Investing in Castle Park

View of fourth quarter given back to Castle Park, bottom of landscaped steps

Where previous proposals for St Mary le Port have encroached on Castle Park, our proposal does not – in fact our proposal will enhance the park

We asked the Bath-based internationally renowned landscape architects, Grant Associates, to develop a landscape and public realm strategy that re-connects St Mary le Port with Castle Park and the Floating Harbour, draws upon the history of the site, and creates a variety of new spaces and places for people to meet and spend time.  

St Mary le Port Tower

Central to our plans is the creation of a new public space around St Mary le Port Tower. As you can see from the plan below, a repaired and opened up St Mary le Port ruin will link to the Floating Harbour, with a series of south facing landscaped terraces that leads to the waterfront.

We hope that this new public space, in place of the ‘fourth quarter’ building, will be used in all sorts of ways, by a wide range of people, from families and children, for picnic and play, to organised events and activities like markets, performances and exhibitions.  

St Mary le Port ruins – Illustrative plan. An outdoor Space – somewhere for the community

Greener and cleaner streets

As you can see from the plan below, we will introduce a wide variety of planting along High Street, Wine Street, Bridge Street, and the re-introduced streets: Mary le Port Street, Adam and Eve Lane and Cheese Market.  

The emerging masterplan proposal

We will achieve this by:

  • Wine Street – Introducing new trees, low level planting and carefully placed street furniture, as well as outside seating space for the new restaurants and cafes.
  • High Street – A series of terraced rain gardens with seating areas, as well as a large, south facing raised outdoor space wrapped around Building B to create room for outside dining.
  • Mary le Port Street – The reinstatement of Mary le Port Street will create a new pedestrian link between the Old City, St Nicholas Market and Castle Park. The street will become the busy and lively retail street it once was with independent retailers, cafes, and restaurants.
  • Adam and Eve Lane – A reinstated street, Adam and Eve Lane will be well lit with creative overhead lighting and lined with small retailers.
  • Cheese Market – A re-instated street which will provide a link between the new development and Castle Park and opportunities for the different uses at the ground floor of the building to interact with the park.

Improved pedestrian and cycle connections

We also plan to improve access to Castle Park, with improved links for both pedestrians and cyclists.

The existing and proposed cycle network