page_title: Preston Park, Brighton
section_title: Overview
hierarchical_section_title: Preston Park, Brighton / Overview
caption_attribution_description: Captain Bertie Hubbard MacClaren, Gardener and superintendent of Gardens and Parks, Brighton
context_page_description: Preston Park is a park near Preston Village in the city of Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England. It is located in Preston Park ward to the north of the centre of Brighton, and served by the nearby Preston Park railway station. Preston Park is also one of the wards of Brighton and Hove City Council. The population as of the 2011 census was 14,911.
context_section_description: It is one of Brighton's largest parks, with 63 acres (250,000 m²) of lawns, formal borders and rose gardens, bowling greens, tennis courts and a small pond. It was bought in 1883 by Brighton Corporation (then Brighton's local council) from Mr William Bennett-Stanford who owned the Preston Manor estate and had begun to develop the park as enclosed pleasure grounds. The costs of the purchase (£50,000) and initial layout (£22,868) were funded with a bequest of £70,000 from a local bookmaker, William Edmund Davies in 1879. The park was formally declared open on 8 November 1884.
  The Brighton and County Polo Club, started by Lt. Col. Robert McKergow in 1904, was based in Preston Park. An earlier club, the International Gun and Polo Club, founded by George Mashall in 1874, used grounds in Preston, probably Preston Park, though the club itself was based in the Bedford Hotel.
  The park remains green throughout the summer because of a non-drinkable underground water source, known as the Wellesbourne, which runs below Preston Park, London Road and The Level. The source dates back many centuries and is often referred to as Brighton's lost river. In 2000, after torrential rain, it rose and caused considerable damage.
  The park is host to various annual events including the festival at the end of the Brighton & Hove Pride parade, the start of the Brighton Marathon, a circus during the Brighton Festival, a large starting event for the Take Part sports festival, and, from 20 April 2013, parkrun, a free 5km run open to all runners and joggers at 9am every Saturday.
  Opposite the park, across the main London Road, is The Rockery—the largest municipal rock garden in Britain built up the side of a steep railway embankment.  Various pathways and streams wind through its grounds.  It was originally a wooded area which had been purchased along with the land used for the main park; it was landscaped into its present form in 1935 by Captain B Maclaren.  Originally, the area was known as "The Rookery", referring to the tall trees in the former wood which were frequented by rooks.  Over time, the name was modified into "The Rockery".
  The surrounding neighbourhood is also widely referred to as Preston Park. It is distinct from the further outlying Preston Village.
caption: Captain Bertie Hubbard MacLaren conceived the idea of the rock garden[3]
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