Formal lawns and a 1933 red brick colonnade fill a Victorian park in Low Harrogate.
What Valley Gardens looks like
Lawns and flower beds fill the valley, and the layout dates from 1887. The middle path runs south-westwards as a lime avenue, and the sloping lawns south of the Colonnade are laid out as rose gardens with shaped beds. A stream runs along the bottom of the valley over miniature cascades. The extreme west end is wooded, with a pinetum. In spring, crocuses come up on the lawns beside the bowling green.
The and Sun Colonnade sit on the north side of the gardens. They date from 1933. The pavilion is red brick with concrete dressings that imitate sandstone. The colonnade runs north-east alongside Cornwall Road for about 209 metres.
The is the 1895 domed kiosk, with a cast-iron arcade around it and a green dome topped by a small octagonal spire. Nearby, the is a single storey gritstone building with a gabled front, dating from about 1858. It is open as an information centre on the first and third Sunday of each month.
Cast-iron well covers mark the springs in the lawns, on concrete bases. A circular garden holds a stone fountain with a pebble-faced column and two child figures on top, ringed by orange bedding.
Along the south and west edges, there is no boundary between the pavement and the park for long sections. Residential streets lie on the other sides, and the west side links to open land beside the Pinewoods.
Shot in Valley Gardens
A 1959 amateur film by the Harrogate Cine Club is a silent guided tour of the town. It includes the North of England Spring Flower Show, held in the Sun Pavilion.
Harrogate, A Guide to Britain's Floral Resort, a 1959 amateur film
The Sun Pavilion
Members of the Harrogate Cine Club made the 17 minute film as a silent guided tour of the town. It shows the North of England Spring Flower Show held in the pavilion.
What Valley Gardens can double for
Jephson Gardens in Leamington Spa, Warwickshire
Jephson Gardens is a formal Victorian park in the centre of Leamington Spa, with grassed areas, floral displays and the River Leam along its south side. Its Corinthian-style temple of 1849 gives the paths a Victorian setting at much the same scale as the Valley. The sub-tropical glasshouse is part of the redevelopment that began in 1999, so keep it out of frame and shoot the lawns and paths. Try searching formal Victorian spa park now.
Pavilion Gardens in Buxton, Derbyshire
Pavilion Gardens is a Victorian park in a spa town, laid out by Edward Milner in 1871 along the River Wye, with three man-made lakes on one branch. Its cast-iron and glass pavilion and conservatory date from 1870 and set the period. The cast-iron pavilion and the lakes would give it away in a wide shot, so frame them out. Try searching Victorian spa park now.
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