A Mr John Hampton was the first person to make a successful descent by a parachute. The event took place on October 3rd 1838 from a balloon which ascended from these gardens. Mr Hampton's descent lasted 12 minutes 40 seconds and he landed at Badgeworth. The parachute was rigid, made of canvas stretched over a framework of whalebone ribs and bamboo stretchers attached by a copper tube to a wicker basket.