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Eastville Park

Introduction

Eastville Park is a municipal park laid out between 1889 and 1894 on the estate lands of Heath House and Ridgeway House.

Terrain

Generally flat

Eastville Park is a large rectangle of open grassland. It can be entered from several points on all sides except the north, where it borders on the River Frome. Metalled footpaths lead from all the entrances to various places within the park. Several of these paths are flanked by avenues of mature trees.

The north side of the park slopes fairly steeply down to the river bank, and this slope has been planted with trees, many of which are now mature. At the bottom of the slope there is a lake of 3.14 acres, which has been constructed next to, and slightly above, the river. There is a small boathouse by the lake. In the south-east corner of the park there are tennis courts, bowling greens, a playground, a pavilion and a car park. There is also a swimming pool, now disused.

Eastville Park is maintained by the Parks Department of Bristol City Council. The grass is cut regularly and the park is generally clean and tidy. Vandalism is a problem with all the buildings on the site, but the disused swimming pool is the only structure which is severely affected.

Visitor Access, Directions & Contacts

Telephone

0117 922 2000

Website

https://www.bristol.gov.uk/museums-parks-sports-culture/eastville-park

Access contact details

This is a municipal park open for public use throughout the year.

Directions

Access to the park is from Fishponds Road and Muller Road.

Owners

Bristol City Council

The Council House, College Green, BS1 5TR

Other Websites

History

The land for Eastville Park was purchased by Bristol City Council from Sir Greville Smyth on the 6th of February, 1889. The price was £30,878. A small additional area was purchased in 1894 for £1,227. Many municipal parks were created around this time in all the large cities of Britain. This was in response to the deeply-felt need of the people to offer some relief from the appalling squalor and overcrowding that had developed in the previous hundred years and more.

In Bristol, this need had been articulated in a pamphlet published anonymously in 1871. The pamphlet was entitled ‘A Cry from the Poor: a letter from Sixteen Working Men to the sixteen aldermen of the city'. The authors of this pamphlet drew attention to the need for a ‘people's park' in the working class area of the city. They pointed out that the existing public parks, at Brandon Hill and on the Clifton Downs, were convenient for well-off people who lived nearby, but were of less benefit to the working people in other areas of the city.

Eastville Park was the largest of several open spaces purchased and opened to the public in the 1880s and 1890s by the Bristol City Council. Paths were laid out and trees were planted, and work began on an artificial lake. Initial landscaping work was completed in 1910, and the park has continued to play an important role as the population of the city has increased. The boathouse by the lake has had to be re-built twice after being destroyed by fire in 1913 and 1923, and the swimming pool has been unused since being hit by a bomb in World War 2. Many of the trees planted in the 1890s have now reached maturity and greatly add to the attraction of the park.

Features & Designations

Designations

  • The National Heritage List for England: Listed Building

  • Reference: Pennant wall, gateway, gates and

Features

  • Tree Avenue
  • Description: Several footpaths are flanked by avenues of mature trees.
  • Lake
  • Description: At the bottom of the slope there is a lake of 3.14 acres, which has been constructed next to, and slightly above, the river. There are two small islands in the lake, both densely planted with trees.
  • Latest Date:
  • Boat House
  • Description: There is a small boathouse by the lake.
  • Bowling Green
  • Description: In the south-east corner of the park there are tennis courts, bowling greens, a playground, a pavilion and a car park.
  • Pavilion
  • Description: In the south-east corner of the park there are tennis courts, bowling greens, a playground, a pavilion and a car park.
  • Pool
  • Description: There is also a swimming pool, now disused. The swimming pool was built as a scheme to relieve unemployment, and opened in 1907. It was at first obligatory for bathers to were full costumes when using the pool, but after 1920 bathers were permitted to wear swimming trunks.During an air raid on Bristol on 24th November, 1940 the pool was damaged by a bomb, and has been disused since then. A scheme is now in hand to reconstruct the pool, partly as a paddling pool and partly as a sunken garden. The work would be undertaken by the Avon County Council Environment Scheme.
  • Latest Date:
  • Parkland
Key Information

Type

Park

Purpose

Recreational/sport

Principal Building

Parks, Gardens And Urban Spaces

Survival

Extant

Hectares

20

Open to the public

Yes

Electoral Ward

Eastville

References

References

Contributors

  • Toby Thacker

  • Avon Gardens Trust

Related Documents
  • CLS 1/986/1

    Conservation Management Plan - Hard Copy

    Hilary Taylor Landscape Associates Ltd - 2008

  • CLS 1/986/2

    Conservation Management Plan: Appendices - Hard Copy

    Hilary Taylor Landscape Associates Ltd - 2008

  • CLS 1/986/3

    Management and Maintenance Plan - Hard Copy

    Hilary Taylor Landscape Associates Ltd - 2008