Chapelfield Gardens

Chapelfield Gardens are a public park in Norwich. They are the earliest surviving ornamental public open space in the city, and a Grade II listed park.^[1]

Chapelfield Gardens
Type	Public
Location	Norwich
OS grid	TG 22583 08375[1]
Coordinates	52.6273°N 1.2873°E / 52.6273; 1.2873
Authorized	1655
Designer	Sir Thomas Churchman
Administered by	Norwich City Council

Description

The gardens are triangular, and are bordered on their north side by the Chapel Field North road, and Chapel Field East on the east, with the dual carriageway^[2] Chapel Field Road on the south-west. Ruins of Norwich's city wall survive along this side of the gardens.^[1]

There are four pedestrian entrances; three at each corner and a fourth at the Chapel Field Road side via a subway under the inner ring road. In the gardens are a timber bandstand 70m from the north-east corner entrance, as well as a brick and tile refreshment shelter 30m to the north-west of the bandstand and a refreshment pavilion in the north-west corner.^[1]

History

The college of St Mary in the Fields was associated with the land on which Chapelfield Gardens now resides, until the dissolution of the monasteries in 1545. "Chapelfield" gets its name from this association. Following the dissolution, the land was granted to a private citizen, however it was sold to the city in 1569 to be held in a trust. It was leased during this time as archery butts and as grazing land.^[1] At the beginning of the riot on 24 April 1648 which led to the Great Blow at Committee House close by, pro-royalist crowds mustered in the Chapel Field, as it was then called, as well as in the nearby market.^[3]

The leases of the land handed out by the city developed, and by 1655 they included the "rights of citizens of ingress and egress [...] to walk for their recreation at all times", meaning that the field was now used for the public benefit. In 1707, the grounds were fenced off. Walks were laid out in the area in 1746. In the mid-18th century, Sir Thomas Churchman held the lease; he put down three main walks featuring avenues of elm trees which proved popular walking places. At the end of the century, the Norwich city corporation leased the central area to the Waterworks Company, which constructed a reservoir and water tower, detracting from the aesthetic appeal of the walks significantly.^[1] By 1780 the reservoir had extended up to the city wall, with spoil being dumped over the gardens. Responding to the public's annoyance, Castle Ditches was opened as a public park instead. By the 1830s, the water from the reservoir began to drain away, later being replaced by Heigham and Lakenham water works in 1840.^[4] Contemporary accounts from the 1840s said the gardens had become "the resort of loose and idle boys and being occupied partly by washerwomen seem[ed] to be in great measure deserted by respectable citizens."^[1]

The park's polygonal bandstand was built in 1880

In 1852 the Waterworks Company agreed to give up their lease in exchange for the city corporation laying out the land as a public garden.^[1] This unofficially made the gardens a park.^[2] After an elaborate plan by the company, which included a central pond and the water tower being turned into a gazebo, was simplified in favour of a cheaper option with intersecting avenues,^[4][1] the Prince and Princess of Wales planted a Wellingtonia in 1866, marking the council's agreement to lay out the gardens. In 1867, a drill hall and an iron palisade to enclose the site were both erected, and replacement planting in the elm avenues took place, with several dignitaries also planting specimen trees.^[1] A 40-ton pagoda made of cast and wrought iron, designed by Thomas Jekyll^[5] for the 1876 Philadelphia Exhibition^[2] and created by Barnard, Bishop & Barnards, later known as the pavilion and now the site of a refreshment building, was erected^[1] after being bought by the Norwich Corporation. During its existence, the pagoda exhibited products made by Barnard's as well as designs by Jekyll.^[5] A polygonal bandstand was added in 1880,^[2] and children's play area were added by 1899.^[1] In the early part of the 20th century, the walks which were somewhat elaborate and serpentine were simplified, and a refreshment pavilion was built. The pagoda was restored.^[1]

Activity in Chapelfield Gardens during the Second World War is visible on aerial photographs. This included a barrage balloon site, underground shelters, huts and hardstandings for structures, and several possible Air Raid Precautions (ARP) posts or Home Guard shelters.^[6] The pagoda was demolished in 1949 after sustaining damage from bombing,^[5] and was replaced by a refreshment shelter with a similar footprint. In 1963, the inner city ring road was constructed; the corner of the gardens where Chapel Field Road meets Chapel Field North was lost, along with the drill hall,^[1] as the result of the building of Grapes Hill roundabout in the 1970s.^[4]

Norwich Pride in Chapelfield Gardens in 2018

In 1994 the Second World War air raid shelters, as well as bomb craters, under the Gardens were rediscovered.^[4] As of 1997, the Gurney Clock was being kept in the middle of the park. It was given to the city by Barclays bank in 1987 after being created in 1974 by Martin Burgess.^[2] The gardens have been part of Norwich Pride celebrations since its first event in 2009,^[7] with these celebrations centring in the park in 2023.^[8]