|
Highfields Park is Grade II listed Park providing of public space, in the west of Nottingham, England. It is owned and maintained by Nottingham City Council. It located alongside University Boulevard, adjoining the University of Nottingham's University Park campus. Due to its proximity to the University campus to the north, Highfields Park appears to be a part of the campus itself and therefore many refer to the whole area as 'University Park'. There are historical ties between the park and the campus. The park contains a boating lake, complete with boats to hire throughout the summer months. The cascade and the stepping stones at the western end are Grade II listed. To the south of the lake the Tottle Brook, a tributary of the River Trent, flows on the surface, this brook is culverted for much of its length. At the eastern end there are children's play facilities and a pavilion with a cafe. ==History== The site, originally part of the Highfields Estate, belonged to Joseph Lowe who along with his son Alfred, developed the site in the late 18th century and were responsible for much of the landscaping that is visible today. In 1789 Joseph Lowe constructed 'Highfields House' which was to be used as his residence.〔(University of Nottingham Historic Houses, p=7 )〕 Lowe improved the estate with the creation of a fish pond from the existing Tottle Brook. The Lowes retained ownership up until 1920 when the land was purchased by Sir Jesse Boot (also known as Lord Trent) the founder of the Boot's the Chemist. His intention was to emulate Cadburys at Bournville and the levers at Port Sunlight and build high quality homes for his worker in the near adjacent purpose built factories. The company was bought out by the American, Louis K. Liggett of the United Drug Company. Liggett had no interest in model housing. Jesse Boot was cash rich and owned 121 acres of land which he proceeded to disperse to good causes. Boot used 35 acres of the estate to form the core of East Midlands University.He built a raised road to connect Nottingham to Beeston, and landscaped the area south of the Trent building given as a park for Nottingham City Council. The remains of the estate, also called Highfields park, the other side of University Boulevard, was given over to sport fields. Also on the land he built a very large Lido, which, in 1922 was the largest in England. The fishpond created by Joseph Lowe was enhanced and upgraded to a boating lake that still exists today, the spoil from this extensive excavation was used to raise the land level for the road. Until flood prevention measures became effective in the 1950s the River Trent had regularly flooded this part of its floodplain after heavy rain. The park was constructed between 1922 and 1926. Boot opened the park in stages so there was no formal opening. He gave the deeds to the land to Nottinghma City Council in 1925, but retained the right to manage it for his lifetime. Boot died in 1931; Nottingham City Council formally adopted the park in 1932. The ornamental park was designed by Percy Richard Morley Horder who designed it in the Victorian municipal manner with areas of planting such as an Azalea walk, areas for open air dancing (which was soon change to croquet) and crown green bowling. It had a paddling pool for children and boat trips, and rowing skiffs for hire on the lake. The road cost ₤200,000 to construct. The northern part of the land was prepared for the East Midland's first University which was a project largely funded by Sir Jesse Boot himself.〔http://www.nottinghamcity.gov.uk/HighfieldsPark〕 This contained Highfields House, was became part the new university campus. The centre piece of the campus is the Trent Building with its tower. This provided a visual focus for the park too, the building, and its formal lawns share a visual axis with the lakeside terraces, and the formal main gate. To this vista,there have been added two monumental Chinese stone lions, gifted from City of Ningbo, China. In the early 21st century the park was underfunded and neglected and the features fell into disuse. To attempt to save the park Nottingham City Council applied for £4 million funding from the National Lottery to de-silt the lake, and repair the Maid Marian pleasure boat so it could be reintroduced onto the lake. They applied to refurbish the site's historic pavilions, bridges and lighting columns and develop a new water park and adventure golf course. The National Lottery 'Parks for People Fund' have confirmed a Stage 2 pass for the £3,240,500 needed for the project in January 2015. Works are expected to take place on site in 2016. 〔http://m.nottinghamcity.gov.uk/index.aspx?articleid=19083〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Highfields Park, Nottingham」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|