Hotham Park

Park

Explorer Tom

Sir Richard Hotham helped make Bognor a seaside resort, and the park bearing his name lets you inspect the leafy side of his ambition. Step off Upper Bognor Road and the town suddenly behaves as if it has hidden a country estate behind its beach bucket; the old house still stands among the trees. Hotham Park occupies the grounds of Hotham Park House, an eighteenth-century home of the man credited with founding modern Bognor Regis. The house is Grade II listed, but this outing is about the public park around it, not a tour through somebody else's front rooms. Arun District Council keeps the grounds as a Green Flag park, with formal planting, mature trees and enough open space for a proper wander. Follow the paths rather than charging straight across the grass and you find several moods in one small circuit: garden borders, shady stretches and room to pause while the town carries on outside. The older trees have the air of stern estate staff; I suspect they still expect visitors to announce themselves to Sir Richard before sitting down. They have yet to produce a guest book, which is fortunate for anyone carrying an ice cream. The council lists the park on Upper Bognor Road, with parking nearby, and says its parks are open throughout the year. It is an easy green stop during a Bognor Regis day, especially when the promenade has demanded one more lap than your legs agreed to. Come for the old-house setting, linger for the gardens, and leave with the rather cheeky thought that Sir Richard's best room has no ceiling.