Queens Park

About

Queens Park is a public park in Burnley, Lancashire. It covers 11.2 hectares and was opened in 1893, making it Burnley's oldest park. Located approximately 1 km northeast of the town centre, attractions include a skate park, tennis courts, a children's play area, a bandstand, football pitches, putting greens, a cycle track and a cafe.

In the second half of the nineteenth century Burnley's population increased almost five-fold and there was a pressing need for public open space so from 1872, the council opted to provide recreation grounds, with several opened around the town in the following years which proved to be popular. In 1881, John Hargreaves Scott, a former mayor of Burnley, died leaving £10,000 to be used upon his wife's death to create a public park for the town. Although Mrs Scott died in 1884, the trustees took some time to decide where to use the money, meaning that Scott Park would not be the town's first.

In 1888, a local colliery owner, Sir John Hardy Thursby, donated the land, valued at £27,000 (equivalent to about £3 million in 2018), for the purpose of creating a public park in the town and the Burnley Corporation used its own money to lay-out the grounds. His company...