24/08/2024
ELIZABETH PARK
A rich history stretching back hundreds of years.
Engineers and Locomotives
In the early 1800s, it was the site of Knott's Mill. Nearby was the Union Foundry, one of the earliest steam engine manufactories in the world. In 1830, this pioneering foundry made Bolton's first ever steam locomotive. It had been designed by Benjamin Hick for the Bolton and Leigh Railway, which had opened two years earlier.
Picture Palace
The use of the site was transformed when it became the Odeon Cinema in 1937. The luxurious Art Deco cinema had a huge 2,534-seater auditorium. One cinemagoer lucky enough to get a ticket for the opening night on Saturday 21 August 1937 declared that it was "absolutely the last word in pictures - it's a Palace."
A Place to Gather ….
The Odeon Cinema closed in 1983. By 1985 it had reopened as Top Rank Bingo, later becoming the Mecca Bingo Hall. Visitors to the cinema and bingo hall remember a building that was as much a social space as anything else. It was somewhere to hang out and meet friends. We hope this new park will be used in that way too.
It has been named Elizabeth Park in memory of Queen Elizabeth II.
