Sefton Park
Encyclopedia
Sefton Park is a public park
in south Liverpool
, England
. The park is in a district of the same name
within the Liverpool City Council
Ward of Mossley Hill
, and roughly within the historic bounds of the large area of Toxteth Park. Neighbouring districts include modern-day Toxteth
, Aigburth
, Mossley Hill
, and St Michael's Hamlet
.
The park is 640 acre (2.6 km²) in area and has been designated a Grade II* Historic Park by English Heritage
making it one of three such parks in the city, along with the nearby Princes Park
and St James Cemetery
.
of Toxteth which became "disparked" in 1591. 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 tiny uninhabitable houses where the air was stagnant, there was little or no sanitation and running water consisted of 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. An Act of Parliament
in 1864 permitted corporations to borrow sums of money 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 (1.5 km²) of land for the development of the park for £
250,000 from the Earl of Sefton.
Even though it was recognised by politicians that clean, fresh open spaces were now regarded as necessity there was an outcry from the public that £250,000 was extravagant and wasteful. 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.
Soon after, a European competition was launched to design a grand park. 29 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 on 20 May 1872 by Prince Arthur
who dedicated it "for the health and enjoyment of the townspeople".
The Park design is based on circular, oval and marginal footpaths, framing the green spaces, with two natural watercourses flowing into the 7 acre (0.02832802 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.
The park had a gallops which led to it being nicknamed "the Hyde Park
of the North" but was always referred to by locals as "The Jockey Sands".
A major park improvement programme was undertaken in 1983 prior to International Garden Festival
.
players who made up a "South of England" team who won there in 1877. The park also has tennis court
s, a bowling green
, a popular jogging circuit and local league football is a regular weekend fixture. It is also used every November to hold the European Cross Country Championships
trial races for the British team
.
'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 Bunneymen.
designed and built by MacKenzie and Moncur of Edinburgh
which opened in 1896. Liverpool millionaire
Henry Yates Thompson (the great nephew of the founder of Princes Park
) gifted £10,000 to the city to fund the construction. It was designed in the tradition of Joseph Paxton
's glass houses and was stocked originally with a rich collection of exotic plants.
During the Liverpool Blitz
of May 1941 a bomb fell nearby and shattered the glass. It was reglazed in 1950 at a cost of £6,163 with costs covered by War Restoration funds. A period of decline and deterioration culminated in its closure in the 1980s on grounds of safety.
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). 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.
The eight ‘corners’ of the Palm House are marked by statues by the French sculptor Leon-Joseph Chavalliaud. These include explorers Captain Cook, Christopher Columbus
, navigators Gerardus Mercator
and Henry the Navigator, botanists and explorers Charles Darwin
, Carl Linnaeus and John Parkinson
and landscape architect Andre le Notre
. Inside the Palm House are two sculptures by Benjamin Edward Spence "Highland Mary" and "The Angel's Whisper".
The grounds of the Palm House feature a statue of Peter Pan
which was one of the last works by the British sculptor Sir George Frampton
. This is Grade II listed and is a replica of a similar statue given as a gift for the visiting public 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. It originally sat in Sefton Park but was damaged in the 1990s. It was restored at Liverpool's Conservation Centre
, and returned to the more secure location of the Palm House's grounds in December 2005.
in London
's Piccadilly Circus
. It was restored in 2008 with a new aluminium Eros statue replacing the original which now resides in Liverpool's Conservation Centre.
which flows into a mirror pond.
drinking fountain and several prominent statues including a memorial to William Rathbone V
by Sir Thomas Brock
unveiled in 1887, and an obelisk, the Samuel Smith memorial located by the principal entrance to the Park. There is a bandstand, popular since the Victorian era, which is said to be the inspiration for The Beatles
' song Sgt Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band. An iron bridge was opened in 1873 which spans the Fairy Glen. There is a cafe in the centre of the park called the Aviary Cafe and a pirate themed children's play area opened in 2009.
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 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.
Park
A park is a protected area, in its natural or semi-natural state, or planted, and set aside for human recreation and enjoyment, or for the protection of wildlife or natural habitats. It may consist of rocks, soil, water, flora and fauna and grass areas. Many parks are legally protected by...
in south Liverpool
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. The park is in a district of the same name
Sefton Park (district)
Sefton Park is a district within the city of Liverpool, Merseyside, United Kingdom. The area is part of the Liverpool City Council Ward of Mossley Hill.The district surrounds the park from which it takes its name, i.e. Sefton Park...
within the Liverpool City Council
Liverpool City Council
Liverpool City Council is the governing body for the city of Liverpool in Merseyside, England. It consists of 90 councillors, three for each of the city's 30 wards. The council is currently controlled by the Labour Party and is led by Joe Anderson.-Domain:...
Ward of Mossley Hill
Mossley Hill
Mossley Hill is a district of Liverpool, Merseyside, England and a Liverpool City Council Ward. It is located to the south of the city, bordered by Aigburth, Wavertree, Childwall and Allerton. At the 2001 Census, the Mossley Hill ward had a population which was recorded at 12,650.-Notable...
, and roughly within the historic bounds of the large area of Toxteth Park. Neighbouring districts include modern-day Toxteth
Toxteth
Toxteth is an inner city area of Liverpool, England. Located to the south of the city, Toxteth is bordered by Liverpool City Centre, Dingle, Edge Hill, Wavertree and Aigburth.-Description:...
, Aigburth
Aigburth
Aigburth is a suburb of Liverpool, Merseyside, England. Located to the south of the city, it is bordered by Dingle, Mossley Hill, and Garston.-History:...
, Mossley Hill
Mossley Hill
Mossley Hill is a district of Liverpool, Merseyside, England and a Liverpool City Council Ward. It is located to the south of the city, bordered by Aigburth, Wavertree, Childwall and Allerton. At the 2001 Census, the Mossley Hill ward had a population which was recorded at 12,650.-Notable...
, and St Michael's Hamlet
St Michael's Hamlet
St Michael's Hamlet, also known as St Michael-in-the-Hamlet or simply St Michael's, is a suburb of Liverpool, Merseyside, England and a Liverpool City Council Ward. It is located to the south of the city, bordered by Dingle, and Mossley Hill....
.
The park is 640 acre (2.6 km²) in area and has been designated a Grade II* Historic Park by English Heritage
English Heritage
English Heritage . is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport...
making it one of three such parks in the city, along with the nearby Princes Park
Princes Park, Liverpool
Princes Park in Toxteth, Liverpool, England, is a 45 hectare municipal park, 2 miles south east of Liverpool city centre. In 2009 it had it status upgraded to a Grade II* Historic Park by English Heritage....
and St James Cemetery
St James Cemetery
St James's Cemetery is an urban park behind the Liverpool Cathedral that is below ground level. Until 1825, the space was a stone quarry, and until 1936 it was used as the Liverpool city cemetery. It has been designated a Grade I Historic Park by English Heritage.-History:The workings and...
.
History
The site of the park was once within the boundaries of the 2300 acres (9.3 km²) Royal Deer ParkMedieval deer park
A medieval deer park was an enclosed area containing deer. It was bounded by a ditch and bank with a wooden park pale on top of the bank. The ditch was typically on the inside, thus allowing deer to enter the park but preventing them from leaving.-History:...
of Toxteth which became "disparked" in 1591. The land eventually came under the control of the Earl of Sefton
Earl of Sefton
The title Earl of Sefton was created in the Peerage of Ireland in1771 for the 8th Viscount Molyneux. The Earls of Sefton held the subsidiary titles Viscount Molyneux, of Maryborough in the Queen's County , in the Peerage of Ireland, and Baron Sefton, of Croxteth in the County Palatine of Lancaster...
.
As Toxteth rapidly grew, the green fields and woodland of Toxteth Park grew into narrow streets and courts packed tiny uninhabitable houses where the air was stagnant, there was little or no sanitation and running water consisted of 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
Liverpool City Council
Liverpool City Council is the governing body for the city of Liverpool in Merseyside, England. It consists of 90 councillors, three for each of the city's 30 wards. The council is currently controlled by the Labour Party and is led by Joe Anderson.-Domain:...
Engineer recommended a site for this development. An Act of Parliament
Act of Parliament
An Act of Parliament is a statute enacted as primary legislation by a national or sub-national parliament. In the Republic of Ireland the term Act of the Oireachtas is used, and in the United States the term Act of Congress is used.In Commonwealth countries, the term is used both in a narrow...
in 1864 permitted corporations to borrow sums of money 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 (1.5 km²) of land for the development of the park for £
Pound sterling
The pound sterling , commonly called the pound, is the official currency of the United Kingdom, its Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, British Antarctic Territory and Tristan da Cunha. It is subdivided into 100 pence...
250,000 from the Earl of Sefton.
Even though it was recognised by politicians that clean, fresh open spaces were now regarded as necessity there was an outcry from the public that £250,000 was extravagant and wasteful. 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.
Soon after, a European competition was launched to design a grand park. 29 entries were received and the competition was won by a French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
landscape architect
Landscape architect
A landscape architect is a person involved in the planning, design and sometimes direction of a landscape, garden, or distinct space. The professional practice is known as landscape architecture....
Édouard André
Édouard André
Édouard François André was a French horticulturalist, landscape designer, as well as a leading landscape architect of the late 19th century, famous for designing city parks and public spaces of Monte Carlo and Montevideo....
with work on the design also undertaken by Liverpool architect
Architect
An architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...
Lewis Hornblower
Lewis Hornblower
Lewis Hornblower was a Liverpool architect, who along with French landscape architect Édouard André was responsible for the design of Sefton Park in Liverpool....
. The park was opened on on 20 May 1872 by Prince Arthur
Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn
Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn was a member of the shared British and Saxe-Coburg and Gotha royal family who served as the Governor General of Canada, the 10th since Canadian Confederation.Born the seventh child and third son of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and...
who dedicated it "for the health and enjoyment of the townspeople".
The Park design is based on circular, oval and marginal footpaths, framing the green spaces, with two natural watercourses flowing into the 7 acre (0.02832802 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
Victorian architecture
The term Victorian architecture refers collectively to several architectural styles employed predominantly during the middle and late 19th century. The period that it indicates may slightly overlap the actual reign, 20 June 1837 – 22 January 1901, of Queen Victoria. This represents the British and...
buildings constructed to around 1890, and Edwardian
Edwardian architecture
Edwardian architecture is the style popular when King Edward VII of the United Kingdom was in power; he reigned from 1901 to 1910, but the architecture style is generally considered to be indicative of the years 1901 to 1914....
houses. Additional development of the park continued with the construction of the iron bridge in 1873.
The park had a gallops which led to it being nicknamed "the Hyde Park
Hyde Park, London
Hyde Park is one of the largest parks in central London, United Kingdom, and one of the Royal Parks of London, famous for its Speakers' Corner.The park is divided in two by the Serpentine...
of the North" but was always referred to by locals as "The Jockey Sands".
A major park improvement programme was undertaken in 1983 prior to International Garden Festival
International Garden Festival
thumb|200px|right|Commemorative [[coffee]] [[mug]] from the festival, showing a [[cartoon]] [[Liver bird]].The International Garden Festival was a garden festival recognised by the International Association of Horticultural producers and the Bureau of International Exhibitions and held in...
.
Sporting uses
Sefton Park Cricket Club moved their ground to the park in 1876 and WG Grace was amongst the three GloucestershireGloucestershire County Cricket Club
Gloucestershire County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh national cricket structure, representing the historic county of Gloucestershire. Its limited overs team is called the Gloucestershire Gladiators....
players who made up a "South of England" team who won there in 1877. The park also has tennis court
Tennis court
A tennis court is where the game of tennis is played. It is a firm rectangular surface with a low net stretched across the center. The same surface can be used to play both doubles and singles.-Dimensions:...
s, a bowling green
Bowling green
A bowling green is a finely-laid, close-mown and rolled stretch of lawn for playing the game of lawn bowls.Before 1830, when Edwin Beard Budding invented the lawnmower, lawns were often kept cropped by grazing sheep on them...
, a popular jogging circuit and local league football is a regular weekend fixture. It is also used every November to hold the European Cross Country Championships
European Cross Country Championships
The European Cross Country Championships is an annual international cross country running competition. Organised by the European Athletic Association, it is the area championships for the region and is held in December each year...
trial races for the British team
UK Athletics
UK Athletics is the governing body for the sport of athletics in the United Kingdom. It is responsible for overseeing the governance of athletics events in the UK as well as athletes, their development, and athletics officials....
.
Entertainment uses
The park has also been a site for Royal Liverpool Philharmonic OrchestraRoyal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra
The Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Society is a society based in Liverpool, Merseyside, England, that organises concerts and other events mainly in the field of classical music. The society is the second oldest of its type in the United Kingdom and its orchestra, the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic...
's summer pops season, Africa Oyé
Africa Oyé
Africa Oyé is the largest free live African music festival in the UK and is held in June annually in Liverpool, England. It is held in Sefton Park and showcases up-and-coming African and Caribbean artists, as well as presenting already famous artists....
and the Moscow State Circus
Moscow State Circus
The title “Moscow State Circus” is used for a variety of circuses. Most commonly, it refers to one of the two circus buildings in Moscow, the “” and the “Bolshoi Circus” , or to traveling shows which may or may not be directly related to Russia.The Russian Circus rose to world acclaim during the...
. Bands have also played at the park in the 80s such as Echo and the Bunneymen.
Restoration
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.Palm House
This is a Grade II* three-tier dome conservatory palm housePalm House
A palm house is a greenhouse that is specialised for the growing of palms and other tropical and subtropical plants. Palm houses require constant heat and were built as status symbols in Victorian Britain...
designed and built by MacKenzie and Moncur of Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
which opened in 1896. Liverpool millionaire
Millionaire
A millionaire is an individual whose net worth or wealth is equal to or exceeds one million units of currency. It can also be a person who owns one million units of currency in a bank account or savings account...
Henry Yates Thompson (the great nephew of the founder of Princes Park
Princes Park, Liverpool
Princes Park in Toxteth, Liverpool, England, is a 45 hectare municipal park, 2 miles south east of Liverpool city centre. In 2009 it had it status upgraded to a Grade II* Historic Park by English Heritage....
) gifted £10,000 to the city to fund the construction. It was designed in the tradition of Joseph Paxton
Joseph Paxton
Sir Joseph Paxton was an English gardener and architect, best known for designing The Crystal Palace.-Early life:...
's glass houses and was stocked originally with a rich collection of exotic plants.
During the Liverpool Blitz
Liverpool Blitz
The Liverpool Blitz was the heavy and sustained bombing of the British city of Liverpool and its surrounding area, at the time mostly within the counties of Lancashire and Cheshire but commonly known as Merseyside, during the Second World War by the German Luftwaffe.Liverpool, Bootle, and the...
of May 1941 a bomb fell nearby and shattered the glass. It was reglazed in 1950 at a cost of £6,163 with costs covered by War Restoration funds. A period of decline and deterioration culminated in its closure in the 1980s on grounds of safety.
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). 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.
The eight ‘corners’ of the Palm House are marked by statues by the French sculptor Leon-Joseph Chavalliaud. These include explorers Captain Cook, Christopher Columbus
Christopher Columbus
Christopher Columbus was an explorer, colonizer, and navigator, born in the Republic of Genoa, in northwestern Italy. Under the auspices of the Catholic Monarchs of Spain, he completed four voyages across the Atlantic Ocean that led to general European awareness of the American continents in the...
, navigators Gerardus Mercator
Gerardus Mercator
thumb|right|200px|Gerardus MercatorGerardus Mercator was a cartographer, born in Rupelmonde in the Hapsburg County of Flanders, part of the Holy Roman Empire. He is remembered for the Mercator projection world map, which is named after him...
and Henry the Navigator, botanists and explorers Charles Darwin
Charles Darwin
Charles Robert Darwin FRS was an English naturalist. He established that all species of life have descended over time from common ancestry, and proposed the scientific theory that this branching pattern of evolution resulted from a process that he called natural selection.He published his theory...
, Carl Linnaeus and John Parkinson
John Parkinson (botanist)
John Parkinson was the last of the great English herbalists and one of the first of the great English botanists. He was apothecary to James I and a founding member of the Worshipful Society of Apothecaries in December 1617, and was later Royal Botanist to Charles I...
and landscape architect Andre le Notre
André Le Nôtre
André Le Nôtre was a French landscape architect and the principal gardener of King Louis XIV of France...
. Inside the Palm House are two sculptures by Benjamin Edward Spence "Highland Mary" and "The Angel's Whisper".
The grounds of the Palm House feature a statue of Peter Pan
Peter Pan
Peter Pan is a character created by Scottish novelist and playwright J. M. Barrie . A mischievous boy who can fly and magically refuses to grow up, Peter Pan spends his never-ending childhood adventuring on the small island of Neverland as the leader of his gang the Lost Boys, interacting with...
which was one of the last works by the British sculptor Sir George Frampton
George Frampton
Sir George James Frampton, RA was a notable British sculptor and leading member of the New Sculpture movement.-Early life and career:...
. This is Grade II listed and is a replica of a similar statue given as a gift for the visiting public to Kensington Gardens
Kensington Gardens
Kensington Gardens, once the private gardens of Kensington Palace, is one of the Royal Parks of London, lying immediately to the west of Hyde Park. It is shared between the City of Westminster and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. The park covers an area of 111 hectares .The open spaces...
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. It originally sat in Sefton Park but was damaged in the 1990s. It was restored at Liverpool's Conservation Centre
Conservation Centre Liverpool
The National Conservation Centre in Liverpool, England is the conservation department of National Museums Liverpool. It is based in The Midland Railway Goods Offices....
, and returned to the more secure location of the Palm House's grounds in December 2005.
Shaftesbury Memorial and Eros Fountain
This is Grade II listed and situated in the centre of the Park next to the cafe and former site of the aviary. The fountain, made from bronze and aluminium, was unveiled in 1932 and is a replica of a memorial to Lord Shaftesbury created by Sir Alfred GilbertAlfred Gilbert
Sir Alfred Gilbert was an English sculptor and goldsmith who enthusiastically experimented with metallurgical innovations...
in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
's Piccadilly Circus
Piccadilly Circus
Piccadilly Circus is a road junction and public space of London's West End in the City of Westminster, built in 1819 to connect Regent Street with the major shopping street of Piccadilly...
. It was restored in 2008 with a new aluminium Eros statue replacing the original which now resides in Liverpool's Conservation Centre.
Grotto
An artificial cave also known as Old Nick's Caves. This was built around 1870 by French rockwork specialist M. Combaz. It includes a waterfallWaterfall
A waterfall is a place where flowing water rapidly drops in elevation as it flows over a steep region or a cliff.-Formation:Waterfalls are commonly formed when a river is young. At these times the channel is often narrow and deep. When the river courses over resistant bedrock, erosion happens...
which flows into a mirror pond.
Other statues and facilities
The park features a GothicGothic Revival architecture
The Gothic Revival is an architectural movement that began in the 1740s in England...
drinking fountain and several prominent statues including a memorial to William Rathbone V
William Rathbone V
-Life:A member of the noted Rathbone family of Liverpool, he was the eldest son of William Rathbone IV and Hannah Mary . He was a Liverpool merchant in partnership with Richard Rathbone, his brother....
by Sir Thomas Brock
Thomas Brock
Sir Thomas Brock KCB RA was an English sculptor.- Life :Brock was born in Worcester, attended the School of Design in Worcester and then undertook an apprenticeship in modelling at the Worcester Royal Porcelain Works. In 1866 he became a pupil of the sculptor John Henry Foley. He married in 1869,...
unveiled in 1887, and an obelisk, the Samuel Smith memorial located by the principal entrance to the Park. There is a bandstand, popular since the Victorian era, which is said to be the inspiration for The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
' song Sgt Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band. An iron bridge was opened in 1873 which spans the Fairy Glen. There is a cafe in the centre of the park called the Aviary Cafe and a pirate themed children's play area opened in 2009.
Aviary
An aviaryAviary
An aviary is a large enclosure for confining birds. Unlike cages, aviaries allow birds a larger living space where they can fly; hence, aviaries are also sometimes known as flight cages...
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 Concert
The park also boasted a small open-air theatreTheatre
Theatre is a collaborative form of fine art that uses live performers to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place. The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music or dance...
– "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.