The idea of providing the townspeople of Halstead with a public garden to celebrate  the Diamond Jubilee  of Queen Victoria in 1897 was made possible by an initial subscription of £1,000 from George Courtauld, supplemented by over £400 raised by local people.  The Queen had suggested that ‘any scheme should be something to ameliorate the lives of the poor’ whilst the National Trust for Places of Historical Interest proposed that ‘every locality should dedicate a plot of ground to the common good and enjoyment of the people’.

A site of 1.4 ha (3.5 acres) in Trinity Street was chosen where there had previously been an orchard, nursery and allotments.  The decision to go ahead with the plan caused many arguments partly because rents from the allotments benefitted local schools under the Will of William Martin. There was  concern at the time that the maintenance of the Gardens would become an intolerable burden on the rate payers and a ballot of the people was taken.  The campaigning on both sides was fierce, but the resulting poll was in favour of proceeding with a majority of 115 (474 in favour, 359 against).

The land was purchased for £1,500 and the Council took possession on 6th February 1899.  Halstead Urban District Council borrowed £800 from the Local Government Board that year to finance the other costs of providing the Gardens. 

The Gardens were designed by TW Sanders FRHS, FNAGA, 1855-1926, president of the National Amateur Gardener’s Association, a landscape designer, horticultural adjudicator, editor of Amateur Gardening (from 1887 until his death) and author of the classic Encyclopaedia of Gardening (first published in 1895 with the last revision published in 1977) and many other gardening books.  Further details on the work of TW Sanders can be found in D Cropp’s book ‘TW Sanders: The Forgotten Gardener’. He was keen to display plants naturally and scorned designs which he considered to be ‘old-fashioned’ and overly contrived.

TW Sanders produced two sets of plans, one of which was selected in May 1899.  No drawing has yet been found to show the details of the park layout but an original specification survives.

George Courtauld had stated, when he made his generous subscription for the park, that ‘I would be pleased to commemorate my interest and long association with Halstead’.  This association was through the Courtauld textile factory in Halstead.  On Whit Monday, May 1901, Alfred Kibble, chairman of the ground committee, handed George Coutauld the key to unlock the main gate and open the grounds to the public.  The event was attended by several thousand spectators.  Unfortunately, Queen Victoria had died in January that year.  This was perhaps reflected in the new name chosen as ‘Public Gardens’, without any reference to the former Queen.

The original design included a complex network of paths, a recreation area, an ornamental pond, a dancing green and space for a pavilion.  A gnarled apple tree, a remnant of the old orchard, was incorporated into the design but was chopped down shortly after when young lads climbed over the railings  to ‘scrump’ fruit.

The above photo of the Gardens in 1902 shows the gnarled apple tree which had been incorporated in the design, a remnant from the old orchard which had previously occupied the site.

<Back to top>

Flower beds were not specified, but it was assumed that they could be created from the grassed areas if required.  Many trees and shrubs were donated by local people.  In March 1900, trees and shrubberies were planted along Kings Road and Trinity Street and in December of that year several trees were planted by local children.  The Public Gardens Committee Minutes record decisions to plant a bed of rhododendrons in 1900 as well as bedding plants and bulbs in 1903.  A rockery was added to the garden in February 1906.

Seats along the Trinity Street perimeter with a heavily planted boundary

In 1900, wrought iron railings and gates, manufactured by Bayliss, Jones and Bayliss of Wolverhampton, were erected around the boundary.   The iron fencing made a huge improvement to the area.  Along Trinity Street, instead of  an untidy field, with a lot of lumber and a ragged hedge, there was a broad path with a fence and a row of horse chestnut trees lining the road.

Boundary to the Gardens in Trinity Street showing thick boundary planting inside the park and fine horse chestnut trees in the pavement.

The row of horse chestnuts were all felled in 1971 after one toppled on a passing vehicle one foggy day.

The spiked tops of the railings caused problems particularly when a bullock attempted to jump the railings in 1901, was impaled and died as a consequence.  After a similar event occurred in 1924 a local doctor expressed concern for the children’s safety.  Eventually, in 1930, small balls, made in Portway’s foundry, were added to prevent further accidents.   Most of the railings were removed as part of the effort to collect iron for the Second World War but remains of the original railings can still be seen in New Street and Kings Road.

In September 1900, the Public Gardens Committee agreed that the pond should be formed with cement concrete 12 inches thick at the bottom and 9 inches at the sides.  It was decided that the depth of the water should not exceed two feet – however this decision has not been respected and the pond is considerably deeper.  

The pond was supplied with water from Mount Well by kind permission of the Adams Brewery situated in Trinity Street.  In 1902 it was decided that the pond should be edged with overburnt bricks and clinkers.  In the same year, the Halstead Times reported on the possible addition of a fountain to the scheme.  The fountain has since disappeared, but photographs suggest that it was also made of brick and clinker.  It is apparent that fish used to thrive in the pond as in 1912 the Council Surveyor was instructed to clean out the pond and prior to this, members of the Angling Society were allowed to remove the surplus fish.

<Back to top>

The pond with its brick and clinker fountain was heavily overhung by trees at the time this photograph was taken  – the date on the postcard is 24th September 1919

The above photograph shows a scene reminiscent of Halstead Public Gardens in that Sanders has used the combination of an attractive heavily vegetated slope immediately above a pond with luxuriant plantings and a building with a ridged roofline.

The Dancing Green was part of the original plan and constructed in 1900 using clinker banks to support the raised edges.  The Green was accessed by a flight of steps on either side, each seven feet wide with a rose hoop marking each  flight, and used for bowling as well as dancing.

This postcard bears the date 10th August 1906 and shows the steps to the Dancing Green, a gardener, young trees and the Kings Road planted boundary.

The bandstand was made and erected in 1901 as a gift from a  local man, Charles Portway, who wished to mark his fiftieth year of business in Halstead.  It originally had a gilded lyre on top of the tiled roof but by 1908 the gilding was proving too expensive to maintain.  In 1976 the clock from Adams Brewery, that was being demolished, was erected on the roof, but the 2001 renovation work to the Gardens have included the reinstatement of the gilded lyre based on photographs of the original.  In 1914, estimates were obtained from the Gas Company for lighting the bandstand.  Four Suggs ‘Regent’ lamps were hung ‘one in each alternate bay just under the overhanging roof’ and eight Suggs No 7004 lamps were fixed in between each column centrally hung and sufficiently high to avoid glare to onlookers.

Also in 1901, twelve seats were donated to the Gardens by local people, each bearing a donor’s name.  Only three of these seats remain.

In 1899, the Public Gardens Committee Minutes referred to providing a shelter beside New Street for the children for £20 and, in 1912, two shelters were built by public subscription as a memorial to the coronation of King George V.   The drinking fountain was given by Harry Harvey Portway early in the C20 in memory of his son, Harold, who had died of diptheria. 

A third of a hectare (three quarters of an acre) was provided in the original plan for a children’s play area, but no record of any play equipment exists.  This part of the Gardens now includes the site of the former tennis courts and the site of the former adventure play area.  In addition, a Senior Citizens’ Centre has been built on the area originally intended for children’s play.

The photograph below shows the site of the Garden of Remembrance not long before it was laid out.

In 1948, a stone memorial, provided by public subscription, was erected at the centre of the Garden of Remembrance which now stands on the above site, as a memorial to those who lost their lives in the Second World War.
______________________________________________________________________________

A successful bid to the Heritage Lottery Fund was made in 1997 so that a major renovation could be undertaken.  This work was completed in 2001.

George Courtauld (great grand-son of the original benefactor to the Gardens) celebrates the renovation of the Gardens with (from left to right) Percy Bamberger (local historian), Councillor Jackie Pell (Chair of the Friends of Halstead Public Gardens), 2 officers of Braintree District Council and Major Michael Portway (whose relative, Charles Portway, funded and built the bandstand).

<Back to top>