Birkenhead Park
Birkenhead Park | |
---|---|
![]() | |
![]() | |
Type | Public park |
Location | Birkenhead, Merseyside, England. |
Coordinates | 53°23′35″N 3°02′28″W / 53.393°N 3.041°W |
Created | 5 April 1847 |
Operated by | Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council |
Status | Open all year |
Website | https://www.birkenheadpark1847.com |
Birkenhead Park is a major public park located in the centre of Birkenhead, Merseyside, England. It was designed by Joseph Paxton and opened on 5 April 1847.
Birkenhead park was designated a
The park contains many listed buildings. The Grand Entrance was designed by Lewis Hornblower and is at the northeast corner; it consists of three arches flanked by lodges and is in Ionic style. The Swiss Bridge, a pedestrian span of stringer construction, is unique as being the only covered bridge of traditional wooden construction in the United Kingdom. There is also a Pavilion called the Roman Boathouse standing by the lake in the park, the upper storey of which was originally intended to be a bandstand. There are many historic listed lodges of various designs within the grounds of the park.
The park has a modern visitor centre, café, children's play area, woodland walks and various sporting facilities and clubs.
History
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1c/Roman_pavilion%2C_Birkenhead_Park_2019-1.jpg/250px-Roman_pavilion%2C_Birkenhead_Park_2019-1.jpg)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/16/Swiss_Bridge%2C_Birkenhead_Park_2019-1.jpg/250px-Swiss_Bridge%2C_Birkenhead_Park_2019-1.jpg)
In 1841 an
The park took five years to build and was officially opened on 5 April 1847 by
During the
The park was designated a
The park became run down and neglected towards the end of the 20th century. Beginning in the late 2000s, it has undergone major restoration work. A purpose-built visitors centre has been installed and work done to restore its original buildings and bridges as well as tidy up the lakes and parklands, and unblock the drainage system. The park underwent a five-year £11.5 million renovation completed in 2007, funded jointly by the
Influence on other parks
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/03/Birkenhead_Park_Map.jpg/250px-Birkenhead_Park_Map.jpg)
Birkenhead park was the first park to be established at public expense in the United Kingdom. Prior to Birkenhead all parks had been created by private individuals or private organisations and access was held privately, although it could be given to the public. Birkenhead park was influential on the design of public parks both in the UK and internationally and it is considered a landmark in the history of public parks.[6]
In 1850, American landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted arrived by ship in Liverpool. During his stay in Northwest England, he paid a visit to Birkenhead Park along with several other public gardens. He noted Birkenhead was "a model town" which was built "all in accordance with the advanced science, taste, and enterprising spirit that are supposed to distinguish the nineteenth century".[14] In 1858, he and Calvert Vaux won the competition to design a new park, Central Park, for the rapidly growing city of New York.[15]
Olmsted, who was influenced by the park, was greatly impressed by Paxton's designs. In his book Walks and Talks of an American Farmer in England, he wrote about its social value as an aesthetic form:
five minutes of admiration, and a few more spent studying the manner in which art had been employed to obtain from nature so much beauty, and I was ready to admit that in democratic America there was nothing to be thought of as comparable with this People's Garden.[16]
Olmsted also commented on the "perfection" of the park's gardening:
I cannot undertake to describe the effect of so much taste and skill as had evidently been employed; I will only tell you, that we passed by winding paths, over acres and acres, with a constant varying surface, where on all sides were growing every variety of shrubs and flowers, with more than natural grace, all set in borders of greenest, closest turf, and all kept with consummate neatness.[16]
Birkenhead Park was used as a template for the creation of Sefton Park, which opened in Liverpool in 1872.[citation needed]
Points of interest
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0b/Birkenhead_Park_cricket_pavilion_2.jpg/250px-Birkenhead_Park_cricket_pavilion_2.jpg)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d0/Jackson_monument%2C_Birkenhead_Park_front.jpg/250px-Jackson_monument%2C_Birkenhead_Park_front.jpg)
The Grand Entrance is at the northeast entrance to Birkenhead Park. It consists of three arches flanked by lodges and is in Ionic style. The entrance was designed by Lewis Hornblower, with amendments by Joseph Paxton, the designer of the park. The park, and its entrance, were opened in 1847. The Grand Entrance is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II* listed building.[17]
The Swiss Bridge, a 23-foot (7.01 m) pedestrian span of stringer construction built in 1847, is unique as being the only covered bridge of traditional wooden construction (similar to North American and European covered bridges) in the United Kingdom. It was modelled after similar wooden bridges in Switzerland.[18][a]
The Roman Boathouse stands by the lake in the park, the upper storey was originally intended to be a bandstand. It is built in stone and consists of a square pavilion with a segmental arch to the boathouse, above which is an
The Cricket Pavilion was built in 1849, designed by
The Jackson Memorial Drinking Fountain near the main entrance to Birkenhead Park is in the form of an
Facilities
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/ec/Birkenhead_Park_Visitor_Centre_2019-4.jpg/250px-Birkenhead_Park_Visitor_Centre_2019-4.jpg)
There is a visitor centre with cafe, a children's play area, landscaped gardens, two cricket clubs, a rugby club, rockery, tennis courts, bowling greens, football pitches, two large fishing lakes, a fitness trail and woodland walks.[25]
Sporting activities
- Birkenhead Park Cricket Club opened in 1847. Its clubhouse was built in 1849. It now plays in the Liverpool and District Cricket Competition.
- Football was permitted in the park from 1861.
- 1978.
- Social cycling events and competitive criterium cycle races are held on Park Drive, the park's circuit road.[26][27]
- Birkenhead parkrun is a free weekly timed 5 km (3.1 mi) run that takes place every Saturday.[28] It starts at the Claughton Village entrance to the park and consists of two laps round the upper half of the park.
See also
Notes
- ^ A similar bridge, the Swiss Bridge, Cardiff Castle, designed by William Burges in the 1870s, was demolished in the 1960s.[19]
References
- ^ "The History of Birkenhead Park". Metropolitan Borough of Wirral. Archived from the original on 26 June 2008. Retrieved 26 March 2008.
- ISBN 1-85983-350-0
- ^ ISBN 9781909686656.
- ^ a b Hartwell et al. (2011), pp. 144–146
- ^ Hartwell et al. (2011), pp. 159–151
- ^ a b Historic England. "Birkenhead Park (Grade I) (1000994)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 10 April 2023.
- ^ "Birkenhead Park". Liverpool Parks. Retrieved 2 April 2020.
- ISBN 9781781592953.
- ^ "Service remembers Spitfire crash". BBC News. 14 October 2012. Retrieved 2 April 2020.
- ^ "Birkenhead Park". Metropolitan Borough of Wirral. Archived from the original on 12 June 2008. Retrieved 26 March 2008.
- ^ Harrison, Emma (10 April 2023). "Unesco world heritage status: Seven sites win UK backing". BBC News. Retrieved 10 April 2023.
- ^ "£11.6m park restoration unveiled". BBC News. Retrieved 22 November 2015.
- ^ "Lease of life for Merseyside's world famous park" (PDF). eu&merseyside. Archived from the original (PDF) on 29 November 2006. Retrieved 5 April 2007.
- ^ Olmsted 1852, p. 83
- ^ Foderaro, Lisa W. (30 October 2019). "The Parks That Made the Man Who Made Central Park". The New York Times.
- ^ a b Olmsted 1852, p. 79
- ^ Historic England. "Grand Entrance Gateway with North and South Lodges (Grade II*) (1291891)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 10 April 2023.
- ^ Historic England. "Swiss Bridge, Birkenhead Park (Grade II) (1201594)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 10 April 2023.
- ^ "Swiss Bridge, Bute Park". Cardiff Parks.org. Retrieved 10 April 2023.
- ^ Hartwell et al. (2011), p. 145
- ^ Historic England. "Pavilion and boat house on East Lake, Birkenhead Park (Grade II) (1292291)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 10 April 2023.
- ^ Hartwell et al. (2011), pp. 145–146
- ^ Historic England. "Cricket Pavilion, Birkenhead Park (1201593)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 10 April 2023.
- ^ Historic England. "Memorial drinking fountain, Birkenhead Park (Grade II) (1210161)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 10 April 2023.
- ^ "Birkenhead Park". www.accessable.co.uk. Retrieved 28 November 2022.
- ^ "Cycling in Wirral". Wirral Groups. Retrieved 27 April 2018.
- ^ Manning, Craig. "Hundreds turn out for Wirral's first Leverhulme Grand Prix". Wirral Globe. Retrieved 20 October 2018.
- ^ "Birkenhead Parkrun". Parkrun. Retrieved 27 April 2018.
Sources
- OCLC 3900449.
- Hartwell, Clare; Hyde, Matthew; ISBN 978-0-300-17043-6
Further reading
- McInniss, Jean (1984). Birkenhead Park. Countyvise Ltd. OCLC 751775734.
External links
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg/30px-Commons-logo.svg.png)