Sefton Park

Sefton Park is a public park in south Liverpool, England. The park is in a district of the same name within the Liverpool City Council Ward of St Michaels, and roughly within the historic bounds of the large area of Toxteth Park. Neighbouring districts include modern-day Toxteth, Aigburth, Mossley Hill, Wavertree and St Michael's Hamlet.

The park is 235 acres (0.95 km²) in area and is designated by English Heritage at Grade I in the Register of Historic Parks and Gardens.

History

The site of the park was once within the boundaries of the 2,300-acre (9.3 km²) Royal Deer Park of Toxteth which became "disparked" in 1591. The land eventually came under the control of the Earl of Sefton.

As Toxteth rapidly grew, the green fields and woodland of Toxteth Park grew into narrow streets and courts packed by tiny uninhabitable houses where the air was stagnant, there was little or no sanitation and running water consisted of one tap in the middle of the court. At the same time there was demand for large aristocratic mansions in the South of Liverpool. In 1862 the Borough Council Engineer recommended a site for this development. The Public Works (Manufacturing Districts) Act 1864 permitted corporations to borrow sums of money of up to half a million pounds to be repaid over thirty years. This allowed steps to be taken towards the purchase of land for Sefton Park. In 1867 the Council purchased 375 acres (1.52 km²) of land for the development of the park for £250,000 from the Earl of Sefton.

Sefton Park (district)

Coordinates: 53°22′52″N 2°56′24″W / 53.381°N 2.940°W / 53.381; -2.940 Sefton Park is a district within the city of Liverpool, Merseyside, United Kingdom. The area is part of the Liverpool City Council Ward of Mossley Hill.

The district surrounds the park from which it takes its name, i.e. Sefton Park. The original urbanisation of the area was mainly in the Victorian era, with large Victorian villas, particularly facing the park itself, and terraces and apartment blocks on nearby streets. In the 1820s, some wealthy members of the Chian diaspora settled here.

Lark Lane is lined with pubs, restaurants and specialist shops.

There was a railway station called Sefton Park, a short distance away and confusingly facing a different park (Wavertree), but it closed in 1960. The line is still in use, and the station buildings at street level survive in the form of commercial premises. Little evidence of the station is visible at track level, above the road. The nearest railway stations still operating are St Michaels railway station and Mossley Hill railway station.