Northernhay Gardens

The site of Northernhay Gardens was quarried in Roman times for stone from which to build the adjacent city walls.

In the Norman period it formed part of the defences of The Castle.

Incorporating a good stretch of Roman wall and the only length of Saxon town wall to be seen in England, Northernhay Gardens are of outstanding historic significance. They were laid out by the City Chamber for the public recreation at an unusually early date - 1612.

This early park was destroyed in the Civil War: in 1642 large new defensive ditches were dug outside the walls for the city's defence. Soon after the restoration, in 1664, the city set about restoring the park, planting hundreds of young elms, and paying over the next few years for watering and staking them, and for laying out gravel paths. There has been a continuous tradition of maintaining the park as a major city amenity since that time. In 1806, for example, it was described as 'justly admired, planted with lofty elms...kept in good repair by the chamber, much resorted to for its fine air and agreeable shade.'