Beacon Park is a public park in the centre of the city of Lichfield, Staffordshire, in the United Kingdom. The park was created in 1859 when the Museum Gardens were laid out adjacent to the newly built Free Museum and Library. The park has since been extended in stages and now forms 69 acres (28 ha) of open parkland in the city centre. The park is located in the northwest of the city centre and to the west of the Cathedral Close across the road from the Garden of Remembrance.
The majority of the park was originally waterlogged marshland and a lake covered the area of what is now the Museum Gardens. The land was drained in the early 19th century and the Museum Gardens were raised with silt dredged from Minster Pool. The large northern area of the park once formed the land and gardens of Beacon House. This land was incorporated into the park when the owner of Beacon House, Colonel Swinfen Broun, donated the land after his death.
The park has many sporting and recreational facilities for use by the public, including an 18 hole golf course, football pitches, tennis courts and bowling greens. The park also hosts a wide range of events throughout the year including the Lichfield Bower and The Lichfield Festival. The park is home to many monuments, most notably a large bronze statue of Captain Smith of the RMS Titanic.
Early history
Beacon Park stands on land which was originally low lying, poorly drained pasture alongside the Leamonsley Brook. The Museum Gardens and Recreation Grounds were the site of Bishops Fish Pool (sometimes known as Upper Pool). The pool was created when a causeway was built on Beacon Street in the 14th century separating it from Minster Pool. The waterlogged marshland surrounding Bishops Fish Pool became known as 'The Moggs' from the 15th century and later 'Swan Moggs'.
Swans were kept by the Bishops of Lichfield on Bishops Fish Pool from the early 14th century. Special pens and nesting areas were constructed. Ownership of the birds passed to the Lichfield Corporation from 1548. In 1704 the lease owner of 'Swan Moggs' was required to allow the swans make their nests there. In this area today we get the street names Swan Road and Swan Mews reflecting the history of the land use.
The land of the wider Beacon Park was used for agriculture from at least the 13th century to the 19th century. This past use is visible today in street names with Townfields south of the park and north of the park there are records of a Shaw field in 1336 which is now Shaw Lane.
19th century
As the city water supply from Aldershawe was diminishing in the early 19th century, money was spent diverting surface waters from 'Swan Moggs' into a common conduit. The two streams across it were diverted into underground culverts; the land was raised with silt and mud dredged from Minster Pool. The area was subsequently developed into the formal gardens of Beacon Park by the Lichfield Corporation, but paid for by the Conduit Lands Trust. The Museum Gardens were opened in 1859 to complement the new Italianate Free Library and Museum. The Recreation Grounds, opened in 1891, is the small area between the Museum Gardens and the wider Beacon Park. The central fountain was unveiled as the central focus of the Museum Gardens in 1871. A bandstand was also installed close to the junction of the Museum Gardens and Recreation Grounds, and was positioned to provide a focus for the avenue through the Museum Gardens.
The development of the wider Beacon Park is closely linked to the development of Beacon House, which was built for George Hand in 1800. The gardens and parkland were developed in stages over the nineteenth century as ownership of the estate changed. In 1826 the owner, Richard Hinckley added two wings to the house, extended the grounds and carried out extensive improvements to the landscape. Two fish ponds were dug along the valley, fed by the Leomonsley Brook, and a long ornamental approach constructed across the fields towards Walsall Road. Samuel Lipscomb Seckham acquired Beacon House and its 32 acres (13 ha) estate in 1880. He extended the parkland to cover 100 acres (40 ha) and added a terraced walk along the front; linking the house to the ponds.
20th century Edit
Statues of Edward VII and Edward Smith were erected in the Museum Gardens in 1908 and 1914 respectively. During the First World War, Beacon House was sold to the War department. A Crimean War cannon and a First World War German gun were placed in the Museum Gardens after the war, only to be removed for scrap metal during the next war. After the First World War the park was the scene of much celebration with the Recreation Grounds used for athletics and the Museum Gardens for dancing. The Garden of Remembrance was laid out across Beacon Street opposite the park in 1920. The timber framed public convenience at the northeast entrance was built in 1930, partly with old materials from the portion of the Friary which was taken down in 1925 on the making of the new road.
Beacon House was used by the Royal Army Service Corps during the Second World War before being demolished by the City Council in 1964. The land on which Beacon House once stood is now a housing estate with street names Swinfen Broun Road and Seckham Road named after previous residents of the house. Colonel Swinfen Broun gifted 12 acres (4.9 ha) of the land to the park in 1943. After the land attached to Beacon House was incorporated into Beacon Park between 1943 and 1964 the park area as we know it today was complete.
Over the rest of the 20th century many recreation facilities were incorporated into the park. Parkland was levelled for football pitches in 1947. A second bowling green in the Recreation Grounds was laid out by the City Council in 1962 to join the green in the Museum Gardens laid in 1922. In 1972 the two fish ponds were reshaped and deepened to leave one pool (Beacon Pool) we see today. The golf course was laid out and opened in 1973.
21st century
In 2009, the Heritage Lottery Fund and the Big Lottery Fund announced Beacon Park, Minster Pool and Walk and the Garden of Remembrance had been awarded a grant £3.9 million under the 'Parks for People' programme. The transformation started in 2010 and was completed in 2012 with works including a new café, refreshment kiosk, bowls and education pavilion, toilets, and new and improved play areas for children of all ages. Conservation work was carried out on the listed structures, including the statues, railings and fountain. In the Museum Gardens, the bowling green was relocated to the Recreation Grounds and in its previous location beds of flowers were planted to recreate the Victorian geometric landscaping to the gardens.