Southchurch Park

The 20 acres of land were gifted to the town by local benefactors, Alderman Messrs Baxter, Dowsett and Ingram in 1895. The site was marshland, and with agreement of the benefactors, the council built pumping stations and the lake to drain the land for the park, but also what is now Southchurch Hall estate development, which was also owned by the benefactors. This work cost £10,000 and drew criticism at the time, and the park was formerly opened in 1900, and was originally called Southchurch Hall Park, with an entrance lodge and pavilion, with a further refreshment room being added in 1912. The lake was used for boating from 1903 until the 1990s, when vandalism, the cost of insurance and…