Liverpool, Sefton Park Bridge 1887

Photo ref: 20050

More about this scene

Prize money of 300 guineas was announced for a competition in 1866 to design and lay out an area for 'the delight and pleasure of the public'. A Frenchman, M Andre, a gardener, and Liverpool's Mr Lewis Hornblower, architect, won that competition, and set about transforming the 233 acres bought from the Earl of Sefton. The cost of the land was £251,177 for 375 acres, but some of that was set aside for housing. The park was named after the Earl of Sefton, and is Liverpool's largest park, and larger than any of London's parks. It is also the most natural, with streams, small waterfalls and a rustic cast iron bridge over a ravine, shown here. An enclosed deer park, a boating lake, a cricket ground, and a review ground were among its original features when it was opened by HRH Prince Arthur (the third son of Queen Victoria) on Monday, 20 May 1872. The Prince stayed in Liverpool at the Grange, Wavertree, the home of Liverpool MP Mr S R Graves. After declaring the park open, the Prince visited a bazaar held to raise money for the new Royal Southern Hospital; he later watched 'horse-leaping' on the Parade Ground.

An extract from Liverpool and Merseyside Photographic Memories.