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(Before you read our section on Victoria Park we ask all
website visitors to send in their
photographs of Victoria Park so we can brighten up this
page and show others how beautiful it is).
Introduction
Victoria Park is a large park in the Priory Ward
of Taunton covering over 4 hectares. Its facilities include
three football pitches, a hard court ball games area, a large
children's play ground and a pavilion with public toilets,
sports changing rooms and a meeting room. The park has a supporters
group known as Victoria Park Action Group and an inclusive
youth arts club, ARTIC, run by Barnardos (external link).
The History of Victoria Park
Victoria Recreation Ground, as it was first known, became
Taunton's first public park in 1892. The site had been sold
to the Council on 14 January 1891 by the executors of John
Standfast, a local coach builder, for the sum of £1,078.06d.
This original recreation ground consisted of the area of the
current ornamental gardens, but there is little left of the
original nineteenth century park except the gate piers at
the Eastbourne Gate entrance.
The park was enlarged in 1929 when the Priory Land Development
Company sold the area of land now used for football pitches
to the Council for £2,523.00. Further small strips of
land for entrances and pathways were acquired in 1937.
As part of the "Dig for Victory" campaign during
the Second World War, Victoria Park was dug up for vegetable
growing and used as allotments. It wasn't' until 1953 that
this area was returned to parkland.
In June 1984 Taunton Deane Borough Council traded a strip
of land with Somerset County Council to enable the construction
of Victoria Parkway, which is now known as Critchard Way.
As a result, a small section of the park has been cut off
from the main park and linked by the underpass.
Refurbishment of Victoria Park
In 2005 the first of several projects to make the park a more
diverse and interesting destination for recreation was put
in place - a maze was cut into the grass turf for children
to follow and proved very popular.
In December 2005 an Environmental Report suggested ways to
improve the park to encourage wildlife. Hedge planting and
meadow grassland are now part of the informal areas of the
park and the wildlife garden is to be designed and planted
with the community during 2006
Two new play areas and a hard court were built for the children
and young people using the park. These were opened in March
2006 with a community fun day.
Ten oak trees were planted recently to commemorate the life
of Ann Frank and the visit of the international exhibition
about her to Taunton in 2006.
Victoria Park Action Group is an active group which welcomes
new members. Details are available from:
Taunton Deane Borough Council
Parks and Amenities
Priory Depot
Priory Way
Taunton
TA1 2BB
Telephone 01823 356347. Fax 01823 356490
Email Parks@tauntondeane.gov.uk
If you have any further historical information about Victoria
Park then why not send it to us
for our website.
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