Debdale Park

Debdale Park
The main entrance to Debdale Park off Manchester Road.
Location	Manchester, England
Coordinates	53°27′36″N 2°09′36″W / 53.4600°N 2.16°W / 53.4600; -2.16Coordinates: 53°27′36″N 2°09′36″W / 53.4600°N 2.16°W / 53.4600; -2.16
Area	45 acres (18 ha)
Created	1843

Debdale Park is an inner city park, located in the Gorton area of Manchester, England. At around 45 acres (18 ha), it is one of the largest inner city parks in the City of Manchester.

Located in the grounds of Debdale Park there is a members only bowling green, children's play area, multi use games area (MUGA), skate park, tennis courts (courts are free), football pitch, disused 9 hole pitch and putt, toilets, visitor and community centre. Close to the park are two large reservoirs for licensed fishing and the neighbouring Debdale Outdoor Centre provide an exciting range of activities include dinghy sailing, windsurfing, canoeing and kayaking along with indoor climbing, orienteering and team-building activities.

Debdale Park is also the eastern starting point of the Fallowfield Loop cycle track, a rail trail managed by Sustrans which follows the route of the former Fallowfield Loop railway line across south Manchester as far as St Werburgh's Road Metrolink station in Chorlton-cum-Hardy. The track is part of the UK National Cycle Network.

The land around Debdale Park was originally the property of the local water company, the Manchester and Salford Waterworks Company, who acquired it in the 1820s to provide two reservoirs. In 1851 the Corporation of Manchester purchased the land and reservoirs, expanding the facility southwards in 1874–75 to maintain the local water supplies, and the reservoirs continued to supply the local area until 1963.

After World War One the land around the reservoirs was converted for use as a public park. The City Council expanded the park after the Second World War when it acquired the 18th-Century Gorton House and its estate.