Historic footbridge across the lake in Parklands Open Space
Introduction
The photograph on this page of Historic footbridge across the lake in Parklands Open Space by Marathon as part of the Geograph project.
The Geograph project started in 2005 with the aim of publishing, organising and preserving representative images for every square kilometre of Great Britain, Ireland and the Isle of Man.
There are currently over 7.5m images from over 14,400 individuals and you can help contribute to the project by visiting https://www.geograph.org.uk
Historic footbridge across the lake in Parklands Open Space
Image: © Marathon Taken: 24 May 2017
Parklands Open Space was originally part of Gaynes (or Engaynes) Manor. The origin of the Gaynes Estate dates back to Roman Britain and in its hey-day in the Middle Ages, comprised about 1500 acres covering most of the south half of Upminster. From 1817 onwards, parts of the estate, by then c.750 acres, were sold off to various private owners and eventually in 1929 the estate was sold for building development. The late 18th century bridge seen here is attributed to designer/architect James Paine (whose other works include Thorndon Hall and the grand stables at Chatsworth House). It is Grade II Listed and has been recently restored after being allowed to fall into disrepair so that it had been on English Heritage's 'At Risk Register'. The lake and Parklands Bridge remain, together with a grass walk along the northern bank, which were acquired by Hornchurch Urban District Council as public open space. A very full history is provided by the Friends of Uplands, Upminster - http://www.friendsofparklands.org.uk/history.html
Images are licensed for reuse under creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0
Image Location
Latitude
51.543433
Longitude
0.247514