Sunday, 29 November 2020

Wellington Park

Wellington Park is one of the town's best kept secrets. It opened in 1903 to celebrate the coronation of King Edward VII.  It is a small formal park and is located at the south western end of Courtland Road.  It can also be accessed via Beech Grove but it is not well signposted. It covers an area of 1.8 hectares.  The site was given to the town by Fox Brothers and Company (a local clothmaker) in 1902.  They also paid for the buildings and landscaping and provided £100 a year for 5 years to cover the running costs. 

Fox Brothers commissioned the Exeter based company Robert Veitch & Son to design and build the park.  The park was designed by the German landscape gardener F.W. Meyer, who worked for Robert Veitch & Son for 30 years.  His design included a ha-ha, three Spanish colonial style entrances, a shelter, a bandstand and a caretaker's lodge,  Work on laying out the park began in July 1902.  The building work was carried out by Messrs Follett Bros of Wellington. The park was opened to the public on 2nd May 1903.

The park, which is Grade II* listed, was restored in 2000 with money from the Heritage Lottery Fund.  The park's current design is largely unchanged from its original layout.

Mature plane trees lining the walk on the north east side of the park

South East entrance on Courtland Road

North entrance on Beech Grove

Floral bedding

Floral bedding

Ornamental pond

Rockery

War Memorial - erected in 1921

Shelter

Bandstand

Caretaker's Lodge

Caretaker's Lodge

Plaque on the Caretaker's Lodge

Drinking fountain

Ha-ha

Grove of trees

Floral bedding

Floral bedding

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