Sefton Park - L17
Sefton Park
Sefton Park is a pretty big park. I wish I'd done a little more research before I decided to walk around it. 235 acres, apparently. Not too shabby.
Back in the long, long ago, what is now Sefton Park, was just a little part of the 2,300 acre Royal Deer Park of Toxteth. In 1591 it was 'disparked' (I didn't know that there was such a concept) and the Earl of Sefton, somehow got his paws on it. Amazing how these rich people come to own something that didn't really 'belong' to the person (or persons) selling it, in the first place, isn't it? But, anyway. As Toxteth grew, chunks of the park got turned into slums for the plebs, who were making the fat cats rich through their hours of long work for pittance wages. There was no sanitation or, running water, and it was all getting a little unsightly, whiffy, and you could catch some rather unpleasant diseases from the poor people, don't you know. Something had to be done, mainly because the feudal overlords wanted to build their nice big mansions on the green and pleasant lands to the south of Liverpool. So, in 1862, deals started to be done and, in 1867, a parcel of 375 acres of land was purchased from the Earl of Sefton, the latter trousering a whopping £250,000 for something that really wasn't his in the first place. Nice work if you can get it.
If you were wondering where 145 acres of that purchase went, well, that got sold off for building the aforementioned large mansions, 'to fund the building of the park'. Presumably, everyone made a nice bundle off it.
Back in the long, long ago, what is now Sefton Park, was just a little part of the 2,300 acre Royal Deer Park of Toxteth. In 1591 it was 'disparked' (I didn't know that there was such a concept) and the Earl of Sefton, somehow got his paws on it. Amazing how these rich people come to own something that didn't really 'belong' to the person (or persons) selling it, in the first place, isn't it? But, anyway. As Toxteth grew, chunks of the park got turned into slums for the plebs, who were making the fat cats rich through their hours of long work for pittance wages. There was no sanitation or, running water, and it was all getting a little unsightly, whiffy, and you could catch some rather unpleasant diseases from the poor people, don't you know. Something had to be done, mainly because the feudal overlords wanted to build their nice big mansions on the green and pleasant lands to the south of Liverpool. So, in 1862, deals started to be done and, in 1867, a parcel of 375 acres of land was purchased from the Earl of Sefton, the latter trousering a whopping £250,000 for something that really wasn't his in the first place. Nice work if you can get it.
If you were wondering where 145 acres of that purchase went, well, that got sold off for building the aforementioned large mansions, 'to fund the building of the park'. Presumably, everyone made a nice bundle off it.
Sefton Park
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The next step was a European competition to design a Grand Park, so that the people in the big houses would have pretty views. Some ffrenchie won it but, they did allow a token local, Liverpudlian architect Lewis Hornblower, to work on some parts. On 20th May 1872, Prince Arthur opened the park "for the health and enjoyment of the townspeople" and, don't forget, so that the occupants of big houses would have nice views, with some nice big trees around the perimeter so that they didn't have to actually see the proles making their lovely park look untidy.
Sniping aside (justified as it may be), the park does have some very impressive features, such as the ornate lodges, park entrances, follies, and boathouses, which are down to Hornblower. |
The Palm House
The Palm House, is a 3-tier conservatory, designed by Mackenzie and Moncur of Edinburgh, and it is a Grade II listed building. In the Liverpool Blitz of 1941, a bomb landed nearby, shattering all the glass. It was reglazed after the war but, over the years, fell into disrepair and was closed in the 1980s on safety grounds. From 1992, various attempts at funding restoration were launched, eventually receiving the necessary money for the work to be carried out. It was reopened in 2001.
The eight corners of the Palm House feature statues of Captain Cook, Christopher Columbus, Gerardus Mercator, Henry the Navigator, Charles Darwin, Carl Linnaeus, John Parkinson, and Andre le Notre. Inside are sculptures "Highland Mary" and "The Angel's Whisper".
The eight corners of the Palm House feature statues of Captain Cook, Christopher Columbus, Gerardus Mercator, Henry the Navigator, Charles Darwin, Carl Linnaeus, John Parkinson, and Andre le Notre. Inside are sculptures "Highland Mary" and "The Angel's Whisper".
Peter Pan
The grounds of the Palm House features a statue of Peter Pan by British sculptor Sir George Frampton.
This is Grade II listed and is a replica of a similar statue given to Kensington Gardens by author J.M. Barrie. The statue was donated to the park by George Audley in 1928 and was unveiled in the presence of Barrie.
Originally, it was located in the park itself but, after being repeatedly vandalised in the 1990s, it was restored and returned to the more secure location of the Palm House's grounds in December 2005.
Sam Smith
The phallic obelisk at the principal entrance to the Park is to Samuel Smith.
Sadly, it is not a homage to the beer dude.
This particular Smith was a plastic scouser, local merchant MP, Christian Philanthropist (whatever that is) and, according to the blurb, 'a friend of India'. So, there!
Eros
The Shaftesbury Fountain and Eros statue is Grade II listed, this is located a fair old hike from the main park entrance, in the centre of the park next to the cafe which, apparently, used to be an aviary. Budgie burgers, anyone?
The fountain is made from bronze and aluminium and was unveiled in 1932. It's a fake, mind you, albeit a pretty cool one. It is a replica of the more famous memorial to Lord Shaftesbury (tory) in London's Piccadilly Circus. It was restored in 2008, with a new aluminium Eros replacing the original.
Gnarly Gothic drinking fountain
At one end of the boating lake is a rather gnarly Gothic drinking fountain.
As Gothic as it is, unless it supplies unlimited quantities of absinthe, I'm not putting my mouth anywhere near it as it is the local skyrats' favourite hangout and they show their appreciation covering it with impressive quantities of guano.
Willy Rathbone V
The memorial to William Rathbone V by Sir Thomas Brock was unveiled in 1887. At least this local merchant wasn't a tory. He was a liberal MP and Mayor of Liverpool. I'm sure he was a philanthropist, kind to poor people, and loved his mother, yadda, yadda, yadda...
The bandstand, popular since the Victorian era, is said to be the inspiration for the The Beatles' Sgt Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band. But, that could just be bollocks. It may or, may not have something to do with it. I can see that if John was dropping some LSD whilst having a lazy stroll around Sefton Park one Sunday afternoon, it could have sparked an idea but, it could just be a nice urban myth. It reminds me of something off Trumpton.
Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Bandstand?
Faerie Glen
So, there you have it, Sefton Park. Not named after either, the winner of the 1878 Epsom Derby nor, the one that was injured in the 1982 IRA bombing in Hyde Park and Regent's Park. Named, instead, after a tory descended from a ffrenchie, who hung out at Croxteth Hall, and made a killing selling some land he never really owned in the first place.
Mark L. Potts
The God of Thunder
16th November 2014
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Mark L. Potts
The God of Thunder
16th November 2014
Click here for the next bit...