Bedford
Bedford Park

Places > Bedford > Parks

This view depicts one of the many charming prospects contrived by the art of the landscape gardener in the New Park, which is now several years old.  The public had enjoyed the use of the park some years before it was formerly opened by the Marquess of Tavistock (the elder brother of the Duke of Bedford), on the 11th July, 1888, in the mayoralty of Mr. Joshua Hawkins.  The land, 61 acres in extent, was once the property of the St. John's Hospital.  It was set apart for a public recreation ground by Act of Parliament in 1881, and laid out by the Bedford Corporation.  It contains an admirable variety of ornamental shrubs, two pavilions, a band stand, two lodges, pitches for cricket, tennis lawns, walks and drives, on which cycling is a favourite pastime, and other appointments.  The Park is the Bois de Boulogne of Bedford, and the magnificent approach by De Parys Avenue is a veritable Champs Elysees.  The handsome wrought iron entrance gates, together with the lodge and one of the pavilions was paid for by public subscription.

Extract from: Bedfordshire Illustrated, photographic views of Bedford, Luton, Leighton Buzzard, Dunstable and Woburn, Rush and Warwick, Harpur Street

Page last updated: 22nd January 2014