Everton Park Nature Garden

Everton Park Nature Garden is a 3quarter hectare garden located within Everton Park. The garden is close to the city centre and 1.8 kilometres from the Pier Head. It is accessed via Roscommon Street off Netherfield Road North, Liverpool 5.

In recognition of the high standards attained, this greenspace has achieved and sustained Green Flag status from 2003 to 2006.

Everton Village was, in the 18th century, a pastoral village, set upon Everton Brow, some distance from the increasingly prosperous Port of Liverpool. With unsurpassable views across the River Mersey to the Welsh hills and over the city to the as yet unspoilt rolling countryside, it must have been a desirable place to live. With the onset of the Great Irish Famine and the Industrial Revolution, immigrants from Ireland and Wales, as well as the impoverished victims of enclosures in rural England, poured into the city to attempt to make a living in the burgeoning factories serving the manufacturing industries. The demands of such a population upon the area changed the landscape dramatically. To accommodate this influx, densely packed rows of back to back houses were built on the hills surrounding the village. The village was quickly subsumed into the industrial conglomerate.
Following the Second World War, which left many derelict bomb sites, the advent of 'Prefab' housing enabled many people to move away from the area.
With the arrival of the 60s came the demolition of terraced streets, which had become such a landmark, visible as they were from the river, to be replaced by high rise blocks of flats. A section of one street has been preserved in The Museum of Liverpool Life. The green and pleasant hills of Everton were just a distant curiosity to be wondered at in antiquarian prints and books. It took merely a decade or two to realise the disaster that was 'sixties built' high rise dwelling. The 1980s brought a return to a more sociable style of housing development and with this the creation of the open green space that became Everton Park. At the heart of this park, enclosed by sturdy brick walls, lies a rustic gem. This is the Everton Nature Garden, which must surely recall the surroundings of an earlier time.

The Garden built in 1990 to 1992 is enclosed by an attractive brick wall with two gated entrances. Two pebble mosaics close to the entrances depict wildlife that can be found within the garden. These were designed by children from local schools and created by local artist Allun Jones. Located in a densely populated area, the garden provides an invaluable learning and recreational experience for the local community, which uses it extensively. It is however also used and can be booked by groups visiting from much further afield. The popularity of the garden means that it is invariably open from April to the end of September and sometimes beyond these dates. A mess room container has been installed in the garden and is to be renovated by the Probation Service. There is a shelter for use in inclement weather and as a simple interpretation and teaching facility. The garden is currently being further enhanced by the construction of a garden for the disabled. There is a wide variety of native flora to be found in the garden, which provides a wildlife haven in the middle of a densely populated area.