Bolton’s Queen’s Park celebrates its one hundred and sixtieth birthday this Sunday with music, dance and activities.
Today’s visitors find a park that, thanks to major investment by the council, is back to its best.
But that was not always the story.
The ceremonial opening of the gates to the new park on Thursday, May 24, 1866, was a moment of huge celebration and pride for the town.
Many shops shut for the day and workers were given time off to join the festivities, which included a procession from the town centre out to the park.
The park quickly became the pride of Bolton and was much loved by generations of local people looking for fresh air, nature and relaxation.
Anyone who was there on that first day would still recognise much of the park today.
Its basic layout remains the same and among the original features still in place are the sunken garden, promenade terrace and the viewing point known as the pie crust.
All the statues are original, as are the central path, the steps to the fountain and the gardener’s lodge.
Over the past 160 years many of the park’s other features have been lost or moved.
Among them are the park keeper’s lodge, a large refreshment pavilion on the promenade that was demolished in 1958 and a bandstand next to the sunken garden.
The bandstand was removed to create a bowling green, which in turn had a large conservatory built on it in the early 1960s that burnt down in 1999.
The park’s amphitheatre once boasted a covered stage, which in its heyday hosted Sunday concerts to large crowds, before being demolished in 1974.
After falling into disrepair in the 1980s and 90s, the park was revitalised in the 2000s thanks to £7m from the Heritage Lottery Fund and Bolton Council.
Three of the lakes were dredged and cleaned up and the park lodge was totally refurbished.
All the statues and steps were repaired and cleaned, with new urns, railings, benches and signage.
Dobson Bridge was dismantled and painstakingly repaired and repainted, while craftsmen set to work on the grand Victorian fountain, demolished at least 50 years beforehand, recreating it in intricately carved new stone.
At the same time, the children’s play area was relocated and enlarged and a new bridge installed to link to a new car park on Spa Road.
And the improvements have not stopped.
As recently as this year, further investment has seen improvements to the children’s play area, new bins and planters and updated exercise equipment.
Wildflowers have been planted, ponds cleared for wildlife and a sensory garden created.
The fountain has enjoyed £17,000 of further repairs and is back in working order for the first time since 2019.
After 160 years of tradition and change, Queen’s Park is now both listed and a conservation area.
It is as important as ever to the people of Bolton for relaxation, play, meeting family and friends and connecting with nature.
A spokesperson for Bolton Council said:
“Having been at the heart of the town for over a century and a half, Queen’s Park is not only a proud part of our history, but also a place of fond memories for generations of Boltonians.
“We are determined to keep improving it for future generations.
“Thanks to the hard work of people like the Friends of Queen’s Park, working alongside staff from the council, now is the perfect time to celebrate the park’s return to its former glory.”
Saturday, May 23, 1pm to 3:30pm, Pavilion Café
12:45 – Farnworth and Walkden Brass Band
1:00 – Mayor of Bolton to open event
1:05 – Ajays Morris Dancers
1:25 – Farnworth and Walkden Brass Band
1:30 – Historia Normannis historical reenactment
1:45 – BLGC youth group
2:05 – The Ukulangle Band
2:05 – Wilderswood storytellers (under 8s)
2:25 – Bolton School of Dance
2:45 – Farnworth and Walkden Brass Band
2:45 – Historia Normannis historical reenactment
3:05 – Raffle and prize draw
3:15 – Philomena Mather
3:30 – event close.
Eight top facts about Queen’s Park
When it opened in 1866 it was called Bolton Park, but it was renamed Queen’s Park in 1897 in honour of the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria.
Fittingly, a young Freddie Mercury gave one of his very earliest performances in Queen’s Park. It was before he joined Queen, when he was still known as Freddie Bulsara.
The park was built on 22 acres of land purchased several landowners including the Earl of Bradford, who had the honour of opening the park.
Queen’s Park was one of the ‘cotton famine’ parks. In the 1860s the American Civil War slashed the amount of cotton reaching the mills of Lancashire, causing widespread hardship. Building parks was a way for the government to give unemployed mill workers an income.
Where the children’s play area is today was once a large lake. It then became popular paddling pool but was filled in during the 1970s.
The park offers great views over the town, but the view has changed a lot over the years. Originally, it was dotted with tall chimneys for steam powered mills and factories.
The Chadwick Museum was built in 1884 on Park Road after a wealthy local doctor, Samuel Chadwick, willed four floors of artefacts to the people of Bolton. The museum became derelict and was demolished, but not before the artefacts had formed the first exhibits in the Bolton Museum on Le Mans Crescent.
The original buildings in the park were designed by Bolton architect George Woodhouse, who also co-designed Bolton town hall and was behind lots of other buildings in the town, like Sunnyside Mills, Atlas Mill in Halliwell, many chapels and churches and what is now the NatWest building on Deansgate.