Queens Park is a park in

Invercargill Invercargill ( , ) is the southernmost and westernmost list of cities in New Zealand, city in New Zealand, and one of the Southernmost settlements, southernmost cities in the world. It is the commercial centre of the Southland Region, Southlan ...

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

, and was part of the original plan when Invercargill was founded in 1856. The park is in extent. It is just north of the city centre, bounded by Queens Drive to the east, Kelvin Street to the west, Gala Street to the south and Herbert Street to the north. The Gala Street entrance features the Feldwick Gates, built in 1924 and named after John Feldwick, brother of MP Henry Feldwick. The park is home to the

Southland Museum and Art Gallery The Southland Museum and Art Gallery Niho o te Taniwha is located in Gala Street, Invercargill, New Zealand. It is Southland's largest cultural and heritage institution, and contains a wide variety of the region's art, history and natural hist ...

, which is currently being demolished and rebuilt, the Southland Astronomical Society Observatory, and an animal reserve, which features animals such as

wallabies A wallaby () is a small or middle-sized macropod native to Australia and New Guinea, with introduced populations in New Zealand, Hawaii, the United Kingdom and other countries. They belong to the same taxonomic family as kangaroos and som ...

alpaca The alpaca (''Lama pacos'') is a species of South American camelid mammal. Traditionally, alpacas were kept in herds that grazed on the level heights of the Andes of Southern Peru, Western Bolivia, Ecuador, and Northern Chile. More recentl ...

ostrich Ostriches are large flightless birds. Two living species are recognised, the common ostrich, native to large parts of sub-Saharan Africa, and the Somali ostrich, native to the Horn of Africa. They are the heaviest and largest living birds, w ...

rabbit Rabbits are small mammals in the family Leporidae (which also includes the hares), which is in the order Lagomorpha (which also includes pikas). They are familiar throughout the world as a small herbivore, a prey animal, a domesticated ...

s and

guinea pig The guinea pig or domestic guinea pig (''Cavia porcellus''), also known as the cavy or domestic cavy ( ), is a species of rodent belonging to the genus ''Cavia'', family Caviidae. Animal fancy, Breeders tend to use the name "cavy" for the ani ...

s, as well as an

aviary An aviary is a large enclosure for confining birds, although bats may also be considered for display. Unlike birdcages, aviaries allow birds a larger living space where Bird flight, they can fly; hence, aviaries are also sometimes known as flig ...

. In 2024,

tuatara The tuatara (''Sphenodon punctatus'') is a species of reptile endemic to New Zealand. Despite its close resemblance to lizards, it is actually the only extant member of a distinct lineage, the previously highly diverse order Rhynchocephal ...

s formerly housed in the Southland Museum, including the oldest known living tuatara

Henry Henry may refer to: People and fictional characters * Henry (given name), including lists of people and fictional characters * Henry (surname) * Henry, a stage name of François-Louis Henry (1786–1855), French baritone Arts and entertainmen ...

, were moved to a new habitat in the animal reserve called Te Moutere - Tuatara Island. The park is also home to an 18-hole golf course, a botanical garden, and sports grounds. The cricket ground in the park is the home ground of the

Southland cricket team The Southland cricket team represents the Southland Region of New Zealand. It is one of the 21 teams from around New Zealand that compete in the Hawke Cup. Early history Southland first played interprovincial cricket in 1864, and often played ...

, and is also regularly used by the

Otago cricket team The Otago cricket team, nicknamed the Volts since the 1997–98 season, are a New Zealand first-class cricket team which first played representative cricket in 1864.Otago cricket history, '' Evening Star'', issue 21864, 30 October 1934, p. 4.Av ...

for first-class and one-day matches. However, in September 2021, the cricket ground was stripped of its first-class status due to drainage issues. The park also gives its name to one of Invercargill's

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

clubs,

Queens Park A.F.C. Queens Park AFC is a football club, based in Invercargill, New Zealand. The club participates in the Southern Football Premier League. and has its clubrooms at Surrey Park. History Queens Park Association Football Club was formed in 1957 by ...

On the northern edge of the park are Waihopai School (formerly Waihopai Primary School) and

Southland Boys' High School Southland Boys' High School (SBHS) is an all-boys school in Invercargill, New Zealand, and has been the only one in the city since Marist Brothers was merged with St Catherines to form Verdon College in 1982. History SBHS was founded in 1881, ...

. Despite being within the bounded areas of the park, neither are considered a part of it.

Notable events

The park co-hosted (along with Southland Boys' High School) the 2006 State Twenty20 Cricket Knock-Out Tournament, on 10–12 November 2006. The final round of the tournament was set to be played at Queens Park but due to bad weather only 4 of the scheduled 9 matches took place. The weekly Saturday Invercargill

parkrun Parkrun (stylised as parkrun) is a collection of 5K run, events for runners, walkers and volunteers that take place every Saturday morning at more than 2,000 locations in 23 countries across five continents. Parkrun was founded by Paul Sinto ...

takes place at Queens Park. Organized by volunteers, the 5 km run welcomes all runners with all fitness levels. In July 2020, the Invercargill parkrun become one of the first in the world to resume after

Covid-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

halted the weekly event in early 2020.

References

External links

New Zealand Tourism Online's article on Queens Park

Queens Park history at Invercargill City Council website
{{Coord, -46.4016, 168.3560, region:NZ-STL, display=title 1856 establishments in New Zealand Parks in Invercargill Sports venues in Invercargill Cricket grounds in New Zealand Protected areas of the Southland Region