South Park is a historic park in Darlington, County Durham, England. It is Grade II listed with

Historic England Historic England (officially the Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England) is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. It is tasked w ...

History

The earliest record of the park dates to the will of Sir James Belasses in 1636, he left Poor Howdens Farm to the town of Darlington for charitable purposes. In 1850 the

trustees Trustee (or the holding of a trusteeship) is a legal term which, in its broadest sense, is a synonym for anyone in a position of trust and so can refer to any individual who holds property, authority, or a position of trust or responsibility to t ...

of the charity suggested it "be used as a park or promenade and a recreation ground for the public at large". This was confirmed in 1851 and two years later the park was opened, it was called Belasses Park after its benefactor, then later it was known as People's Park. The South West corner of the park was formerly the grounds of Polam Hall which is now a school. The park is Grade II listed with

and was the first Victorian park in North East England. The park has an

aviary An aviary is a large enclosure for confining birds, although bats may also be considered for display. Unlike birdcages, aviaries allow birds a larger living space where they can fly; hence, aviaries are also sometimes known as flight cages. Avi ...

whose most famous resident was a

parrot Parrots, also known as psittacines (), are birds of the roughly 398 species in 92 genera comprising the order Psittaciformes (), found mostly in tropical and subtropical regions. The order is subdivided into three superfamilies: the Psittacoide ...

called Max who shocked visitors with his swearing.

Landmarks

The park contains three landmarks; the

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 Grade II listed, and so is the fountain. Polam Lane Bridge over the

River Skerne The River Skerne is a tributary of the River Tees. It flows through County Durham in England. Course The Skerne is about long and begins in Magnesian Limestone hills between Trimdon and Trimdon Grange and ends at Hurworth Place where it ...

gives access to the park and is also Grade II listed.

Facilities

The facilities are a bandstand, play park, multi-use games area, skate park, bowling green, green gym, aviary and cafe. The

pavilion In architecture, ''pavilion'' has several meanings: * It may be a subsidiary building that is either positioned separately or as an attachment to a main building. Often it is associated with pleasure. In palaces and traditional mansions of Asia ...

has a clock tower, there is a refreshment kiosk dating to 1908 and flower beds with a

terracotta Terracotta, terra cotta, or terra-cotta (; ; ), in its material sense as an earthenware substrate, is a clay-based unglazed or glazed ceramic where the fired body is porous. In applied art, craft, construction, and architecture, terracotta ...

jardiniere ''Jardinière'' is a French word, from the feminine form of "gardener". In English it means a decorative flower box or "planter", a receptacle (usually a ceramic pot or urn) or a stand upon which, or into which, plants (often in pots) may be pl ...

. To the North there is a lake with three islands, the perimeter of which was planted with poplars. The park has held a

Green Flag Award The Green Flag Award is an international accreditation given to publicly accessible parks and open spaces, managed under licence from the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, a UK Government department, by Keep Britain Tidy, ...

since 2006.

Darlington South Park Bowls Club

The park is home to a historic and prestigious Bowls Club that was formed in March 1896 (originally as Darlington Park Bowls Club). Although the facility is owned by Darlington Borough Council, the green and changing rooms that are within Clocktower Lodge are run by the bowls club.

References

{{Darlington Parks and open spaces in County Durham Darlington