Harris Park, (also known as Harris Knowledge Park and Harris Orphanage), Fulwood, England

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

An early example of a charitable orphanage, laid out 1884-8 by Preston's Parks Superintendent, George Rowbotham, with a group of 'village homes' around a 'village green'.

LOCATION, AREA, BOUNDARIES, LANDFORM, SETTING

The roughly 7 hectare site lies 3 kilometres north of the centre of Preston adjacent to the west side of the main northern approach to Preston, Garstang Road, in the suburb of Fulwood. It occupies largely level ground, with a slight fall from east to west. The north side is bounded by a school and Regent Park road. To the west it is bounded by the gardens of houses in Black Bull Lane, and to the south by the gardens of houses in King's Drive. The east side of the site is bounded by Garstang Road, the boundary now marked by a clipped privet hedge and formerly by iron railings. The other boundaries are largely marked by 20th-century fences with mature trees along the inside of the fences. The setting is suburban, with the late 19th-century former Little Sisters of the Poor Convent, now (2001) the Jeanne Jugan Residence, standing in its own grounds on the east side of Garstang Road. The eastern edge of the site overlooks the Residence and its grounds.

REFERENCES Used by English Heritage

Preston Guardian, Supplement, 18 July 1885; obituary, 28 May 1898

English Heritage, Conservation Bulletin, (October 1982), pp 18-19

Maps

OS 6" to 1 mile: 1938 edition

OS 25" to 1 mile: 1st edition surveyed 1890-2; 2nd edition published 1910

Archival items

Sale particulars, 1984 (Preston Local Studies Library)

A collection of material relating to the Harris Orphanage is held at the Harris Museum, Preston, including Building Committee Minute Book 1884-91; tenders for supplying trees and shrubs, 1888; and other correspondence.

Further material is held at Lancashire County Record Office, Preston.