Сефтон-Парк: История и современность ливерпульского парка

Public park in south Liverpool, England

the public park in Liverpool, England

Sefton Park is a public park in south Liverpool, England. The park is in a district of the same name, located roughly within the historic bounds of the large area of Toxteth Park. Neighbouring districts include modern day Toxteth, Aigburth, Mossley Hill, Wavertree and St Michael's Hamlet. The park is in area and is designated by English Heritage at Grade I in the Register of Historic Parks and Gardens.

The site of the park was once within the boundaries of the Royal Deer Park of Toxteth which became "disparked" in 1591. The land eventually came under the Earl of Sefton's control. As Toxteth rapidly grew, green fields and woodland of Toxteth Park became narrow streets and courts packed by tiny uninhabitable houses where air was stagnant, little or no sanitation and running water was from one tap in the middle of the court. At the same time there was demand for large aristocratic mansions in the South of Liverpool. In 1862 the Borough Council Engineer recommended a site for this development. The Public Works (Manufacturing Districts) Act 1864
permitted corporations to borrow sums of money of up to half a million pounds to be repaid over thirty years. This allowed steps to be taken towards land purchase for Sefton Park. In 1867 the Council purchased of land of the park's development for £250,000 from the Earl of Sefton. Sefton Park is one of the largest in the "ribbon of Parks" originally envisaged in 1850s by the Liverpool Improvement Committee and which came eventually to include Newsham and Stanley Parks. A major park improvement programme was undertaken in 1983, for the International Garden Festival, and 30 years later (2013) Sefton Park was granted the prestigious Green Flag Award for high standards.

Sefton Park Cricket Club moved their ground to the park in 1876 and W. G. Grace was amongst the three Gloucestershire players who made up a "South of England" who won there in 1877. The park also has tennis courts, a bowling green, and a popular jogging circuit. It is also used every November to hold the European Cross Country Championships trial races for the British team, and makes up part of the route of various annual road races including the Liverpool Half Marathon, Rock & Roll Marathon and Spring 10k.

The park has also been a site for Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra's summer pops season, Africa Oyé and the Moscow State Circus. Bands have also played at the park in the '80s such as Echo and the Bunnymen.

In 2005 the park received provisional approval for a major £5 million Heritage Lottery funded renovation project which involves the refurbishment and improvement of many of the park's features. The work began in June 2007 was expected to be completed in summer 2009. This work was very controversial with some regular users of the park as it included destroying trees and breeding sites of birds. The work led to the formation of the "Friends of Sefton Park" campaigns.

This is a Grade II* three tier dome conservatory palm house designed and built by MacKenzie and Moncur of Edinburgh which opened in 1896. In June 1992, a public meeting was held highlighting the dereliction and calling for restoration. A petition was presented to the City Council by what had become the "Save the Palm House" campaign. A public fund raising campaign was established, with a "sponsor a pane" programme generating over £35,000. This led directly to the conversion of Save the Palm House into a registered charity (Friends of Sefton Park Palm House). Among the supporters of the project were Liverpool jazz singer George Melly and actress Margi Clarke; Melly described it as "the magical palace of my childhood" and "a fairy castle". The Palm House was partially repaired and reopened in 1993. It was fully restored at a cost of £3.5 million with Heritage Lottery and European funding and reopened in September 2001. It is now both a popular visitor attraction offering free and paid for public entertainment and is venue for hire. replacing the original which was residing in Liverpool's Conservation Centre before the centre closed to the public.

The principal entrance to the Park, opposite Lodge Lane, is the location of the Samuel Smith memorial. This is in the form of a tall granite obelisk, which stands at the head of an avenue leading to the park’s central plaza, where the Shaftesbury fountain and central cafe stand, and where the aviary once stood. The obelisk is mounted on a plinth with two (now non functioning) drinking fountains either side (N&S); above each is the legend "Whosoever drinketh of this water  shall thirst again. But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give them shall never thirst", taken from St. John's Gospel. Above the fountains on each side of the plinth are four bronze plaques representing Smith's life and work. The front plaque (W) bears an image of Samuel Smith in high relief; and the two sides (N&S) have images of Christian charity, and the rear (E) plaque bears an inscription detailing his biography, and underneath "Them that honour Me, I will honour". The plaque also states that the monument was raised by public subscription. The obelisk is Grade II listed.

The Field of Hope is an area in the south east quarter of the park. It was planted with thousands of daffodil bulbs through a charitable planting programme and continues to bloom each year. In 1990 the Marie Curie centre in Woolton, which had received a donation of daffodils from Geests to be used for fundraising, had the idea of planting a "Field of Hope" in order to inspire cancer sufferers and carers. In co operation with the city council, a million daffodils were planted across the south east corner of the park. This has led to similar fields being established in other parts of the city, including Stanley Park, Clarke Gardens, and Woolton Village.

An aviary was introduced to the park in 1901 and was home to many exotic birds. After falling into disuse in the 1990s, the old cages were removed during the restoration project and replaced with a new curved viewing point overlooking new outside planting.

The park also boasted a small open air theatre – "The Concert" – near the café which featured singers, magicians and talent contests to entertain local children during the summer holidays. This was removed in the 1970s.

The lake was a popular venue for boating until the 1970s, with a jetty and boat hire facilities. The lake was totally emptied in 2007 for the extensive renovation work and all of the fish (which included specimen weights of carp, tench, roach, pike and golden orf) were caught with large nets and sent to various locations across the UK. Following its restoration, the lake was refilled in 2010. Turtles have also been spotted in the lake.