Calderstones Park
| Calderstones Park | |
|---|---|
 Calderstones Park, showing Calderstones House | |
 | |
| Type | Public Park |
| Location | Liverpool, England, UK |
| Coordinates | 53°22′54″N 2°53′39″W / 53.38167°N 2.89417°W |
| Area | 126 acres (0.51 km2)[1] |
| Created | 1905[2] |
| Operated by | Liverpool City Council |
| Open | All year |
| Status | Open |
Calderstones Park is a public park in Liverpool, Merseyside, United Kingdom. The 126 acres (0.51 km2) park is mainly a family park. Within it there are a variety of different attractions including a playground, a botanical garden and places of historical interest. There is a lake in the park with geese and ducks, and the Calderstones Mansion House, which features a café and a children's play area.[3] Japanese garden was built in 1974
Notable Features
[edit]The Calderstones
[edit]The Calderstones are six neolithic sandstone monoliths that formed part of a burial monument 4,000 years ago.[4] They are a scheduled monument under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979.[5]
Nearby Robin Hood's Stone was originally also one of the Calderstones, and has been relocated.[6]
Calderstones House
[edit]The mansion house was built in 1828 by Joseph Need Walker to replace the original farmhouse known as the Old House. The house is of Georgian style, though it has been subject to some alterations over the years and now houses council offices and a small café. The extensive stables and coachhouse remain at the rear of the house. The mansion house is currently being refurbished to accommodate the International Headquarters for Shared Reading. This refurbishment is being run by the Reader Organisation.[7]
The Allerton Oak
[edit]One of the park's two most ancient features, estimated at 1,000 years old, is an oak tree. According to legend the ancient local Hundred Court sat beneath its branches.[8] Its dilapidated state is said to be due to the explosion of the gunpowder ship Lottie Sleigh over three miles away on the River Mersey in 1864. It is dependent upon a number of props that hold it up.[7]
Acorns and leaves from the oak were sent to soldiers by their families during World War II, such was the reputation of this tree.[9] The tree was named England's 'tree of the year' in 2019 by Woodland Trust.[10]
Botanical garden
[edit]After World War II, Percy Conn, the new Superintendent of Liverpool Parks, had the vision to recreate the Liverpool Botanic Garden of William Roscoe & John Shepherd from the Mount Pleasant days, in the Harthill Estate grounds at Calderstones Park. This work was started in 1951 and completed in 1964, when the set of 16 connected glasshouses was formally opened. Calderstones botanical garden contained[1] almost 4,000 species of plants brought from all over the world by merchants and other travellers.[3]
As funding was very tight post-war, low-grade spruce, rather than teak, was used to build the glasshouses, and by 1979 they had reached the end of their useful lives. The early 1980s was another occasion when the Liverpool City economy was dire, and no money could be found to re-build the glasshouses. The botanical importance of the park encouraged further horticultural improvements, such as the creation of a Japanese garden by park apprentices in 1969, and the introduction of a 'bog garden' linked to the artificial lake. In 1984 the glasshouses were closed and all the plants transported to the Liverpool City nursery at Garston, where they remained for the next 23 years. Some of the plants were occasionally seen at Southport Flower Shows over this period. In 2007/2008 a third of the plants were re-housed in 4 glasshouses within Croxteth Hall's walled gardens, when Garston Nursery was closed as a consequence of the outsourcing of Liverpool's Park & Garden maintenance work.[11]
Nature Reserve
[edit]The dry Nature Reserve, created on the site of a Council working depot, was featured by Monty Don on the BBC 2 programme Gardeners' World, on 15 March 2024.[12]
Activities in the park
[edit]Tennis Tournament
[edit]
Set in the park, the Tradition-ICAP Liverpool International began in 2002 (with the women's event beginning in 2006) and has attracted many well known tennis stars such as Martina Navratilova, Ivan Ljubičić and David Ferrer. In 2008 the tournament attracted over 2,500 spectators.[13]
Solstice
[edit]On 21 December 2009, the Winter Solstice was celebrated in the park.[14]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ a b "Calderstones Park". Tradition-ICAP Liverpool International. Archived from the original on 17 July 2009. Retrieved 20 July 2009.
- ^ "Calderstones Park - Historical Background". www.liverpoolparks.org. Retrieved 27 June 2009.
- ^ a b "Calderstones Park". The Mersey Partnership. Retrieved 20 July 2009.
- ^ Grimsditch, Lee (9 August 2020). "Mysterious hidden message inscribed on Liverpool roundabout". Liverpool Echo. Retrieved 27 September 2024.
- ^ "The Calderstones: six monoliths decorated with rock art, Non Civil Parish - 1008531 | Historic England". historicengland.org.uk. Retrieved 27 September 2024.
- ^ "Robin Hood's Stone at the junction of Archerfield Road and Booker Avenue, Non Civil Parish - 1020984 | Historic England". historicengland.org.uk. Retrieved 11 April 2024.
- ^ a b Royden, Mike (July 2008). "South Liverpool Calderstones Park". www.allertonoak.com. Archived from the original on 20 August 2009. Retrieved 20 July 2009.
- ^ "The Allerton Oak". Liverpool City Council. July 2009. Archived from the original on 19 June 2009. Retrieved 20 July 2009.
- ^ West, Bronwyn Jones BBC North. "The Allerton Oak: Legends of Liverpool's 1,000-year-old tree". BBC News. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
- ^ "Liverpool's Allerton Oak crowned England's tree of the year". BBC News. 23 October 2019. Retrieved 23 October 2019.
- ^ "Calderstones Park Historical Background". Liverpool Parks. Retrieved 20 July 2009.
- ^ Radio Times 9-15 March 2024
- ^ "About the Tournament". Tradition-ICAP Liverpool International. Archived from the original on 27 April 2009. Retrieved 20 July 2009.
- ^ "Whats on in Liverpool". Directory of Liverpool. 21 October 2009. Archived from the original on 29 November 2009. Retrieved 21 December 2009.
- "Calderstones Park". Megalithic Portal.
Further reading
[edit]- The Calderstones: a prehistoric tomb in Liverpool. Merseyside Archaeological Society. 1984. ISBN 0-906479-05-3.