Close Park is a public park of around 11.19 hectares. It is located approximately 3 miles from Bury town centre and 1 mile from Radcliffe town centre.
- Dumers Lane, Radcliffe
- Grid Reference: (E) 379911, (N) 407577
- Find it on Google maps
The park is fairly level throughout with well-maintained footways and is accessible to people using wheelchairs and families with push-chairs.
Facilities and attractions
- Bowling green
- Seven full sized football pitches
- Outdoor gym (five pieces of equipment aimed at keeping the whole body fit and exercised)
- Terry Nortley mile (1 mile jogging track around the park)
- Children's football pitch
- Children's play area
- Multi-play ball zone
- Three tennis courts
- Fishing in the river
- Sensory garden
- Public art, part of the Irwell Sculpture Trail
- Heritage Trail including Radcliffe Tower (medieval remains)
- Car park at the main entrance on Dumers Lane
- Run England 3-2-1 route.
Green Flag Award
Close Park has retained a Green Flag Award since 2004. The national Green Flag Award scheme recognises excellence in greenspace management and measures criteria such as cleanliness, maintenance, sustainability, community involvement, heritage, nature conservation, health, safety, security and overall management.
History
Close Park was originally the grounds to Close House, a family home which belonged to the Bealey family.
By 1750 the Bealey family had established a bleaching business in Radcliffe on Dumers Lane. The site was next to the River Irwell which provided good supplies of water through goits. Parts of one of them, Bealey's Goit, still exist and runs across the park near the front entrance. In the early years of the business, prior to chemical bleaching, nearby fields were used for 'grassing' the cloth.
In 1925 the Bealey family presented the house and its grounds to the then Radcliffe Urban District Council for use as a Child Welfare Centre and the grounds to be converted into a public park for the use of the inhabitants of Radcliffe. The house was used in turn as a clinic, a museum and an ambulance centre before being demolished in March, 1969. The Bleach Works was demolished in the 1980s and the Riverside Road housing estate built on the site.
Radcliffe Manor
On the west side of the park is the precinct of the medieval Radcliffe Manor of which the Pele tower and Church survive. There is a heritage trail from park to tower and back through the churchyard, with information panels describing points of interest.