Wicksteed Park facts for kids
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Locomotive "Merlin" hauling a passenger train on the Wicksteed Park Railway
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| Slogan | The Place Where Fun Was Invented |
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| Location | Kettering, Northamptonshire, England |
| Owner | Wicksteed Charitable Trust |
| Opened | 1921 |
| Closed | 2020 (rides) |
| Attractions | |
| Total | 27 |
| Roller coasters | 3 |
| Water rides | 4 |
| Website | https://wicksteedpark.org/ |
Wicksteed Park is a Grade II listed park in Kettering, Northamptonshire, England, which includes an amusement park within its grounds. The park is located in the south-east of Kettering, on the western edge of Barton Seagrave village. The park is owned by the Wicksteed Charitable Trust, with the amusement park being run by its trading subsidiary company Wicksteed Park Ltd (replaced by Wicksteed Trading Ltd after going into administration in 2020).
Foundation
The park was founded by Charles Wicksteed, a wealthy industrialist who owned the engineering works of Charles Wicksteed & Co. Ltd in Kettering. In 1913 he purchased the meadowland, which was part of the Barton Seagrave Hall estate, with the intention of building a model village for his workers, to be called the Barton Seagrave Garden Suburb Estate. The Wicksteed Village Trust was set up to run the enterprise. After World War I, when local authorities were building public housing, Wicksteed decided instead to create a park with leisure facilities for local people, with refreshments and attractions, for which a modest charge was made, funding the provision of a free playground and sporting facilities.
The first playground equipment, manufactured by Wicksteed's company, had been installed in 1917 and an artificial lake fed by the Ise Brook was constructed in 1921, with the park officially opened that year. By 1926 the park had a pavilion and theatre building, a rose garden, a water chute, bandstand, and fountain. The water chute, like many of the items of equipment in the playground, was invented by Charles Wicksteed. Barton Seagrave Hall was purchased by Charles Wicksteed in 1928. In 1931 a railway track was built around the edge of the lake. Charles Wicksteed died in 1931 and the Wicksteed Village Trust continued his work, adding features and facilities to the park.
Twenty-first century
A mascot for the park, Wicky Bear, was acquired in 2000. The park hosts the local weekly parkrun and an annual fireworks display. During the display in November 2005, eleven people were injured in an accident when a firework shot into the crowd.
In 2012 the park received over £1 million from the Heritage Lottery Fund towards the cost of restoration of the lake. Northamptonshire County Council and Kettering Borough Council also helped fund the work, which was completed in 2014. Baron Seagrave Hall was sold in 2012 to help fund the park.
In 2016 the water chute at Wicksteed Park was given Grade II listed building status, as the oldest water chute in Britain, surviving almost as it was built in 1926.
Wicksteed Park was awarded a further £1.78 million by the National Lottery Heritage Fund in 2018 for a project to preserve the park's history.
In March 2020 the Covid-19 pandemic forced the closure of the attractions in the park, and in June 2020 Wicksteed Park Ltd announced that it had gone into administration. An appeal to save the amusement park raised £160,000 in donations from the public and £247,000 from the National Lottery Heritage Fund. A new company, Wicksteed Trading Ltd, was set up and bought most of the park's assets and the park is now saved but a lot more fundraising still needs doing .
Wicksteed Park railway
The 2 ft (610 mm) narrow gauge Wicksteed Park railway is one of the features of the park. Over 15 million people have taken to its rails since it first opened in 1931. It was the last feature of the park to be added during the lifetime of the parks founder Charles Wicksteed and is supported by the Friends of the Wicksteed Park Railway.
