The Park, University of Gloucestershire () is a community green space in

Cheltenham Cheltenham (), also known as Cheltenham Spa, is a spa town and borough on the edge of the Cotswolds in the county of Gloucestershire, England. Cheltenham became known as a health and holiday spa town resort, following the discovery of mineral s ...

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean. The county town is the city of Gl ...

.Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust online on The Park
/ref> The site is owned and managed by the

University of Gloucestershire , mottoeng = In Spirit and Truth , established = , type = Public , endowment = £2.4 m (2015) , chancellor = Rennie Fritchie, Baroness Fritchie , vice_chancellor ...

History of The Park Estate

A local solicitor called Thomas Billings purchased the site in 1831 and put plans in train for Gloucestershire Zoological, Botanical and Horticultural Gardens. This was an ambitious project which eventually failed. It is reported that it was to be opened officially on the day of Queen Victoria's coronation in 1838. Elements of the original plans remain which include the ''Elephant Walk'' and the lake which is in the shape of Africa.'Exploring the grounds of The Park – The history and wildlife of this beautiful University of Gloucestershire site', (undated), Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust and University of Gloucestershire joint publication'History of The Park Estate', April 2009, University of Gloucestershire/Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust
/ref> The Park is teardrop shaped and at the point of the teardrop is the building which was to be the entrance to the Gardens, which is called ''Cornerways'' and has a high tower. The original design included a grand promenade and a crescent of villas and was engraved by J. Fisher. The site was sold to architect Samuel Whitfield Daukes in 1839. Dawkes developed The Park as 'pleasure grounds' and designed and had built the villas around it. There are a set of entrance gates which remain from this period, and Fullwood House in the grounds provides a point of interest within the landscape. Daukes also designed a number of other buildings in Cheltenham. A publication provides a graphical image of the teardrop layout, historical information and species information.

Habitat

The site includes grassland meadow, wooded glades, shrubberies, and hedgerows. It has an ornamental lake. The site is relatively secluded and quiet. It attracts a range of fauna and supports interesting flora. There are some 900 trees in The Park which are native and non-native species. This is considered to be a locally unique collection. Some of the trees date back to the early 1800s. They are generally numbered or marked with a small yellow dot. The trees have been obtained from different parts of the world including the

United States of America The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territo ...

and

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

. A publication details and illustrates a range of some 43 trees of interest and lists shrubs.Hickey, M, 1991, 'Trees & Shrubs of The Park', Cheltenham & Gloucester College of Higher Education

Trees and shrubs

The trees include evergreen conifers, deciduous conifers and broad-leaved trees and are detailed in two publications. Evergreen conifers of interest include

common yew ''Taxus baccata'' is a species of evergreen tree in the family Taxaceae, native to western, central and southern Europe (including Britain and Ireland), northwest Africa, northern Iran, and southwest Asia.Rushforth, K. (1999). ''Trees of Britain ...

(planted c. 1831),

giant sequoia ''Sequoiadendron giganteum'' (giant sequoia; also known as giant redwood, Sierra redwood, Sierran redwood, California big tree, Wellingtonia or simply big treea nickname also used by John Muir) is the sole living species in the genus ''Sequoiade ...

(planted c. 1889),

cedar of Lebanon ''Cedrus libani'', the cedar of Lebanon or Lebanese cedar (), is a species of tree in the genus cedrus, a part of the pine family, native to the mountains of the Eastern Mediterranean basin. It is a large evergreen conifer that has great religi ...

(planted c. 1944),

cedar Cedar may refer to: Trees and plants *''Cedrus'', common English name cedar, an Old-World genus of coniferous trees in the plant family Pinaceae *Cedar (plant), a list of trees and plants known as cedar Places United States * Cedar, Arizona * ...

s (planted c. 1979),

blue Atlas cedar ''Cedrus atlantica'', the Atlas cedar, is a species of tree in the pine family Pinaceae, native to the Rif and Atlas Mountains of Morocco (Middle Atlas, High Atlas), and to the Tell Atlas in Algeria.Gaussen, H. (1964). Genre ''Cedrus''. Les ...

(planted c. 1969), and

common oak ''Quercus robur'', commonly known as common oak, pedunculate oak, European oak or English oak, is a species of flowering plant in the beech and oak family, Fagaceae. It is a large tree, native to most of Europe west of the Caucasus. It is wide ...

(planted 1839 - 1859). Deciduous conifers of interest include dawn redwoods (planted c. 1989) and

European larch ''Larix decidua'', the European larch, is a species of larch native to the mountains of central Europe, in the Alps and Carpathian Mountains as well as the Pyrenees, with disjunct lowland populations in northern Poland and southern Lithuania. It ...

. Broad-leaved trees include the

tulip tree ''Liriodendron'' () is a genus of two species of characteristically large trees, deciduous over most of their populations, in the magnolia family (Magnoliaceae). These trees are widely known by the common name tulip tree or tuliptree for their ...

(planted c. 1964), false acacia or locust tree (planted c. 1869 - 1889),

London plane London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a major se ...

(planted c. 1879) and strawberry tree (planted 1959). Old

hazel The hazel (''Corylus'') is a genus of deciduous trees and large shrubs native to the temperate Northern Hemisphere. The genus is usually placed in the birch family Betulaceae,Germplasmgobills Information Network''Corylus''Rushforth, K. (1999). ...

coppice Coppicing is a traditional method of woodland management which exploits the capacity of many species of trees to put out new shoots from their stump or roots if cut down. In a coppiced wood, which is called a copse, young tree stems are repeated ...

stools exist in some of the shrubs borders.

Flowers

An important species (nationally scarce) found on the site is

ivy broomrape ''Orobanche hederae'', the ivy broomrape, is, like other members of the genus ''Orobanche'', a parasitic plant without chlorophyll, and thus totally dependent on its host, which is ivy. It grows to , with stems in shades of brown and purple, some ...

. This parasitic plant is already recorded in Gloucestershire in various localities. It grows on

ivy ''Hedera'', commonly called ivy (plural ivies), is a genus of 12–15 species of evergreen climbing or ground-creeping woody plants in the family Araliaceae, native to western, central and southern Europe, Macaronesia, northwestern Africa and ...

. There are thick areas of 'Irish ivy' within the grounds. Wooded areas and hedgerow areas support hybrid bluebells (''

Hyacinthoides non-scripta ''Hyacinthoides non-scripta'' (formerly ''Endymion non-scriptus'' or ''Scilla non-scripta'') is a bulbous perennial plant, found in Atlantic areas from north-western Spain to the British Isles, and also frequently used as a garden plant. It is ...

'' and ''

Hyacinthoides hispanica ''Hyacinthoides hispanica'' ( syn. ''Endymion hispanicus'' or ''Scilla hispanica''), the Spanish bluebell, is a spring-flowering bulbous perennial native to the Iberian Peninsula. It is one of around a dozen species in the genus ''Hyacinthoides'' ...

''). The meadow areas support a range of species which include

red campion ''Silene dioica'' ( syn. ''Melandrium rubrum''), known as red campion and red catchfly, is a herbaceous flowering plant in the family Caryophyllaceae, native throughout central, western and northern Europe, and locally in southern Europe. It has ...

, primrose,

nettle-leaved bellflower ''Campanula trachelium'', the nettle-leaved bellflower, is a species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the la ...

, enchanter's nightshade,

garlic mustard ''Alliaria petiolata'', or garlic mustard, is a Biennial plant, biennial flowering plant in the mustard family (Brassicaceae). It is native to Europe, western and central Asia, north-western Africa, Morocco, Iberian Peninsula, Iberia and the ...

hedge woundwort ''Stachys sylvatica'', commonly known as hedge woundwort, whitespot, or sometimes as hedge nettle, is a perennial herbaceous plant growing to tall in woodland and unmanaged grassland. In temperate zones of the northern hemisphere it flowers in ...

, upright hedge parsley and green alkanet. The car park areas have been constructed of ' grass pavers' and support species such as

yarrow ''Achillea millefolium'', commonly known as yarrow () or common yarrow, is a flowering plant in the family Asteraceae. Other common names include old man's pepper, devil's nettle, sanguinary, milfoil, soldier's woundwort, and thousand seal. The ...

, black medick and wild strawberry.

Bird life

The ornamental lake, with its boathouse, is a focus for birds such as

mallard The mallard () or wild duck (''Anas platyrhynchos'') is a dabbling duck that breeds throughout the temperate and subtropical Americas, Eurasia, and North Africa, and has been introduced to New Zealand, Australia, Peru, Brazil, Uruguay, Arge ...

and

geese A goose (plural, : geese) is a bird of any of several waterfowl species in the family (biology), family Anatidae. This group comprises the genera ''Anser (bird), Anser'' (the grey geese and white geese) and ''Branta'' (the black geese). Some o ...

and the

common kingfisher The common kingfisher (''Alcedo atthis''), also known as the Eurasian kingfisher and river kingfisher, is a small kingfisher with seven subspecies recognized within its wide distribution across Eurasia and North Africa. It is resident in much of ...

visits the site. The

green woodpecker There are four species of bird named green woodpecker: * European green woodpecker, ''Picus viridis'' * Iberian green woodpecker The Iberian green woodpecker (''Picus sharpei'') is a medium-sized woodpecker endemic to the Iberian peninsula. It wa ...

is a recorded species.

Bats

The grounds and trees of The Park are home to various bat species.

Walks

The community green space has interpretation boards, and defined walking areas for enjoyment of this open parkland with its meadow areas, woodland glades and lake.'New Partnership Launched at University', 21 April 2009, University of Gloucestershire
/ref> A publication supporting exploration of The Park is available online.University of Gloucestershire/Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust joint brochure
/ref>

Publications

* Hickey, M, 1991, 'Trees & Shrubs of The Park', Cheltenham & Gloucester College of Higher Education * 'Exploring the grounds of The Park – The history and wildlife of this beautiful University of Gloucestershire site', (undated), Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust and University of Gloucestershire joint publication * 'History of The Park Estate', April 2009, University of Gloucestershire/Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust * ‘Nature Reserve Guide – discover the wild Gloucestershire on your doorstep’ - 50th Anniversary, January 2011, Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust

References

{{Reflist, 2

External links

University of Gloucestershire

Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust

University of Gloucestershire/Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust joint brochure
Parks and open spaces in Gloucestershire Gardens in Gloucestershire