Alexandra Park is a public

park A park is an area of natural, semi-natural or planted space set aside for human enjoyment and recreation or for the protection of wildlife or natural habitats. Urban parks are urban green space, green spaces set aside for recreation inside t ...

Oldham Oldham is a town in Greater Manchester, England. It lies amongst the Pennines on elevated ground between the rivers River Irk, Irk and River Medlock, Medlock, southeast of Rochdale, and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative cent ...

Greater Manchester Greater Manchester is a ceremonial county in North West England. It borders Lancashire to the north, Derbyshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Cheshire to the south, and Merseyside to the west. Its largest settlement is the city of Manchester. ...

, England. It was created in response to the

Lancashire Cotton Famine The Lancashire Cotton Famine, also known as the Cotton Famine or the Cotton Panic (1861–1865), was a depression in the textile industry of North West England, brought about by overproduction in a time of contracting world markets. It coincided ...

of 1861–1865 as an attempt to keep local textile workers employed. The park is located in the

Glodwick Glodwick is an area of Oldham, Greater Manchester, England. It is south-east of Oldham town centre. Glodwick is a multi-ethnic residential area in the south of Oldham, home particularly to a large community of Pakistanis and British Pakistanis. ...

area of Oldham. Oldham was hit hard by the Lancashire Cotton Famine of 1861–1865 when supplies of raw cotton from the United States were cut off. Wholly reliant upon the textile processing industry, the economy of Oldham strained as the cotton famine created chronic unemployment in the town. By 1863 a committee had been formed and with a loan from central government, land at Swine Clough was purchased from Reverend John Cocker of

Shaw and Crompton Shaw and Crompton is a civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, Greater Manchester, England, and lies on the River Beal at the foothills of the South Pennines. It is located north of Oldham, south-east of Rochdale and north- ...

whom made it a condition that local unemployed cotton workers were employed to construct the park which opened on 28 August 1865. John Thomas Cocker, Esq., of New-bank Heyside purchased the estate of Swine Clough in 1850 from the Ogden Family. This family enjoyed this estate for several generations. It was sold to Adam Ogden the elder in 1670 by Edmund Assheton, Esq., of Chadderton, Swine Clough was an ancient farm a short distance to the west of Glodwick. Opened by Josiah M Radcliffe, the then Mayor of Oldham, the park was named to commemorate the marriage of Albert, Prince of Wales to

Alexandra of Denmark Alexandra of Denmark (Alexandra Caroline Marie Charlotte Louise Julia; 1 December 1844 – 20 November 1925) was List of British royal consorts, queen-consort of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Empress of India, from 22 Januar ...

. During its history it has had a "refreshment room", a boating lake (constructed in 1903) and been the site of statues honouring local Oldhamers of eminence. A number of structures in the park are

grade II listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, H ...

, including ornamental features, buildings and statues of John Platt and Robert Ascroft. Oldham council plans to open a state of the art eco-centre at the park sometime in Spring 2022.

Gallery

File:Alexandra Park, Blue Plaque - geograph.org.uk - 2657498.jpg, A blue plaque seen on the side of the North Lodge in Alexandra Park File:Entrance to Alexandra Park - geograph.org.uk - 2111680.jpg, Entrance to Alexandra Park File:The Lion's Den, Alexandra Park - geograph.org.uk - 2657713.jpg, The Lion's Den File:Boathouse and Boating Lake, Alexandra Park - geograph.org.uk - 2657526.jpg, Boathouse and Boating Lake File:Alexandra Park - Oldham - geograph.org.uk - 3260070.jpg, alt= File:Alexandra Park, Fountain - geograph.org.uk - 2657625.jpg, Fountain File:Alexandra Park Conservatory - geograph.org.uk - 3357172.jpg, Alexandra Park Conservatory

References

External links

Alexandra Park - History in Postcards & Photographs
Parks and commons in the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham History of the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham 1865 establishments in England {{GreaterManchester-geo-stub