John H Luxton Photography

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Sefton Park

Sefton Park is 235 acres (0.95 km2) in area and is designated Grade I in the Register of Historic Parks and Gardens by English Heritage.

The site of the park was once within the boundaries of the 2,300-acre (9.3 km2) Royal Deer Park of Toxteth which became "disparked" in 1591 with the land eventually came under the control of the Earl of Sefton.
As Toxteth rapidly grew, the green fields and woodland of Toxteth Park grew into narrow streets and courts packed by small houses.

At the same time there was demand for large mansions in the South of Liverpool this resulted in a recommendation made in 1862 by the Liverpool Corporation engineer to develop the site.

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 the purchase of land for Sefton Park.

In 1867 the Council purchased 375 acres (1.52 km2) of land for the development of the park for £250,000 from the Earl of Sefton.
Sefton Park is one of the largest of the "ribbon of Parks" originally envisioned in 1850s by the Liverpool Improvement Committee which eventually included Newsham and Stanley Parks.

As with neighbouring Princes Park plots of land on the perimeter were sold for housing which helped in the funding of the layout of the park.

A European competition was launched to design a grand park. Twenty nine entries were received and the competition was won by a French landscape architect Édouard André with work on the design also undertaken by Liverpool architect Lewis Hornblower. The park was opened on 20 May 1872 by Prince Arthur who dedicated it "for the health and enjoyment of the townspeople".

The Sefton Park design is based on circular, oval and marginal footpaths, framing the green spaces, with two natural watercourses flowing into the 7-acre (0.028 km2) man-made lake. Hornblower's designs for the park lodges and entrances were elaborate structures, and included follies, shelters and boathouses. The parkland itself included a deer park and the strong water theme was reflected by the presence of pools, waterfalls and stepping stones.

The Park, its exclusive villas and ornamentation reflected the grandeur of the City during its mid Victorian period when Liverpool was the second city of the Empire.
The perimeter road's outer edge is lined with Victorian buildings constructed to around 1890, and Edwardian houses. Additional development of the park continued with the construction of the iron bridge in 1873.
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  • Sefton Park, Liverpool, Merseyside - April 20, 2020

    Sefton Park, Liverpool, Merseyside - April 20, 2020

    Sefton Park Tennis Club

  • Sefton Park, Liverpool, Merseyside - April 20, 2020

    Sefton Park, Liverpool, Merseyside - April 20, 2020

    Sefton Park - Lark Lane Gates.

  • Sefton Park, Liverpool, Merseyside - April 19, 2020

    Sefton Park, Liverpool, Merseyside - April 19, 2020

    The Church of St Agnes and St Pancras located on Ullet Road at the edge of Sefton Park it is a Grade I listed building architectural historian Pevsner described it as "by far the most beautiful Victorian church of Liverpool...an epitome of Late Victorian nobility in church design". The church was constructed between 1883 and 1885 at a cost of £28,000 which was financed by the stockbroker H. Douglas Horsfall. The architect was John Loughborough Pearson. The parish stands in the Anglo-Catholic tradition of the Church of England. As it rejects the ordination of women, it receives alternative episcopal oversight from the Bishop of Beverley . St Agnes' Church is built in red brick with red sandstone dressings and a tile roof. Its plan consists of a four-bay nave with lean-to aisles and a clerestory, transepts at both ends, a south chapel with lean-to aisles, a short chancel with a canted polygonal apse, and an ambulatory which is flanked by turrets. At the west end are two porches. The west end and the transepts have angle buttresses and gable crosses. Over the east crossing is a lead-covered flèche. The windows are either lancets or have plate tracery. Behind the church is the vicarage which was built between 1885 and 1887 to a design by Norman Shaw and financed by H. Douglas Horsfall's mother. It is built in red brick with stone dressings and has two storeys. Its windows are arranged asymmetrically and include a canted oriel window on the street elevation. The vicarage is a Grade II* listed building. Also behind the church and attached to it by a passage is the church hall. It was built circa 1887 and is also by Shaw. The hall is built in red brick with a tile roof. Its main part has a clerestory and lean-to aisles, and behind this is a smaller single-story room with windows containing tracery. It is listed at Grade II.

  • Sefton Park, Liverpool, Merseyside - April 10, 2020

    Sefton Park, Liverpool, Merseyside - April 10, 2020

    Junction of Greenbank Drive and Croxteth Drive.

  • Sefton Park, Liverpool, Merseyside - April 10, 2020

    Sefton Park, Liverpool, Merseyside - April 10, 2020

    Sefton Park allotments on Greenbank Drive. During World War II much more of Sefton Park was given over to allotments some of the additional allotments surviving until the 1960s.

  • Sefton Park, Liverpool, Merseyside - April 10, 2020

    Sefton Park, Liverpool, Merseyside - April 10, 2020

    View along Greenbank Drive from Sefton Park.

  • Sefton Park, Liverpool, Merseyside - April 10, 2020

    Sefton Park, Liverpool, Merseyside - April 10, 2020

    Gledhill House (grade II listed) designed in 1881 by James F. Doyle for stockbroker R.W. Elliston. It is now subdivided as are many of the large houses into smaller residential units. The house made a brief appearance in one of the final episodes of the detective drama "Foyle's War".

  • Sefton Park, Liverpool, Merseyside - April 10, 2020

    Sefton Park, Liverpool, Merseyside - April 10, 2020

    Sefton Park Café showing the two wings added to the 1930s original structure in recent years.

  • Sefton Park, Liverpool, Merseyside - April 10, 2020

    Sefton Park, Liverpool, Merseyside - April 10, 2020

    The Cafe

  • Sefton Park, Liverpool, Merseyside - April 10, 2020

    Sefton Park, Liverpool, Merseyside - April 10, 2020

    Sefton Park Bowling Club

  • Sefton Park, Liverpool, Merseyside - April 10, 2020

    Sefton Park, Liverpool, Merseyside - April 10, 2020

    Sefton Park Bowling Club

  • Sefton Park, Liverpool, Merseyside - April 10, 2020

    Sefton Park, Liverpool, Merseyside - April 10, 2020

    Access to the park cafe near Livingstone Drive.

  • Sefton Park, Liverpool, Merseyside - April 10, 2020

    Sefton Park, Liverpool, Merseyside - April 10, 2020

    View north along the riding track.

  • Sefton Park, Liverpool, Merseyside - April 10, 2020

    Sefton Park, Liverpool, Merseyside - April 10, 2020

    The boat house cafe built on the foundations of the former boat house which can be seen. This was destroyed in a fire caused by vandals quite a few years ago.

  • Sefton Park, Liverpool, Merseyside - April 10, 2020

    Sefton Park, Liverpool, Merseyside - April 10, 2020

    L2020_1477

  • Sefton Park, Liverpool, Merseyside - April 10, 2020

    Sefton Park, Liverpool, Merseyside - April 10, 2020

    Bottoms Up! Sefton Park Boating Lake.

  • Sefton Park, Liverpool, Merseyside - April 10, 2020

    Sefton Park, Liverpool, Merseyside - April 10, 2020

    Bottoms Up! Sefton Park Boating Lake.

  • Sefton Park, Liverpool, Merseyside - April 10, 2020

    Sefton Park, Liverpool, Merseyside - April 10, 2020

    View north along the east side of Sefton Park boating lake.

  • Sefton Park, Liverpool, Merseyside - April 10, 2020

    Sefton Park, Liverpool, Merseyside - April 10, 2020

    The Boat House café constructed on the base of the original rustic boat house which suffered from the attention of vandals.

  • Sefton Park, Liverpool, Merseyside - April 10, 2020

    Sefton Park, Liverpool, Merseyside - April 10, 2020

    Southern end of the Sefton Park boating lake.

  • Sefton Park, Liverpool, Merseyside - April 10, 2020

    Sefton Park, Liverpool, Merseyside - April 10, 2020

    View towards the South West corner of the boating lake.

  • Sefton Park, Liverpool, Merseyside - April 10, 2020

    Sefton Park, Liverpool, Merseyside - April 10, 2020

    View across the boating lake to the ornamental tunnel designed by French rockwork specialist M. Combez.

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