named after John Feldwick, brother of MP Henry Feldwick. The park has an 18-hole golf course, a botanical garden, an aviary and sports grounds. It is also the home to the Southland Museum and Art Gallery and the

Southland Astronomical Society Observatory Southland Astronomical Society Observatory in Invercargill is New Zealand's southernmost observatory. Operated by Southland Astronomical Society but owned by the Southland Museum and Art Gallery, it is situated on the western side of the museum bui ...

. The cricket ground in the park is the home ground of the

Southland cricket team The Southland cricket team represents the Southland Region of New Zealand. They compete in the Hawke Cup. Early history Southland first played interprovincial cricket in 1864, and often played against touring teams from Australia, Fiji and Engl ...

, and is also regularly used by the

Otago cricket team The Otago cricket team, nicknamed the Volts since the 1997–98 season, are a New Zealand first-class cricket team which first played representative cricket in 1864. The team represents the Otago, Southland and North Otago regions of New Zeala ...

for first-class and one-day matches. However, in September 2021, the cricket ground was stripped of its first-class status due to drainage issues. The park also gives its name to one of Invercargill's

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

clubs, Queens Park A.F.C. On the northern edge of the park are

Waihopai School Gladstone is a suburb of New Zealand's southernmost city, Invercargill. The area is low-lying and at risk from flooding and sea level rise. History The suburb was targeted during a six week burglary spree in December 2019 and January 2020. In ...

(formerly Waihopai Primary School) and

Southland Boys' High School Southland Boys' High School (SBHS) is an all-boys school in Invercargill, New Zealand, and has been the only one in the city since Marist Brothers was merged with St Catherines to form Verdon College in 1982. History SBHS was founded in 1881 an ...

. Despite being within the bounded areas of the park, neither are considered a part of it.

Notable events

The park co-hosted (along with Southland Boys' High School) the

2006 State Twenty20 Cricket Knock-Out Tournament The 2006 State Twenty20 Cricket Knock-Out Tournament was a domestic Twenty20 tournament in New Zealand. The tournament was held in Invercargill on 10-12 November 2006. A prize of $30,000 was on offer for the winners of the tournament. Teams re ...

, on 10–12 November 2006. The final round of the tournament was set to be played at Queens Park but due to bad weather only 4 of the scheduled 9 matches took place. The weekly Saturday Invercargill

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 at Queens Park. Organized by volunteers, the 5km run welcomes all runners with all fitness levels. In July 2020, the Invercargill parkrun become one of the first in the world to resume after

Covid-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickly ...

halted the weekly event in early 2020.

References

External links

New Zealand Tourism Online's article on Queens Park

Queens Park history at Invercargill City Council website
{{Coord, -46.4016, 168.3560, region:NZ-STL, display=title 1856 establishments in New Zealand Parks in Invercargill Sports venues in Invercargill Cricket grounds in New Zealand Protected areas of Southland, New Zealand