Mughal Garden
Mughal Garden, Lister Park, Bradford
Green Space of the Month — September 2003
Contact
Joy Leach, Friends of Lister Park on 01274 223665
Hawarun.Hussain, Bradford City Primary Care Trust, Hawarun.Hussain@bdct.n
Introduction
This historically important park in a famous old Yorkshire mill town cost over £4 million to restore. A key new feature introduced to this award-winning park is the Mughal garden designed to reflect the rich Asian cultural heritage of Bradford. Used by local communities for walking, school trips etc, the park appears to be very inclusive. But some residents feel there could have been more consultation at the planning stage. Various developments are now addressing the views of users and a mul-cultural programme of activities is ongoing.
Bradford is a mill town with strong links to the Indian sub-continent and the money behind
Lister Park originally derived from Manningham Mill, whose great chimney still dominates the area. In 1870 the Lister family sold the family seat, Manningham Park as it was called then, to
Bradford Corporation on condition it be used as a public park. Once a deer park, Lister Park is on the English Heritage register of Parks and Gardens of Historic Interest in England, and it contains six listed buildings, including Cartwright Hall, a grade II listed art gallery. Other features include the boating lake, bandstand and a botanical garden added in 1903. In its
Victorian heyday the park was often packed with people enjoying a range of traditional passtimes.
But towards the end of the 20th century Lister Park, like so many other beautiful parks in
Britain, had fallen into disrepair as a result of neglect brought about by funding cuts. It welcomed far fewer visitors. Dense shrubbery surrounding the park became a haven for undesirables. Rival gangs of youths engaged in fierce territorial disputes and threatened to `tax'
(ie rob) passers by. It's no wonder many people felt unsafe to use the park on a day to
Green Space of the Month — September 2003
Contact
Joy Leach, Friends of Lister Park on 01274 223665
Hawarun.Hussain, Bradford City Primary Care Trust, Hawarun.Hussain@bdct.n
Introduction
This historically important park in a famous old Yorkshire mill town cost over £4 million to restore. A key new feature introduced to this award-winning park is the Mughal garden designed to reflect the rich Asian cultural heritage of Bradford. Used by local communities for walking, school trips etc, the park appears to be very inclusive. But some residents feel there could have been more consultation at the planning stage. Various developments are now addressing the views of users and a mul-cultural programme of activities is ongoing.
Bradford is a mill town with strong links to the Indian sub-continent and the money behind
Lister Park originally derived from Manningham Mill, whose great chimney still dominates the area. In 1870 the Lister family sold the family seat, Manningham Park as it was called then, to
Bradford Corporation on condition it be used as a public park. Once a deer park, Lister Park is on the English Heritage register of Parks and Gardens of Historic Interest in England, and it contains six listed buildings, including Cartwright Hall, a grade II listed art gallery. Other features include the boating lake, bandstand and a botanical garden added in 1903. In its
Victorian heyday the park was often packed with people enjoying a range of traditional passtimes.
But towards the end of the 20th century Lister Park, like so many other beautiful parks in
Britain, had fallen into disrepair as a result of neglect brought about by funding cuts. It welcomed far fewer visitors. Dense shrubbery surrounding the park became a haven for undesirables. Rival gangs of youths engaged in fierce territorial disputes and threatened to `tax'
(ie rob) passers by. It's no wonder many people felt unsafe to use the park on a day to