PGW(Gm)23(CDF)

Victoria Park, Cardiff  

II  

01/02/2022  

Designated  

Cardiff  

Canton  

315475  

176935  

Gardens, Parks and Urban Spaces  

Urban public park  

1894-97  

Victoria Park is registered as a good example of a small Victorian public park retaining much of its original layout. The park contains recreational facilities and ornamental features including a bandstand (a new bandstand placed on the site of the original to mark the park’s centenary in 1997) and a grade II listed cast iron drinking fountain canopy (LB 13817) manufactured by Macfarlanes of Glasgow. The park is four-sided and lies on level ground between Thomson Avenue in the north and Cowbridge Road in the south. The surrounding streets are residential. It spans 19 acres (7.7ha) and was built in 1894-7 on land carved out of Ely Common. The park was opened on 16 June 1897 and was called Victoria Park in honour of the queen's Diamond Jubilee. The park is laid out with winding tarmac paths, mown grass and informally planted trees. It is surrounded by iron railings, with gates at the entrances on the north and south sides, around the perimeter a belt of mixed, mainly deciduous, trees. The original layout as depicted on the 25-inch Ordnance Survey map (1920) is largely intact. The intention was to establish a zoological collection in the park, but nothing was done until 1900 when an 'aviary' was instigated. In 1901 a pair of 'Bantam Storks' were installed, followed by two monkeys. Gifts, particularly from returning sea captains, followed, including an ostrich, an antelope, a mongoose, golden pheasants, two South American owls and an Australian owl. A Gardeners' Chronicle article of 3 March 1923 mentions the 'large area of water which is the home of many wild-fowl and a seal'. The seal, 'Billy', lived in the park from 1912 until his (her) death in 1939. A sculpture of Billy the Seal was installed in the park in 1997. Victoria Park had the earliest bowling green in Cardiff, open on 10th June 1905. The area of the bowling green at the north of the park is now used for beach volleyball. To the west of the old bowling green are tennis courts and a basketball court. The modern bandstand is located towards the north end of the park on the site of the original one. Six paths radiate from the bandstand and connect with other paths in the park. The original layout of the park included an ornamental lake with two fountains. The lake was converted to a paddling pool in the 1960s and more recently (2016) the paddling pool was removed and replaced with a splash pad. The south end of the park is more formal, with a circular arrangement of island beds and radiating paths. In the middle of it stands a cast iron domed drinking fountain canopy (LB 13817) manufactured by Macfarlanes of Glasgow. It was presented to the city by the Samuel family in 1908 in memory of Lewin L. Samuel, who died in 1893. It was one of several drinking fountains presented to the City in memory of members of the Samuel family. Setting: Victoria Park is an urban public park located in the Canton area of Cardiff. The park is surrounded by residential streets with the houses facing onto the park. Sources: Cadw 2000: Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in Wales, Glamorgan (ref: PGW(Gm)23(CDF). Ordnance Survey second edition 25-inch map of Glamorgan, sheet XLIII.14 (1920).