Coloured postcard showing a view of the former hermitage at Roundhay Park, Leeds. Roundhay Park, Leeds, originally a private estate, was bought by the Council in 1871 and redeveloped as a public park by the architect George Corson; it was opened in 1872. The house (1826) is preserved as a hotel; a folly in the shape of a castellated gate (1811) is preserved, but a hermitage of comparable date has been lost; a fountain in the shape of a classical rotunda was erected in 1882. There are two lakes, upper and lower, and a late 19th century canal garden