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Dover: Lock and Key of the Kingdom
Connaught Park
Around 1881 a number of influential local people started
pressing for a public park in the town and it was decided to
provide one by voluntary subscription. The Department of
Woods and Forests, on behalf of the Crown, agreed to lease the
land to the Corporation for 99 years, and the townspeople
subscribed £2,700 for fencing, planting, and forming lawns and
terraces.
The key to the park was officially handed over to the Mayor on
1 May 1883 and the park was open to the public from that day
on. The park was formally opened by the Duke and Duchess of
Connaught on 14 July 1884. The Duchess planted a tree near
the pond, and the tree is still there with a plaque, on the fence
that surrounds it, commemorating the event. The park takes its
name from the Duke and Duchess, who also named the
Connaught Hall in the new Town Hall the same day.
As originally built the park covered 25 acres extending from the
lower entrance opposite Park Avenue, to what is now the middle
entrance, half way up Connaught Hill. Shortly after the park
was opened it was enlarged taking the whole of the hillside up
to the Deal Road, and making a third entrance opposite the
Castle. This extension added another five acres to the area of
the park, and although not very wide it greatly extended the
upper promenade.
A famous landmark in the park was an archway formed by the
jaw bones of a large whale. They were presented to the town in
1866 by a Mr W.T. Tourney and later erected in the park. By the
early 1960s there was concern that the bones were decaying
and the Council thought that the structure was dangerous and
beyond repair. They were loath to do anything for fear of public
outcry but the problem was solved for them when, in March
1967, vandals entered the park one night and cut it down using
a saw, leaving the Council to just remove the debris.
The park remains more or less unchanged in its main structure
since Victorian times. On the lower level the park is terraced to
make formal lawns with flowerbeds and an ornamental pond.
On the next level there are tennis courts and a children’s
playground, above this the lawns slope up the hillside to the
upper promenade. The trees planted by the Victorians have
now matured into fine specimens adding to the beauty of the
park.
A more recent addition is the aviary, close to the main
entrance, full of budgerigars, finches and other small birds. One
change is that the number of formally planted beds has been
much reduced, partly due to changing tastes but mainly due to
the cost of the intensive gardening required to maintain such
formal displays. In spite of there being less colourful annuals
and more shrubs and lawns, the Connaught Park is still a very
pleasant spot and the upper promenade commands spectacular
views over the valley.
pressing for a public park in the town and it was decided to
provide one by voluntary subscription. The Department of
Woods and Forests, on behalf of the Crown, agreed to lease the
land to the Corporation for 99 years, and the townspeople
subscribed £2,700 for fencing, planting, and forming lawns and
terraces.
The key to the park was officially handed over to the Mayor on
1 May 1883 and the park was open to the public from that day
on. The park was formally opened by the Duke and Duchess of
Connaught on 14 July 1884. The Duchess planted a tree near
the pond, and the tree is still there with a plaque, on the fence
that surrounds it, commemorating the event. The park takes its
name from the Duke and Duchess, who also named the
Connaught Hall in the new Town Hall the same day.
As originally built the park covered 25 acres extending from the
lower entrance opposite Park Avenue, to what is now the middle
entrance, half way up Connaught Hill. Shortly after the park
was opened it was enlarged taking the whole of the hillside up
to the Deal Road, and making a third entrance opposite the
Castle. This extension added another five acres to the area of
the park, and although not very wide it greatly extended the
upper promenade.
A famous landmark in the park was an archway formed by the
jaw bones of a large whale. They were presented to the town in
1866 by a Mr W.T. Tourney and later erected in the park. By the
early 1960s there was concern that the bones were decaying
and the Council thought that the structure was dangerous and
beyond repair. They were loath to do anything for fear of public
outcry but the problem was solved for them when, in March
1967, vandals entered the park one night and cut it down using
a saw, leaving the Council to just remove the debris.
The park remains more or less unchanged in its main structure
since Victorian times. On the lower level the park is terraced to
make formal lawns with flowerbeds and an ornamental pond.
On the next level there are tennis courts and a children’s
playground, above this the lawns slope up the hillside to the
upper promenade. The trees planted by the Victorians have
now matured into fine specimens adding to the beauty of the
park.
A more recent addition is the aviary, close to the main
entrance, full of budgerigars, finches and other small birds. One
change is that the number of formally planted beds has been
much reduced, partly due to changing tastes but mainly due to
the cost of the intensive gardening required to maintain such
formal displays. In spite of there being less colourful annuals
and more shrubs and lawns, the Connaught Park is still a very
pleasant spot and the upper promenade commands spectacular
views over the valley.
