Musgrave Park is a public park in

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdom ...

, Northern Ireland. Situated in the south west of the city, in Ballygammon townland off Stockman's Lane, the surrounding area is a mix of trading estates and residential housing, with the

M1 motorway The M1 motorway connects London to Leeds, where it joins the A1(M) near Aberford, to connect to Newcastle. It was the first inter-urban motorway to be completed in the UK; the first motorway in the country was the Preston By-pass, which ...

passing close to one end. Facilities include a

bowling Bowling is a target sport and recreational activity in which a player rolls a ball toward pins (in pin bowling) or another target (in target bowling). The term ''bowling'' usually refers to pin bowling (most commonly ten-pin bowling), thou ...

pavilion, playing fields, walks, nature areas and bottle banks.Belfast City Council - Musgrave Park
/ref> Since 2010, it has been developing a therapy garden.Keep Britain Tidy
/ref> The adjoining

Musgrave Park Hospital Musgrave Park Hospital is a specialist hospital in Belfast, Northern Ireland. It specialises in orthopaedics, rheumatology, sports medicine and rehabilitation of patients of all ages. These specialties are spread out across a large site in the ...

specialises in rehabilitation for all ages. Grovelands, a smaller park running alongside and to the south, is connected to Musgrave by the main pathway which runs through both.Belfast City Council, Grovelands
/ref>

Gift by Henry Musgrave

The land on which Musgrave Park was built was donated to Belfast in 1921 by Henry Musgrave (1827–1922). It was another three years before the park was open to the public. 250 gardeners worked during this time to landscape the ground, as part of a job creation scheme. The park was opened in 1924 by Lady Edith Dixon, who was later herself to donate

Sir Thomas and Lady Dixon Park The Sir Thomas and Lady Dixon Park is a park in South Belfast, Northern Ireland, covering almost and is accessible from the Upper Malone Road. It includes meadows, woodland, riverside fields, formal rose gardens, a walled garden and a Japanese ...

to the city. The Musgrave family made their fortune in great part through the Ulster Convector

Stove A stove or range is a device that burns fuel or uses electricity to generate heat inside or on top of the apparatus, to be used for general warming or cooking. It has evolved highly over time, with cast-iron and induction versions being develope ...

, used for heating and ventilation processes worldwide during the 19th and 20th centuries.A history of the Musgrave family in Belfast
/ref> The Musgraves were a

philanthropic Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives, for the public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private good, focusing on material ...

family and the park is not the only landmark that bears their name. Musgrave Channel in

Belfast harbour Belfast Harbour is a major maritime hub in Belfast, Northern Ireland, handling 67% of Northern Ireland's seaborne trade and about 25% of the maritime trade of the entire island of Ireland. It is a vital gateway for raw materials, exports and c ...

is named in honour of a brother of Henry Musgrave, Sir James Musgrave, who was chairman of Belfast Harbour Board. Sir James also founded the chair of

pathology Pathology is the study of the causes and effects of disease or injury. The word ''pathology'' also refers to the study of disease in general, incorporating a wide range of biology research fields and medical practices. However, when used in ...

at Queen's College, Belfast, now Queen's University. Henry was the longest living son of the Musgraves. Out of twelve children, none of whom married, he was the last to survive, and he spent much of his later years involved in charitable works. He was a

governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

of the

Royal Belfast Academical Institution The Royal Belfast Academical Institution is an independent grammar school in Belfast, Northern Ireland. With the support of Belfast's leading reformers and democrats, it opened its doors in 1814. Until 1849, when it was superseded by what today is ...

, a life governor of the Royal Victoria Hospital, an active member of the Belfast Chamber of Commerce and the Royal Ulster Agricultural Society. He left bequests to support students at Queen's University, especially those studying pathology, with awards such as th
Musgrave Scholarship
which are still ongoing
His portrait
hangs in the Examination Hall of Queen's University. As well as donating Musgrave Park, when Henry Musgrave died on 2 January 1922, he bequeathed his own garden to Belfast Corporation, now

Belfast City Council Belfast City Council ( ga, Comhairle Cathrach Bhéal Feirste) is the local authority with responsibility for part of the city of Belfast, the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland. The Council serves an estimated population of (), the ...

, so that it could be made into a children's play park, Drumglass Park on the

Lisburn Road Lisburn Road is a main arterial route linking Belfast and Lisburn, Northern Ireland. The Lisburn Road is now an extension of the " Golden Mile" with many shops, boutiques, wine bars, restaurants and coffee houses. The road runs almost parallel t ...

, approximately 1.2 miles to the north east of Musgrave Park.

Sporting facilities

The first

bowling green A bowling green is a finely laid, close-mown and rolled stretch of turf for playing the game of bowls. Before 1830, when Edwin Beard Budding of Thrupp, near Stroud, UK, invented the lawnmower, lawns were often kept cropped by grazing sheep ...

was built in the park in 1926. Today there are two greens and a pavilion. Musgrave Park Lawn Bowls Club is based here, part of th
Northern Ireland Bowling Association
and during the summer there are regular tournaments. The pavilion offers indoor bowling for casual play during the close season. Since 2008, Musgrave Park has offered pitches for Gaelic football, hurling and camogie. These are managed in association with St Brigid's Gaelic Athletic Club. In their Investment Programme 2012-1015 Belfast City Council planned to build changing facilities. There are six tarmac tennis courts, of which in 2012 two were playable, with plans to upgrade all of them.

History of use

In 1926, along with the bowling green, a

putting green A golf course is the grounds on which the sport of golf is played. It consists of a series of holes, each consisting of a tee box, a fairway, the rough and other hazards, and a green with a cylindrical hole in the ground, known as a "cup". Th ...

was built which no longer remains. There was also a recreational pond in Grovelands. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, allotments were dug in Musgrave Park to aid wartime food production. The iron railings around the park were also taken away to be melted for

scrap metal Scrap consists of recyclable materials, usually metals, left over from product manufacturing and consumption, such as parts of vehicles, building supplies, and surplus materials. Unlike waste, scrap has monetary value, especially recovered me ...

. Only the gates were left. New railings around the park have been built since. In 2012, allotments were once again created in Musgrave Park, opposite the bowling pavilion. There is no legal requirement to supply allotments in Northern Ireland, as is the case in England, but there is public demand. Most allotment sites have waiting lists and Belfast City Council already notes a waiting time for these new plots.

Grovelands

During the 1970s, an area of Musgrave Park was sectioned off for the use of horticultural apprentices. Today this section is once more open to the general public. Although no longer a training ground, it is notable for its attractive gardens. On the inside of the entrance to Grovelands stands a stone pillar from the 1860s, constructed to the designs of William Barre. Originally a gate pier, it previously controlled entrance to one of the most exclusive roads in Belfast at Fortwilliam Park. Now it is a feature of the ornamental planting.

Therapy garden

Since 2010, work has been ongoing to create a therapeutic garden, with funding from the European Union's European Regional Development Fund - Peace III. Local schoolchildren were consulted in the design. By 2012, a

willow Willows, also called sallows and osiers, from the genus ''Salix'', comprise around 400 speciesMabberley, D.J. 1997. The Plant Book, Cambridge University Press #2: Cambridge. of typically deciduous trees and shrubs, found primarily on moist so ...

tunnel, disabled access plant beds as part of a

community garden A community garden is a piece of land gardened or cultivated by a group of people individually or collectively. Normally in community gardens, the land is divided into individual plots. Each individual gardener is responsible for their own plo ...

and a multi-sensory 'whispering wall' had been created.

References

External links

History of the Musgrave family in Belfast

The will of Henry Musgrave, published in the Belfast Gazette, 1922

Belfast City Council - Grovelands Park

Belfast City Council - Musgrave Park

Belfast City Councils - Allotments

Image gallery of Musgrave Park - Outdoor NI

Disabled access guide to Musgrave Park

About Musgrave Park by Green Flag, Keep Britain Tidy
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