Victoria Park has been at the heart of Portsmouth for over 140 years and has a rich and colourful history. Created in 1878 for the people of Portsmouth, the park has been a green sanctuary amid city life for generations.
You can find out all about Victoria Park’s history, natural environment and importance to the local community on the Victoria Park website. You can also read about plans to revive the park with support from the National Lottery Heritage Fund.
History
The landscape and layout was designed by Alexander McKenzie who also created Finsbury Park, the Victoria, Albert Embankment and Alexandra Palace Park. The original design for the site is an excellent example of a late-19th-century formal garden.
The fountain at the heart of the park is part of original landscape. Victoria Park is also home to nine naval memorials commemorating ships, people and international events linked to Portsmouth’s history. We are working with local historians and community groups to uncover the histories associated with these memorials.
Park visitors have been able to enjoy an aviary, housing rare birds and animals, since shortly after the park’s opening in 1878. The aviary’s location has changed a number of times and the aviary enjoyed by today’s visitors was built after the great storm in 1987.
Find out more about the founding of Victoria Park, the area’s rich history over three centuries, and how we’re celebrating the park’s heritage on the Victoria Park website.
Nature in the park
With a landscape full of busy roads, buildings, walls and tarmac, Victoria Park provides a safe haven for city wildlife. Covering over 15 acres of land, you will find a mix of habitats including mature trees, shrubs, scrub, hedgerow, formal flowerbeds and native grassland & wildflower meadows. Each habitat is a home for wildlife. Take a stroll around the park and you will be sure to see something throughout each season.
Spot the first signs of spring by the burst of birdsong from a variety of our feathered friends such as the chaffinch, dunnock and goldcrest – all calling out to find a mate and defend their patch.
By the time summer arrives, the native wildflowers and formal flowerbeds will be in full bloom, encouraging a buzz in the air. Look among the flowers and you will be sure to find a friendly pollinator going about their business. Insects such as the bumblebee and butterfly rely on nectar rich plants to fly and survive. You may even be lucky enough to spot a dragonfly darting across the mini wetland area.
Autumn brings in changing colours to the Park’s trees. There are many impressive, both native and more exotic species to discover as you walk around. As the months get colder and nature steps back to rest, listen out for the goldcrest calling out from the trees or the scrunching of leaves from a blackbird in search of a tasty minibeast. Wildlife is much easier to spot during this season with fewer leaves on the trees and hedgerows to camouflage them.
Greenspaces like Victoria Park are vital in helping wildlife move safely across the city by acting as a ‘wildlife corridor’. Especially for flying insects, birds and foraging mammals such as hedgehogs. In turn, improving biodiversity connectivity in the local area.
Victoria Park is a place where you can come to learn about the importance of nature in our lives and for the city. There is also plenty here to teach us about valuable habitats, our local environment and climate change.
Activities and events
We regularly run activities and events that showcase the nature of the park including wildlife photography workshops, tree-walks, nature trails, bird spotting classes and minibeasts sessions.
Find out more about the natural environment and ecology of the park and how we’re enhancing and protecting the living park on the Victoria Park website.
Heritage Lottery Funding
In December 2021, following extensive local engagement, we were awarded £2.4m of National Lottery Heritage funding to restore and revitalise the People’s Park. Our thanks goes to lottery players who made this possible. We’re now undertaking a four-year project using the heritage of Victoria Park to create a more inclusive space where local people can improve their wellbeing, learn and find new opportunities. With new buildings and infrastructure sympathetic to the park’s landscape and history and the help of a team of volunteers, we will deliver a programme of exciting events and activities to build a community in the park.
Find out more about the project and how you can get involved.
Volunteering with us
You can apply to volunteer with us. Ways to get involved include gardening, digital and events.
Volunteering can be on a regular weekly basis, or occasional and ad-hoc as the need arises. However you want to volunteer, we will make it work for you.
Access
Located in the centre of the city, the park is easy to get to on foot, by bike or via public transport: Victoria Park, Anglesea Rd, Portsmouth, PO1 3HJ
Contact us
If you would like to support the revival of Victoria Park, visit the Victoria Park website, follow Victoria Park on Facebook, or sign up to our newsletter for the latest news, events and volunteer opportunities.