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Hesketh Park, Southport

Hesketh Park
Hesketh Park sign, Southport.JPG
Hesketh Park Entrance Sign
Type Public park
Location Southport
Area 12 Hectares
Created 1868
Operated by Sefton Council
Status Open all year round

Hesketh Park is a public park situated near the north end of Lord Street in the Victorian seaside town of Southport, Merseyside. It was designed as a public park in the mid-19th century by Edward Kemp, and was further developed in the 20th century. The land was donated by the Rev Charles Hesketh and has many Victorian features and landscape designs.

The land Hesketh Park occupies was once (like the rest of Southport) sand dunes and beach, as the tides receded and the town of Southport grew, the need for a park was proposed. The land at the time was owned by Rev Charles Hesketh of Meols Hall, who donated the land for use as a public park. Hesketh Park was created by the Southport Commissioners through the Second Southport Improvement Act of 1865. Edward Kemp laid out the park which is of a near oval shape, possibly to the design of Joseph Paxton for whom Kemp had worked at Birkenhead Park in Liverpool. The layout cost of Hesketh Park was £12,000 and the park was officially opened in 1868. Various structures have been added to the park since it opened and some alterations have been made through the later 19th and 20th centuries, with the main alterations happeneing in 2007 when the park was restored as part of a major refurbishment and restoration scheme.

The park visitor facilities include a Cafe and Play Area which is situated on the east side of the park and also features a crazy golf, the play area was dramatically reduced due to the restoration project with a whole new play area created on one half and the other half was grassed over for a field for ball games. The park toilet facilities were also upgraded as part of the restoration project and are situated near the east entrance to the park.

The Park has two gate houses at two of the entrances to the park. They are lived in by the park keepers and have colourful annual flower beds outside each lodge.

The Glasshouses are the green house development by where the floral displays for the park are grown, this is a private area which is not accessible to the public and is situated behind the Conservatory.

The Aviary once housed many exotic birds which included flamingos up until the late 1990s but due to neglect of the cages, the birds were removed. In 2007 as part of the park restoration project the damaged cages were removed, with the overgrown foliage and the remaining birds moved into the central remaining cages. There are future plans to restore the aviary but the project is awaiting funding.

The Conservatory was once full of exotic plants, but since restoration in 2007 the plants were removed while the whole building was taken down and later restored on the same site.


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