ROGER FROST: The history of Queen’s Park in Burnley

My advice is to get yourselves wrapped up and one of things you can do is visit one of Burnley’s splendid parks and see it in winter.

Queen’s Park, which dates from 1893, is Burnley’s oldest municipal park though it is not our oldest park in the original sense in which the word “park” was used. Towneley Park is at least 600 years old and Scott and Thompson’s Parks, because they occupy land formerly part of old estates, are much older than they appear to be.

Scott Park was originally the garden of Hood House and Thompson Park was the garden and “wilderness” of Bank Hall.

Earlier this year Burnley Civic Trust organised a tour of Scott Park which turned out to be a “Peek into the Past” which surprised many of those who attended the event.

A small leaflet and a booklet are in preparation about Scott Park and a similar sequence – an organised walk to be followed by publications – is being organised by the Trust in partnership with Burnley Council for Queen’s Park in June or July of next year. The event is planned to coincide with the annual Civic Day and when the date is finalised I will publish it in this column as I will other events associated with the 150th anniversary of the granting of Burnley’s Municipal Charter.

I think the image before you is a charming example of its type. It is difficult to date with precision as the postcard, from which the image is taken, has not been used but there are clues on the card itself which give us some idea.

The clothes worn by the little boys in the foreground, the design of the pram to the right of the bandstand and the clothes of the ladies in the picture tell us of a date in the years either side of 1900.

In addition, you will notice the park has very few mature trees. The larger trees that can be seen are in the gardens of some of the older properties in Queen’s Park Road to the east of the park.

In 1912 there were 10 or 11 houses in this part of town. They included Ridge House (not to be confused with Ridge Cottage), three pairs of large semi-detached houses and one of the blocks (another was built later) of three houses. There was also a detached property close to Ridge House.

When they were built, and for years after, the houses of Queen’s Park Road constituted some of the most desirable properties in Burnley. In 1926 residents included Mr Frank Pick, the Burnley pharmacist, at “The Hollies”, 11 Queen’s Park Road, Mr John A. Heaton JP, also a chemist, at “Ravenhurst,” and Mr John Jobling at “Netherwood.”

These houses, and others, are still there to be seen today though we only get a glimpse of them on today’s picture.

Getting back to the trees – notice there are some small trees on the eastern boundary of the park. These were planted when the work to make the park was undertaken in the early 1890s and their size in the picture would indicate the photo dates from not many years after this. It should be added Queen’s Park was built on quite poor meadow land and this might have had an effect on the growth of the trees.

The man responsible for the park was Sir John Hardy Thursby who intended it should commemorate the 50th anniversary of the accession of Queen Victoria in 1887.

However, Sir John did not make the presentation of the land to Burnley Corporation until 1888 and there were delays in the preparation of the design and construction work which meant he did not perform the opening ceremony until 1893.

Part of the problem was the design of the park had to conceal a mineral railway which crossed the park north to south. This railway connected Bank Hall Colliery to the Bee Hole and Rowley Collieries together with the canal between Yorkshire Street and Central Mill where there was once a substantial coal depot.

I have included a map of the park as it was in 1912. The plantings which concealed the mineral railway can be clearly seen but how many of you realised that, including the bridges under Queen Victoria Road, and Ormerod Road, there were no fewer than four bridges and two tunnels involved in the construction of this park? The line of the plantings can still be seen but very little of the work associated with the bridges and tunnels is evident today.

The early facilities in the park are also very clearly shown on the map. The park is triangular in shape and towards the Heasandford entrance there is the children’s playground which was sited at the point in the park nearest their homes.

Below the playground is the park depot with is glass houses and near that is the Meteorological Station and another playground to the immediate south west.

As you can see, there are two bowling greens with a pavilion between them, two probably much-needed shelters and the location of the bandstand, which is the focus of today’s picture, can also be determined.

In the bottom corner, the nearest one to Burnley, you might be able to make out the word “monument” which is in the form of a fountain commemorating the man who made all this possible. The park keepers’ house, known as the Lodge, is not shown on the map.

A visit to Queen’s Park, and our other parks, over the Christmas holiday will be rewarding. At most of the parks you will be able to see features which remind us of the history of the park you are visiting and the history of our town.

With that, could I wish all readers a merry Christmas and a happy and prosperous New Year.