Stanley Park, Blackpool
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View of the Stanley Park's Italian gardens and art deco cafe
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| Location | Blackpool, Lancashire, England |
| OS grid | SD 3235 |
| Coordinates | 53°48′53″N 3°01′45″W / 53.814678°N 3.029211°WCoordinates: 53°48′53″N 3°01′45″W / 53.814678°N 3.029211°W |
| Area | 256 acres / 103.6 hectares |
| Created | 1926 |
| Visitors | 2 million per year |
| Open | All year: dawn to dusk |
| Status | Open |
| Website | Official website |
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Listed Building – Grade II*
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| Official name | Stanley Park, Blackpool |
| Designated | 1 April 1986 |
| Reference no. | 1000952 |
Stanley Park is a public park in the town of Blackpool on the Fylde coast in Lancashire, England. It is the town's primary park and covers an area of approximately 104 hectares (260 acres). The park was designed to include significant sporting provisions, along with formal gardens, a boating lake and woodland area. It was designed and built in the 1920s, under the eye of Thomas Mawson.
It is located in the Great Marton and Layton areas of the town. It is Grade II* listed and is on the Register of Historic Parks and Gardens of special historic interest in England.
The park's largest gardens feature a fountain built with Italian marble and a number of statues including a pair of Medici Lions. The Italian gardens are overlooked by a cafe, designed by Mawson and built in a traditional Art Deco style, and include steps down to the boating lake. Surrounding the boating lake is a woodland area, including a protected area for wildlife. On one side of the lake is an amphitheatre surrounding a bandstand, also designed by Mawson.
Towards the centre of the park there is a crossroads with a clock tower, dedicated to William Cocker. It is close to the large children's play area, the tennis courts, all-weather pitches, BMX track, skate park and general grassy areas. Within the Stanley Park grounds stands a 5000-seat cricket ground, an 18-hole golf course designed by Alister MacKenzie, a sports centre, athletics ground and a model village attraction.
Due to large growth of Blackpool's population between 1870 and 1900 the council decided that an outdoor attraction was required, to "appeal to all ages and all classes". It took until the 1920s to begin implementation of the plans. Much of the land was sold to the council, for the purpose of constructing a park, by Albert Lindsay Parkinson and additional areas of land were compulsory purchased and some donated (by mayor of Blackpool, John Bickerstaffe, T.M. Watson and William Lawson). The land previously consisted of "the most heterogeneous collection of hen runs, pigsties, stagnant ponds, caravan dwellings and stables we have ever come across. The buildings were of temporary nature, margarine boxes, tea chests, biscuit tins and petrol cans being pressed into service for walls and roofing material"
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Wikipedia