Queen's Gardens, Hull

Queen's Gardens is a sequence of gardens in the centre of Kingston upon Hull, England. They are set out within a 9.75acre area that until 1930 was filled with the waters of Queen's Dock. As the dock was not fully filled in, the gardens are largely below the level of the surrounding streets.DescriptionThe gardens have a central avenue of trees aligned with the Wilberforce Monument to the east, which is fronted by a pool with fountains. The statue of William Wilberforce atop a large Doric column was moved to this site in 1935 and originally dominated the gardens. However, the construction of Sir Frederick Gibberd's building for Hull College behind the column in 1962 has reduced its impact.Most visitors approach the gardens from the west, through a circus of flower gardens at street level around the "Rosebowl" fountain. Slopes and steps lead down from this area into the main area of the sunken gardens. Either side of the central avenue there are broad areas of lawn, interspersed with smaller borders filled with perennials, and another two large fountain pools.The formal central axis of the gardens is now diminished by post-war planting of Japanese cherry trees in the central avenue, many of which are now over-mature and showing signs of stress. Vistas from the Rosebowl gardens into the main gardens were previously blocked by overgrown shrubberies on the slope between the two levels until recent renovations in 2017 to open out the area in-between the two sections of the park. Renovations also updated the pools and introduced a number of art installations.