On the subject of parks, which we were in a previous blog – see Take a Walk In the Park… - this seems like a good time to take a look at Mote Park which has recently received a substantial cash injection. The Heritage Lottery Fund and the Big Lottery Fund have awarded Maidstone Borough Council (MBC) £1.8 million for its Parks for People programme which has gone a long way to helping the council’s conservation and improvement project estimated to cost a total of £2.5 million.
Volunteers from the Friends of Mote Park with local residents and other interested parties have been helping MBC and Kent Wildlife Trust with the project in an effort to clear scrubland and plant over a hundred new parkland trees. But more people are needed to give up their time to this truly inspirational project that will protect and regenerate the park so that not only we, but also future generations can continue to enjoy Maidstone’s historic natural environment.
Like Cobtree just down the road Mote Park has a rich and varied history. The park was landscaped on a grand scale around the end of the 18th Century, when George III (you know, the mad one) was King of England. Created by the first and second Earls Romney much of what we see today – the lake, park wall, boathouse, lodges, Volunteer Pavilion and trees some of which even pre-date the Earls’ remodelling – is pretty much as it was when work was completed at the start of Queen Victoria’s reign. King George III did actually visit Mote Park in 1799 when he went to inspect the troops of the Kent Volunteers whose job it was to defend Kent from a potential invasion by Napoleon. The Volunteer Pavilion was built to commemorate the occasion.
The park also has other royal connections. In the 15th Century King Edward IV married Elizabeth Woodville whose family had lived in the 13th Century fortified manor house at Mote Park that would later be demolished by the Earls Romney. Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn are known to have visited the park in 1531and the whole estate passed to the Crown during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I and remained under royal rule until 1690 when it passed to the Marsham family, later the Earls Romney. There is also a connection with Cobtree Park. If you’ve read the Cobtree blog you’ll know that in the 16th Century Thomas Wyatt owned the Allington Estate, as Cobtree Park was then known, and Mote Park became the property of his son, Thomas Wyatt the Younger.
Having pulled down the medieval Mote House the Earls Romney commissioned Daniel Asher Alexander, who also designed the park, to build them a neo-classical mansion, or grand “stately home” which still stands today and is a Grade II* listed building.
In 1895 the estate was bought by cricketing enthusiast Marcus Samuel, 1st Viscount Bearsted complete with its own cricket club! The viscount improved the Mote Cricket Club and its facilities to such an extent that it became a county ground being used by Kent for occasional county matches right up until 2005. Less than 35 years after the 1st Viscount had bought it, the 2nd Viscount sold the majority of the estate to the Maidstone Corporation or Maidstone Borough Council as it later became known in 1929 and converted the house into an orphanage. Since then Mote House has been through many incarnations: as a home for the children’s charity the Caldecott Foundation then as a headquarters for the British Armed Forces who commandeered the property during the Second World War forcing the charity to move to Dorset. The Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food used it as offices and it later became a care home for the disabled. Having been unoccupied for several years the latest phase in the history of Mote House and its historic outbuildings is its redevelopment as retirement apartments and cottages.
The park itself has also undergone many transformations during its 80 years under the ownership of Maidstone Borough Council. Gone are the walled kitchen garden, the exotic plants, the orangeries, vineries and peach houses of the late 19th Century and in their place have evolved facilities much more in tune with 21st Century living. A trip to Mote Park today might include a round of pitch and putt golf or a trip on the miniature railway, a glide in the skate park or a bicycle ride through the grounds. The lake is now home to an angling club and a sailing club and for those less inclined towards physical activity there is a cafeteria in which to sit and relax over a cup of something and a snack. Maidstone Leisure Centre is also located within the park grounds and has no less than 5 swimming pools as well as a state-of-the-art fitness suite, children’s soft play area and sports hall. Mote Hall, within the centre, is a versatile facility seating up to 1200 people and accommodating anything from theatre and concerts to public meetings and local schools events.
If you would like to volunteer to help with Maidstone Borough Council’s conservation and improvement programme at Mote Park you can contact them via their website at http://www.maidstone.gov.uk to offer your services.
To find out more about Maidstone Leisure Centre visit http://www.maidstoneleisure.com
Until next time
India J