Various aspects common to Hull’s public parks were being decided between 1882 and 1884. One was that each should have an imposing main entrance, the picture above is of the ‘triumphal arch’ entrance to Pearson Park which, although earlier than East and West Parks set a benchmark to be followed. The main entrance to East Park off Holderness Road remains, although the main entrance to West Park off Anlaby Road has been much changed, certainly since the opening of the KCom stadium.
A fundamental issue was funding, the source of the capital expenditure needed to create this public facility there being no evidence that entry was ever to be other than free. Various minute references make it clear that the necessary capital was to be borrowed from the Treasury, specifically the Local Government Board (in the same way capital expenditure for building working class housing was to later be supplied by the Public Woks Loan Commissioners at a below the market interest rate – see M. Phil thesis).
Another common feature to these early public parks was a wide thoroughfare around the edge of the site and a central across wide road, these provided a route to be followed by those visitors wealthy enough to have horse and carriage, pedestrian members of the public visiting were to be served by a network of hard-surfaced footpaths.
Like a lot of other social and environmental Victorian reforms Hull’s public parks were prompted by enabling national legislation. A minute of 17/03/1884 records that East and West Parks were to be as ‘styled in the Public Health Act, this, quite possibly, referring to the great codifying Public Health Act of 1870. Apparently the Corporation as such had no power to institute a public park but the Urban Sanitary Authority did (post 1884 minutes still to be studied).