- Belle Vue Park
:"There is also a Belle Vue Park in
Lowestoft ,Suffolk ."Belle Vue Park is a large Victorian public park in the west side of the city ofNewport inSouth Wales . It was awarded a prestigious Green Flag award onJuly 17 2008 [ [http://www.greenflagaward.org.uk/winners/GSP002181/ Green Flag Awards - Belle Vue Park, Newport] ]Features
The land on which the park stands was a gift to Newport from
Godfrey Morgan, 1st Viscount Tredegar in 1891 to provide a public park for its citizens.An open competition to design and construct the park was won by
Thomas Mawson . Mawson's winning design was, in fact, designed for the neighbouring field, the site of the thenNewport and Monmouthshire Hospital , after Mawson misunderstood directions on his first visit to Newport. The mistake wasn't realised until the first site visit, after the contract had been awarded; Mawson had to quickly re-think some of his plans!Belle Vue Park was Thomas Mawson's first win in an open competition. He went on to become one of the foremost landscape architects of his time, responsible for the design of many gardens in his adopted
Lake District , includingHolker Hall andRydal Hall as well asDyffryn Botanic Garden nearCardiff .In November 1892 Lord Tredegar performed the ceremony of cutting the first sod; construction began and the park opened on
8 September 1894 . The final cost of the park is recorded as £19,500.Belle Vue Park has many features typical of a Victorian public park, including the conservatories and pavilion, bandstand and rockeries.
Additional features were added to the park throughout the years. The
Gorsedd Stone Circle was erected in 1896, for theNational Eisteddfod , held in Belle Vue Park in 1897. The bowling greens were opened in 1904 and a Tea House added in 1910.The bandstand and original series of cascades were restored in 2006.
Flora
Belle Vue Park contains a number of rare specimens.
In early Spring the
Himalayan Magnolia s produce huge goblet-shaped pink flowers and the branches of the Judas Trees can be seen covered with clusters of rose-lilac flowers in May. In June and July theTulip Tree produces its distinctive orange tulip-shaped flowers.Autumn brings glorious leaf colour to many of the trees and shrubs. Of particular note are the clear yellow leaves of Ginkgo biloba, one of only four deciduous conifers that can be seen growing in the British Isles today, and the glorious crimson leaves of the
Liquidambar , a native of the eastern United States.References
External links
* Source: [http://www.newport.gov.uk/_dc/index.cfm?fuseaction=outdoors.parks&contentid=DevXP001665 Newport City Council Countryside & Parks — Belle Vue Park]
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