Clare Castle Country Park

Clare Castle Country Park is less than a hundred yards from the town centre. It contains the footprint of a Norman Castle built by the de Clare’s in the years following the Norman invasion.

The 35 acre Park was opened in 1972 following the closure of the railway in 1967. The land was provided by Anthony de Fonblanque, the owner of fourteen acres of the Castle, who gave it to Clare Rural District Council to create a country park. A condition of the gift was that the now vacant railway land was purchased at the same time in order to create the original park.

As a result of various local authority re-organisations the ownership and management of the park eventually ended up with Suffolk County Council. Around 2012 the County Council decided they would, where it proved feasible, dispose of the parks they owned if they believed it was in their best interests.

Clare Town Council, at that time chaired by Keith Haisman, decided to form a small sub-committee to investigate the feasibility of taking on the ownership of Clare Castle Country Park. West Suffolk District Council, who at that time were managing the park for the County Council, provided detailed and helpful information and advice to the committee. Following close scrutiny of the financial and management implications by the committee, and the production of a detailed ‘Business Plan’, the Town Council agreed to open negotiations with Suffolk County Council. These were completed in late 2014 and the park was transferred to Clare Town Council in March 2015. A condition of the transfer was that Suffolk County Council would pay Clare Town Council £315,000 towards the cost of maintenance work that was needed.

Prior to the negotiations with Suffolk County Council, Clare Town Council had decided, while they would be the freeholders of the park, it would be best if it was managed by a new, and independent, Trust. Clare Castle Country Park Trust was therefore formed prior to the transfer and took responsibility for the management at the date of the transfer. Eight trustees had been appointed (under the chairmanship of Geoffrey Bray, who had been closely involved in the negotiations and had developed the Business Plan). Each of the Trustees had a background and experience that meant they could make a specific contribution to an important aspect of managing the park. e.g. listed buildings, health and safety, working with volunteers, personnel, business management. The one area where they had no experience was running a country park! This important gap was filled for the first few years by a part-time contractor (Neil Catchpole) who had years of experience working in the areas where the trustees lacked the required knowledge and experience. Professionals from organisations such as the Dedham Vale AONB, Suffolk Wildlife Trust and the Environment Agency are also called upon when needed.

While certain day-to-day tasks are contracted out (building repairs, litter picking, grass cutting, major tree work etc) the park is dependent on a wide range of committed volunteers. Around 20 meet every Friday morning for several hours and work on a variety of ‘green space’ maintenance tasks – there are always things for people with different abilities and interests. Organising and manning the Visitor Centre, general admin, accounting, promotions and organising many activities are also run by volunteers.

The park cost about £120,000 a year to run. The car park, leasing the Stationmasters House, Platform One café and vital donations from Patrons are the main sources of income. Whilst prior to the transfer of the park from Suffolk County Council the ongoing financial sustainability of the Trust was quite reasonably challenged to date this has not been of concern – although carful control of income and expenditure will always be of great importance.

In the years immediately following the transfer pf the park to Clare Town Council the following work was carried out to improve the park:

The Stationmasters house/booking hall was renovated
A regular maintenance programme for the Railway Walk was put in place and major work carried out.
The bank behind the playground was cleared of scrub
Platform One café was opened
The motte was cleared of scrub
The trees on the south side of the moat were felled to open up the historic earth works and bring light to the moat.
The playground was enlarged and new equipment installed
The Lady’s Walk steps were replaced
The maintenance/Muddy Boots centre was built
The path up the motte was renovated and the erosion dealt with.

Grants totaling well over £100,000 were obtained to fund the above and enabled the Trust to buy the equipment for basic maintenance.

In 2017 the Trust was awarded a £200,000 ‘Development Grant by the National Lottery Heritage Fund. This was followed by a Development grant of £1,800,000 in 2018 to implement the planned work. The project (led by Geoffrey Bray, Richard Smith and Derek Blake) was designed to make the park more interesting without changing it’s basic nature as a country park. The following were the major items of works:

Renovation of the old goods shed, station platforms and the south platform waiting room (now the Visitor Centre} and the installation of a ‘playtrain’.
A programme spread over three years of ‘community archaeology’ excavations overseen by professional archaeologists.
De-silting of the moat
Signage and trails bot in the park and the town
Development of a major, and sustainable, activity plan.

In 2022 the Byford family donated 5 acres of land on the western side of the Ashen Road (which increased the acreage of the park to over forty acres) to be developed as a woodland. Over 30 ‘specimen trees were donated by individuals and well over 1,000 ‘whips’ were obtained, all of which were planted in 2023/24.