Roe Lee Park | Green Park | Griffin Park
Roe Lee Park
Roe Lee Park
After the visit to Blackburn of the King and Queen in July 1913, Messrs. Duckworth and Eddleston, the owners of Roe Lee Mills, donated some sixteen acres of land for the benefit of the local people and to commemorate the royal visit. The construction of the park cost the corporation £23,650 and a lot of the work was carried out by unemployed men - this was one of the first unemployment schemes in the country. During the work carried out to create the park a strange item was discovered. It was the representation of an Indian Goddess in a design of Northern India from the 15th or 16th century. It was a great mystery as to why it was buried in Roe lee Park - one explanation being that a thief had buried it to escape detection and another that it had been buried to avoid bad luck and ease one’s conscience since the Goddess Kali was credited with being the mother of the world.
Roe Lee Park Pavilion
Ray Smith Image
The park was officially opened on the 30th May 1923 by John Duckworth JP and John Eddleston JP of Duckworth and Eddleston, cotton manufacturers, Roe Lee mills, several thousand people came to the opening - the mills had been closed for a half day in support of this. The park had three bowling greens, two tennis courts, a putting green, a children's playground, and paddling pool and was surrounded by municipal housing. The bowling greens at Green Park, Corporation Park and Roe Lee were opened on the same day with the Mayor Alderman J.T.T. Ramsay and Councillors in attendance. Mr. Duckworth opened the door of the pavilion with a gold key which was then presented to the Mayor in commemoration of the opening of all the bowling greens.
Janet Burke
The information above is from articles from the
Blackburn Times:
30th. May 1923
5th, April 1924
18th. December 1924
Blackburn Encyclopaedia (Cottontown)
Blackburn Through Time, Ray Smith
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Green Park
The land of five acres one rood and three perches for the creation of Green Park was purchased from the Tenant for Life and Trustees of the late Daniel Thwaites on the 17th of November 1913 at a cost of £2,184. The name of the park was to perpetuate the name of Alderman George Green, Chairman of the Parks Committee, for his forty years in public service.
Green Park
Ray Smith Image
The park was situated off Aqueduct Street and was a great asset to the surrounding highly populated area. There were playgrounds for children with two square and two round bowling greens for adults. The bowling greens were officially opened on the 30th. of May 1923 by Councillor J. Eddleston, Vice Chairman of the Parks Committee, in the presence of the Mayor and Town Councillors and several hundred members of the public. A short game of balls was played after which the entourage proceeded to the new bowling greens of Corporation Park and finally Roe Lee Park.
Janet Burke
The above information is from an article in the
Blackburn Times:
30th. of May 1923
Blackburn Through Time, Ray Smith
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Griffin Park is situated on the left-hand side of Spring Lane coming from the traffic lights at the bottom of Buncer Lane. It was originally the grounds of a fine mansion called Griffin Lodge. This house had been built by Dr. Thomas Dugdale who also built Griffin Mills and other properties in Blackburn, and it had remained in the family until the death of Mrs. Adam Dugdale on the 24th of September 1936. The house and grounds of some nine acres were originally put up for auction and a private buyer was apparently interested. However, Blackburn Corporation acquired the site and was able to lease the house to the Government for the use of the Post Office engineers department. Griffin Park was then created under the expert guidance of Mr. E. Winsor, the Parks Superintendent and Mr. W. Pickstone the Borough Engineer.
The park around the house was small but the surrounding meadow lands ran to several acres. The park and its recreation grounds of five acres provided space for the outdoor enjoyment of many children. The large greenhouses were used to grow some of the many plants needed for the other parks and public spaces. The main entrance was on Cavendish Place, and it was agreed that another entrance was needed. This was made at the end of Springfield Street leading directly onto the largest of the playing fields where there was also a riding track which had been used to teach the children of the previous owners how to ride. This entrance was convenient for visitors coming by tram or bus to Witton Stocks. The gardens were renovated and large amounts of branches and brushwood were burnt on a bonfire which lasted three weeks.
The youngest park of Blackburn was opened by Councillor Walter Tempest, Chairman of the Parks Committee, on the 17th of September 1937. Greatly interested in the ceremony was William Evans who had been the butler at Griffin Lodge for fifty-six years and was pleased that the grounds were put to such a use for the surrounding area and the town. As a war effort in 1942 a two-acre field due south of the park was ploughed up and let off for allotments.
Janet Burke
The above information is from articles from the
Blackburn Times:
20th. August 1937
18th. November 1938
