Shelley Park occupies a quiet rise above Boscombe, its lawns and pathways following the grounds of a house with an unusually rich literary pedigree for the south coast. Most people visit today for the playground and tennis court, few realise they're standing on the former estate of the family behind Frankenstein and one of England's great Romantic poets.
History
The house at the centre of the park began life as Boscombe Cottage, built in 1801. Between 1848 and 1849, Sir Percy Florence Shelley, the only child of Percy Bysshe Shelley to reach adulthood, and of Mary Shelley, who wrote Frankenstein, purchased the cottage and its grounds, planning to rebuild it as a home for his ailing mother. Mary died in 1851, before the building work was complete, but Sir Percy and his wife, Lady Jane Shelley, continued to live there for the remainder of their lives, renaming the property Boscombe Manor.
By 1866, Sir Percy, an enthusiastic amateur actor by all accounts, had a private theatre constructed within the grounds, staging performances for audiences of up to 300 that raised funds for local health causes. Over the years, guests included Robert Louis Stevenson, who lived close by, and actor Henry Irving. Stranger still, Percy Bysshe Shelley's heart, said to have been rescued from his funeral pyre on an Italian beach in 1822, was reportedly kept at the manor in an urn until 1889, when it was finally interred alongside Sir Percy in the family tomb at St Peter's Church in Bournemouth town centre.
Following Sir Percy's death in 1889, the manor went through several different uses, serving as a girls' school, a Home Guard post during wartime, and Bournemouth's art college until 1998, before undergoing restoration in the 2000s. The house now functions as a medical centre, while the historic theatre has reopened as the working Shelley Theatre.
Visiting
The park itself is free to enter every day, offering a children's playground, a tennis court and paved paths that make it a worthwhile stop while wandering around Boscombe. It lies close to the seafront and the Bournemouth Coast Path, a short walk from Boscombe Pier and the beach. It remains a modest, understated green space carrying an outsized story, one of several places where the Shelley name still crops up around Bournemouth, alongside The Mary Shelley pub in the town centre, named for the same family. Discover more of the area in our guide to things to do in Bournemouth.