New book reveals the historic heritage of Liverpool’s famous open spaces

Aug 9 2008 by David Charters, Liverpool Daily Post

Ben Murphy, at the Princes Park gates _220

We take our parklands for granted, but here David Charters reveals their origins

IF GOD made the world, who owns the land? That question has caused some trouble down the years, as you can see in the silence of the white-stoned graveyards left by war.

Even in times of peace, we find ourselves enclosed. Look around at the walls, fences, gates, barbed wire and razor wire.

And then there are those signs – Keep Out: Private Property, No Games, Don’t Walk on the Grass, No Parking, Access for Commercial Vehicles Only, Authorised Personnel Only, and so on and so on. Lines of demarcation are everywhere.

But, in Victorian Britain, a concerted effort was made by idealists, politicians and philanthropic merchants to give some of the land back to the people, to plant new Edens – public gardens where the little girl in the foetid cellar could see a flower grow free and her pale brother could smell the clean air.

Sentimental images may be scoffed at in our cynical times, but they were at the root of many noble deeds.

As is so often the case, Liverpool was at the forefront of this new spirit, creating huge open spaces for people of all social classes, which really meant there would be no admission charge.

The 69-acre Princes Park, named after the Prince of Wales, set the way. It opened in 1842, having been laid out by Joseph Paxton, who would later win even greater fame for Birkenhead Park (1847) and the Crystal Palace (1851).

Most of Liverpool’s parks have survived and their history is charted in a beautifully illustrated new book, while their continuing importance to us is symbolised by the restoration of the Princes Park “sunburst” gates.

It is being carried out by Burleigh Stone, of Bootle, and Ben Murphy, 28, the expert monument restorer and son of Tom, sculptor of fine Liverpool statues, including Bill Shankly, Dixie Dean and John Lennon.

It is generally accepted that the much larger Birkenhead Park (1847) was the first, created by public subscription, to be open to everyone, making it the first truly public park. But this distinction could have belonged to Princes Park, had it not retained a considerable garden area around the lake for the private use of residents from the surrounding villas.

Even so, its opening ushered in the glory days of public parks. In 1850, the Liverpool Improvement Committee advertised for plans for the laying out of unoccupied land. The result was a proposal to create a “ribbon of parks” around the town (Liverpool became a city in 1880). The scheme was stalled by a lack of finance, but, with the passing of the Improvement Act of 1865, the corporation was able to raise the necessary £500,000. The ribbon was Newsham, Stanley and Sefton Parks.

Of course, there are numerous other parks, gardens and open spaces in Liverpool – a map in 2005 listed 77, including such well known locations as Calderstones Park, St James’ Mount and Cemetery, and Otterspool Park and Promenade.

Among them is Abercromby Square, overlooked by the history department of Liverpool University, where sits Robert Lee, co-author of the new book, Places of Health and Amusement; Liverpool’s Historic Parks and Gardens.

Robert, a father of four from Birkenhead, graduated from Oxford in modern history. He is now professor of economic and social history at Liverpool.

As he records in the book, Liverpool had extensive open spaces before the dawn of public parks. Among these were Ranelagh Gardens, which flourished on the site of the Adelphi Hotel, between 1722 and 1790.

The difference was that these places either charged for admittance or could be entered by invitation only. Also, in 1802, Liverpool had opened a botanic garden on Myrtle Street, and there were zoological gardens at various locations, including one on clay pits in West Derby Road, Tuebrook, between 1832-63.