Beacon Park

Beacon Park
Museum Gardens with the spires of Lichfield Cathedral in the background.
Type	Public park
Location	Lichfield, Staffordshire
Area	69 acres (28 ha)
Elevation	80m AMSL
Created	1859
Operated by	Lichfield District Council
Open	All year
Awards	BALI Grand Award (2012)

Beacon Park is a public park in the centre of the city of Lichfield, Staffordshire, in the United Kingdom. The park was created in 1859 when the Museum Gardens were laid out adjacent to the newly built Free Museum and Library. The park has since been extended in stages and now forms 69 acres (28 ha) of open parkland in the city centre. The park is located in the northwest of the city centre and to the west of the Cathedral Close across the road from the Garden of Remembrance.

The majority of the park was originally waterlogged marshland and a lake covered the area of what is now the Museum Gardens. The land was drained in the early 19th century and the Museum Gardens were raised with silt dredged from Minster Pool. The large northern area of the park once formed the land and gardens of Beacon House. This land was incorporated into the park when the owner of Beacon House, Colonel Swinfen Broun, donated the land after his death.

The park has many sporting and recreational facilities for use by the public, including an 18 hole golf course, football pitches, tennis courts and bowling greens. The park also hosts a wide range of events throughout the year including the Lichfield Bower and The Lichfield Festival. The park is home to many monuments, most notably a large bronze statue of Captain Smith of the RMS Titanic.

Beacon Park stands on land which was originally low lying, poorly drained pasture alongside the Leamonsley Brook. The Museum Gardens and Recreation Grounds were the site of Bishops Fish Pool (sometimes known as Upper Pool). The pool was created when a causeway was built on Beacon Street in the 14th century separating it from Minster Pool. The waterlogged marshland surrounding Bishops Fish Pool became known as 'The Moggs' from the 15th century and later 'Swan Moggs'.

Swans were kept by the Bishops of Lichfield on Bishops Fish Pool from the early 14th century. Special pens and nesting areas were constructed. Ownership of the birds passed to the Lichfield Corporation from 1548. In 1704 the lease owner of 'Swan Moggs' was required to allow the swans make their nests there. In this area today we get the street names Swan Road and Swan Mews reflecting the history of the land use.