Royal Pump Room Gardens

The gardens and bandstand

The Royal Pump Room Gardens is a popular open space found in the centre of Leamington Spa, Warwickshire, England, next to the Royal Pump Rooms and just north of the River Leam. Despite being named "gardens" there is only one 5.4-acre (22,000 m2) area divided by footpaths with an ironwork bandstand in the centre.

To begin with the gardens were only for the use of patrons of the Royal Pump Rooms "to afford them pleasant promenades." The original bandstand was later erected and bands played in the afternoon and evening during the summer (and other public holidays) for those paying to use the baths. However in 1875 the gardens were opened to the public.[1] In 1881 plans were made to build the town hall on the gardens but at the last minute a change of site was agreed and it was built further north near The Regent Hotel. The current bandstand was designed by Walter MacFarlane & Co and founded in Glasgow. It was installed in 1896.[2] Also the only remaining examples of the original Leamington cast iron gas lamps can be found alongside the south side of the gardens.

The gardens originally contained decorative flower beds but with the decline in fortunes of the Pump Rooms themselves these have been grassed over. Bands still play in the bandstand, although very infrequently but the gardens host the annunal Leamington Peace Festival, a fun fair once a year and farmers markets once a month. It is also a popular place for young people, especially those from the nearby Warwick University to sunbathe and play football. As it lies so close to the river it is part of the town that is most frequently flooded. The last two times such floods occurred were at Easter 1998 and in the summer of 2007.[3][4]

In March 2012 new lights in iron arches (commonly known as the Linden Arches) were erected along the pathway furthest from the river. They were officially unveiled by Prince Richard, Duke of Gloucester.[5] This is the first major alteration to the park's superficial appearance since 1896.

Notes

  1. ↑ Pump Room information from the official Leamington Spa website
  2. ↑ Information on the bandstand from the Scottish Ironwork website
  3. ↑ A good report on the causes and effects of the 1998 floods
  4. ↑ A brief report of the Leamington flood of 2007 from the BBC
  5. ↑ "Duke of Gloucester opens Linden Arches in Leamington". The Courier. 7 June 2012. Retrieved 5 August 2015.

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Pump Room Gardens, Leamington Spa.

Coordinates: 52°17′14″N 1°32′08″W / 52.2873°N 1.5356°W / 52.2873; -1.5356

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 7/1/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.