Holden Park
Encyclopedia
Holden Park is the only park in the village of Oakworth
, West Yorkshire
, England
. It was given to the people of Oakworth by the family of Sir Isaac Holden in 1927.
The park was formerly the grounds of Holden's house (Oakworth House) and garden. The house was partially destroyed in a fire in 1907, ten years after Sir Isaac's death in 1897. On the site of the house there is now a bowls
or bowling green. The huge glasshouses are gone, and all that is left of the winter gardens are the caves and grottoes created by Holden.
The park contains the local war memorial; a stone portico
entrance, which is the only surviving remnant of Oakworth House; and Holden's summer house, made from a steel framework and hypertufa
shaped to look like wooden branches. Past the grottoes and caves there is a large grassed area which used to be the vegetable garden for the house and was later a putting green, and above this are the woods, which contain many paths originally laid out by Holden.
There is an active Friends of Holden Park group, started in April 2004 and mostly consisting of local people, which seeks to preserve and protect the remaining features with support from the local community.
Oakworth
Oakworth is a village in West Yorkshire, England, near Keighley, by the River Worth. The name "Oakworth" indicates that the village was first established in a heavily wooded area....
, West Yorkshire
West Yorkshire
West Yorkshire is a metropolitan county within the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England with a population of 2.2 million. West Yorkshire came into existence as a metropolitan county in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972....
, 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...
. It was given to the people of Oakworth by the family of Sir Isaac Holden in 1927.
The park was formerly the grounds of Holden's house (Oakworth House) and garden. The house was partially destroyed in a fire in 1907, ten years after Sir Isaac's death in 1897. On the site of the house there is now a bowls
Bowls
Bowls is a sport in which the objective is to roll slightly asymmetric balls so that they stop close to a smaller "jack" or "kitty". It is played on a pitch which may be flat or convex or uneven...
or bowling green. The huge glasshouses are gone, and all that is left of the winter gardens are the caves and grottoes created by Holden.
The park contains the local war memorial; a stone portico
Portico
A portico is a porch leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls...
entrance, which is the only surviving remnant of Oakworth House; and Holden's summer house, made from a steel framework and hypertufa
Hypertufa
Hypertufa is an anthropic rock made from various aggregates bonded together using Portland cement.Hypertufa is intended as a manufactured substitute for natural tufa, which is a slowly precipitated limestone rock; being very porous, it is favorable for plant growth.Hypertufa is popular for making...
shaped to look like wooden branches. Past the grottoes and caves there is a large grassed area which used to be the vegetable garden for the house and was later a putting green, and above this are the woods, which contain many paths originally laid out by Holden.
There is an active Friends of Holden Park group, started in April 2004 and mostly consisting of local people, which seeks to preserve and protect the remaining features with support from the local community.
External links
- Oakworth Village website (with information about the Friends of Holden Park)