Activity Point 5 - Restoration
In this section, we are joined by Bill Reilly (Friends of Warrenpoint Municipal Park) who will explain to us how the 2018 Heritage Lottery Fund contributed to the success of the Warrenpoint Park restoration project. Following on from this, we will discuss the history of Warrenpoint Municipal Park so that we may better understand the significance of the restoration project and how the interventions taken will help to solidify the park as a tourist hub for future generations.
Bill Reilly (Friends of Warrenpoint Municipal Park) introducing the background to the 2018 Heritage Lottery Fund restoration project
Images above show how the Park looked in April 2017
Images above show how the Park looked partway through the restoration process
The Pavillion building fully restored
The new updated play park
The Band Stand fully restored and in use
Background to the Park
In 1902 a Park Committee was set up to examine the creation of a public park. Captain Roger Hall granted a 2 acre plot of land to the Council for its creation. The park evolved out of a green space that was used by the many tourists who visited the area.
The landscaping of the park was carried out by Thomas Smith who operated the renowned Daisy Hill Nursery in Newry. Smith laid out the grounds of the park advising the Council on the proper position of features such as the bandstand.
It opened in 1906 with a Grade B+ listed bandstand installed in 1907 and a pavilion dating from the 1930’s which later became disused. The pavilion has had a number of uses over the years and was used latterly by Warrenpoint Tennis Club as a clubroom. The bandstand is used widely for events organised in the park.
Warrenpoint Park in 1915
Warrenpoint Municipal Park is a registered park D157 and is operated and maintained by Newry Mourne and Down District Council (NMDDC).
The park occupies a site of approximately 1.1 hectares and is located at the south east end of the town on the shores of Carlingford Lough which opens onto an Edwardian seafront promenade. The park is situated in a unique townscape for Ireland surrounded by terraces of both Victorian and Edwardian buildings, the majority of which are residential however some host businesses.
Warrenpoint Park is an important example of a planned Edwardian/ Victorian Town Park. Remarkably, the recreational historic park remained largely intact with a path network in the same position and of the same width as laid out originally.
The park has been maintained as a popular park for recreational uses and as a venue for events utilised by both locals and visitors, however it lost some of some of the original glory and focus it had when Warrenpoint was one of the premier Victorian/Edwardian coastal holiday resorts.
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