Baggeridge Country Park
Encyclopedia
| Baggeridge County Park | |
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| The Bag Pool at Baggeridge Country Park |
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| Location | |
| Nearest Village Village A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet with the population ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand , Though often located in rural areas, the term urban village is also applied to certain urban neighbourhoods, such as the West Village in Manhattan, New... : |
Gospel End Gospel End Gospel End is a village in the South Staffordshire district of Staffordshire, England. It is situated on the A463 road, between Sedgley and Wombourne.... |
| County County A county is a jurisdiction of local government in certain modern nations. Historically in mainland Europe, the original French term, comté, and its equivalents in other languages denoted a jurisdiction under the sovereignty of a count A county is a jurisdiction of local government in certain... : |
Staffordshire Staffordshire Staffordshire is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes, the county is a NUTS 3 region and is one of four counties or unitary districts that comprise the "Shropshire and Staffordshire" NUTS 2 region. Part of the National Forest lies within its borders... |
| Country Country A country is a region legally identified as a distinct entity in political geography. A country may be an independent sovereign state or one that is occupied by another state, as a non-sovereign or formerly sovereign political division, or a geographic region associated with a previously... : |
England, U.K. |
| Information | |
| Area: | 150 acre (0.607029 km²) |
| Status: | Country Park Country park A country park is an area designated for people to visit and enjoy recreation in a countryside environment.-History:In the United Kingdom the term 'Country Park' has a special meaning. There are over 400 Country Parks in England alone . Most Country Parks were designated in the 1970s, under the... , Local Nature Reserve Local Nature Reserve Local nature reserve or LNR is a designation for nature reserves in the United Kingdom. The designation has its origin in the recommendations of the Wild Life Conservation Special Committee which established the framework for nature conservation in the United Kingdom and suggested a national suite... |
| Established: | 1970 to 1981 |
| Awards: | Green Flag Award Green Flag Award The Green Flag Award is the benchmark national standard for parks and green spaces in the United Kingdom. The scheme was set up in 1996 to recognise and reward green spaces in England and Wales that met the laid down high standards... |
| Administration | |
| Administrative authority: | South Staffordshire District Council |
Baggeridge Country Park is located within the South Staffordshire
South Staffordshire
South Staffordshire is a local government district in Staffordshire, England. The district lies to the north and west of Wolverhampton and the West Midlands, bordering Shropshire to the west and Worcestershire to the south...
district of Staffordshire
Staffordshire
Staffordshire is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes, the county is a NUTS 3 region and is one of four counties or unitary districts that comprise the "Shropshire and Staffordshire" NUTS 2 region. Part of the National Forest lies within its borders...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. Its entrance is on the A463 just west of Gospel End
Gospel End
Gospel End is a village in the South Staffordshire district of Staffordshire, England. It is situated on the A463 road, between Sedgley and Wombourne....
, a small Staffordshire village just beyond the borders of the Wolverhampton
Wolverhampton
Wolverhampton is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands, England. For Eurostat purposes Walsall and Wolverhampton is a NUTS 3 region and is one of five boroughs or unitary districts that comprise the "West Midlands" NUTS 2 region...
and the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley
Metropolitan Borough of Dudley
The Metropolitan Borough of Dudley is a metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It was created in 1974, and is made up of the towns of Dudley , Stourbridge , Halesowen, Brierley Hill, Amblecote, Sedgley and Coseley...
.
Main information
Baggeridge Country Park is owned by the South Staffordshire Council and has ample parking charged at a flat rate of £1.40 per day.The main feature is a large hill of Pit Mounds which has plenty of paths to its summit and a lake
Lake
A lake is a body of relatively still fresh or salt water of considerable size, localized in a basin, that is surrounded by land. Lakes are inland and not part of the ocean and therefore are distinct from lagoons, and are larger and deeper than ponds. Lakes can be contrasted with rivers or streams,...
named Bag Pool located between the parking grounds and the hill.
The facilities located near parking space comprise of:
A bandstand
Bandstand
A bandstand is a circular or semicircular structure set in a park, garden, pier, or indoor space, designed to accommodate musical bands performing concerts...
, café, camping field, events field, large children's play area, miniature railway and sensory garden
Sensory garden
A sensory garden is a garden or other plot specifically created to be accessible and enjoyable to visitors, both disabled and non-disabled. The purpose of such a provision is to provide individual and combined sensory opportunities for the user such that they may not normally experience.A sensory...
.
A ropes course
Ropes course
A ropes course is a challenging outdoor personal development and team building activity which usually consists of high and/or low elements. Low elements take place on the ground or only a few feet above the ground...
named Closer to the Edge is also in the park.
History
Baggeridge was originally owned by the Earls of DudleyEarl of Dudley
Earl of Dudley, of Dudley Castle in the County of Stafford, is a title that has been created twice in the Peerage of the United Kingdom, both times for members of the Ward family. This family descends from Sir Humble Ward, the son of a wealthy goldsmith and jeweller to King Charles I...
as part of the Himley Estate
Himley Hall
Himley Hall is a country house situated in Staffordshire, England. It is situated in the south of the county near the villages of Wombourne and Kingswinford, and the town of Sedgley...
and consisted of small farms and ancient woodland along with the parkland of Himley Park. It was later landscaped by Lancelot "Capability" Brown
Capability Brown
Lancelot Brown , more commonly known as Capability Brown, was an English landscape architect. He is remembered as "the last of the great English eighteenth-century artists to be accorded his due", and "England's greatest gardener". He designed over 170 parks, many of which still endure...
in the 18th century; the landscape is still largely unchanged from the southern boundary up to the Wishing Pools. The whole site remained as landscaped by Brown until 1902 when work began to mine the northern half when pit shafts were sunk and a cast mining operation began. The mine was then nationalized in 1947 and closed down on 1 March 1968. In 1970 the western, central, southern and eastern areas were designated a Country Park
Country park
A country park is an area designated for people to visit and enjoy recreation in a countryside environment.-History:In the United Kingdom the term 'Country Park' has a special meaning. There are over 400 Country Parks in England alone . Most Country Parks were designated in the 1970s, under the...
with full reclamation on the 12th January 1981. The north eastern area became Baggeridge Brick. It was officially opened on 17 June 1983 by The Princess Anne
Anne, Princess Royal
Princess Anne, Princess Royal , is the only daughter of Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh...
.
Landscape
The northern part of the park consists of grasslandGrassland
Grasslands are areas where the vegetation is dominated by grasses and other herbaceous plants . However, sedge and rush families can also be found. Grasslands occur naturally on all continents except Antarctica...
, woodland
Woodland
Ecologically, a woodland is a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunlight and limited shade. Woodlands may support an understory of shrubs and herbaceous plants including grasses. Woodland may form a transition to shrubland under drier conditions or during early stages of...
and wetland
Wetland
A wetland is an area of land whose soil is saturated with water either permanently or seasonally. Wetlands are categorised by their characteristic vegetation, which is adapted to these unique soil conditions....
. A marsh with a small path next to it is located near Newt Meadow, wetlands and heathland at Gospel End Common. The south of the park consists of woodland and parkland which was landscaped by Capability Brown
Capability Brown
Lancelot Brown , more commonly known as Capability Brown, was an English landscape architect. He is remembered as "the last of the great English eighteenth-century artists to be accorded his due", and "England's greatest gardener". He designed over 170 parks, many of which still endure...
.
The terrain is mainly hilly, but level with some flat areas, and some rough terrain in areas.
Walks
There are many walks around Baggeridge; the official routes are as follows:The Easy Access:
The Easy Access walk is a circular walk with a mainly level gradient
Gradient
In vector calculus, the gradient of a scalar field is a vector field that points in the direction of the greatest rate of increase of the scalar field, and whose magnitude is the greatest rate of change....
which takes 30 minutes. It is designed for the disabled.
Toposcope Trail:
The Toposcope Trail walk goes past Bag Pool and up to the summit of the hill where views of the park and surrounding area as far as the Welsh Mountains can be found. The total route talks about 45 minutes and has many step gradients.
Baggeridge Circular Walk:
The Baggeridge Circular Walk has fair step gradients and goes past Bag Pool to the base of the hill and then down to the edge of Whites Wood before looping around past multiple lakes and back up to the car park.
Baggeridge Woodland Walk:
The Baggeridge Woodland Walk starts off following the same route as the Circular Walk until it goes along public footpaths through the private part of Baggeridge Wood outside the country park. It comes out at Gospel End Common and then finally ends at the upper meadow near the top of the car parks. The total route takes approximately 1 hour 30 minutes and has fair step gradients.
Besides these official routes there are many paths which fork from the main routes, such as. There are paths around Bag Pool for a circular walk around the lake that turn and join onto another path where it is possible to go either up the hill or into Newt Meadow. From Newt Meadow and many other paths it is possible follow a route up initially steep steps into a woodland with views over the nearby countryside and towns, before joining the Circular Walk where turning right leads back to Bag Pool.
Another walk takes visitors to the nearby Himley Park; the Himley path goes past two lakes and a waterfall following the stream from the main lake. It also provides access to Whites Wood and has several paths running alongside it.