Corporation Park

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.