Royal Victoria Park

An early public park

The park was planned in 1829 by Edward Davis, Bath's City Architect, and opened the following year by Princess Victoria, later Queen Victoria. It was one of England's early municipal parks and the first to carry her name. For its first nine decades it was run by a committee funded by voluntary contributions, before Bath City Council took it over in 1921.

What to look out for

The Victoria Column, a stone obelisk guarded by three lions, went up in 1837 to mark Victoria's eighteenth birthday. There is a wooden bandstand from 1880, Shakespeare's Monument from 1864 and, in the Great Dell, a carved head of Jupiter. The lake, dug in 1878–9 by Edward Milner, was designed to echo the Willow Pattern scene, with the Victoria Vase standing on its peninsula.

The botanic garden

Tucked into the north-west of the park, the botanical garden was founded in 1839 and redesigned in 1887 around a pond and a spring-fed stream. Its little Temple of Minerva was first built for the 1924 Wembley exhibition and moved here two years later. Pair it with a walk along the Royal Crescent, a few minutes uphill, or bring a picnic and spend an afternoon on the lawns.

Highlights

• Grade I-listed park opened in 1830 by Princess Victoria
• Around 23 hectares of lawns and trees below the Royal Crescent
• Botanic garden founded in 1839 with a Temple of Minerva
• Victoria Column obelisk from 1837 and an 1880 bandstand
• Lake laid out in the style of the Willow Pattern

Good to know

• The Royal Crescent sits immediately above the park, around a five-minute walk from the main lawns.
• The botanical garden is within the park, near its north-west corner.
• The park has been managed by Bath City Council since 1921.

Frequently asked questions