Corporation Park

Corporation Park (18 ha) is a traditional Victorian park close to the centre of Blackburn.

 

 

A brief history

Take a journey back in time by visiting the Cotton Town web site.  Gate House at Corporation Park 

On it there is a wealth of old maps, manuscripts, photos, books, pamphlets and posters illustrating some of Blackburn and Darwen’s fascinating history.  Click Cotton Town

On the land where the park now stands there used to be a quarry called Park Delph. 

The rock is millstone grit - extremely good for building.  During the early to mid nineteenth century, it was used for building the majority of the cotton mills and churches in Blackburn.

The land was acquired from Joseph Feilden, who declined to sell it to any private individual but reserved it for the public. 

An agreement was made by which an area of fifty acres was sold to the corporation for £65 per acre, the council having to make roads on either side as a condition of the contract (East and West Park Roads).

The opening

The park was laid out by William Henderson and opened in 1857, creating a sensation in the town and also further afield. 

Blackburn was deserted as the Mayor led the procession from the town hall to the park to the official opening.

Shops were closed at noon and manufactures let loose their thousands of employees so that they could participate.  The park was surrounded by thousands and the paths within the park were crowded.  The Sebastopol trophies boomed thunders of welcome to over 60,000 attendees, 14,000 of which had arrived by train.

The park is now registered by English Heritage as a Park and Garden of Special Historic Interest.

To help with the development and maintenance of Corporation Park the council has developed a long term management plan especially for the park.  If you wish to read the plan please click here.

Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council has developed their first open space strategy. At the launch of the document, Councillor Khan said that open spaces contribute to the physical and mental health of the community, reduce crime and the fear of crime and develop cohesive communities. If you would like to read the document please click here

 

Awards

Green Flag
Corporation park has been awarded the prestigious Green Flag Award status. The Green Flag Award scheme, is the national standard for parks and green spaces. Green Flag award 

Winners vary from Victorian parks and town centre gardens to nature reserves, country parks and cemeteries.

Sites must be judged to be welcoming, safe and well maintained with the strong involvement of the local community.

To help with the development and maintenance of the Park the council has developed a long term management plan. If you wish to read the Plan please click here

 

Features of the park

  Main entrance to Corporation Park 

 

 

Principle entrance

The main entrance to the park is from Preston New Road under a handsome archway with flanking lodges.

The gateway has a large central archway for carriages and smaller side arches for the foot ways.  The borough arms appear above the arches on both sides of the entrance.  In the gateway are inserted two tablets, recording the planning and opening of the park.

 

Garden of Remembrance

A formal Garden of Remembrance, laid out in 1922 and also a war memorial are just beyond the entrance

 

Fountain

Adjacent to the remembrance garden is a fountain, one of four fountains gifted to the park by the then Mayor, William Pilkington, who performed the opening ceremony.  The fountain formerly had a gravity-fed jet which rose 23m into the air.

 

Lakes

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The park has two picturesque lakes, home to many species of waterfowl, including mute swan and ducks. 

The larger water feature is known as 'the Big Can' and was formed from a pre-existing reservoir, Pemberton Clough.  This was created in 1772 and was the town's water supply.  Wooden pipes were laid to the town's stand pipes until installation of the mains water in 1847.  People were charged a penny per bucketful of water.

The smaller lake is known as 'the Can' because people took cans to the lake to draw water.

Conservatory

 

A fine example of a Victorian cast iron conservatory was erected in 1900 and is now a grade II listed building.  It is situated close to West Park Lodge.

There is a central rectangular portion which is gabled with a clock in the front pediment and it also has a central louvred chimney. 

The building is all glass and iron, richly ornamented with arches, pierced spandrels and columns.  The mid section was designed to house exotic flora, with the wings being cooler to house displays of plants enjoying a similar climate to our own.

Adjacent to the conservatory is an aviary, opened in 1958 and still housing a collection of birds.

 

Lodges

In addition to the lodges at the main entrance there are two other porter's lodges at East and West Park Road entrances.  There are also ten other smaller entrances around the boundary of the park.

 

Statues

A statue of Flora, the Roman goddess, was presented to the park in 1871 by Mr T H Fairhurst. 

It was the work of Thomas Allen of Liverpool, who movd to Blackburn in 1870 and provide the town with several peices of art, Flora being the first.  The carving on Sir Charles Napier public house is another example of his work.

Flora, was a Roman goddess that made trees bloom, a pre-requisite for all fruits, but later she became protector of the spring and everything that blooms, including flowers.

  

Stream

Snig Brook flows down the park through the lakes, broken only by waterfalls and pools

 

Tree lined avenue

The Broad Walk forms the main axis of the park, an avenue of magnificent lime trees marks its southern edge.  It is an impressive walkway constructed 1863-4 by unemployed weavers during the cotton famine.

Here on Sundays 'crowds of young men and maidens would walk four or five abreast, promenading from end to end between 3 o'clock and 4.30' (Blackburn Times, 1936)

 

Battlements

This viewing platform stands 213.5m above sea level, compared to the main entrance at just 130m, allowing long views over Blackburn and the West Pennine Moors. 

Two cannons where once here, having been captured at Sebastopol and presented to the borough by Lord Panmure, Secretary of War as a reminder of the British victories in the Crimean War.  They were mounted at the top of the park in 1857 on a specially built 'battery'. 

 

Sports facilities

Outdoor tennis court facilities (Red Rake) dominate the top end of the park and are terraced into the hillside.  Below these courts are three well-used bowling greens.  There is also a children's playground next to the lakes.

Panopticon for Corporation Park

Colourfields

Panopticons (2003-2007) was a unique creative project to erect a series of 21st-century landmarks across East Lancashire as symbols of the renaissance of the area.

'Colourfields', the first of East Lancashire's Panopticons, was officially launched by the Mayor of Blackburn with Darwen, Councillor Dorothy Walsh, at a celebratory event in Corporation Park.

The Panopticon chosen for Blackburn, was a winner in the international Panopticons competition organised in association with the Royal Institute of British Architects in the summer 2003 to find original ideas for East Lancashire’s new landmarks.

Designed by Jo Rippon Architecture with artist Sophie Smallhorn, ‘Colourfields’ is an inspired transformation of the cannon battery originally installed for the opening of Corporation Park in 1857 to house two Russian cannons captured during the Crimean War.

The design preserves the base of the original structure, creating a new sense of space, height, and colour with its raised viewing point and candy stripes. As well as providing a unique modern visitor attraction for the Park, it reinvests this historic site with significance, creating a sense of continuity through change.

If you would like to know more about the project please go to http://www.panopticons.uk.net/index.html 

Restoration of Corporation Park

In 1996, Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council received approximately  £3.7 million from the Heritage Lottery funding. The restoration has been carried out by Casey’s contractors and the scheme has been project managed by Capita.

This project is finished and has tried to:-
promote better use of the park

• encourage wider use and enjoyment of the park by the local community and by visitors to Blackburn
• promote access to the park for the whole community, and especially to improve access for the disabled
• stimulate interest and strengthen links with the local community in the development of the park, particularly with ethnic minorities
• maintain and improve existing facilities to a standard appropriate to an intensively used urban park
• address issues of public safety and site security.

Restoration

The Heritage Lottery funding has restored a number of areas in the park.

These areas are

• Boundary wall and railings, gates and stone walls
• Coping stones have been re-aligned and 75% of boundary railings have been installed
• New benches
• New bins, dog bins
• New signage and finger posts
• Internal railings have been constructed around both lakes, the dam and cascade have been installed, others in the park have been refurbished
• Main Paths resurfaced in tarmac
• The Broad walk and Italian Gardens have been resurfaced in gravel
• Any remaining paths, which were concrete, have been repaired
• All water features have been cleaned and restored. The pools have been cleared and some de-silt work to the lakes has been carried out
• Lake edges have been restored and various planting schemes around the lake have taken place
• The Gatehouse and Veranda have been restored. The gatehouse now provides an office at the main entrance for the Park manager and Park Warden
• Several new planting schemes around the park have been completed. (The Italian Gardens is almost complete)

 

Events

Please click here Parks and Countryside Events Guide to see a list of Corporation Park events that will be happening over the next year.

 

How to find the park

Directions from the nearest town

Click here for a map to help you find the park

0.5 mile from Blackburn town centre, head towards Preston on Preston New Road, A677

 

Public transport information

• for bus and train timetable information click public transport information
• nearest railway station is Blackburn, 0.5 mile

Parking facilities

On road parking on East and West Park Roads and also Revidge at the top end of the park

Grid Reference: SD 676 285

Coporation Park Suporters Group.

Corporation Park has an active support group who help out in the park via events and volunteer days. If you would like anymore information please to their web site

http://www.corporationparksupportersgroup.com/