Solitude Park (Banbridge)

A river, a rebuilt park and a town's history in the flower beds

Solitude Park runs along the River Bann through the middle of Banbridge, and it is a good example of a town spending money well. A major refurbishment in 2009 added public artworks, an outdoor amphitheatre, an urban dance zone, parking and public toilets, and laid out ornamental gardens designed to reflect what actually made this town: the linen mills and the railway.

That theming is not decorative waffle. A large steel flax flower stands near the water — flax being the plant linen is made from, and the crop that built Banbridge — and a cast relief of a Great Northern Railway locomotive is set among the planting. The beds themselves are laid out to echo the mills and the line. It gives a small urban park more to look at than a small urban park usually has.

For families it covers the bases: a children's play area opened in 2016, an outdoor gym, picnic areas and benches, plenty of open grass, and an urban skateboarding and BMX facility for ages ten and up. Canoe steps take you down to the Bann if you have brought a boat, and the amphitheatre gets used for events.

And there is one much older thing here. Remnants of an ancient ring fort survive in the park — a reminder that people were living on this bend of the river a very long time before the linen or the trains. On a wet day the Bann runs full and loud through the trees and the whole park smells of leaves; on a bright one the town comes out and sits on the grass.

Free, Green Flag park Riverside walks on the Bann Play park and skate park Heritage-themed ornamental gardens Outdoor gym and amphitheatre Canoe steps to the river

Hours and parking:

The park opens 8am to 9pm in summer and 8am to 7pm in winter, with public toilets at the entrance. Parking inside the park is free but limited; there are further free car parks close by in the town. A weekly flower market has run in the park on Fridays and Saturdays, 8am to 6pm — worth checking before you count on it.

What to wear & bring

👟Comfy shoesLevel surfaced paths and boardwalks, with the riverside walk continuing beyond the park if you want more.

🛹A board or a bikeThe urban skate and BMX facility is a proper one, for ages ten and up.

🧺A picnicPicnic areas, benches and grass beside the river, with the town's cafés a minute away.

🧥A light coatRiver valley in the middle of a town — sheltered, but you are still outdoors in County Down.

What's on at the park

The park was built with events in mind — the 2009 refurbishment added an outdoor amphitheatre and an urban dance zone, and both get used. A weekly flower market has run in the park on Fridays and Saturdays, 8am to 6pm; check current arrangements before travelling for it.

Otherwise this is a park that runs on its own daily rhythm: the school run through it, the skate park in the afternoon, the play park all day, and the riverside walk whenever the weather allows. It holds a Green Flag award, which is the mark of a park that is genuinely well looked after.

Everything before you go

Cost

Free

Opening

8am–9pm in summer; 8am–7pm in winter

Best for ages

All ages — play area for younger children, skate and BMX facility for ages 10 and over

Size

10.5 acres in Banbridge town centre, along the River Bann

What's there

Ornamental gardens themed on the town's linen and railway heritage, public artworks including a steel flax flower and a GNR locomotive relief, a children's play area (2016), an urban skateboarding and BMX facility, an outdoor gym, an outdoor amphitheatre, an urban dance zone, canoe steps to the river, picnic areas, benches and short circular walks

Toilets

Public toilets at the park entrance

Parking

Limited free parking inside the park, with further free car parks nearby in the town

Dogs

Welcome on a lead and under control — please clean up after them

Accessibility

Level surfaced paths through the park; a published accessibility guide is available

How long to allow

One to two hours

Food

No café in the park; Banbridge town centre is a minute's walk

Awards

Green Flag Award holder

Address

Solitude Park, Banbridge, Co Down

Questions

Before you go

Is it free?

Yes — the park and the parking are free.

What are the opening hours?

8am to 9pm in summer and 8am to 7pm in winter.

Is there a play park?

Yes — a children's play area that opened in July 2016, plus a separate urban skateboarding and BMX facility for ages 10 and over, and an outdoor gym.

Where do I park?

There is limited free parking inside the park itself, and further free car parks close by in Banbridge town centre.

Can we get on the river?

There are canoe steps down to the Bann. Bring your own boat and your own judgement about the water level.

What is the public art about?

The 2009 refurbishment themed the park on Banbridge's linen and railway history — hence the large steel flax flower near the river and the cast relief of a Great Northern Railway locomotive among the planting.

Are there toilets?

Yes, at the park entrance.

Is there really a ring fort?

Remnants of an ancient ring fort survive within the park — one of the town's oldest visible sites, sitting quietly among the modern paths.

Getting there

Solitude Park is in the middle of Banbridge, County Down, running along the River Bann. There is limited free parking inside the park itself and further free car parks nearby in the town, with the play park, the gardens and the riverside walk all within a couple of minutes of the entrance.

Official website Directions on Google Maps See it on our map

Nearby

Make more of the day

The Outlet, BanbridgeShopping and food on the edge of town ScarvaCanal village and the Newry Canal towpath Craigavon LakesTwo lakes, watersports and miles of flat path Moira DemesneA historic demesne park up the road

The story

About the park

Banbridge is a linen town on a river, and Solitude Park is where those two facts meet. The Bann powered the mills, the mills made the money, and the Great Northern Railway carried the cloth away. The park sits on the ground between them.

It also sits on something much older. Remnants of an ancient ring fort survive within the park — an early medieval farmstead enclosure, the commonest and most easily overlooked archaeological feature in Ireland. People were living on this bend of the water long before anyone thought about flax.

For most of the twentieth century Solitude Park was an ordinary riverside town park, and by the 2000s it needed work. The refurbishment carried out in 2009 was the making of it: public artworks, an outdoor amphitheatre, an urban dance zone, new parking and public toilets, and ornamental gardens laid out to reflect the linen and railway heritage rather than just to look pretty. In 2016 the children's play area was rebuilt.

The result punches above its ten and a half acres. It has a Green Flag award, a skate park that gets used properly, a river you can put a canoe into, a flower market at the weekend, and a set of sculptures that tell you what the town was for. Most towns would settle for the grass.