Public parks have become an established part of British culture. Most adults have memories of playing on swings, slides and roundabouts when they were children. While children today are making their own memories at their local park. Although they are now a firm part of our local communities, public parks are a relatively new concept.
Public park origins
Local green spaces enjoyed by the public was mainly a Victorian invention. During the Victorian era the industrial revolution meant that many people were living in expanding cities. They had very little contact with the countryside. To feed the public’s desire to be closer to nature, large parks were landscaped, open to the public as a place where they could enjoy the countryside. And all without having to leave the city too! Many features of Victorian parks, such as green spaces, fountains and tennis courts can be still seen today.
Growth of local parks
In the first half of the 20th Century, as urban areas continued to expand, an increasing number of smaller local play spaces began to open. The 1920s saw a large number of new parks, while even during the depression years of the 1930s councils still invested money into public spaces. These followed a similar design to Victorian parks but also started to include more play areas for children. They also expanded the facilities they offered.
Re-building and investment
Post war Britain saw the re-emergence of public spaces, many of which were destroyed and/or damaged during the war. Money was invested in improving these much needed spaces. As well as this, people once again visited parks as a place to escape urban living. They viewed them as leisure spaces! Parks being a place of leisure was encouraged by local authorities. From the late 1940s to the mid-1970s several London parks featured sculpture exhibitions during the summer months.
1970s and 1980s
The 1970s and 1980s saw a lack of funding into local parks, as a result many became run-down and even considered no-go areas by local residents. These decades saw a dramatic decline in public parks and many park facilities, such as cafes, began to close while play equipment became worn down and badly maintained.
Renovation campaign
During the 1990s local communities began reinvesting in public spaces. Many renovation projects started at this time to re-establish parks as a family-friendly environment. Onsite facilities began to reopen, and money was invested in new play equipment. Boosted by the Heritage Lottery Fund, which has spent £640 million on renovating 700 parks across the UK since 1996.
Parks today
Today parks are considered an important part of our local communities. Play equipment has evolved to become more safe and fun for children. While many have introduced outdoor gym equipment to create public fitness
spaces. Public spaces are now centres of leisure and sports activities, where all age groups can go to enjoy using state-of-the-art facilities for free.
Play equipment has a real purpose in children’s physical and emotional development and enhances important social skills.
Fawns have a wide range of park play equipment, ranging from outdoor steel gym equipment through to springers! Check out our full range of park play equipment today.
How can Fawns Help?
Are part of a parish council? Contact us today on 01252 515199 or simply complete our contact form. We will then be in touch to discuss your playground project.
Alternately, if you would like to receive our brochure, please complete the form to request a brochure. We either email this or post a hard copy to you.
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