Belle Vue Park, Cardiff Road, Newport 6 May 2016
The pavilion and its flanking conservatories seen from across the park.
Belle Vue Park, opened in 1894, was laid out on land donated by Godfrey Morgan, 1st Viscount Tredegar. The architect Thomas Mawson won a competition to design and build the park; unfortunately he misunderstood directions and designed the park for a plot of adjacent land - on discovering the mistake he had to literally, go back to the drawing board! The design is a typical Victorian municipal park layout with conservatories and pavilion, bandstand, rockeries and exotic flora. In 1896 a Gorsedd stone circle was added when Newport hosted the 1897 National Eisteddfod; Newport is thus one of the few towns/cities in Wales with two such circles, one being found at Tredegar House which hosted subsequent two Eisteddfods in the early 20th Century. Bowling greens were opened in 1904 and a Tea House added in 1910. Unfortunately, the park is subject to vandalism and the Tea House has been damaged twice by arson attacks.
Belle Vue Park, Cardiff Road, Newport 6 May 2016
The pavilion and its flanking conservatories seen from across the park.
Belle Vue Park, opened in 1894, was laid out on land donated by Godfrey Morgan, 1st Viscount Tredegar. The architect Thomas Mawson won a competition to design and build the park; unfortunately he misunderstood directions and designed the park for a plot of adjacent land - on discovering the mistake he had to literally, go back to the drawing board! The design is a typical Victorian municipal park layout with conservatories and pavilion, bandstand, rockeries and exotic flora. In 1896 a Gorsedd stone circle was added when Newport hosted the 1897 National Eisteddfod; Newport is thus one of the few towns/cities in Wales with two such circles, one being found at Tredegar House which hosted subsequent two Eisteddfods in the early 20th Century. Bowling greens were opened in 1904 and a Tea House added in 1910. Unfortunately, the park is subject to vandalism and the Tea House has been damaged twice by arson attacks.