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A further list of some of the plants, animals and birds donated to Pearson Park between 1880 and 1914, evidence from the minutes of the Burial and Parks committee viewed at Hull History Centre. The royal gift of four swans, 1902, was a standard gift to the municipal parks around the country to celebrate the […]

Pearson Park, Hull’s first municipal park, was inaugurated in 1860 having previously been four fields on the edge of town. The original plan for the Park did not include a menagerie but clearly one developed. The list above records some of the donations to the Park from members of the public over a 40 year

Zoological Gardens in towns like Kingston upon Hull were historically a stepping stone between private menageries and public ones in municipal parks where viewing the wildlife was free to all who came to the park. Two steps back were private menageries which might be outdoor cages and enclosures or where the ‘exhibits’ were housed in

This will be the penultimate post of this short run. What would a walk around Hull’s Zoological Gardens have been like c.1850? Entering the main gate off Spring Bank (bottom centre) we would pass the Superintendent’s Lodge, having paid our entrance fee somehow, ahead was the circular Refreshment Room but any lingering here would be

The site that was the Zoological Gardens, 1840s to 1860s, can easily be located today in the southern parts of Hutt and Peel Street on the north side of Spring Bank. Further up Hutt Street the street plan has changed. The book ‘Streets of Hull, A History of their Names’ (John Markham, Highgate Press, 1987)

In researching the history of the once ‘ruins’ at Pearson Park Folly Flaneuse found out thinks about Hull’s Zoological Gardens including the map shown above. Incidentally, Hull History Centre staff Verity and Claire have researched and written-up an article about the Zoological Gardens which can be accessed on the Centre’s website. Verity kindly emailed me