Boultham Park

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An early 19th-century park and gardens which became a public park in the early 20th century.

DESCRIPTION

LOCATION, AREA, BOUNDARIES, LANDFORM, SETTING

Boultham Park is situated on the south-west side of the city of Lincoln and comprises 17ha. It is bounded on three sides by housing with the northern boundary being the houses off Western Avenue, the western boundary the gardens of the houses off Boultham Road and Rookery Lane, and the southern boundary houses off Lake View Road. Hall Drive lies to the north-east, after which the boundary is indented around St Helen's church and graveyard. To the south of this is green space, with the River Witham abutting the far eastern edge of the park. The Hall and its grounds occupied 1210 acres (c 504ha) in 1830 but much of this former area has been built over.

ENTRANCES AND APPROACHES

The main entrance to the park is along a drive which leads off Boultham Lane at the north-west corner of the park. Iron gates from Monks Manor set between gate piers designed by William Watkins and erected in 1872 stand on the public road accompanied by a lodge which is brick built with slate tiles. The drive, edged with grass and flower beds, leads east to the bowling green then to the site of Boultham Hall (demolished). Other pedestrian entrances include that beside the church to the east, three off Rookery Lane to the west, and one off St Peter's Avenue to the south.

PRINCIPAL BUILDING

Boultham Hall, formerly located 150m south-east of the main gate, was rebuilt and extended in the 1870s and demolished in 1959. The site of the Hall is marked by a platform surrounded by low brick terraces capped with stone coping with stone steps on the east and south sides. The conservatory which was attached to the south side of the Hall remained after the main building was demolished and was later extended; it was finally demolished in the early 1990s.

GARDENS AND PLEASURE GROUNDS

Boultham Park now consists of the remains of gardens around the Hall, a bowling green and tennis courts to the north, grassed areas to the south of the Hall site, a lake running from south-west to north-east, a children's playground south of the lake, and ornamental woodland north-east of the lake. Serpentine tarmacked paths lead around the site.

A crazy paving path on an axis with the south front of the demolished Hall, flanked by grass planted with clipped yews and other ornamental trees, leads to a fountain 50m south of the Hall site. The fountain is made of stone with a large circular basin at the base, in the centre of which sits a smaller basin on a plinth. Paths lead off from the fountain. The path to the east leads to a fenced-off area used as the Parks Department depot. Some 40m north of the Hall site lie the bowling green and tennis courts which are approached off the north side of the main entrance drive. Iron railings separate this area from the rest of the park.

A path from the fountain leads south to the main west to east path which continues to the east of the site, past St Helen's church which stands 200m from the Hall site. A spur from this path becomes a yew walk after it crosses the main axial path. At 10m and 90m respectively from the junction of the fountain path and the main path, paths lead south-west and south. These paths cut the grassed areas south of the Hall site into two. On the west side within the circle of the paths is the bandstand, 150m south of Hall site. It has a brick-built base with steps on the north-east side and green iron supports and railings, all topped with an iron roof. The south-west path divides and one branch leads south for 80m to meet a path which runs from west to east across the width of the park for 400m in a serpentine fashion. The other branch leads north-west for 50m then turns southwards following the western boundary of the park. After 170m there is a junction with the serpentine west to east path. The western boundary path, edged with grass and flower beds, continues to an entrance in the south corner of the site, 400m south of the main entrance. From here the path continues for 70m south-east and then divides, one path continuing along the northern boundary of the lake and the other going south for 50m and then continuing around the end of the lake with a spur leading to another entrance at the southern tip of the site. The path following the southern boundary of the lake has two spurs at 200m intervals, both leading to the south-east entrance. South of the southern lakeside path is a children's playground enclosed within iron railings. Set around the grass outside the playground is equipment from a 1970s' 'trimtrack'. Several large oaks are also scattered in the grassed area. The path continues around the east end of the lake to join the path along the northern boundary of the lake. A further path leads north after 70m west along the lakeside path.

The lake is 320m long and edged with stone with an island at the west end. It is fed by a small stream which runs from the south-west and drains into the River Witham at the north-east boundary of the park. There is a bridge over the feeder stream to the south-west of the lake and two bridges to the north-east of the lake over the stream linking the lake with the river. The lake is surrounded by trees: mainly oak, beech, and lime. There are views over the lake glimpsed between the trees from the west end and from the north bank of the lake. The lake was designed in 1851 and is shown on the 1st edition OS map of 1889 with a U-shaped tip at the east corner (Fireside Magazine 1965). The shaped mud banks are still extant within the woodland at the east corner of the site.

KITCHEN GARDEN

The kitchen garden was located 100m south-west of Boultham Hall, abutting the walls of the graveyard of St Helen's church as seen on the 2nd edition OS map of 1907. The area has been incorporated into the graveyard of the church and is outside the boundary of the site here registered.

REFERENCES Used by English Heritage

Fireside Magazine, (July 1965), pp 3-6

Lincolnshire Echo, 12 October 1978; 8 October 1993

Glace Magazine, (June 1986), pp 6-7

N Pevsner et al, The Buildings of England: Lincolnshire (2nd edition 1989)

Lincolnshire Gardens Trust, Newsletter, (January 1997)

Maps

OS 6" to 1 mile: 2nd edition published 1908

OS 25" to 1 mile: 1st edition surveyed 1885-6, published 1889; 2nd edition published 1907

Illustrations

Boultham Hall at the turn of the century, photograph, (L812M), (Lincolnshire Archives)

Boultham Park Conservatory - demolished early 1990s, photograph (Lincoln City Council)

Description written: January 2000

Edited: May 2002