Vote now for Wivenhoe Park!

Could Wivenhoe Park be the UK’s favourite green space? Between now and the end of September, we can celebrate our amazing Colchester campus by voting in the Green Flag People’s Choice Awards.

Voting is now open for the People's Choice Awards, which recognise the UK’s favourite public green spaces.

Last year, Wivenhoe Park scored a top ten finish, the only university campus to achieve this honour. This year we want to do even better - and we're asking you to help by sharing your photos and memories, using the hashtag #LoveWivenhoePark.

With three lakes, 2800 trees, car-free jogging routes, one of the UK’s only Frisbee golf courses and 40 acres of sports fields, our 220 acre Colchester campus really does have something for everyone.

Tree lovers are particularly well catered for. Our Tree Walk offers two guided walking routes and The Wivenhoe Park Millennium Oaks Collection includes over 20 different species.

Wivenhoe House’s history stretches back to 1759 when Isaac Rebow asked Thomas Reynolds to build him a mansion house.

The parkland was originally landscaped in the late 1700s. In 1816, Major-General Francis Slater Rebow commissioned John Constable to paint the park. Constable's masterpiece now hangs in the National Gallery of Art, Washington DC.

Today, Wivenhoe Park is home to the University of Essex, and the parkland provides a vital resource to staff, students and the local community. The University is the home of Green Exercise - we coined the term in 2003 - and visitors can enjoy the many positive effects of exercising in nature. While our social media star, Campus Cat, might not venture much beyond the campus' main squares, the parkland is home to squirrels, ducks, geese, woodpeckers, herons, cormorants and, occasionally, a kingfisher and a pair of Muntjac deer.

The brave might also seek out our rare spiders. And after dark, keep your eyes peeled for our five species of bat.

In July, Wivenhoe Park retained its Green Flag Award for the third year running, recognising the great work of our Grounds Team. Green Flag Award winners have the highest possible environmental standards, are beautifully maintained and have excellent visitor facilities.

Vote for Wivenhoe Park now!