Victoria Park

The early history of the park was well documented by A A Pettigrew and later information has been gained from the cardiffparks website and is briefly summarised below.

Victoria Park was developed on land formerly called Ely Common. Forty acres of land had been acquired by the Council for the sole intention of providing a prestigious park for the west side of Cardiff of similar quality to the existing Roath Park on the east side of the City. However, eventually only about half the land was used for the park, whilst to offset costs, the rest was set aside for housing development. Plans for the park were agreed in 1891 but work did not start until 1894 when the perimeter railings and embankment were erected by contractors G Kyte & Co.

The original layout of the park, the work of A A Pettigrew, involved filling marshy ground and a shallow pond on the site and did not include a lake, as it was thought that an existing spring on the site had insufficient capacity to maintain a lake during the summer months. The residents of west Cardiff objected to the loss of the pond that was already present on the site as it was used for skating during the winter and doubtless felt that as Roath Park had a lake, their park should also have such a feature.

After much deliberation and strong representations from local residents it was decided that a lake be included and that a water supply was to be secured to supply it. The lake, which included two fountains, was completed in 1896 and the park was opened on June 16th 1897 by the mayor, Alderman Vaughan and was named in honour of the Queen's diamond Jubilee. Cardiff Mechanics Band conducted by Mr D Moore was in attendance to provide music for the occasion.

It had apparently always been the intention to house birds and animals at the park and in 1900 a small aviary was built. Two bantam storks were the first residents and two monkeys were soon added. There were frequent gifts of other creatures during the next few years and the accommodation quickly became inadequate. The assistant superintendent of London Zoo came to visit the park to advise on accommodation and animal welfare issues, as a result of which 27 new animal ‘dens' were constructed in 1908, at which time there were 58 birds and mammals in the zoo. These included an ostrich, golden pheasants, an antelope, a mongoose, two South American owls and an Australian owl.

In 1912 a young seal, which had apparently been caught in a trawler's net off the coast of Ireland, was put in the lake. He was named Billy and became a great attraction. During World War 1, food was in short supply and the cost of feeding the animals became an issue. Many were dispersed to other accommodation and those that remained were put on half rations. There was talk of Billy having to be destroyed, but locals supplemented his diet with scraps and he survived.

In the floods of 1927, when the area was inundated, Billy escaped from the lake and was found in Cowbridge Road on his way to town. He was returned to the lake and remained there until his death in 1939. His body was taken to the National Museum of Wales for autopsy, where it was discovered that ‘he' was in fact a female. Billy's skeleton was preserved and is still on display in the museum. During and shortly after World War 1 the zoo also accepted several goats and a raven, which had been regimental mascots. At the onset of World War 2 the animals and birds that remained were transferred to Bristol Zoo and that was the end of Victoria Park's menagerie.

In 1904/5 Cardiff's first municipal bowling green was laid in the park and was opened 10th June 1905. It was only constructed with meadow turf and lacked proper foundation. In 1910 the bowling green was reformed with a 3" ash foundation and turf from Splott Moors. At about the same time a shelter was erected by the green. This was provided as a place were people could change their shoes but was too small to use as a place to serve tea after matches and a larger shelter was therefore built in 1922, at which time the green was resurfaced apparently with turf from Ely Moors. A new bowling pavilion was built in the 1960s.

Grass tennis courts were added and a section of lawn was also set aside for croquet. These facilities were opened on June 14th 1906. By 1930 there were 10 grass courts and 6 tar macadam surfaced courts in the park.

A gun from the Crimean War, a tank and two guns from World War 1 were located in the park at various times. All were removed together with the railings surrounding the park and melted down at the onset of World War 2.

In the 1920s slides and see-saws were installed in the park but after a serious accident these were removed in 1927. In the 1950s a new children's play area was built on the site of the old zoo. The northern part of the lake was converted into a children's paddling pool in the 1960s. The southern portion was filled in and grassed over and by the 1970s was used to site a children's play area. The play area on the old zoo site was removed in the 1990s when a new children's play area was constructed adjacent to the paddling pool.

Two original shelters, which were located north-west of the bandstand and adjacent the north-east corner of the lake, were destroyed by fire in separate incidents and have been removed.

A sketch plan of the park as it was around 1940 is shown on the images page.

Type

Park

Purpose

Recreational/sport

Principal Building

Parks, Gardens And Urban Spaces

Survival

Part: standing remains

Hectares

7.7

Open to the public

Yes

Civil Parish

Canton