The War Memorial Park is a large park of about 48.5 hectares in southern

Coventry Coventry ( or ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. It is on the River Sherbourne. Coventry has been a large settlement for centuries, although it was not founded and given its ...

, England. The park was opened in July 1921 as a tribute to the 2,587 Coventrians who died between 1914 and 1918 fighting in the

First World War 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 ...

. The landscaped gardens and sports areas were created in the late-1920s and 1930s,Coventry City Council: History of the War Memorial Park
Retrieved 4 October 2008 and the most prominent structure in the park is the city's war memorial monument, built in 1927.

History

Anon - ‘Proposed War Memorial- Corporation of the City of Coventry- Styvechale Park’ - ref Coventry-80151

Land

The park was opened in July 1921 as a tribute to the 2,587 Coventrians who died between 1914 and 1918 fighting in the

. Coventry Council used money donated by the public to purchase the land from the Lords of Styvechale Manor, the Gregory-Hood family, when it was little more than a large grassed area that once formed

Styvechale Stivichall or Styvechale ( ) is a suburb of the city of Coventry, West Midlands, England. It is a mainly residential area in the south of the city. Geography Stivichall is a mainly residential area of south Coventry astride the Leamington Road ...

common. In the north of the park, the landscaped gardens and sports areas were created in the late-1920s and 1930s, During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, barrage balloons and anti-aircraft guns were sited in the park, and the large concrete blocks where they were positioned still exist in the

Coat of Arms bridge The Coat of Arms Bridge is a grade II listed structure on the Coventry–Leamington Spa railway line in the Stivichall area of Coventry in the West Midlands of England. The bridge was built by R.B. Dockray for the London and Birmingham Railway ...

area of the park. In 2013, the park was listed at Grade II on the statutory

Register of Historic Parks and Gardens of special historic interest in England The Register of Historic Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in England provides a listing and classification system for historic parks and gardens similar to that used for listed buildings. The register is managed by Historic England ...

. The war memorial is a Grade II*

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

in its own right. In July 2013 the park gained

green flag Green Flag or Green Flag Rescue, is a British roadside assistance and vehicle recovery provider, which is part of the Direct Line Group. Formed in 1971, as the National Breakdown Recovery Club, as an alternative to the AA and RAC, it used ...

status, retaining it in 2017. On 16 July 2014

Prince William, Duke of Cambridge William, Prince of Wales, (William Arthur Philip Louis; born 21 June 1982) is the heir apparent to the British throne. He is the elder son of King Charles III and his first wife Diana, Princess of Wales. Born in London, William was educat ...

visited the park to formally launch the Centenary Fields programme of the

Fields in Trust Fields in Trust, is a British charity set up in 1925 as the National Playing Fields Association (NPFA), by Brigadier-General Reginald Kentish and the Duke of York, later King George VI, who was the first president, which protects parks and green s ...

by granting the first designation under the scheme to the park.

Monument

At around high, the war memorial monument is the most prominent construction in the park. It was designed by local architect T. F. Tickner and £5,000 was raised from a public appeal that commenced in 1924 to fund the building work. It was built in 1927 and dedicated by Field Marshal Douglas Haig on 8 October 1927. It is made of Portland stone, and was built by John Gray who also built the

Courtaulds Courtaulds was a United Kingdom-based manufacturer of fabric, clothing, artificial fibres, and chemicals. It was established in 1794 and became the world's leading man-made fibre production company before being broken up in 1990 into Courtaulds ...

works at

Foleshill Foleshill is a suburb in the north of Coventry in the West Midlands of England. Longford, Courthouse Green and Rowley Green are to its north and Keresley is to its west. The population of the Ward at the 2011 census was 19,943. History Fole ...

and a number of housing estates. Inside the memorial is a room called the Chamber of Silence which contains the "Roll of the Fallen", a list of all Coventry men killed in the two World Wars and the Gulf War, and is open to the public every year on

Remembrance Sunday Remembrance Sunday is held in the United Kingdom as a day to commemorate the contribution of British and Commonwealth military and civilian servicemen and women in the two World Wars and later conflicts. It is held on the second Sunday in Nov ...

Refurbishment

Work started in August 2010 on a multi-million pound refurbishment of the park, involving about 30 projects taking place around the park over a ten-month period. The work was funded by a £2.8 million grant from the

Heritage Lottery Fund The National Lottery Heritage Fund, formerly the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF), distributes a share of National Lottery funding, supporting a wide range of heritage projects across the United Kingdom. History The fund's predecessor bodies were ...

and the

Big Lottery Fund The National Lottery Community Fund, legally named the Big Lottery Fund, is a non-departmental public body responsible for distributing funds raised by the National Lottery for "good causes". Since 2004 it has awarded over £9 billion to ...

together with money from

Coventry City Council Coventry City Council is the local government body responsible for the governance of the City of Coventry in England, which has been a metropolitan district since 1974. The city is divided up into 18 Wards each with three councillors. Coventry ...

. Additionally a grant of £50,000 was awarded in February 2011 to create a new under-8s play area in the park.

Facilities and events

The park's facilities include football pitches, bowling greens, a small golf course, tennis courts, a splash and play area, an aviary for small birds, and a skate board area, but it mainly comprises large open green areas with many trees and shrubberies. A perimeter path lies just inside the park's boundaries, and now encircles the entire park following completion of groundwork on the south-western segment in the summer of 2006. The park is the venue for a number of annual events including the

Godiva Festival The Godiva Festival is a three-day music festival held each year in the War Memorial Park, Coventry, England, named after the city's famous former inhabitant Lady Godiva. It first appeared as a day-long event in 1997 and became a 3-day event t ...

, Donkey Derby, Caribbean Festival and the Vaisakhi Mela. The park also holds weekly parkruns – free, timed 5 km (3.1 mi) runs – that attract over 300 people to the park every Saturday. The park was also the host of

Radio 1 Radio 1 or Radio One most commonly refers to: *BBC Radio 1, a music radio station from the BBC ** BBC Radio 1Xtra, a digital radio station broadcasting black music *CBC Radio One, a talk radio station operated by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporatio ...

's Big Weekend festival, the first event since 2019. The festival took place there from 27 to 29 May 2022 and featured big stars, including the likes of

Ed Sheeran Edward Christopher Sheeran (; born 17 February 1991) is an English singer-songwriter. Born in Halifax, West Yorkshire and raised in Framlingham, Suffolk, he began writing songs around the age of eleven. In early 2011, Sheeran independently r ...

Calvin Harris Adam Richard Wiles (born 17 January 1984), known professionally as Calvin Harris, is a Scottish DJ, record producer, singer, and songwriter who has released six studio albums. His debut studio album, ''I Created Disco'', was released in June ...

Anne-Marie Anne-Marie Rose Nicholson (born 7 April 1991) is an English singer. She has attained charting singles on the UK Singles Chart, including Clean Bandit's "Rockabye (song), Rockabye", which peaked at number one, as well as "Alarm (Anne-Marie song ...

AJ Tracey Ché Wolton Grant (born 4 March 1994), known professionally as AJ Tracey, is a British rapper, singer, songwriter and record producer. He is from Ladbroke Grove, West London. Tracey rose to popularity in 2016 and was listed by ''The Guardian'' i ...

George Ezra George Ezra Barnett (born 7 June 1993) is an English singer, songwriter and guitarist. After releasing two EPs, '' Did You Hear the Rain?'' (2013) and '' Cassy O (2014), Ezra rose to prominence with the release of his hit single, "Budapest", ...

Lorde Ella Marija Lani Yelich-O'Connor (born 7 November 1996), known professionally as Lorde ( ), is a New Zealand singer-songwriter. Taking inspiration from aristocracy for her stage name, she is known for her unconventional musical styles and i ...

Sam Fender Samuel Thomas Fender (born 25 April 1994) is an English singer, songwriter, and musician. He is known for his high tenor voice and thick Geordie accent, layered over music characterised by a roots-orientated rock approach. Fender's sound relies ...

, Foals and

Harry Styles Harry Edward Styles (born 1 February 1994) is an English singer, songwriter, and actor. His musical career began in 2010 as a solo contestant on the British music competition series ''The X Factor (UK TV series), The X Factor''. Following hi ...

Car parks

The main car park is a large

tarmac Tarmac may refer to: Engineered surfaces * Tarmacadam, a mainly historical tar-based material for macadamising road surfaces, patented in 1902 * Asphalt concrete, a macadamising material using asphalt instead of tar which has largely superseded ta ...

ed area with access from Kenilworth Road.

Travel de Courcey Travel de Courcey was a bus and coach operator based near Coventry in the West Midlands region of England. It operated local bus services in the Coventry and Warwickshire area and National Express contracts. History Mike de Courcey Travel was ...

(in conjunction with

and

Transport for West Midlands Transport for West Midlands (TfWM) is the public body responsible for co-ordinating transport services in the West Midlands metropolitan county in England. It is an executive body of the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA), with bus franch ...

) operates a

park and ride A park and ride, also known as incentive parking or a commuter lot, is a parking lot with public transport connections that allows commuting, commuters and other people heading to city centres to leave their vehicles and transfer to a bus, Rail t ...

scheme between here and Coventry city centre. There is a much smaller car park on Coat of Arms Bridge Road on the southern side of the park and another small car park near the northern end of Leamington Road.

Images

File:Memorial park monument and steps 11a07.JPG, Steps at the base of the war memorial File:War memorial park aviary 11a07.JPG, The small aviary File:War memorial park skate board 11a07.JPG, The skate board and BMX area File:WM park 25a07.JPG, View from the south of the park looking northeast File:Bowling green war memorial park 5y07.JPG, A bowling green File:Tennis court war memorial park 5y07.JPG, Tennis courts File:War Memorial Park - perimeter path east 13f08.JPG, An old section of the perimeter path on the west side of the park File:Park and ride bus 25a07.JPG, A "park and ride" bus at the bus stop on the western side of the main car park in 2007

References

External links

* {{Official website 1921 establishments in England Parks in Coventry World War I memorials in England World War II memorials in England Monuments and memorials in the West Midlands (county)