Belfast Botanic Gardens

Belfast Botanic Gardens is a public park in Belfast, Northern Ireland.

Occupying 28 acres of south Belfast, the gardens are popular with office workers, students and tourists. They are located on Stranmillis Road in Belfast's university area, with Queen's University nearby. The Ulster Museum is located at the main entrance.

History

The gardens opened in 1828 as the private Royal Belfast Botanical Gardens. It continued as a private park for many years, only opening to members of the public on Sundays prior to 1895. Then it became a public park in 1895 when the Belfast Corporation bought the gardens from the Belfast Botanical and Horticultural Society. The Belfast Corporation was the predecessor of Belfast City Council, the present owner.

The Palm House

The gardens' most notable feature is the Palm House. The foundation stone was laid by the Marquess of Donegall in 1839 and work was completed in 1840. It is one of the earliest examples of a curvilinear cast iron glasshouse in the world. Designed by Charles Lanyon and built by Richard Turner, Belfast's Palm House predates the glasshouses at Kew and the Irish National Botanic Gardens at Glasnevin. Turner went on to build both of these glasshouses. The Palm House consists of two wings, the cool wing and the tropical wing which contains the dome. Lanyon altered his original plans to increase the height of the dome, allowing for much taller plants. In the past these have included an 11 metre tall "Globe Spear Lily". The lily, which is native to Australia, finally bloomed in March 2005 after a 23 year wait. The Palm House also features a 400 year old "Xanthorrhoea".

Other features

The gardens also contain another glasshouse, the Tropical Ravine House. Built by head gardener Charles McKimm in 1889, it features a unique design. A sunken ravine runs the length of the building, with a balcony at each side for viewing. The most popular attraction is the "Dombeya", which flowers every February.

The Palm House and the Tropical Ravine House were symbols of Belfast's growing industrial might and prosperity in the Victorian era and attracted over 10,000 visitors a day.The gardens also feature one of the longest herbaceous borders in Britain or Ireland. The is also a rose garden built in 1932 and various species of tree, including the hornbeam-oak. A statue of Lord Kelvin stands at the Stranmillis Road entrance.

Concerts

Concerts and music festivals are held at the Stranmillis Embankment end of the gardens. From 2002 to 2006 the Tennents ViTal festival was held in the gardens. Performers included Kings of Leon, Franz Ferdinand, The Coral, The Streets and The White Stripes. In 2006 Snow Patrol, The Raconteurs, Editors and Kaiser Chiefs played at the festival.

On August 26, 1997 U2 played their first Belfast concert in over a decade as part of the PopMart Tour. 40,000 fans attended, with thousands more lining the perimeter fence and watching from rooftops on Ridgeway Street. Local band Ash and Howard B were the support acts.

Popular culture

While the consumption of alcohol is banned within the park, groups of young people drinking are common during the summer months. The opening scene of Colin Bateman's novel "Divorcing Jack" finds the protagonist Dan Starkey with a crate of Harp in the gardens.

External links

* [http://www.belfastcity.gov.uk/parksandopenspaces/parksdetails.asp?id=54 Botanic Gardens]
* [http://www.belfastcity.gov.uk/parksandopenspaces/palmhouse.asp Palm House]
* [http://www.belfastcity.gov.uk/parksandopenspaces/tropicalravine.asp Tropical Ravine]
* [http://www.vital06.com/ Tennent's Vital]