Among Bournemouth's smaller parks, Knyveton Gardens is one of the best equipped, positioned between the town centre and Boscombe with access points on Southcote Road and Frances Road. Think of it less as a spot to admire and more as a working community space, complete with a bowls green, tennis courts and a play area rather than lawns alone.
History
According to Dorset's Historic Environment Record, the gardens were already in existence by 1924, when tennis courts and a bowling green showed up on that year's Ordnance Survey map, making this one of the town's longer-standing recreation grounds. Before becoming a park, part of the land had been used as a brickyard.
What's there
St Sebastian Tennis Academy operates three full-sized tennis courts on site, while the Knyveton Gardens Bowling Club uses the green and its pavilion. The gardens also hold a sensory garden arranged around a goldfish pond, a children's play area, a nature trail carrying information posts about local wildlife, and a table tennis table for visitors who bring their own equipment. Monthly "Parks in Mind" walking sessions, run by BCP Council, also take place here.
Visiting
Entry costs nothing and the gardens are open access, with paths clear for wheelchairs and buggies throughout, disabled parking close to the Frances Road entrance, and disabled toilets inside the bowls pavilion whenever it's staffed. Frances Road provides on-road parking, and Bournemouth railway station is a straightforward 11-minute walk away. As one of several calmer green spaces set back from the seafront, it's worth a look alongside our guide to things to do in Bournemouth.