Worden Park is a large area of parkland situated on the outskirts of Leyland, a town in the borough of

South Ribble South Ribble is a borough in the county of Lancashire, England. Its council is based in Leyland. The population, at the 2011 Census, was 109,057. Notable towns and villages include Walton le Dale, Bamber Bridge, Leyland and Penwortham. It ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...

, England. It is less than a quarter of a mile from the town centre.

History

Farington family

The Farington family purchased the house and surrounding lands of Shaw Hall after their original family seat - Old Worden Hall in

Buckshaw Buckshaw Village (often shortened to Buckshaw) is a 21st-century residential and industrial area between the towns of Chorley and Leyland in Lancashire, England, developed on the site of the former Royal Ordnance Factory (ROF) Chorley. It h ...

Euxton Euxton ( ) is a village and civil parish of the Borough of Chorley, in Lancashire, England. The population of the civil parish as taken at the 2011 census was 9,993, however, the population is now estimated to be around 14,000 due to the incre ...

- was judged too small for the family's wealth and social status. With surrounding farmland, the Faringtons formed the park with Shaw Hall, now renamed Worden Hall, at its centre. The area outside the house was blossoming gardens. In 1941, there was a fire in the house, and most of the hall was severely damaged. The house remained standing until the local council purchased the Hall from the family after the war. The most damaged part of the hall was torn down; however what is left of the house and outbuildings can still be seen today. There is an ice house which visitors can view, a

maze A maze is a path or collection of paths, typically from an entrance to a goal. The word is used to refer both to branching tour puzzles through which the solver must find a route, and to simpler non-branching ("unicursal") patterns that lea ...

and a

miniature railway A ridable miniature railway (US: riding railroad or grand scale railroad) is a large scale, usually ground-level railway that hauls passengers using locomotives that are often models of full-sized railway locomotives (powered by diesel or petrol ...

that runs round the part of the park that is most visited. The formal gardens and hedge maze were designed by the landscape architect

William Andrews Nesfield William Andrews Nesfield (1793–1881) was an English soldier, landscape architect and artist. After a career in the military which saw him serve under the Duke of Wellington, he developed a second profession as a landscape architect, designing so ...

Woodlands

There is woodland in the park, most of which runs along Shaw Brook, a tributary of the

River Lostock The River Lostock is a river in Lancashire, England. The source of the Lostock is at the confluence of Slack Brook and Whave's Brook at the entrance to Miller Wood near Withnell Fold. Slack Brook drains an area around Brindle, having its sourc ...

Green Flag Status

Worden Park was given the

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, ...

for eleven consecutive years, from 1996 to 2006.Gee, Chris (2006
"Jewel in crown’ gets national award - again"
''The Citizen'' nline newspaper: Leyland News, 3 August 2006 ccessed 4 May 2007/ref> The award is given to parks and green spaces in England and Wales each year to reward the best green spaces in the country, and has been awarded annually since 1996.

Features

* Playground with rides for children and teenagers * Football pitches which are free to use by the public and are also used by Sunday League football teams as well as for football training * Café (The Folly) * Miniature trains * Woodland * Formal gardens * Miniature Golf * Arts and Crafts Centre * Hedge maze * Refreshments kiosk Worden Park is very popular with dog walkers. Dogs are welcomed throughout the park and there are bins around the park for disposing of dog litter. There is a dog-washing shower situated next to the main parking area. The large expanse of parkland makes it very appealing for dog walkers, especially the wooded area to the south. The Shaw Brook, which runs through the wooded area, is a safe place for dogs to swim.

Bonfire night

Each year on or around 5 November, Worden Park plays host to one of Lancashire's gatherings of

Guy Fawkes Guy Fawkes (; 13 April 1570 – 31 January 1606), also known as Guido Fawkes while fighting for the Spanish, was a member of a group of provincial English Catholics involved in the failed Gunpowder Plot of 1605. He was born and educated ...

revellers. The local

Round Table The Round Table ( cy, y Ford Gron; kw, an Moos Krenn; br, an Daol Grenn; la, Mensa Rotunda) is King Arthur's famed table in the Arthurian legend, around which he and his knights congregate. As its name suggests, it has no head, implying that e ...

group organise the event and proceeds are used for charitable and local good causes.

Accessibility

There are two free car parks, both reached from the entrance on Worden Lane. During the busy summer months an overflow car park is opened next to the main car park. The park is in walking distance from the

Tesco Tesco plc () is a British multinational groceries and general merchandise retailer headquartered in Welwyn Garden City, England. In 2011 it was the third-largest retailer in the world measured by gross revenues and the ninth-largest in th ...

supermarket and the town centre.

Local area

Worden Park is on the edge of Leyland and is surrounded on three sides by housing estates. To the west of Worden Park lies the Wade Hall estate, popular with low-income families and the elderly. The old town centre of Leyland is situated north of the park. To the east of the park lies the Worden Park estate, popular with medium-high income families and the elderly. To the south, the park is bounded by farmland.

References

External links

Leyland Society of Model Engineers

Leyland Round Table Annual Bonfire & Firework Display, Worden Park. 5 November.
{{South Ribble Parks and open spaces in Lancashire Mazes Leyland, Lancashire