Napoleons

Peel Park

, Bradford received its Charter of Incorporation and became a Municipal Borough in June 1847, at that time having no publicly owned parks or recreation grounds. Following a public meeting on 13 August 1850 in St. Georgeâ??s Hall, Bradford, Monies were raised by subscription, augmented by a grant of £1500 from Her Majestyâ??s Government, to purchase an estate to the north-east of the town centre for public use. Donations of £1000 each were also made by Sir Robert Milligan and Sir Titus Salt, the first and second Mayors of Bradford. The c 26ha of land purchased overlapped the boundary, at the time, between the towns of Bradford and Bolton and included Bolton House (listed grade II) and its grounds (Bentley 1926), which were already planted (Conway 1993). A plan of 1853 (Dixon) shows the purchased land, named Peel Park Estate in memory of Sir Robert Peel, with Bolton House and villa plots to the north, and the proposed design for a park covering c 22ha. Laying out the park was also funded by public subscription. The first gala in the park was held over three days in June 1853. A plan of the park dated 1854 (Conway 1993) shows perimeter building plots set around a cricket ground in the south of the park and a sports and bowling green to the northeast, but from the evidence of the 1893 OS map these proposals were not realised. Peel Park, the first publicly owned park in Bradford, was conveyed to Bradford Corporation in November 1863 (Bentley 1926). Facilities for sports were added within the park in the early C20. Peel Park is in the ownership of the City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council and remains (2001) open to the public. Description Location, Area, Boundaries, Landford, Setting Peel Park lies c 1.2km to the north-east of the centre of Bradford. To the north of the c22.6 ha park is bounded partly by Valley View Grove, the remaining grounds of Bolton House, two late C19 houses, The Mount and Park House, and other late C20 residential development. The boundary to Valley View Grove is open while the north boundary to residential properties is marked by shrub planting and hedging. Stone gatepiers mark an entrance to Bolton House and a former entrance to The Mount from the park. The west boundary of the park overlooks a lower-lying sports field, with commercial property to the north of this on Bolton Road. The park has been slightly reduced to the north-west by the exclusion of the site of former glasshouses, now commercial property, where the boundary is marked by a dense evergeen hedge. The sports field has been formed in the late C20 on the site of old quarries, a C19 local authority reaks in the stone boundary walling. Gardens and Pleasure Grounds Peel Park is divided into northern and southern halves by a broad terrace extending east/west along the top of the northern valleyâ??s southern side. The path is carried by a bridge at its eastern end over the carriage drive below. The level southern part of the park is laid out with large irregularly shaped lawns between tree-lined paths. Parts of the lawns are used for sports and include a football area (2001). There is no indication on the plan of 1853, or the 1893 OS map, that any areas were particularly designed or designated for sporting activities. In the conveyance of 1863 (Bentley 1926) it is noted that no games were to be allowed in the park on a Sunday. The western part of the valley is laid out with serpentine paths around a lake with more open areas to the north-east.