Leasowes Parkin Halesowen, Dudley, West Midlands.

The park is located on Mucklow Hill and Leasowes Lane in Halesowen. Rear entrance to the park from Manor Lane and Kent Road.

The Dudley No 2 Canal also goes through the park. Altough most of which is part of the Lapal Canal is awaiting restoration and reconnecting to Selly Oak in Birmingham.

It was designed by the poet William Shenstone between 1743 and 1763 the site is one of the most important and influential landscapes of the 18th Century and is considered to be one of the first natural landscape gardens in England.

Leasowes Park (February 2018). Photography by Elliott Brown

Today, the Leasowes is of major historic significance, ranking in importance with such landscapes as Blenheim and Stowe. It is the diverse landscape of wooded valleys, open grasslands, lakes and streams created by Shenstone that makes the site so important for wildlife. The site has been managed with nature in mind since the mid 18th Century and as such provides a wealth of different habitats for birds, mammals, invertebrates and locally uncommon plant species.

Priory Pool at Leasowes Park (February 2018). Photography by Elliott Brown

Halesowen Golf Club

The golf club is located in the middle of Leasowes Park. The Grade I listed club house was called The Leasowes, and was once home to William Shenstone (where he was born in 1714). While here he created the Ferme Ornee Landscape in the estate. It was built in the Queen Anne style.

The Leasowes at Halesowen Golf Club in Leasowes Park (February 2018). Photography by Elliott Brown

You can walk past Halesowen Golf Club on the public paths.

Blue flag in a hole at Halesowen Golf Club in Leasowes Park (February 2018). Photography by Elliott Brown

Dudley No 2 Canal (Lapal Canal)

The Dudley Canal extension, known as No 2 was built between 1792 and 1798. This included the Lapal Tunnel. Passing through The Leasowes estate of William Shenstone in Halesowen. The canal originally ended in Selly Oak at the Worcester & Birmingham Canal. But after repeated collapses, the Lapal Tunnel was closed in 1917. And sections of the canal towards Selly Oak filled in. The part in Leasowes Park is no longer navigable. But the Lapal Canal Trust is hoping to restore the canal all the way from Selly Oak to connect to the navigable part in Halesowen. But it will take a long time to complete.

Lapal Canal from Leasowes Park (February 2018). Photography by Elliott Brown