Arnot Hill Park

Arnot Hill Park dates back to 1792 where it originated as a villa landscape to compliment the house built by John Hawksley, a Nottingham manufacturer and mill owner. Many changes have taken place since that time to both the house and the grounds.

In its time, the park has had a colourful range of uses and activities dating back to 1919 following the end of the First World War, when it was formally opened to the public as an open space for the people of Arnold. Over the years activities have included maypole dancing, tennis, bowls, fishing and a bandstand that lasted from the Coronation of 1937 to 1970. We now host several events in the park throughout the year including the Arnold Carnival, Gedling Play Day, Park Ranger Summer Holiday activities, Halloween event, all of which attract thousands of visitors to our Award winning park each year.

Developments

More recently, in partnership with the Heritage Lottery Fund, we have restored much of the park back to its former glory. Over the past few years we've undertaken lots of projects to rejuvenate and restore the park. This has included improvements to the lake, providing a new refreshment kiosk, the development of a skate park and a new play area, restoring the rose and sensory gardens, various planting schemes, reinstating the walls around the park, refurbishing the gatekeepers lodge and making improvements to the lighting as well as improving security through CCTV cameras. Nature Trail Sculptures

In addition to the above and with assistance from the ‘Friends Of’ Arnot Hill Park, funding was raised via the Nottinghamshire County Council Local Improvement scheme to enhance the ‘Old Railway’ cutting to the rear of the park. With the help of the Rangers the area has benefited from several new sculptures which have been designed by local schools, a restored footpath and the planting of numerous native wildflowers, bulbs and ferns by various groups in the community. It is hoped the project will continue beyond the bridge towards Aylesham Avenue in 2012, although this is dependant upon the ‘Friends Of’ group being successful in securing further funding. Similar project elements are planned for this area and some works will begin autumn 2011 with assistance from the staff at Boots who have adopted this project as part of their work in the Nottinghamshire Community.

Tree Trail

There are many ornamental specimen trees around the park, which are promoted in our leaflet, available from all public access points around the park. All details can be found on the right hand side under documents.

Facilities and Events

The park offers an extensive range of facilities, including Kiosk and toilets, Sensory garden, Rose garden, Children's Play Area, Skatepark, CCTV Cameras, Lake, Bowling Green and Pavilion, Wildflower Area, Nature Trail, Car Parks, Tree Trail with Veteran Trees, Historic Building and much more. Please visit Gedling Borough Council's Whats On Guide to see the events listed for Arnot Hill Park in 2012. If you have any suggestions for parks events please feel free to contact us.

Green Flag

Arnot Hill Park has been awarded a Green Flag for the fifth time during 2011 and preparations are under way for the 2012 application. The Green Flag Award is a national award which recognises the best parks and green spaces in the country, and is a sign of an excellent, well managed and customer friendly park. It is hoped we will continue to provide the public with a high quality park in the years to come. See here for more details about the Green Flag Award.

The Parks Department and The ‘Friends Of’ would appreciate your opinions on your ‘Green Flag’ park and any suggestions of how it could be improved in the future. If you have a few minutes to spare we would be grateful if you could fill in our online parks questionnaire, a link to this can be found on the right hand side of this page under 'Useful Documents'. Thank You!