Great Notley Country Park: A Design guide landscape

Great Notley country park is an intriguing place, firstly as an artificial landscape, and secondly as a successful public resource. Owned by Braintree District Council and run by Essex County Council, the park includes a range of habitats and uses, including: grassland, meadow, lakes, ponds, a ditch network, woodland, hedgerows, an enormous adventure play area, sports facilities, and educational spaces. Perhaps most interestingly is the relationship to the adjacent Essex Design Guide settlement Great Notley, built in 2000 by the private developer Countryside Properties. As a country park & estate, is this the modern day equivalent to the English country house and park typology?

View across the park from the 'Bird of Freedom' sculpture

Great Notley Discovery Centre by Penoyre & Prasad

Rural playscape