Registered Parks and Gardens are designated by Historic England for being nationally important planned landscapes, which might include the major landscaped gardens or parks of country houses, but also public parks or cemeteries. They flag up historical designed landscapes rather than natural or botanical interest.
Historic England's 'Register of Historic Parks and Gardens of special historic interest in England' currently identifies over 1,600 sites assessed to be of national importance.
There are two Historic parks and gardens located within Dudley Borough that are on the Historic England register. Priory Park, placed on the register as Grade II on the 7 November 2002 and the Leasowes, placed on the register as Grade I on the 1 July 1986. Located just over the Borough boundary, in South Staffordshire, there is also the Himley Hall Registered Park, Grade II.
Priory Park
Priory Park is an early C20 public park developed as part of a town planning scheme by Edward Prentice Mawson from an existing early and mid C19 villa garden on the site of a medieval priory.
Leasowes Park
The Leasowes a ferme ornee landscape laid out in the 1740s and 1750s by William Shenstone which was a potent influence on the style of landscape gardening then and in the later C18.
Himley Park
Himley Hall; a landscape park and pleasure grounds laid out in mid 18th Century by Nathaniel Richmond, and extended in 1770s by Lancelot Brown and in the 1820s by William Atkinson. It incorporates a medieval deer park. It is listed as Grade II and was placed on the register on March 17th 1993. Located within the Park is the Grade II* listed Himley Hall.
For more information about visiting the parks in the Borough go the Council’s webpage, Things to do in Dudley and the Discover Dudley webpage.