Heaton Park Sound Walk
room 11 ECHOES
Location: Manchester, Greater Manchester, England, United Kingdom
Today Heaton Park is the largest urban park in the UK, covering over 600 acres. Grade II listed by the English Heritage Register of Parks, the park contains a number of features including, a golf course, boating lake, animal farm, ornamental gardens, woodlands, adventure playground and bowling greens.
In 1772 Sir Thomas Egerton commissioned James Wyatt to design a home for his family. Heaton Hall was completed in 1789. James Wyatt also designed some of the other buildings around the park. Sir Thomas later employed William Emes to landscape the park. The estate remained in the Egerton family until 1902 when the 5th Earl of Wilton decided to sell the hall and park. Manchester Corporation bought the estate for £230,000 and provided a number of public facilities. During WWI the park was used as a training ground for the Manchester Pals battalions and the hall became a military hospital. During WWII the Royal Air Force used the park to train aircrew and a barrage balloon was placed there. The park was restored in a partnership between the Heritage Lottery Fund and Manchester City Council. This recreated some of the original Emes landscape around the Hall and restored four of the Wyatt buildings.
The sound walk can follow all of the stops; or you can customise the walk to visit the locations of your choice. You can even make a stop at one of the 4 cafés in the park; located at the stables, the boathouse, Heaton Park garden centre and Heaton Park golf centre.
The audio clips for this sound walk are from the Manchester Oral Histories collection (UAP007) held at Archives+, Manchester Central Library and from Manchester Studies collection (UAP008) held at Tameside Local Studies and Archives Centre, Ashton.
DOWNLOAD OUR APP TO DISCOVER THIS TOUR AND MANY OTHERS.
The Echoes
The Grand Lodge
Sir Thomas Egerton wanted an impressive entrance to the park and in 1807 he commissioned Lewis Wyatt…
Boating lake and boat house
The boating lake was not part of the original estate, but constructed between 1908 and 1912. Teams o…
Hutments and Prefabs by Sheepfoot Lane and Middleton Road
From September 1914, this area was used as a tented camp for four battalions of the Manchester Regim…
Trams
After Heaton Park was bought by Manchester Corporation a tram line was extended into the park. On 3 …
Bandstand
There were 2 bandstands in the park; the larger one built in 1906 looked like an open air theatre wi…
Heaton Hall and orangery
The Grade I listed Heaton Hall was built in two phases. The central block, and the west wing were co…
Smithy Lodge
The eight-sided Smithy Lodge was designed in 1806. It was the first gatehouse to the park, by the ea…
Temple
The circular Temple was designed by James Wyatt in 1800. The first Earl was said to have used it as …
Dower House
Dower House was originally a plain, 18th century brick building. In 1803 the decorative columned fro…
Rose gardens and dell
The ornamental gardens were thought to be created for the family in the early 1800s. After many year…
St. Margaret’s entrance
At the entrance on St. Margaret’s Road there is a small lodge with a drive leading up to the hall. T…
Discover more geolocated content in our apps.
Or start creating tours, treasure hunts, POI maps... Just let your imagination guide you.
