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 Brownlow House
Brownlow House
Brownlow House was built in 1836 to the design by Scottish architect William Henry Playfair, replacing the earlier house which had been built in the early 1600s. The new house was built in the Elizabethan style and stood in an estate of some 259 acres, including a 59-acre man made lake. It is reputed to have 365 rooms and was built for Charles Brownlow.
The house and estate were well-known: a description of 1797 states: “the demesne, though very beautiful, corresponds with the antiquity of the castle. It is highly ornamented with a fine sheet of water which is covered with swans, Cape Geese, wild duck and a beautiful variety of wildfowl. Around the lake is a pleasant and neat gravel walk decorated with elegant plantations. The park is well stocked with deer and numerous hares sport through every part of the demesne.”
|  Lurgan Public Park
Lurgan Public Park
The demesne was bought by the Lurgan Real Property Company in the 1840s, which cut down most of the timber from the great Avenue planted during the Jacobean war, and gave it to the residents of Lurgan. The demesne was later sold to Lurgan Borough Council in 1893 for the princely sum of £2,000 and it was opened as a Public Park in July 1909 by Lord Aberdeen.
Lurgan Park is the second largest public park in Ireland, the biggest being Phoenix Park in Dublin, and is enjoyed by as many as 2000 people every day. The beautifully landscaped parkland contains a number of well maintained paths which provide excellent walking and running ground.
There is an active Friends of the Park group, who all take a great interest in what’s going on in the park. They meet on the last Wednesday of every month in the Gate Lodge and always welcome new members.
|  Colebrookdale Fountain
Coalbrookdale Fountain
This cast-iron fountain was originally erected in 1888 in Lurgan town centre to celebrate Queen Victoria’s Jubilee. It was moved to Lurgan Public Park in the mid 1920’s to make way for the war memorial. While other similar cast iron fountains survive around the world - from Christchurch, New Zealand to Weston-super-Mare, Somerset - no other fountain is known to survive with its original lamp posts.
Some Coalbrookdale fountains were brightly painted, but early photographs suggest that Lurgan’s fountain, like others of the period, was painted a single dark colour in imitation of bronze. Coalbrookdale fountains were assembled from many individual castings which explain the technical difficulties in repairing and restoring this beautiful feature.
The roses planted adjacent to the fountain were bred in Northern Ireland mostly in the 20’s and 30’s at a time when Dickson’s of Newtownards and McCready’s of Portadown were prominent breeders. They remain to this day two of the most important families in the history of rose-growing.
|  Lurgan Lake
Lurgan Lake
This 59-acres man-made lake was dug during the Famine as a means of creating jobs for the local people At the time of its construction the lake was one of the largest hand dug lakes in Ireland. The artificial lake was one of the chief improvements to Lord Brownlow’s demesne, and it was during its construction that the term “Lurgan Spade” came into use. According to residents of the town, the workmen who were digging the lake worked for 1 1/2d to 3d a day, less than ordinary rate of wages. The workers were known as the Spades and due to the unpleasant nature of the work and their meagre rewards they were repudiated to be particularly sombre. As a result anyone who looks downtrodden or forlorn is to this day described as “having a face like a Lurgan spade”.
| Restoration Programme
Restoration Programme
In 2004, the Heritage Lottery Fund invested £1.4 million in the restoration of Lurgan Park, with a further £0.4million being contributed by Craigavon Borough Council.
The construction programme has nearly come to an end and includes the restored Coalbrookdale Fountain, the new pavilion, the new super playground, restoration of the character and fabric of the landscape, repairing, repainting and improvements to boundary walls and railings, installing new seats, signs and bins and various green works including tree drainage and grasslands improvements.
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