Williamson Park is a park in Lancaster, England. Its focal point is the Ashton Memorial

Ashton Memorial

The Ashton Memorial is a folly in Williamson Park, Lancaster, England built between 1907 and 1909 by millionaire industrialist Baron Ashton in memory of his second wife, Jessy, at a cost of over £80,000 The Ashton Memorial is a folly in Williamson Park, Lancaster, England built between 1907 and...

. The park was constructed by millionaire James Williamson, 1st Baron Ashton

James Williamson, 1st Baron Ashton

James Williamson, 1st Baron Ashton was a British businessman and Liberal Party politician.Williamson was a successful businessman, whose family business in Lancaster produced oil cloth and linoleum which were exported around the world...

, and his father, also called James Williamson. The park now covers an area of 217,000 m², having been extended in 1999 into adjoining land, Fenham Carr, following a grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund

Heritage Lottery Fund

The Heritage Lottery Fund is a fund established in the United Kingdom under the National Lottery etc. Act 1993. The Fund opened for applications in 1994. It uses money raised through the National Lottery to transform and sustain the UK’s heritage...

.
Features of the park include the Ashton Memorial, fountains, a butterfly house, a café

Café

A café , also spelled cafe, in most countries refers to an establishment which focuses on serving coffee, like an American coffeehouse. In the United States, it may refer to an informal restaurant, offering a range of hot meals and made-to-order sandwiches...

, a children's play area, the Lancaster sundial

Sundial

A sundial is a device that measures time by the position of the Sun. In common designs such as the horizontal sundial, the sun casts a shadow from its style onto a surface marked with lines indicating the hours of the day. The style is the time-telling edge of the gnomon, often a thin rod or a...

 on the site of what was once a bandstand

Bandstand

A bandstand is a circular or semicircular structure set in a park, garden, pier, or indoor space, designed to accommodate musical bands performing concerts...

, some sculpture

Sculpture

Sculpture is three-dimensional artwork created by shaping or combining hard materials—typically stone such as marble—or metal, glass, or wood. Softer materials can also be used, such as clay, textiles, plastics, polymers and softer metals...

s and a small folly

Folly

In architecture, a folly is a building constructed primarily for decoration, but either suggesting by its appearance some other purpose, or merely so extravagant that it transcends the normal range of garden ornaments or other class of building to which it belongs...

 known as the Temple. The park is extensively wooded, with many pathways winding among the trees.
During July and August each year, the local Duke's Playhouse

Duke's Playhouse

The Dukes in Lancaster, England, formerly known as the Duke's Playhouse, is a professional producing theatre, currently producing six theatre productions a year. It also hosts outside companies and arts festivals. It has two auditoria, the larger seating approximately 313 and a newly refurbished...

performs a promenade play in the park each evening, using the natural scenery as the stage and requiring the audience to follow the actors from scene to scene.