Stanborough Park

Stanborough Park, Southern Lake

Stanborough Park, Northern Lake

Stanborough Park, also referred to as Stanborough Lakes is a 126-acre (0.51 km²) park in Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire, England.

The park features two lakes, which were opened more recently in 1970. They are considered to be natural despite the gravel extraction at the time of the building of the A1(M) motorway, although the thought of a riverside park had been considered since the city's Master Plan of 1949. The whole park is completely natural due to the pre-existing lakes which were created naturally in the years prior to the founding of Welwyn Garden City in 1920.

The Boating Lake (the northern lake) at Stanborough is 11.3 acres (46,000 m²) in size. It is a shallow lake, under three feet in depth with several small islands. The boating lake is fed by water from the River Lea at its north end and from a spring. Excess water flows over a weir back into the river at the south end. Coarse fish such as carp are bred in the boating lake and fishing is banned here. Pedalos & Rowing boats are available to hire. Splashlands splash park is situated on the North side of the park, open Easter to September and free to use. The Kiosk by Splashlands also sells hot drinks, ice-creams, chocolate bars, fizzy drinks, hot drinks, duck food and more.

The Sailing Lake (the southern lake) is 15.3 acres (62,000 m²) in size. This lake has no islands but is deeper than the boating lake, more than six and a half feet deep in places. Unlike the Boating Lake the Sailing Lake is ground water fed. Before the lakes were built the River Lea used to flow through part of the Sailing Lake but it was re-directed to the west side. Many watersport activities take place here, including sailing, paddleboarding, kayaking and angling.

At the south end of the park there is access to Stanborough Reedmarsh, a Local Nature Reserve managed by the Herts and Middlesex Wildlife Trust.

External links

• Official website