Acton Park, Wrexham

Acton Park, Wrexham

Acton Park is a residential area in the county borough of Wrexham, in Wales. It neighbours other communities such as Borras, Rhosddu and Garden Village. Acton Park itself is a landscaped Parkland with mature specimen trees and gently undulating expanses of grass areas with recent tree planting. There are also areas of ornamental shrubberies, and wild bulb planting. It is often referred to locally as Acton.

Acton estate

The lake provides the centre feature of the park. It was originally constructed using puddled clay in the 18th century but during the 1970s, the pond was drained and butyl lined. Fishing is popular on the lake with platforms provided for disabled anglers. (The lake is closed for fishing during the Wildfowl nesting period). A wetland area exists and supports a diverse range of wildlife.

A designated area managed to benefit wildlife as one of the Wrexham Bio-diversity Action Plan 'Urban Green Space' areas. Native wild meadow flowers have been planted to the existing grass to assist in providing habitats for insects and other fauna , increasing the bio-diversity of the parkland.

Park history

The park land was originally laid out in 1785 by the landowner Sir Foster Cunliffe. The whole park was enclosed within a stone wall and were the grounds of Acton Hall. Acton was designed by James Wyatt (For Cunliffe). Many of the beautiful mature specimen trees which survive today were planted at this time and the general park layout and picturesque positioning of the lake were part of the original park layout.

The estate did not remain within the Cunliffe family ownership and has passed through several owners throughout the years. The Jeffreys family lived at Acton Hall in the 17th century. The most famous member of the family being the notorious Hanging Judge Jeffreys, He gained his nickname because of the punishment he handed out at the trials of the supporters of the Duke of Monmouth. In 1688 when James II fled the country, Jeffreys was placed in the Tower of London for his own safety. He died there the following year at 44 of kidney disease. Judge Jeffreys's ghost is said to haunt Acton Park as he does with many of the homes that he lived in.

In 1947 the Council was presented with the hall and parklands by, the then owner, Alderman William Aston. By then the grounds had become very overgrown and a programme of restoration was implemented.

Welsh Cup Final

With the Racecourse unavalible as a venue for the first Welsh Cup Final, a local baronet, Sir Robert A Cunliffe, provided land measuring 120yd x 76yd as a field for the final. This field was situated within Acton Park.smallsup|1

Housing

Between 1930 & 1970, about half of the park was developed as an area for housing. The remaining 55 acres of the original estate forms the majority of the present day park. Recently, 2005, the Acton Hall has been rebuilt by [http://www.bloorhomes.com Bloorhomes] and has been sold off as exclusive apartments, there is also a small number of houses to the back of the hall which is still within the original boundaries of working Acton Hall. A number of the 'older' work houses can still be seen within the grounds.

Even though the area was not initially designed as a 'park', it now features a bowling green, tennis courts, children's play areas, a Japanese garden, Gorsedd and a lake with abundant wildlife. The park is a jewel to the town of Wrexham and is very well preserved.

External Links

[http://www.wrexhamtoday.com/ Wrexham Today]

Referance

smallsup|1 "The History of the Welsh Cup 1877-1993" by Ian Garland (1991) ISBN 1-872424-37-6.


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужно сделать НИР?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Acton Park — may refer to one of several places:*Acton Park, Wales, is a residential area in Wrexham *Acton Park, Western Australia, a small town near Busselton *Acton Park, Tasmania, a suburb east of Hobart, Australia …   Wikipedia

  • Acton Hall — in Wrexham, Wales was the birthplace of George Jeffreys, 1st Baron Jeffreys of Wem, PC (May 15, 1645 ndash; April 18, 1689), better known as Judge Jefferies or The Hanging Judge , became notorious during the reign of King James II, rising to the… …   Wikipedia

  • Wrexham F.C. — Wrexham FC Full name Wrexham Football Club Nickname(s) The Red Dragons The Robins Ground …   Wikipedia

  • Acton, Wrexham — Acton, or Acton Park as it is sometimes referred to, is a community in the Wrexham County Borough of Wales. It lies in the north eastern part of the Welsh market town of Wrexham Geography The residential area neighbours other villages such as… …   Wikipedia

  • Acton — may refer to:PlacesEngland* Acton, Cheshire * Acton, Dorset * Acton, Staffordshire * Acton, Shropshire * Acton, Worcestershire * Acton, Suffolk * Acton, London * Acton, NorthumberlandAlso:* Acton Beauchamp, Herefordshire * Acton Bridge, Cheshire… …   Wikipedia

  • Wrexham — infobox UK place country = Wales welsh name=Wrecsam constituency welsh assembly=Wrexham, Clwyd South latitude=53.03 longitude= 2.98 official name= Wrexham unitary wales= Wrexham population= 63,084 (2001) lieutenancy wales= Clwyd constituency… …   Wikipedia

  • Wrexham — County Borough Verwaltungssitz Wrexham Fläche 498 km² Einwohner 133.200[1] (2009) W …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Wrexham County Borough — Bwrdeisdref Sirol Wrecsam Geography Area Total  % Water Ranked 10th 498 km² 0 % …   Wikipedia

  • Wrexham (UK Parliament constituency) — Not to be confused with Wrexham (Assembly constituency). Wrexham County constituency for the House of Commons …   Wikipedia

  • Wrexham (Assembly constituency) — Welsh Assembly constituency infobox Name = Wrexham Type = county Region = North Wales Year = 1999 AM = Lesley Griffiths Party = Labour County= ClwydWrexham is a constituency of the National Assembly for Wales. It elects one Assembly Member by the …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”