Belle Vue Park
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Belle Vue Park is a large
Victorian Victorian or Victorians may refer to: 19th century * Victorian era, British history during Queen Victoria's 19th-century reign ** Victorian architecture ** Victorian house ** Victorian decorative arts ** Victorian fashion ** Victorian literatur ...
public park An urban park or metropolitan park, also known as a city park, municipal park (North America), public park, public open space, or municipal gardens (United Kingdom, UK), is a park or botanical garden in cities, densely populated suburbia and oth ...
in the west of the city of Newport, in
South Wales South Wales ( ) is a Regions of Wales, loosely defined region of Wales bordered by England to the east and mid Wales to the north. Generally considered to include the Historic counties of Wales, historic counties of Glamorgan and Monmouthshire ( ...
. It was awarded a
Green Flag Award The Green Flag Award is an international accreditation given to publicly accessible parks and open spaces, managed under licence from the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, a UK Government department, by Keep Britain Tidy, ...
in 2008 and has maintained the status for over a decade since. The park is listed on the
Cadw/ICOMOS Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in Wales The Cadw/ICOMOS Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in Wales is a heritage register of significant historic parks and gardens in Wales. It is maintained by Cadw, the historic environment service of the Welsh Government and ...
.


History

The land on which the park stands was a gift to Newport from
Godfrey Morgan, 1st Viscount Tredegar Godfrey Charles Morgan, 1st Viscount Tredegar (28 April 1831 – 11 March 1913) was a Welsh officer, a General in the British Army, and a peer in the House of Lords. Early life Tredegar was born on 28 April 1831 in Ruperra Castle, Glamorg ...
in 1891 to provide a public park for its citizens. An open competition to design and construct the park was won by the Cumbrian landscape architect T. H. Mawson. Mawson's winning design was initially designed incorrectly for the neighbouring field, the site of the then
Newport and Monmouthshire Hospital The Royal Gwent Hospital () is a local general hospital in the city of Newport. It is managed by the Aneurin Bevan University Health Board. Since 2020, the hospital no longer has a full Emergency Department, and redirects those with a serious ill ...
, after Mawson misunderstood directions on his first visit to Newport. The mistake was not realised until the first site visit, after the contract had been awarded. As a result, the designer had to promptly re-evaluate his plans for the present site. The park was Mawson's first win in an open competition. He went on to become one of the foremost landscape architects of his time, responsible for the design of many gardens in his adopted
Lake District The Lake District, also known as ''the Lakes'' or ''Lakeland'', is a mountainous region and National parks of the United Kingdom, national park in Cumbria, North West England. It is famous for its landscape, including its lakes, coast, and mou ...
, including
Holker Hall Holker Hall (pronounced Hooker by some) is a privately owned country house located about 2 km to the southwest of the village of Cartmel in the ceremonial county of Cumbria and historic county of Lancashire, England. It is "the grandest ...
and
Rydal Hall Rydal Hall is a large detached house on the outskirts of the village of Rydal, Cumbria, in the English Lake District. It has an early nineteenth-century front facade, but includes some earlier fabric. The hall is Grade II* listed on the Nation ...
as well as
Dyffryn Gardens Dyffryn Gardens, also spelt Duffryn Gardens (), is a collection of botanical gardens located near the villages of Dyffryn and St. Nicholas in the Vale of Glamorgan, Wales. The gardens were selected by the British Tourist Authority as one of ...
near
Cardiff Cardiff (; ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. Cardiff had a population of in and forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area officially known as the City and County of Ca ...
. In November 1892 Lord Tredegar performed the ceremony of cutting the first sod; construction began and the park opened on 8 September 1894. The final cost of the park is recorded as £19,500.


Features

Belle Vue Park has many features typical of a
Victorian Victorian or Victorians may refer to: 19th century * Victorian era, British history during Queen Victoria's 19th-century reign ** Victorian architecture ** Victorian house ** Victorian decorative arts ** Victorian fashion ** Victorian literatur ...
public park, including the conservatories and pavilion, bandstand and rockeries. Additional features were added to the park throughout the years. The
Gorsedd Gorsedd Cymru (), or simply the Gorsedd (), is a society of Welsh-language poets, writers, musicians and others who have contributed to the Welsh language and to public life in Wales. Its aim is to honour such individuals and help develop and p ...
Stone Circle was erected in 1896, for the
National Eisteddfod The National Eisteddfod of Wales ( Welsh: ') is the largest of several eisteddfodau that are held annually, mostly in Wales. Its eight days of competitions and performances are considered the largest music and poetry festival in Europe. Competito ...
, held in Belle Vue Park in 1897. The bowling greens were opened in 1904 and a Tea House added in 1910. The bandstand and original series of cascades were restored in 2006.


Tearooms

Belle Vue Tearooms is a
social enterprise A social enterprise is an organization that applies commercial strategies to maximize improvements in financial, social and environmental well-being. This may include maximizing social impact alongside profits for co-owners. Social enterprises ha ...
café located near the Pavilion. It is run by Cotyledon BMCIC, a
Machen Machen (from Welsh ' "place (of)" + ', a personal name) is a large village three miles east of Caerphilly, south Wales. It is situated in the Caerphilly borough within the historic boundaries of Monmouthshire. It neighbours Bedwas and Treth ...
-based
community interest company A community interest company (CIC, pronounced "see-eye-see", or colloquially, "kick") is a form of social enterprise in the United Kingdom intended "for people wishing to establish businesses which trade with a social purpose..., or to carry on ...
who also operate rural markets across South East Wales, including a monthly food and craft market which is held on the first Sunday of every month throughout 2020 starting from Sunday 1 March 2020. The tea rooms are open daily (including Christmas Day) from 9am - 4pm serving drinks and meals showcasing produce from the market traders. Weddings can be held at the conservatories and the bandstand, the function room can also be hired for parties, baby showers, meetings, birthdays etc. The café was initially refurbished and opened by the Malpas based small business Parc Pantry, who handed back the premises to Newport City Council in 2018.


Flora

Belle Vue Park contains a number of rare specimens. In early Spring the
Himalayan Magnolia Himalayan may refer to: * Himalayas mountain range ** Transhimalaya, a subrange (some species found there are referred to as "Himalayan" not "Transhimalayan") * ''Himalayan'' (album), an album by the band Band of Skulls * Himalayan cat, a breed o ...
s produce huge goblet-shaped pink flowers and the branches of the Judas Trees can be seen covered with clusters of rose-lilac flowers in May. In June and July the
Tulip Tree ''Liriodendron'' () is a genus of two species of characteristically large trees, deciduous over most of their populations, in the magnolia family (Magnoliaceae). These trees are widely known by the common name tulip tree or tuliptree for their ...
produces its distinctive orange tulip-shaped flowers. Autumn brings glorious leaf colour to many of the trees and shrubs. Of particular note are the clear yellow leaves of
Ginkgo biloba ''Ginkgo biloba'', commonly known as ginkgo or gingko ( ), also known as the maidenhair tree, is a species of gymnosperm tree native to East Asia. It is the last living species in the order Ginkgoales, which first appeared over 290 million year ...
, one of only four deciduous conifers that can be seen growing in the British Isles today, and the glorious crimson leaves of the
Liquidambar ''Liquidambar'', commonly called sweetgum (star gum in the UK), gum, redgum, satin-walnut, styrax or American storax, is the only genus in the flowering plant family Altingiaceae and has 15 species. They were formerly often treated as a part of ...
, a native of the eastern United States.


Gallery

Belle Vue Park Pavilion.jpg, The Pavilion Belle Vue Park Tea House.jpg, The Tea House Belle Vue Park gates.jpg, Belle Vue Park gates, Cardiff Road, Newport


References


External links


Newport City Council — Belle Vue Park
* {{City of Newport Gardens by Thomas Hayton Mawson Parks in Newport, Wales History of Newport, Wales Registered historic parks and gardens in Newport