Wardown Park, the former Bramingham Shott mansion and estate which had been rebuilt by solicitor Frank Scargill, was acquired as a town public open space in 1904, thanks to the foresight of council members Asher Hucklesby and Edwin Oakley.
They bought the park privately for £16,250 - and then sold it to a previously reluctant town council for the same price.
The park was opened to the public on May 7, 1906, by Alderman Hucklesby and has been a centre of Luton's outdoor social life ever since. The Luton News photographs pictured here are largely from the 1940s and 1950s.
Click here to see slideshow of Wardown Park