York's hidden history: a look back at Glen Gardens, Heworth

WHO was Glen? My Spanish partner loves York and its parks; is fascinated by this city’s history; and is always asking me lots of questions. 

This question set me thinking. Rowntree Park is, of course, named after the local Quaker entrepreneur and philanthropist Joseph Rowntree. But my research into the history of Glen Gardens failed to discover anyone by the name of Glen associated with the park.

If you look at the 1852 Ordnance Survey map of York, you’ll see a house called The Glen Heworth, an estate with several acres of land near East Parade which was one of the few roads leading out from the city towards Heworth at that time. David Poole, genealogist and chair of The Tang Local History Group told me that Glen Heworth was built in the 1830s and its first occupant was a Dr Simpson.

The second occupant of the house was Miss Barbara Lawson, a vicar’s daughter, and she is listed in the 1851 census as a Landed Proprietor. She was the eldest daughter of the Revd Marmaduke Lawson of Boroughbridge Hall, and she died in 1859.

Glen Gardens, Heworth, York, circa 1920. Picture courtesy of City of York Explore archives

The most well-known proprietor of Glen Heworth, however, was William Leak in the 1860s. Originally from Goole, he was the founder of the York department store Leak and Thorpe, located in Coney Street until the 1980s. William Leak made substantial extensions to Glen Heworth and leased some of the rooms to his employees.

Leak’s widow lived on in the house until 1920. However, the City of York Corporation’s minutes of 1905 meetings reveal that the land fronting East Parade was sold to the Corporation to create a park - Glen Gardens. Ten years later, on June 2, 1915, the Gardens were opened to the public. Land was also taken over from the original estate as the Glen Allotments and these still exist further down Bull Lane.

These gardens were opened by the then Lord Mayor, J.B. Morrell. The bowling green was opened with a tournament between two teams, one captained by the Mayor and the other by the Sheriff, Mr Oscar Rowntree.

To this day there are echoes of Glen Heworth in Glen Road and Glen Avenue (off Fifth Avenue), and until recently the Glen Garage, now demolished to make way for apartments.

After the death of Mrs Leak, the house passed into the ownership of Dr John Christopher Lyth and family who lived there until just after the Second World War. The house was then purchased by York City Council and used as a residential home for very young children. The York Historic Environment Record notes that the original house had been designed in a picturesque Tudor style featuring many gables with boldly projecting barge boards, shaped and pierced, and chimney stacks of various designs. This house was demolished in the 1960s and the current Glen Lodge, a residential home, was built on the site of the original house.

Glen Gardens

In her book Looking Back at Heworth – a York Suburb, Avril E. Webster Appleton notes that most of the cottages and houses along East Parade opposite Glen Gardens were occupied by the 1850s. We can imagine young mothers with their perambulators walking through Glen Gardens in the early days of the 20th century.

Nowadays, it’s mostly dog walkers and youngsters playing football. One of the Friends of Glen Gardens told me that in the 1950s there used to be a pond in the park. Recently, a table for table tennis has been installed near where the pond used to be.

In April 2014 Glen Gardens was left permanently open as the council decided it could no longer afford to lock and unlock the park. A public meeting was held to see if the local community would take on this responsibility. In January of the following year, The Friends of Glen Gardens was formed, and it was decided that a Summer Fair would take place to celebrate the centenary of the Gardens on June 2, 2015. Since that time, a rota of volunteers has unlocked the entrances to the gardens daily at dawn and locked them again at dusk.

Two clocks in the park indicate the time of closure which varies with the time of year.

During my own walks through the park, I enjoy watching these clocks change as the days get longer in the spring and shorter in the winter.

Nowadays, Glen Gardens volunteers serve refreshments at the kiosk inside the park from 2.30pm to 4.30pm on Saturday, Sunday and Tuesday afternoons between the end of March and the beginning of October.

There is a hugely popular Scarecrow Trail in August and there is usually an August Picnic in the Park.

In 2023, the Coronation Weekend Picnic attracted 300-400 people. And don’t forget the Winter Windows Walk. This year it’s on December 14-15.

In the summer months bowls is played on a bowling green inside the park nearest to the Bull Lane entrance.

Nearby Heworth Tennis Club also has two of its courts in the park.

There is a Gardening Group of volunteers who tend the flower beds every Tuesday afternoon.

A woodland walk within the gardens is dedicated to a former Lord Mayor of York, Keith Wood, and his widow June continues to sponsor a flower bed within the gardens on behalf of the nearby Ascot Hotel.

Glen Gardens is one of the most outstanding parks in the country and as such has been awarded a Green Flag Award every year since 2005.

The Friends continue to appeal for volunteers to work on the kiosk or as part of the gardening group. If you’re interested, contact Julie Couttie at friends@glengardens.org

David Wilson is a Community Writer with The Press