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Lark Lane and Sefton Park

The large area now occupied by Sefton Park is but a minor part of what once was a sprawling Royal Park and fields. As Liverpool expanded and incorporated Toxteth, this countryside started being given over to housing, and the green area was shrinking alarmingly. Fortunately this coincided with a Victorian philanthropic determination to maintain park areas for city and town dwellers, the results of which can be seen up and down the country to this day.

A competition was launched in 1867 to design a park on the 187-acre area of land that had been bought by the Liverpool Corporation from the Earl of Sefton; land around the perimeter was used to build mansions and large houses that would partly fund the purchase. The competition was won by the Frenchman Edouard André (landscaping) and Louis Hornblower (structures). The park was opened by Prince Arthur, Queen Victoria's third son, in 1872.

The park featured a lake that was fed by existing rivers with its very own bridge, a cricket ground and pavilion and much recreational ground. A delightful iron-framed palm house, 30 metres wide and 25 metres high, in which plants from all over the empire were displayed, was donated to the Park and completed in 1896.

Early in the twentieth century, the park almost became Neverland, with its Peter Pan statue (made by Sir George Frampton), Wendy Hut and pirate ship! The Palm House was a few metres away from a direct hit when the Luftwaffe bombed Liverpool in 1941, although most of the glass was shattered in the blast. After the war it was reglazed at great expense, but deterioration set in, partly due to unforeseen design flaws.

After a post-war period of neglect and disrepair, the people of Liverpool decided that enough was enough, and in 1991 a pressure group was formed to save the Palm House and generally spruce up Sefton Park. It was successful, and with a little help from the Lottery Fund (to the tune of £2.5 million), the newly renovated Palm House was unveiled in 2001, and is now used for plants, concerts, weddings and art.

Some of the houses built around its perimeter are now hotels, some are flats, but they all have one of the best vistas in Liverpool. Throughout its ups and downs, Sefton Park has always remained much-loved by those who use it, be they families, cyclists, joggers, tennis players or amateur footballers. Now, with its reputation as the perfect venue for a summer concert or an art exhibition, the future is looking very bright indeed for this historic park.

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