St. Ann's Well Gardens, Hove

St. Ann's Well Gardens is a park in Hove, East Sussex, about half a mile from the shore.

Dogs are forbidden in the children's areas, while the rest of the park is a popular place for local residents to exercise their pets.

In addition there are the following facilities: The park can be accessed by Nizells Avenue, Furze Hill and Somerhill Road.

The City Parks web site notes that the chalybeate spring in St. Ann's Well Gardens is the endpoint of a ley line.

[1] St. Ann's Well Gardens was part of the Wick Estate in the Middle Ages, which was a strip of land that extended inland to the edge of Preston manor.

Around 1800 an elaborate "pump room" was built over the spring, housing assorted facilities and accommodating the large numbers who came seeking therapeutic relief at that time.

In 1894 (some sources give a date of 1892), George Albert Smith (1864–1959), a pioneer in the film industry, leased St Ann's Well Gardens from the Goldsmid family.

Smith's pleasure gardens included novelties such as demonstrations of hot air ballooning and parachute jumps, a monkey house, a fortune teller and a hermit living in a cave.

She also donated turf, croquet equipment, summer houses, statues and similar decorative items.

[7] Because the spring's flow had slowed, the pump room was demolished in 1935, and a mock wellhead was installed in its place.

On 24 May 2008 a 100th birthday party was held, and the group continues to celebrate the park and arrange regular events.