Catton Park, Old Catton, Norwich
Catton Park is a Grade 2 listed public park located in the village of Old Catton some 2 miles north of central Norwich. The park covers 70 acres (28 ha) and was landscape gardener Humphry Repton's first commission. Adjacent, but outside the boundary of the present today park are two open spaces; the War Memorial Deer Park 52°39′38″N 1°18′11″E / 52.6605°N 1.3031°E at Spixworth Road and the Buttercup Meadow 52°39′24″N 1°18′00″E / 52.6568°N 1.2999°E at the junction of Oak Lane and Spixworth Road. Both were historically part of Catton Park and together with Catton Hall form part of the Old Catton conservation area.
By the 1770s, land had been purchased and developed as an estate for occasional residence with the building of Catton Hall by Charles Buckle, High Steward of Norwich in c1780. In 1788 the Catton Hall estate passed into the hands of Jeremiah Ives (1754–1820) – twice Mayor of Norwich. Shortly after acquiring the estate, Ives consulted Repton who accepted the commission to landscape the park. Despite further alterations over the next 150 years, it remained a country park until the outbreak of World War II. Open areas of the park were given over to arable farming and ploughed up. After the war much of the park was broken up and mostly sold for residential development. Subsequent years of farming left just the 'bare bones' of Repton's original design. However, in 2005 the local community began an ambitious plan for the restoration and regeneration of the park with the aid of funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund. This was achieved along with support from Natural England and the local councils. In October, 2007 the park was formally opened to the public by the Duke of Kent. Today, the park is managed by the Catton Park Trust with support from Broadland District Council, Norfolk County Council and the parish council. In September 2010 the Catton Park Trust announced it had secured permission from English Heritage to build a new warden's office and education building. The £250,000 single storey structure finished in Sweet chestnut will be adjacent to the Oak Lane entrance.
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