Victoria Park is a public park in the Canton district of

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...

in south

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

at Cowbridge Road East. As its name suggests, it is a traditional

Victorian era In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the period of Queen Victoria's reign, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. The era followed the Georgian period and preceded the Edwardia ...

park named after

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days was longer than that of any previo ...

and has retained much of its original charm. The park was created as a municipal recreation ground by Cardiff City Council through a city charter between 1897 and 1898 to celebrate Queen Victoria's

Diamond Jubilee A diamond jubilee celebrates the 60th anniversary of a significant event related to a person (e.g. accession to the throne or wedding, among others) or the 60th anniversary of an institution's founding. The term is also used for 75th anniver ...

marking her record sixty years on the throne. The park occupies part of the former Llandaff Common. The park covers nearly and still contains the original model boating and paddling pool which remains a very popular attraction in summer, plus a playpark for younger children. At the very north of the park there are tennis courts and a

synthetic turf Artificial turf is a surface of synthetic fibers made to look like natural grass. It is most often used in arenas for sports that were originally or are normally played on grass. However, it is now being used on residential lawns and commerc ...

field for 5-a-side football. The original 1898 bandstand had fallen into disrepair and had been demolished but, in 1998, a replica of the original bandstand was erected on the original site to mark the park's centennial celebrations. There are many mature trees and blossom trees in spring, together with

crocus ''Crocus'' (; plural: crocuses or croci) is a genus of seasonal flowering plants in the family Iridaceae (iris family) comprising about 100 species of perennials growing from corms. They are low growing plants, whose flower stems remain under ...

es and

daffodils ''Narcissus'' is a genus of predominantly spring flowering perennial plant, perennial plants of the amaryllis family, Amaryllidaceae. Various common names including daffodil,The word "daffodil" is also applied to related genera such as ''Ste ...

and flowerbeds that burst with colour during summer. There are wide paths and a refreshment shop by the pool. Public music events, markets and fairs take place throughout the summer months. There is also a whimsical monument to Billy the Seal who lived from 1912 to 1939 in what is now the paddling pool. The park is one of the few remaining UK parks where the park keeper still lives in an on-site lodge. A splashpad has now replaced the paddling pool due to maintenance costs. Victoria Park is recognised as one of the best maintained in the Cardiff area and has received 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, ...

; it has been used for location filming for Doctor Who episodes, namely ''

Forest of the Dead "Forest of the Dead" is the ninth episode of the fourth series of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. It was first broadcast by BBC One on 7 June 2008. It is the second of a two-part story; the first part, "Silence in ...

'' and '' The Lodger'', as well as '' Mark of the Berserker'' for the related Sarah-Jane Adventures.

References

External links

*
Cardiff Council's Victoria Park Page

The bandstand’ programme of events and shows

Photo of the paddling pool in the 1950s
{{Authority control Parks in Cardiff Canton, Cardiff