Court Hey Park
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Court Hey Park is a park in Bowring Park, Liverpool and is home to the National Wildflower Centre.
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[edit] History
Court Hey Park can be traced all the way back to 1783 when it was a farmer's field forming part of the Lord Derby Estate. The grounds were acquired by Robertson Gladstone (1805-1875) who was elder brother to the four times British Prime Minster William Gladstone.
Robertson Gladstone married Mary Ellen Heywood-Jones in January 1836 and the mansion house, Court Hey Hall, was built the same year in the sixty acre walled estate.
The original sandstone railway sleepers from the Liverpool-Manchester Railway, once traversed by George Stephenson's world famous locomotive 'The Rocket', were obtained by Robertson in 1842 when the Liverpool-Manchester Railway was renovated, Robertson Gladstone was Director of the railway, which opened in 1839. They were used to edge the main drives of the park and are still there today.
J. Bibby and Sons a cattle food manufacturer bought the estate, and established an experimental poultry and cattle foods farm.
The company developed the park as a Centre for sport and recreation.
During the Second World War the Ministry of Agriculture Fisheries and Foods requisitioned part of the estate as a quarantine station.
The hall and grounds fell into disrepair and in 1951 the company sold the estate to Huyton-with-Roby Council. The hall was demolished in 1956 and part of the land sold to Vernons Pools and then a housing estate which is now called Grangewood/High Beeches Estate. The original entrance to the Vernons factory runs alongside the Eastern side of the estate.
Football, tennis, bowls and cricket became familiar sights around the park while the hall was used for ballroom dances, billiards and other social activities. Recreation continued alongside a printing business, which was established in the grounds in 1923.
From the late 40's Liverpool Pembroke, an Athletic and Cycle Club also used Court Hey Park as a base until redevelopment forced them to move in the 1960's.
Now we are left with a jewel which holds memories of long ago such as the original stables, the walled garden and the stone sleepers, which remind us of the Liverpool-Manchester Railway and the Rocket 150 years ago.
All of the original stable buildings were renovated and sections of the original walled garden were used as part of the National Wildflower Centre in 2000. The Friends of Court Hey Park are now based in the stable block.
