Donated to the citizens of Birmingham in 1873 by the philanthropist Louisa Ann Ryland, this 250-acre park in Moseley is the most visited green space in the city. Ryland paid not only for the original 57 acres of meadowland but also for its drainage and landscaping, engaging J. T. Gibson, the designer of Battersea Park in London, to transform the flat fields along the River Rea into an ornamental landscape of lakes, tree-lined walks, and formal planting beds stocked with seeds from Kew Gardens. The park expanded through successive gifts: seven additional acres from brewer John Holder in 1897 to mark Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee, and further acquisitions for river straightening in 1898. Today the grounds encompass formal gardens, conservation meadows, woodland, and extensive sports facilities including tennis courts, bowling greens, and a 36-hole miniature golf course. MAC Birmingham, the Midlands Arts Centre founded in 1962 on the site of the park's former lido, provides a year-round programme of theatre, cinema, dance, gallery exhibitions, and craft workshops. The Birmingham Wildlife Conservation Park occupies the western bank of the Rea, housing small mammals, birds, and reptiles in naturalistic enclosures. A sixteenth-century timber-framed building, the Golden Lion Inn, survives within the park grounds. Notable features include a Grade II listed bandstand and Red Carriage Bridge dating from the park's inception, a scale model of the Elan Valley Reservoirs built as ornamental ponds in 1962, and the Infinite Wave memorial sculpture unveiled by Prince Harry in 2019. The park is accessible from Edgbaston Road and Pershore Road, with on-site parking. The River Rea flows through the park's western edge, bordered by conservation meadows that support kingfishers, herons, and otters. Annual events include the Birmingham Literature Festival, outdoor Shakespeare performances by MAC, and the Cannon Hill Park Fun Run. The park is served by bus routes along Pershore Road and a dedicated cycle path connecting it to the city centre via Edgbaston.

Type: Outdoors

Address: Pershore Road, Birmingham, United Kingdom, B12 9QH

Website: https://www.birmingham.gov.uk/cannonhillpark

Opening Date: 01/09/1873