Council hails decision to give historic park listed status

WAKEFIELD Council has welcomed news that Thornes Park in the city has been awarded Grade II listed status.

Heritage watchdog English Heritage has included Thornes Park in its register of parks and gardens of specific historic interest.

The council’s Thornes Park, which is in fact three parks: Clarence Park, Holmfield Park and Thornes Park, is known locally as CHaT Parks.

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The park is supported by a local community group called The Friends of CHat Park, who have been working closely with Wakefield Council to help achieve this prestigious status for the park.

Council leader Coun Peter Box said: “This designation is great news for Thornes Park and the people who use it. We were very happy to support The Friends of CHaT and work with English Heritage, and the outcome is a positive example of what can be achieved by community groups with the support of the council.

“The award of this status not only reinforces the importance of Thornes Park but also ensures we have the support of English Heritage to help us preserve the park. This will enable us to bid for new avenues of funding to restore or invest in the park and also means that any changes that are proposed must be done in full consultation with English Heritage.”

Ian Deighton, chairman of CHaaT Park said: “The CHaT Group is very supportive of the decision to include the park on the national register as it works towards one of the group’s aims which is the preservation of the unique historic, cultural and botanic aspects of the park so that the benefits left to us by past generations can be handed down intact to our children.”

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After visiting the park and studying the information provided by The Friends of CHaT Park and Wakefield Council, English Heritage decided that Thornes Park deserved recognition at Grade II because it is a good example of an urban municipal park of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. They also noted that the layout survives almost intact and it has added interest in the incorporation of a late 18th century landscape, possibly designed by John Carr.

Thornes Park is the second urban park in the district to be listed by English Heritage, following the successful listing of Pontefract’s Valley Gardens.