The site was originally a pleasure and kitchen garden belonging to Joseph Strutt. Strutt was the third son of Jedediah Strutt, a Derby textile industrialist. In May 1839, Strutt commissioned a plan from JC Loudon for the garden to be laid out for public use.

Strutt was a social reformer and dedicated much of his life to the service of the town. He believed that in order to get respect from the working classes with ‘their brutish behaviour and debasing pleasures’ they must be given the same opportunities as the upper classes.

John Claudius Loudon was a garden and landscape designer, and horticultural writer. He was an early exponent of the gardenesque landscape gardening style, founded The Gardener’s Magazine, and was the author of the Encyclopaedia of Gardening.

Several exisiting features were to be incorporated into the design including a flower garden, a cottage and a tool shed. The original idea of a botanic garden was rejected as it was would be too expensive to maintain so instead Loudon suggested an arboretum.

The garden was given to a board of trustees as a place of recreation for the inhabitants of Derby who might ‘enjoy a rare opportunity of expanding their minds by the contemplation of nature’. However, no endowment was included with the gift. It was free for members of the public on Sunday afternoon and Wednesdays while on other days ‘a small sum should be required from persons entering the garden’. For the next 40 years, the anniversary of the opening of the Arboretum was celebrated with a fete. It was a popular event with c25,000 people from Derby and surrounding towns attending.

The ground was flat and not very big so Loudon created mounds for interest, to screen the main walks and to show off the specimen trees. Loudon wished the ‘junction of the main roots with the base of the trunk’ to appear above ground, with each tree planted in a circular bed. The areas between the mounds was for tents, dancing and bands. Today the majority of the mature trees are plane trees with few of the original 1000 specimen trees surviving. Loudon wanted the trees to be named ‘as an incident … for those who walk in the garden to take an interest in the name and history of each species, its uses in this country or in other countries, its appearance at different seasons of the year, and the various associations connected with it’. Sadly, no tree labels survive.

There were over 800 different varieties of hardy trees and shrubs in the Arboretum. Trees and shrubs were supplied by Messrs Whitley and Osborn of Chelsea and William Masters of Canterbury; roses from Thomas Rivers of Sawbridgeworth; mistletoe by Mr Godsall of Hereford; and other plants from the Horticultural Society’s garden. During the Victorian era, many of the trees died due to the poor air quality. They were replaced in 1880s with common species such as London plane and lime which could tolerate the conditions.

Joseph Strutt died in 1844, and the Arboretum continued to be managed by a committee of trustees. In 1882 the Arboretum was transferred from the trustees to Derby Town Council but it fell into decline. It was restored in 1980s and again in 21st century with the aid of a Heritage Lottery Fund of almost £5 million.

In 1806, Joseph Strutt commissioned the sculptor W.J. Coffee to make a ceramic copy of the Renaissance boar sculpture in Marketo Nuovo in Florence. It was moved from the gardens at his house to this site when the Arboretum was opened in 1840. It was damaged in a bombing raid in 1941 and was removed. In 2005, the original boar was replaced by this bronze replica by Alex Paxton.

The modern paving stones show the outline of the original East Lodge. It was used as a house for the park labourers with a picnic room for visitors.