Wicksteed Park, Kettering, England

The following is from the English Heritage Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest.

An early 20th-century public amusement or leisure park laid out for Charles Wicksteed and opened in 1921, with formal elements set in an informal amusement park dominated by a large lake. It was the first such park in the United Kingdom, in which Wicksteed installed substantial amounts of play equipment supplied from his own factory.

LOCATION, AREA, BOUNDARIES, LANDFORM, SETTING

Wicksteed Park lies at the south-east edge of Kettering, on the west edge of Barton Seagrave village. The roughly 45 hectare site is bounded to the north by the A6003 Barton Road, to the west by 20th-century housing, including the 1920s Paradise Lane, and to the south by land laid out as a miniature golf course and agricultural land. The southern part of the east boundary is marked by the River Ise, beyond which lies open agricultural land. The northern part of the east boundary is marked by a track, beyond which lies Castle Field, containing the earthwork remains of moats, fishponds, and the shrunken medieval village (scheduled ancient monument). The land is elevated in the western section of the site, with a gentle slope running south-east from the Pavilion and Rose Garden down towards the lake in the Ise valley below.

The setting is partly urban, with the remains of Barton Seagrave Hall's landscape park and gardens adjacent to the north-east. The landscape of the Hall was laid out in the late 18th and early 19th century with advice from Humphry Repton (1752-1818). A Red Book dated April 1794 details his suggestions for the site (British Library). The land which Wicksteed Park occupies was until 1913 part of the Barton Seagrave Hall estate.

Views extend beyond the park north-east towards Barton Seagrave Hall and its park and gardens. Further views extend east and south-east across the site and beyond to distant agricultural land and woodland. All these views are particularly prominent from the Pavilion and Rose Garden.

REFERENCES Used by English Heritage

The Wicksteed Story, exhibition text and illustrations, Wicksteed Park, (2000)

L Brandon-Jones and N Dayton, 2nd Draft Management Plan for lake restoration project

Wicksteed Village Trust Estate (2001)

S Brown, Wicksteed Park, Historic Appraisal, (March 2001) [copy on EH file]

Maps

Gotch and Saunders, Barton Seagrave Garden Suburb Estate, 1914 (Wicksteed Village Trust)

OS 6" to 1 mile: 3rd edition revised 1938

Archival items

H Repton, Red Book for Barton Seagrave, 1794 (British Library exported MSS, RP100)
 

Description written: April 2001

Edited: August 2001