West Bank Park

West Bank Park is a public open space in Holgate, the city of York, in Northern England.

In the 19th century, the botanist James Backhouse owned a nursery in Holgate which covered 100 acres (40 ha), and was known worldwide, having the nickname of the "Kew of the North".

[6] The northern part of the woodland had previously been the site of a small lake, which archaeological evidence showed had silted up by the time the area was converted into a park.

[7][8][9] The land was converted into a park between 1936 and 1938, but larger-scale development of the area was halted until after the Second World War, and then West Bank House was demolished in 1974.

[10][11] The house had been built by Backhouse in 1853, and then sold to Sir James Hamilton in 1910, alter becoming a home for unwed mothers.