History

Victoria Park was opened in 1899 to mark Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee and provide more recreation space for the growing town. Throughout the 19th century it was the venue for galas, military parades, flower shows and circuses. A riverside path had originally been created along the south bank of the River Leam in the early 1860s. The borough engineer, William de Normanville, laid out Victoria Park and made a perimeter drive which was exactly half a mile in length.