Sutton Park

Template:GBmap Sutton Park, in Sutton Coldfield, Birmingham, West Midlands, England. It is, reputedly, the largest urban park in Europe; certainly it is larger than the Phoenix Park in Dublin which makes a similar claim.

The Park covers 2,400 acres (9.7 km²), with a mix of heathland, wetlands and marshes, seven lakes, extensive ancient woodlands (covering approximately a quarter of the Park), several restaurants, a private 18-hole golf course on its western edge and a municipal golf course to the south, a donkey sanctuary, children's playgrounds and a visitors' centre.

History

Peat-cutting, near Rowton's Well during World War II, recovered flint arrow-heads at the base of the peat. There are some unassuming prehistoric burnt mounds, and an ancient well. The park contains a preserved section of the Icknield Street, a Roman road; the noticably cambered road enters the Park near the Royal Oak Gate and exits towards the aptly-named Streetly; it is still possible to walk the road. The Queen's Coppice, planted in 1953, now covers the site of an ancient tumulus, from which a stone 'coffin' was dug out by antiquarians in 1808. Near Blackroot Pool are the earthworks of an ancient encampment, the origin of this is not known - possibly it was a hunting lodge and it may have been Roman, Mercian or Norman (or even all three, over time).

The park was a Royal Forest of Mercia at around the 9th Century. By the early 1100s it was in use as an established Norman deer park. The land was given to the people of Sutton Coldfield by King Henry VIII in 1528. The charcoal burning that took place in the Park is thought to have given Sutton Coldfield the second part of its name.

Wyndley Pool is the oldest in the Park, perhaps dating from the 12th century or even earlier. Keeper's Pool and Bracebridge Pool date from the 15th century. Powell's Pool, Longmoor Pool, and Blackroot date from the 18th century, and were created to run watermills.

Most of the Park has been undisturbed since then. The area of Ladywood, at Four Oaks, was taken for housing, but in exchange the Meadow Platt area near the town was added to the Park, thus allowing the construction of a new Park Road access from the town. A rail line was built through the Park in 1879, and the Park had its own station. The advent of the railway, and the new town entrance, greatly increased the number of visitors to the Park. The Park's own dedicated station was closed in 1964, and the line now only serves goods trains.

During World War I convalescent camps were built in the Park. During World War II further camps were built; these were first used for enemy aliens, then for U.S. forces prior to D-Day, and finally for German and Italian prisoners of war.

In 1957, the International Scout Jamboree was held in the park, with participants from all over the world.

Car traffic through the Park was heavily restricted from the 1950s until its takeover by Birmingham City Council in 1974. Thereafter, the Park's pastoral character was much changed due to the free access of cars. By the late 1970s there were growing problems with litter, erosion, arson, vandalism, motorbikes and road accidents in the Park.

There was a rare 1887 lido, for open-air all-weather swimming, at Keepers Pool. But the lido closed in 2003 after arson, and was burned down entirely in 2004. The Lido area is now being purposefully reverted to woodland & wetland.

Current status

In 1997, English Nature designated most of Sutton Park a National Nature Reserve and it features on English Heritage's list of recognised historic parks and gardens.

The park is currently managed by Birmingham City Council; but in July 2004 it was announced that control would be devolved to the local councillors for Sutton Coldfield.

The roads have reverted to their previous 'heavily restricted' status. There is still considerable car traffic into and out of the park, mainly of families with children, dog walkers, kite/model aeroplane fliers and other recreational use, including some 'cruising' of local youths in modified vehicles. However, cross-park 'through' traffic is now completely blocked by sturdy gates across the main link roads, similar to the existing gates at all road entrances and exits, that open and close with dusk and dawn. This measure has significantly reduced the use of the park as a rush-hour short-cut (notably between Boldmere and Streetly), with some noticable impact on congestion of local routes around the Park. The benefit of traffic restriction is improvement in the enjoyability of the park; with cleaner air, safer roads for walkers and cyclists, and much reduced visual and noise pollution, plus reduced wear and tear on the poorly maintained, decaying road surfaces.

Road speed limits through the park have been reduced twice, from 30mph to a generally respected 20mph in the 1980s, and recently (2004) to 5mph, although the practical effects of the 5mph limit remain to be noted.

The commercial funfair for small children beside Powell's Pool continues to operate, attracting significant business. It offers rides such as a daisy-chained go-kart track ride (with 'spooky' tunnels), and a two-person manually-operated bell-rope pirate ship swings.

There is a Sea Cadets dry-dock training vessel at Boldmere Gate.

External link

• Friends of Sutton Park Association (http://www.fospa.btinternet.co.uk/)
• Birmingham City Council: Parks pages (http://www.birmingham.gov.uk/parks)