Queen's Park, Brighton

Queen's Park is a public park in Brighton, England.

In 1825, Thomas Attree, a property owner and developer in Brighton, acquired land north of Eastern Road—already known as Brighton Park—to build a residential park surrounded by detached villas, inspired by

At the north-west corner is Pennant Lodge, once the home of Charles Freshfield. Also to the north-west of the park itself, on Queen's Park Road, stands the Pepper Pot (also called the "Pepper Box"). Probably originally built as a horizontal wind-powered water pump, and later used for the publishing of a local newspaper, it was later an artist's studio and by the 1990s a public convenience. In the 21st century it has been sealed and unused.^[1][2] The park itself, without the houses but including the Spa and the Pepper pot, was bought by the Race Stand Trustees in 1890 for £13,500 and donated to the town.^[1]

Today Queen's Park has a large pond, frequented by ducks, geese and herring gulls. A popular myth is that the pond was created when a First World War plane crashed in the middle of the park creating a crater lower than the water table.^{[citation needed]} Although untrue, this myth is probably based on a real-life event when a recreational biplane, piloted by retired Air Marshall Phillip Austin, crash landed in the pond in 1923.^{[citation needed]} Austin and the pond emerged unscathed.^{[citation needed]}

The park is also home to a children's play area, a café, an extensive dog-free area, a scented garden for people with disabilities, a former bowling green, tennis courts, and an area that is left untended in order to encourage wildlife. Kemp Town Bowling Club stopped using the bowling green in 2007, it had previously provided a filming location for the 1987 film "Wish You Were Here" starring Emily Lloyd ^[3]

References

External links

• Parks link on council site
• History and personal recollections on My Brighton and Hove site

50°49′29″N 00°07′32″W / 50.82472°N 0.12556°W / 50.82472; -0.12556