Historic England: Historic Parks and Green Spaces

A three-part webinar series now available to download on LI Campus

We know our green and blue infrastructure network is key to the long-term liveability of our towns and cities. The Landscape Institute, with others, has been campaigning about the importance of green spaces and their multiple benefits for over 15 years and we were extremely delighted to see that at the end of January, Natural England unveiled the new Green Infrastructure Framework (GIF). Designed to deliver the government’s 25-year Environment Plan commitment and to support the National Planning Policy Framework, the GIF has been developed in collaboration with government departments and a 70-strong advisory group, made up of universities, representatives from the active travel sector and environmental experts, to develop the framework which has been tested by local planning authorities and developers. The GIF offers a suite of green infrastructure mapping tools and guidance on principles, standards, design and strategy.

As well as the exciting opportunities ahead for landscape professionals to create much needed new green spaces and features, we also need to look after our existing public parks and open spaces to ensure they are accessible, beautiful and enjoyable places, nature-rich, working effectively to help us adapt to climate change and connected into the wider network of green infrastructure.

These historic public parks and other green spaces like cemeteries, urban commons and heaths are usually our biggest green infrastructure assets.

The good news is that there is a host of good practice experience to draw on and innovation underway. Over the past 25 years, the National Lottery has invested more than £950mn in public parks and other green spaces. Over 900 parks across the UK have been transformed and these parks are enjoyed by 37m people every year.

In step with the Green Flag Award criteria, a well-managed historic public park is:

– A welcoming, well-cared-for place that invites and draws people to it;

– An environment where everyone feels safe, secure and is encouraged to enjoy healthy activities;

– A location which is well-maintained and clean;

– Somewhere that has environmental sustainability and climate change at the core of its management;

– Has its heritage, character and biodiversity actively conserved and enhanced;

– One which meets the needs of its community and the public are involved in making decisions;

– Is a park which has benefits that are shared and celebrated by all;

– Features a park management plan which is used to guide day-to-day decisions and looks ahead to the future.

Brockwell Park. Removal of silt from one of the lakes, work which has dramatically enhanced the biodiversity of the water bodies

© LUC

Collaborating with Historic England and the Green Flag Award, the Landscape Institute’s three webinars introduce the importance of historic public parks and green spaces and their role in urban communities, now and into the future. The award-winning registered practices, HTA Design and LUC, joined forces to share insights into their public park projects with additional advice from the National Lottery Heritage Fund and the Midlands Parks Forum.

Understanding the historical development of parks and their creators’ aspirations to improve towns and cities for their inhabitants and welfare helps us to decide how to look after these special assets. The 19th-century parks in the industrialised landscapes of cities like Manchester were designed as ‘lungs’ and the popular name for these new parks, ‘People’s Park’, reflects the zeal to improve the futures of working classes through better environments as well as education and healthcare. These pioneering design ideas were soon adopted around the globe. In many towns and cities, we have inherited public parks that have been loved and used by communities for many generations and the best landscape designs have proved to have long-lasting appeal and adaptability, with new facilities and features integrated over time. The International Federation of Landscape Architects (IFLA) and the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS)’s 2017 declaration on historic public parks recognises these urban parks as ‘an essential and inalienable part of the traditions and plans of many towns and settlements’ and the need to safeguard them.

Brockwell Park. Eight years later the reedbeds are well established

© LUC

One of the first public parks added to our own Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in England in 1986 was Birkenhead Park, now bidding to be added to the UK World Heritage Site Tentative List as one of the first ever public parks in the world and the model for many others. The Registers and inventories for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland also celebrate our public park heritage. The most recent additions to the Register in England in 2020 were post-war designs such as Campbell Park, Milton Keynes, which was opened in 1984.

Brockwell Park. Swan nesting close to a pedestrian path through the park

© LUC

The Register aims to tell the story of landscape design by capturing a representative range of the best examples that illustrate design ideas and designers. On the eve of the 40th anniversary of the Register, this year there are 1,700 entries in total for all landscape design types: urban, rural, institutional and remembrance. The public parks and urban green spaces on the Register are very special and there are more to be considered. The Register continues to grow with sites from the 1990s now eligible for assessment. For example, it is likely that the 2012 Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park will be added at some point. In addition, there are thousands more parks of regional and local importance. Indeed, every public park has a history.

Brockwell Park. View into City of London which is 5 miles north of Brockwell Park, with the unmown summer meadow in the foreground.

© LUC

Researching the history of a park will also reveal the role of the community, many of whom helped fundraise for their new parks. The story of a park is also the story of its people and place. Exploring this heritage can be a great way to get people involved, whether or not they have a long association with the area or they have recently moved. After all, in time they are all adding and enriching the history of the park, too. Community engagement is at the heart of every National Lottery Heritage Fund (NLHF) project. In their own words, ‘celebrating community heritage can help people come together, feel pride in where they live and save stories and traditions’. In the webinars, we look at how the projects can connect with local people and the challenges of outreaching to non-park users and long-term involvement of people in their own parks. We also look at the role of the many other players that make these multidisciplinary projects successful, from the local authority teams as clients and stewards of these historic parks to consultants and public bodies like Historic England and the Environment Agency, and most importantly the public park professionals. We discuss the value of sharing and learning, with the Midlands Park Forum as an example.

Stanmer Park, Brighton. Entrance to the newly restored walled garden, the work was funded by the NLHF, Brighton & Hove City Council & Plumpton College

© LUC

Within the framework of their historic design, public parks have evolved and updated over time to meet their community’s needs, such as new cafés, toilets and playgrounds. We should now be thinking about the role of our existing green spaces into the future. The historic public parks have an important role in providing access to green space, health and wellbeing, community cohesion, climate change resilience and nature recovery. The NLHF, National Trust and Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities’ Future Parks Accelerator project offers ten tips:

– Know your green estate

– Be ambitious for environmental justice

– Ensure green space is central to local community life

– Put health at the heart of green spaces strategies and plans

– Grown your own urban network

– Makes parks and green spaces a popular cause

– Be socially entrepreneurial

– Promote green space as valuable natural infrastructure

– Develop new sources of investment

– Nurture your green team and ‘wider family’

Watch these webinars and think about how your next historic public park project can pick up these tips and ensure we pass on our heritage in good shape and share our public park culture with future generations.

The Water Gardens – Flower Garden

© Nick Harrison

Key Green Infrastructure references:

Landscape Institute (2013) Green Infrastructure An integrated approach to land use. Position Statement. https://landscapewpstorage01.blob.core. windows.net/www-landscapeinstituteorg/2016/03/Green-Infrastructure_an- integrated-approach-to-land-use.pdf

Natural England (2023) Green Infrastructure Framework. https:// designatedsites.naturalengland.org.uk/ GreenInfrastructure/Home.aspx:

– Green Infrastructure Principles: the what and how of good green infrastructure.

– Green Infrastructure Standards: guidance on national standards for green infrastructure quantity and quality.

– Green Infrastructure Maps: mapped environmental, socio-economic datasets to support the standards.

– Green Infrastructure Planning and Design Guide: practical, evidencebased advice on how to design good quality green infrastructure.

– Green Infrastructure Process Journeys: guides on how to apply all the products in the Green Infrastructure Framework.

Have a look at Landscape past issues on historic parks:

Parks and heritage: https://issuu.com/ landscape-institute/docs/landscape_ journal_2013_1_spring

Post-war designed landscapes: https://issuu.com/landscape-institute/ docs/12421_landscape_issue_1-2021_ v8a_issuu/32

Stanmer Park, Brighton. Former glasshouses have be converted into a shop/ market operated by Plumpton College, and selling local produce and plants

© LUC

How do I find out whether a public park or historic green space or features are important?

England – National Heritage List https:// historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list

Scotland – https://www. historicenvironment.scot/adviceand-support/listing-scheduling-and-designations/

Wales – https://cadw.gov.wales/ Northern Ireland – https://www. communities-ni.gov.uk/landing-pages/ historic-environment

Other research resources:

National Archives www.a2a.org.uk

Historic Environment Records Heritage Gateway (England) – https://www. heritagegateway.org.uk/Gateway/CHR/

Online georeferenced historic Ordnance Survey maps and satellite imagery for the whole of the UK –National Library of Scotland https://maps. nls.uk/os/index.html

The Gardens Trust’s research and recording training resources https:// thegardenstrust.org/conservation/vs-hub/ cgt-guidance/research-and-recording-2/

How can I find out more about historic and cultural significance?

ICOMOS (2017) ICOMOS – IFLA document on historic urban public parks https://www.icomos.org/images/ DOCUMENTS/Charters/GA2017_63-2_HistoricUrbanPublicParks_EN_ adopted-15122017.pdf

Historic England (2018) Urban Landscapes. Register of Parks and Gardens Selection Guide https:// historicengland.org.uk/images-books/ publications/drpgsg-urban-landscapes/

Historic England (2017) Conservation Principles. Policies and Guidance https://historicengland.org.uk/advice/ constructive-conservation/conservationprinciples

Stanmer Park, Brighton. Horticultural training operated by Plumpton College within the restored C18th walled garden

© LUC

Where can I find good practice guidance and innovation projects?

National Lottery Heritage Fund (NLHF) offers good practice guidance on a range of topics, including conservation management planning, management and maintenance plans, inclusion, wellbeing and volunteers https://www.heritagefund.org.uk/funding/good-practice-guidance

The NLHF’s web page https://www. heritagefund.org.uk/our-work/landscapesparks-nature/public-parks-urbangreen-spaces links to their innovative programmes ‘Rethinking Parks’ and ‘Future Parks Accelerator’

Green Flag Award resources hub https://greenflagaward.org/resources-hub/

Midlands Parks Forum https://midlandsparksforum.co.uk

Special thanks to all the speakers for these webinars, especially HTA Design and LUC, NLHF, Midlands Park Forum, and LI’s Events Assistant, Oliver Ryan, for managing the webinar programme.

Jenifer White, National Landscape Adviser, Historic England