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Hanley Park is an
Hanley Park is an urban park
An urban park or metropolitan park, also known as a municipal park (North America) or a public park, public open space, or municipal gardens ( UK), is a park in cities and other incorporated places that offer recreation and green space to r ...
in Stoke-on-Trent, England. Officially opened on 20 June 1897, it occupies about of land. The park was developed by the town of Hanley over a period of five years and cost approximately £70,000. It has been described as a good example of a late Victorian municipal park, and is listed Grade II* in 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 ...
's Register of Parks and Gardens
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 ...
.
Site
The area previously comprised a large waste ground called 'Stoke Fields', cut in two by theCaldon Canal
Caldon Canal is a branch of the Trent and Mersey Canal which opened in 1779. It runs from Etruria, Stoke-on-Trent, to Froghall, Staffordshire. The canal has 17 locks and the Froghall Tunnel.
History
The first plans by the proprietors of the ...
. The land was purchased from the estate of Shelton Hall which stood a third of a mile to the north between Cemetery Road and Caledonian Road, and is now substantially outside the area of Hanley Park.
Design of the park
The park was developed under the supervision of the landscape architectThomas Hayton Mawson
Thomas Hayton Mawson (5 May 1861 – 14 November 1933), known as T. H. Mawson, was a British garden designer, landscape architect, and town planner.
Personal life
Mawson was born in Nether Wyresdale, Lancashire, and left school at age 12. ...
of Windermere
Windermere (sometimes tautologically called Windermere Lake to distinguish it from the nearby town of Windermere) is the largest natural lake in England. More than 11 miles (18 km) in length, and almost 1 mile (1.5 km) at its wides ...
, who created Burslem Park
Burslem Park is a public park in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England. It was opened in 1894, and is essentially unchanged from the original layout. It is listed Grade II* in Historic England's Register of Parks and Gardens.
History
T ...
around the same time. Mawson's design makes use of 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 ...
to highlight features such as the axis between one of two footbridge
A footbridge (also a pedestrian bridge, pedestrian overpass, or pedestrian overcrossing) is a bridge designed solely for pedestrians.''Oxford English Dictionary'' While the primary meaning for a bridge is a structure which links "two points at a ...
s across the canal and the pavilion. The pavilion, which is arguably the park's main focal point, was completed in 1896, and was designed by Mawson's junior partner Dan Gibson
Dan Gibson (January 19, 1922 in Montreal – March 18, 2006) was a Canadian photographer, cinematographer and sound recordist.
During the late 1940s, Dan Gibson took photographs and made nature films, including ''Audubon Wildlife Theatre''. Gib ...
. 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 ...
between the pavilion and the canal was the gift of Mr George Howson, a local pottery owner.
The southwest end of the park consists of a lake which is fed from the canal. Fishing is permitted. Next to the lake is a word sculpture that reads and
Other facilities in the park include a basketball court, a football court and four children's play areas. At the western end of Hanley Park, adjacent to Stoke-on-Trent College, previously known as Cauldon College, there is the small Cauldon Park.
The Hanley Park Fete was held from 1897 to 1939 and featured a funfair, side shows and a display of fireworks. The Potteries Central Horse Parade (open to anyone living within 10 miles of Hanley Town Hall) was also held annually (but it was never resumed after World War II
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 opposing ...
).
Restoration
In June 2015, it was announced that a £4.5 millionHeritage 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 ...
grant had been secured, which would allow for the restoration of the pavilion, boathouse, canal bridges, lake and fountains.
Hanley parkrun
Hanley Park hosts a free, weekly, timed 5kmparkrun
Parkrun (stylised as parkrun) is a collection of events for walkers, runners and volunteers that take place every Saturday morning at more than 2,000 locations in 23 countries across six continents. Junior Parkrun (stylised as junior parkrun) ...
every Saturday at 9 a.m. The first Hanley parkrun took place in September 2011.
References
External links
* * {{coord, 53.015, -2.176, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title Gardens by Thomas Hayton Mawson Grade II* listed parks and gardens in Staffordshire Parks and open spaces in Staffordshire Pedestrian bridges in parks and gardens 1896 establishments in England Areas of Stoke-on-Trent Tourist attractions in Stoke-on-Trent