Royal Victoria Park, Bath

Royal Victoria Park is located in Bath, England. It was opened in 1830 by the 11-year-old Princess Victoria[1] seven years before her ascension to the throne and was the first park to carry her name, with an obelisk dedicated to her. It was privately run as part of the Victorian public park movement until 1921 when it was taken over by the Bath Corporation.

Royal Victoria Park
The park overlooked by the Royal Crescent
Location in Somerset
LocationBath England
Coordinates51.3858°N 2.3704°W / 51.3858; -2.3704
Area57 acres (23 ha)
Created1830
Operated byBath and North East Somerset Council
StatusOpen all year
DesignationGrade I

The park is overlooked by the Royal Crescent and consists of 57 acres (231,000 m²) with attractions that include a skateboard ramp, tennis, bowling and putting green and 12 and 18 hole golf course, open-air concerts, a large children's play area and a 9-acre (36,000 m²) botanical garden. Seasonal attractions include carnival fairs and hosted events.

It has received a Green Flag award, the national standard for parks and green spaces in England and Wales and is Grade I registered by Historic England on the National Register of Historic Parks and Gardens.[2][3]

The Botanical Gardens
Obelisk of the Victoria Majority Monument. The foundation stone was laid in 1837. Captured Russian guns from the Crimean War were placed near the obelisk in 1857, but have since been taken away[4]

The Botanical Gardens were formed in the north-west area of the park in 1887. It contain one of the finest collections of plants on limestone in the West country. The replica of a Roman Temple in the gardens was used at the British Empire Exhibition at Wembley in 1924.[5]

Seasonal events

Royal Victoria Park is known for hosting events, such as Vintage FunFair, a carnival with hot-air balloons and rides.[6] Popular annual festivals include The Bank Festival and The Children's Festival for May Bank holiday weekend.[7]

Other titular events include winter ice-skating rink Bath On Ice, as well as Movie by Moonlight, Glow In the Dark Mini Golf, Bath Thai Festival, Bath Easter Fun Fair, Pub In The Park and Bath Race for Life.[8]

Great Dell

To the north of the Botanical Gardens is the Great Dell, a sunken wooded area alongside Weston Road. It is a former stone quarry planted out in the 1840s with a collection of unusual trees, including some large North American conifers.[9]

2007 restoration

In 2007 a programme of reconstruction and restoration was undertaken by Bath and North East Somerset Council and supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund. This included the renovation of two Medici lion statues on plinths each side of the Queen’s Gate entrance to the park, replacing the original iron armatures inside the limbs, returning them to their bronze colour, and giving each a gilt ball under its front paw. Further work will add two 8 feet (2.4 m) cast iron replicas of the original lanterns and the replacement of the decorative iron gates to the three main entrances to the park. The original gates were removed, along with all the railings around the park, as part of a Second World War national scrap metal campaign.[10]

Further works involved the reinstatement of over a mile of perimeter railings, the restoration of the bandstand, the reforming of three sets of park gates, work to the Royal Crescent Ha-ha, and the extension of the Temple of Minerva to form a small interpretation centre. These works coincided with significant works to the planting throughout the park.

  • Tree carving in the Botanical gardens
  • Air-balloon event, a seasonal tradition in Bath
  • Children's play area
  • Statue in the Great Dell
  • Temple of Minerva, constructed at Wembley in 1924 for the British Empire Exhibition, rebuilt in the Botanic gardens in 1926
  • Duck pond
  • Gates to the Botanical Gardens
  • Botanical Gardens
  • Autumn at the Royal Victoria Park
  • Tour of Britain event at Royal Victoria Park

References
  1. "Royal Victoria Park, Bath, Bath, England". Parks & Gardens UK. Parks and Gardens Data Services Limited (PGDS). Archived from the original on 1 March 2014. Retrieved 9 June 2013.
  2. "Royal Victoria Park". Green Flag award. Archived from the original on 29 October 2007. Retrieved 10 November 2007.
  3. Historic England. "Royal Victoria Park  (Grade I) (1001257)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 22 June 2013.
  4. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 24 August 2011. Retrieved 26 April 2009.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  5. "Playing in the park". BBC Bristol. Archived from the original on 5 February 2008. Retrieved 10 November 2007.
  6. "Royal Victoria Park - Bath UK Tourism, Accommodation, Restaurants & Whats On". Bath UK Tourism, Accommodation, Restaurants & Whats On. 12 March 2011. Retrieved 16 December 2020.
  7. Bath, Royal Victoria Park-Bath 0 upcoming concerts; UK. "Royal Victoria Park Bath, Tickets for Concerts & Music Events 2020 – Songkick". www.songkick.com. Retrieved 16 December 2020.
  8. "Royal Victoria Park - Bath UK Tourism, Accommodation, Restaurants & Whats On". Bath UK Tourism, Accommodation, Restaurants & Whats On. Retrieved 16 December 2020.
  9. James Crawley (13 August 2015). "Repair work get under way at Bath's Great Dell in Royal Victoria Park". Bath Chronicle. Archived from the original on 23 September 2015. Retrieved 13 August 2015.
  10. "Watchdog Bouquets". Bath Heritage Watchdog. Archived from the original on 13 September 2016. Retrieved 9 December 2017.
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