| Identification and description | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | MILE CROSS GARDENS | ||||||
| Location |
|
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| Localisation | Latitude: 52.654117 Longitude: 1.2782875 National Grid Reference: TG 21833 11310 Map: Download a full scale map (PDF) |
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| Overview | Heritage Category: Park and Garden Grade: II List Entry Number: 1001345 Date first listed: 08-Oct-1993 |
One of five registered sites in the city of Norwich which form part of a set of public
parks laid out in the 1920s and 1930s by the then Parks Superintendent, Captain A
Sandys-Winsch.
HISTORIC DEVELOPMENT
This pair of 1 acre (c 0.4ha) gardens form part of the Mile Cross housing development.
One of the earliest of Norwich city's municipal housing schemes, the layout was prepared
between 1925 and 1929 by Professor Adshead and implemented by Captain Sandys-Winsch,
a protégé of Thomas Mawson. The intention of the gardens was to allow for two areas
of public open space, one the mirror image of the other, which would form the centrepiece
of the eastern entrance to the symmetrical estate. The gardens remain (1999) in the
ownership of the local authority and are an integral part of the surrounding housing.
The other four registered parks which make up the Sandys-Winsch series are Wensum
Park; Waterloo Park; Heigham Park; and Eaton Park.
DESCRIPTION
LOCATION, AREA, BOUNDARIES, LANDFORM, SETTING Mile Cross Gardens lie to the north
of the city centre, on the west side of the main Aylsham Road which forms their eastern
boundary. Losinga Crescent forms the north, south, and west boundaries and divides
the Gardens from the rest of the Mile Cross housing estate to the west. The Gardens
are divided by the robinia-lined Suckling Avenue which comes off the Aylsham Road
and leads west into the estate.
ENTRANCES AND APPROACHES The entrances to the Gardens lead north and south across
broad grass verges which border the central axial Suckling Avenue.
GARDENS A stone and timber pergola originally stood at the entrance to each garden
(removed 1999, the stone bases remaining), the two plots being laid out as oval bowling
greens. A perimeter path leads round each lawn between grass and the drystone walls
supporting the shrubbery banks which enclose them. Semicircular bays for seats are
cut into the walls at the centre of each side of the greens. At the far end of each
garden stands a classical pavilion, originally flanked to either side by further stretches
of pergola (stone bases remaining 1999).
REFERENCES
G Goreham, The parks and open spaces of Norwich (1961) The Norwich Parks, (Norwich
City Council internal report 1993)
Maps A Sandys-Winsch, Plan of Mile Cross Gardens, 1928 (City Hall, Norwich)
OS 25" to 1 mile: 3rd edition published 1926
Description written: November 1999 Register Inspector: EMP Edited: March 2001
This garden or other land is registered under the Historic Buildings and Ancient Monuments Act 1953 within the Register of Historic Parks and Gardens by Historic England for its special historic interest.