PGW(Gt)18(NPT)

Beechwood Park  

II  

01/02/2022  

Designated  

Newport  

Beechwood  

333274  

188581  

Gardens, Parks and Urban Spaces  

Late nineteenth-century urban landscape park.  

1880  

Beechwood Park is registered as a good example of a late nineteenth-century urban public park, which is very little altered. The landscaping is similar in style to the contemporary Bellevue Park (PGW(Gt)19(NPT) in Newport designed by Thomas Mawson. Mawson may also have been involved in designing the park at Beechwood. Beechwood House (LB: 3109) was built in 1877-8 by Habershon, Pite and Fawkner, architects of Cardiff and Newport, for George Fothergill, a tobacco manufacturer and former mayor of Newport. The 30 acre park lies on the south-facing side of a ridge in the east of Newport. The park was made at the same time as the house was built and the layout of the estate at this time is shown on the 25” Ordnance Survey map of 1883. Both house and park were purchased by Newport Borough Council and opened to the public in 1900. The park is situated on a steep south-facing slope, elongated north-south and narrowing towards its southern extent. Most of the park is laid out informally, with open rolling grass and planted with ornamental coniferous and deciduous trees. The main entrance gates are at the south end of the park on the B4237. There are two further entrances from Christchurch Road to the north and another from Beechwood Road to the east. All the entrances have wrought iron gates and the park is bounded by iron railings. Springs in the middle and east side of the park enabled ornamental water features to be made, with pools, cascades and rockwork in the small, narrow ravine down the east side of the park, and in a wider small dell in the centre. The latter is particularly elaborate, with a series of pools and cascades surrounded by rockwork. Paths wind through this area across several small bridges. The park provided typical entertainment and recreational facilities including a bandstand, tennis courts and a bowling green, all shown on the 25" Ordnance Survey map of 1920. There are still tennis courts and a bowling green in the park. The site of the former bandstand, which had since also been the site of a paddling pool, is now a public entertainment space developed in 2018. Setting: Beechwood Park is located in an urban area and is surrounded by housing, much of which however is screened from within the park, due to the site's topography and mature planting. Significant View: There are magnificent views from the south front of the house over the park below, Newport and the Bristol Channel. Sources: Cadw, 1994, Register of Landscapes, Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in Wales: Gwent p.107