Abbey Park
Selected Wild Place / Other Wild Places / Public Rights of Way / VC55 boundary
The park lies about a mile from Leicester city centre, along St Margaret's Way. There are several entrances but the main access is off Abbey Park Road. There is a car park near to Pet's Corner, on Abbey Park Road near to the junction with St. Margaret's Road and a second main car park off Abbey Park Road approximately ½ mile from Belgrave Circle.
A major entrance over the Grand Union Canal from Charles Street provides access from pedestrians and cyclists to the centre of the park.
Public park (Leicester City Council)
Total species seen at this site:
Abbey Park is Leicester’s premier park and lies approximately one mile north of the City centre. The River Soar divides this beautiful park into two distinct areas: to the east of the river lies the highly decorative Victorian part of the park with its evergreen shrubberies, trees, lakes and formally planted flower displays and to the west of the river lies the fascinating Abbey Grounds. Within this area are the remains of the twelfth century Leicester Abbey and the ruins of Cavendish House, a seventeenth century mansion.
This is a park with many different habitats, including the River Soar and several lakes. There are many mature trees, ornamental planting areas and interspersed less managed areas. The outer walls of the park provide sheltered sun spots and are good places to find insects. Bees are attracted to the nectar-rich flower plantings especially the Lavender garden, Chinese Sensory garden and more formal planting by the Education Centre. The Bee Walk has been carefully planted to provide a long flowering season from spring to autumn and has additional log piles and hibernation boxes to provide shelter for pollinators. There are always water birds to be seen on the river and lakes. There is a good range of fungi to be found particularly in the autumn amongst the woodland areas.
In 2011, a bioblitz was held in Abbey Park, organised by the City Council. A report describing this event and the species seen can be viewed here.
The records and images below may include those from adjacent sites if the grid reference submitted with these records overlaps the boundary of this Wild Place.