Miller Park

The park was designed and built in the 1860s and has matured over the last 160 years into one of the most attractive parks in the region. As an English Heritage Grade II* listed park, it features a number of historical structures including a sundial, a grotto and a fountain. There is also an impressive statue of the 14th Earl of Derby who was British prime minister from 1866 to 1868. The two parks are separated by the East Lancashire Railway embankment and access is through the Ivy Bridge and along Riverside Walk. The East Lancashire Railway line closed in the 1970s although the viaduct across the river, which is a Grade II listed building, remains, as it carries a public footpath across…

Preston's Avenham Park, Moor Park and Miller Park were inaugurated on the same day that the former Town Hall was opened in 1867. On 28 September 1867 the Preston Chronicle commented that the preparations were in place and that the expectation was that "…….we shall have a gayer, a busier, and a more bustling town than we have had on any previous occasion, excepting, perhaps, at some of our Guilds". The following week's edition for 5 October 1887 devoted several columns to "The Opening of the New Town Hall and Inauguration of the Parks". It was a civic event of considerable size and importance and when the opening ceremony for the town hall was concluded a procession was formed which made its…