Lydekker Park is a 3 acres (1.2 ha) park in Harpenden

Harpenden

Harpenden is a town in Hertfordshire, England.The town's total population is just under 30,000.-Geography and administration:There are two civil parishes: Harpenden and Harpenden Rural....

, Hertfordshire

Hertfordshire

Hertfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England. The county town is Hertford.The county is one of the Home Counties and lies inland, bordered by Greater London , Buckinghamshire , Bedfordshire , Cambridgeshire and...

. The land was formerly part of the garden of Harpenden Lodge, built in 1803, home for many years to the Lydekkers, one of the town's oldest families. In 1937 Hilda Lydekker, last surviving member of the Lydekker family, entered into an agreement with the former Harpenden Urban District Council that the 11 acres (4.5 ha) of land attached to Harpenden lodge should become an open space for the people of Harpenden. Her intention was that the open space should be a memorial to her two brothers and her fiancee, all of whom died in World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

.

However, following the death of Miss Lydekker in 1987, shortly before her 101st birthday, her relatives were able to overturn the terms of her will

Will (law)

A will or testament is a legal declaration by which a person, the testator, names one or more persons to manage his/her estate and provides for the transfer of his/her property at death...

, and the land was subsequently sold for development. Harpenden Town Council made strenuous efforts to have all, or at least part of, the area retained as open space. The Town Council had some measure of control as the developers were depending upon the Town Council to obtain planning permission

Planning permission

Planning permission or planning consent is the permission required in the United Kingdom in order to be allowed to build on land, or change the use of land or buildings. Within the UK the occupier of any land or building will need title to that land or building , but will also need "planning...

 to develop the site.

In the end, only 3 acres (1.2 ha) out of the original 11 were given over to parkland and adjoining carpark, which is leased to the Harpenden Town Council at peppercorn rent. The park was opened to the public on 1 July 1998.