East Park is a public park in

Wolverhampton Wolverhampton () is a city, metropolitan borough and administrative centre in the West Midlands, England. The population size has increased by 5.7%, from around 249,500 in 2011 to 263,700 in 2021. People from the city are called "Wulfrunians ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. Situated off Hickman Avenue, near Monmore Green stadium, the park has good transport links to the city centre. Work began on the original design "Utile Dolci" by

Thomas Mawson Thomas Hayton Mawson (5 May 1861 – 14 November 1933), known as T. H. Mawson, was a British garden designer, landscape architect, and town planner. Personal life Mawson was born in Nether Wyresdale, Lancashire, and left school at age 12. ...

on 18 hectares of land donated by the Duke of Sutherland, Sir Alfred Hickman, and Mr Arther Sparrow in 1892, with the park opening for business on 21 September 1896. The original design included a boating lake; however this was beset with problems as old

coal mine Coal mining is the process of extracting coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron from ...

s that were previously there began to drain the water from the lake. Despite great efforts to save the lake, it was grassed over in 1922 and is now part of a children's playground and all weather sports pitch. This has since been turned into a car park in 2013. The park includes The Lysaght Memorial Clock Tower, however this has been out of order for over 30 years although rumors continue to circulate that funding will become available to refurbish this in the near future (Work started in 2013), and a small band stand originally funded by the proceeds of a floral fete. Although presently (2012) repairable according to The Scottish Ironwork Database (https://web.archive.org/web/20120512104228/http://www.scottishironwork.org/catdetail.asp?ironid=25956) the bandstand is currently considered to be "at risk" having suffered years of neglect and vandalism. Pensioners often gather at the Memorial Clock Tower for sandwich club. Current facilities include

football pitch A football pitch (also known as soccer field) is the playing surface for the game of association football. Its dimensions and markings are defined by Law 1 of the Laws of the Game, "The Field of Play". The pitch is typically made of natural t ...

es,

tennis court A tennis court is the venue where the sport of tennis is played. It is a firm rectangular surface with a low net stretched across the centre. The same surface can be used to play both Types of tennis match, doubles and singles matches. A variet ...

children's playground A playground, playpark, or play area is a place designed to provide an environment for children that facilitates play, typically outdoors. While a playground is usually designed for children, some are designed for other age groups, or people w ...

cycle speedway Cycle speedway is a form of bicycle racing on short oval dirt tracks, usually outdoors, occasionally indoors, typically 70–90 metres long. Like motorcycle speedway, riders use machines without brakes or multiple gears but, unlike motor speedwa ...

, fitness and exercise equipment alongside gardens, walkways and flower beds. Once a year, the Wolvestock4life festival takes place. It has been hosted by East park for over ten years and annually brings in over 4,000 people. The festival, now in its 14th year, is the largest free-to-enter festival in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. It has no longer free since 2013. A Lottery grant of £981,000 was granted in December 2011 to stabilize the aforementioned coal mines and refurbish the park's facilities, including the clock tower.

References

1896 establishments in England Areas of Wolverhampton Tourist attractions in Wolverhampton Parks and open spaces in the West Midlands (county) {{WestMidlands-geo-stub