Christchurch Park is a designated County Wildlife Site and is located in one of Ipswich's conservation areas. It is on the English Heritage register of historic parks and gardens of special historic interest.
Habitats
Christchurch Park, a prime example of traditional parkland habitat, contains a mosaic of amenity grassland, scattered mature trees, tree lined avenues, long grass, woodland, wetland flush and ponds.
The park is known for its abundance of veteran trees, the oaks and sweet chestnuts in Christchurch Park are particularly important as some of them are 300 - 400 years old. However, the oldest tree in the park is the Ancient Yew Tree, near to the Cenotaph, which is over 600 years old!
The park also contains the town’s only dedicated Arboretum which contain a number of interesting specimen trees from around the world. In a full tree survey of the park, completed before the park’s Heritage Lottery Project, it was recorded that the park contains over 4000 trees!
Of note, the park has a number of interesting trees including:
- The Ancient Yew Tree - the oldest tree in the park
- The Twisted Chestnut - by the Reg Driver Centre
- Mable’s Tree – Home to Mable and Matilda the famous Tawny Owls.
Close to the Childrens play area, the park also contains a small community orchard comprised of Traditional Suffolk Orchard Trees. Below this area is the park’s bird reserve which is a belt of trees running the length of the parks ponds, which are alive with the sound of song birds year round.
The park is characterised by the large round pond adjacent to the Mansion, which is buzzing with damselfly and dragonfly species in the summer, whilst the wilderness pond beyond offers the greatest diversity of bird life. From resident cormorants, mandarin ducks, canada geese and little grebes to seasonal visitors such as goosander, gulls and kingfishers, despite its urban location, Christchurch Park is a wildlife haven.
Between the ponds and the tennis courts, lies a woodland flush with one of the only populations of Snakes Head Fritillaries in the town. These wetland plants thrive in the marshy conditions caused by the wetland spring, flowering in April and May, around the time the orange tip and brimstone butterflies emerge.
Special features
Christchurch Park itself is Grade II listed and features the Grade I listed Christchurch Mansion. There are also 14 other Grade II listed structures within the park, including:
- lodges
- gates
- walls
- shelters
- drinking fountains
- Martyr's Memorial
- Boer War Memorial
- Memorial to the Great War and Second World War
- the Ice House.
Some of the park's other features also have historic importance, such as:
- the Oval Lawn
- the Bog Pond
- the Round Pond
- the Wilderness Pond
- the Horseshoe Pond
- the Rock Garden
- the Peace Garden
- the Mayor's Walk
- the Ancient Avenue
- the arts and crafts pavilion
- the refreshment pavilion
- the Mansion area - which is designated as an Area of Archaeological Importance;
- the Arboreta - which are significant here in a town setting.