Which national park was the United Kingdom's first, designated in 1951?

The United Kingdom’s first national park, designated in 1951, was Peak District National Park.

It was formally designated on 17 April 1951 under the National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act 1949. The park occupies upland terrain at the southern end of the Pennines, mainly in Derbyshire but also extending into Cheshire, Greater Manchester, Staffordshire, South Yorkshire and West Yorkshire.

The landscape is commonly divided into the Dark Peak, known for gritstone moorlands, and the White Peak, characterised by limestone dales and caves. Kinder Scout is the highest point. The park’s creation followed decades of campaigning for public access, including the famous 1932 Kinder Scout mass trespass, which helped strengthen the case for open countryside.

The Lake District, Dartmoor and Snowdonia were also designated in 1951, but later in the year. Pembrokeshire Coast became a national park in 1952, so none of those alternatives was Britain’s first.