Cofton Park
52°23′05″N 1°59′47″W / 52.38461°N 1.99642°W / 52.38461; -1.99642
Cofton Park (grid reference SP003762) is a park located in south Birmingham, England.
History
The 135 acres of land was acquired by Birmingham City Council in 1933 for £10,640 (equivalent to £954,124 in 2023),[1] from the trustees for William Walter Hinde.[2] In his will, he bequeathed the residue of his estate “for the purchase of land…to be kept for ever as an open space for the benefit of the people of Birmingham.”
It is home to Birmingham Park's Cofton nursery which provides displays of bedding plants for parks throughout the city. The park is also used for civic occasions, the city centre floral display, Heart of England in Bloom and gardening shows such the Chelsea Flower Show and since 1996, BBC Gardeners’ World Live.
Pope Benedict XVI
During his visit to the United Kingdom, Pope Benedict XVI celebrated mass and presided over the beatification of Cardinal John Henry Newman, with a crowd of 51,626 people present at the 80,000-capacity Cofton Park near Longbridge, Birmingham, on Sunday 19 September 2010.[3]
Prior to the mass, music and prayer ceremonies were held at the park and were broadcast live on BBC Radio 4 as part of their weekly programme Sunday Worship. At the end of the mass, once Pope Benedict XVI had left the park to continue on to other engagements, students from Saint Augustine's High School in Redditch performed numerous soul-inspired songs for the crowd.
References
- ^ UK Retail Price Index inflation figures are based on data from Clark, Gregory (2017). "The Annual RPI and Average Earnings for Britain, 1209 to Present (New Series)". MeasuringWorth. Retrieved 7 May 2024.
- ^ Official handbook, Birmingham. 1937
- ^ "Pope's visit to Coventry shelved". BBC News. 24 June 2010.
External links
- Park's page on Birmingham City Council site
- v
- t
- e
- Adderley Park
- Billesley Common
- Bleak Hill Park
- Brookvale Park
- Calthorpe Park
- Cannon Hill Park
- Cofton Park
- Cotteridge Park
- Eastside City Park
- Grove Park
- Handsworth Park
- Highbury Park
- Highgate Park
- Kingfisher Country Park
- Kings Heath Park
- Lickey Hills Country Park
- Lightwoods Park
- New Hall Valley Country Park
- Moseley Park
- Perry Hall Park
- Perry Park
- Pype Hayes Park
- Queens Park
- Selly Oak Park
- Senneleys Park
- Sheldon Country Park
- Shire Country Park
- Short Heath Park
- Sutton Park
- Swanshurst Park
- Walkers Heath Park
- Ward End Park
- Woodgate Valley Country Park
- Botanical Gardens
- Martineau Gardens
- St Thomas' Peace Garden
- Winterbourne Botanic Garden
(not listed above)
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