Ashton Gardens is a Grade II Listed Garden on English Heritage’s Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest. It is situated in St Anne’s Town Centre adjacent to St Anne’s Square. The gardens cover 4 hectares and comprise of a number of historic buildings and display gardens.
Ashton Gardens Facilities
- Children’s Play Facilities
- A café/restaurant housed within the Ashton Institute
- Crown green bowling
- Toilets
- Picnic Area
- Japanese Garden
- Rose Garden
- Rock and Water Garden
- Multi Use Games Area/Kick About
- Skate Park
Ashton Gardens History
Ashton Gardens were originally established as a garden by the Land and Building Company in 1874, at the time it was called St. George’s Gardens. The park was placed to provide attractive recreational areas for residents and visitors as part of the town’s design.
The gardens were located within a rectangular plot of land, connected to St. George’s Road, and running parallel to St. Andrew’s Road. It remained largely unchanged until 1914 when Lord Ashton gave a donation to acquire the gardens for the people of St Anne’s. He also bought another strip of land which connected the gardens to Clifton Drive North.
Later in the same year the Council ran a competition for the redesign of the gardens, which was won by Mr F. Harrison, a local man. The gardens were redesigned to incorporate a greater diversity of spaces. Large areas of ornamental planting replaced the native sand dune vegetation, although the undulating topography was retained in most areas and can still be seen today. Ashton Gardens were formally open on the 1st July 1916.
Ashton Gardens underwent a major refurbishment in 2010 thanks to a Heritage Lottery Fund grant of £1,436,000, as well as additional funding towards a total project cost of just under £2million
Finding Ashton Gardens
Ashton Gardens is located adjacent to St. Anne’s Square, the centre of the town of St. Anne’s, within the borough of Fylde. The postcode is FY8 2AE.
