It hosts many sporting events, including swimming, tennis, rugby union, and rowing on the adjacent Clive River.
The eight-hectare (20-acre) reserve was purchased by the colonial government in 1870 from its Māori owners with the intention of developing it as a botanical gardens.
[2] Hawke's Bay played four first-class cricket matches at Farndon Park.
The fourth came four years later when the touring Queensland side visited.
Farndon Park was the venue for the first New Zealand Tennis Championships, held in December 1885.