The People’s Park: A history of Williamson Park Lancaster

Lancaster’s Williamson Park is truly iconic. Its beauty and vistas beguile all who come to explore its magical dells and secret gardens. It is beloved of residents and visitors alike, and is surely one of the very best of Britain’s public parks. The story of the park is fascinating, and it is one that goes back a long way. From its ancient beginnings as a Bronze Age burial site, it later became a place of execution for unfortunate individuals tried at Lancaster Castle, then a network of quarries where workers cut and heaved great slabs of sandstone to build the town below. It is this last part of the park’s story that was to shape the distinctive and dramatic contours of the park, topped by the stunning Ashton Memorial, visible from miles around. In this beautifully illustrated and captivating book, Suzanne Bradshaw not only reveals the long and varied history of the park, but also tells us about the people whose vision, skills and labour made it possible. The people’s park is certain to be a very popular read, and a classic for years to come.