| Court Hey Park | |
|---|---|
 | |
 | |
| Type | Public |
| Location | Liverpool, Merseyside |
| Coordinates | 53°24′19″N2°52′35″W / 53.405253°N 2.876370°W |
| Area | 14 hectares [1] |
| Operated by | Knowsley Council |
Court Hey Park is a park in the Bowring Park suburb of Knowsley borough in Merseyside, England. It lies about 4+1⁄2 miles (7 km) east of Liverpool city centre.
Court Hey Park can be traced back to 1783 when it was a farmer's field forming part of the estate of Lord Derby. The grounds were acquired by Robertson Gladstone (1805–1875) who was elder brother to the four times Prime Minister, 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 60-acre (240,000 m2) walled estate.
Gladstone acquired the original sandstone railway sleepers once traversed by George Stephenson's world famous locomotive Rocket , most likely when the railway was converted to wooden sleepers in 1836-9. These were used to edge the main drives of the park and are still prominent today. [2]
The hall remained in the Gladstone family until the death of one of Robertson Gladstone's sons in 1919. In the same year it was bought by J. Bibby and Sons, a cattle food manufacturer. They established an experimental poultry and cattle feed farm and developed the park as a centre for sport and recreation.
Recreation continued alongside a printing business, which was established in the grounds in 1923. Football, tennis, bowls and cricket were played in the park, while the hall was used for ballroom dances, billiards and other social activities.
During the Second World War, part of the estate including the stable block was requisitioned by the Ministry of Agriculture Fisheries and Foods and used as a quarantine station.
From the late 1940s Liverpool Pembroke, an athletic and cycling club, also used the park as a base until redevelopment forced them to move in the 1960s.
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. A housing estate was established, now called the Grangewood/High Beeches Estate. The original entrance to the Vernons factory runs alongside the eastern side of the estate.
The stable buildings and sections of the original walled garden were the home of the National Wildflower Centre between 2000 and 2017. [3]
Merseyside is a ceremonial and metropolitan county in North West England. It borders Lancashire to the north, Greater Manchester to the east, Cheshire to the south, the Welsh county of Flintshire across the Dee Estuary to the southwest, and the Irish Sea to the west. The largest settlement is the city of Liverpool.
Kirkby is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Knowsley, Merseyside, England. The town, historically in Lancashire, has a size of 4,070 acres (16.5 km2) is 5 miles (8 km) north of Huyton and 6 miles (10 km) north-east of Liverpool. The population in 2016 was 41,495 making it the largest in Knowsley and the 9th biggest settlement in Merseyside.
The Metropolitan Borough of Knowsley is a metropolitan borough in Merseyside, North West England. It covers several towns and villages, including Kirkby, Prescot, Huyton, Whiston, Halewood, Cronton and Stockbridge Village; Kirkby, Huyton, and Prescot being the major commercial centres. It takes its name from the village of Knowsley, though its headquarters are in Huyton. It forms part of the wider Liverpool City Region.
Halewood is a town and civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Knowsley in Merseyside, England. It lies near the city of Liverpool's southeastern boundary, bordered by the suburbs of Netherley, Hunt's Cross and Woolton.
Huyton is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Knowsley, Merseyside, England. Part of the Liverpool Urban Area, it borders the Liverpool suburbs of Dovecot, Knotty Ash and Belle Vale, and the neighbouring village of Roby, with which it formed Huyton with Roby Urban District between 1894 and 1974.
Rainhill is a village and civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of St Helens, Merseyside, England. The population at the 2011 census was 10,853.
West Derby is a suburb of Liverpool, England. It is located east of the city and is also a Liverpool City Council ward. At the 2011 Census, the population was 14,382.
Whiston is a town and civil parish within the Metropolitan Borough of Knowsley in Merseyside, England. Previously recorded within the historic county of Lancashire, it is located eight miles east of Liverpool. The population was 13,629 at the 2001 Census, increasing to 14,263 at the 2011 Census.
Belle Vale is a district of south-east Liverpool, Merseyside, England and a Liverpool City Council Ward that covers both Belle Vale and Netherley.
Knowsley is a large village and civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Knowsley, Merseyside, England, commonly known as Knowsley Village.
Grade I, Grade II* and notable Grade IIlisted buildings in the metropolitan boroughs of Knowsley, Liverpool, Sefton, St Helens and Wirral in Merseyside.
Huyton College was an independent day and boarding school for girls founded in England in 1894 as the sister school to Liverpool College with which it merged on 27 July 1993, a few months short of its 100th birthday. The Liverpool College for Girls, Huyton, as it was originally known, was started in 1894 and intended to be parallel to the Liverpool College Boys' Upper School. It catered for girls between the ages of 4 and 18. In its early days, and towards the end of its time based at Huyton Hall before the merger, it also took day boys up to the age of seven. The school is mentioned in the book The Wildcats of St Trinian's by Frank Launder.
Tarbock is a village and former civil parish within the Metropolitan Borough of Knowsley, in Merseyside, England. It is situated to the south east of Huyton and to the east of Netherley. The village itself is 6 miles (9.7 km) from Liverpool city centre, 3.5 miles (5.6 km) from Widnes and 2 miles (3.2 km) from Prescot. The M62 motorway junction 6 is in the area and is more familiarly called Tarbock Island. At the 2001 Census, the population of Tarbock was 2,382. The parish council was abolished on 1 April 2014.
Robertson Gladstone, was an English merchant and politician. He was the second son, and third child of Sir John Gladstone and the brother of William Ewart Gladstone who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom four times. Robertson was a successful merchant, businessman, property developer and local politician. One of the youngest men elected Mayor of Liverpool, he was religious but increasingly tolerant of nonconformity, emphasised by a move towards semi-socialist politics.
Knowsley United was an English football club based in the town of Huyton, Knowsley Merseyside. Originally named Kirkby Town they folded in 1997.
Court Hey Hall was a mansion in England built for Robertson Gladstone (1805–1875), elder brother of William Gladstone.
Huyton with Roby is a district in the Metropolitan Borough of Knowsley, Merseyside, England. Formerly the civil parish of Hyton-with-Roby, it contains the settlements of Huyton and Roby. The district contains 26 buildings that are recorded in the National Heritage List for England as designated listed buildings. Of these, one is listed at Grade II*, the middle of the three grades, and the others are at Grade II, the lowest grade.
Arrowe Country Park is a country park in Arrowe Park, Wirral, England, adjacent to the Woodchurch housing estate. The estate upon which the park lies was founded and shaped by John Shaw, a former Mayor of Liverpool who made his wealth from the slave trade. When he died the estate passed to his great nephew John "Ralph" Shaw, who built Arrowe Hall, an Elizabethan-style mansion, and laid out the grounds and gardens. Ralph Shaw was a magistrate who dissuaded people from trespassing on his land with traps including spring-loaded shotguns.
The National Wildflower Centre opened in the Knowsley borough of Merseyside, England, in 2000 as a Millennium project, funded by the Millennium Commission and Big Lottery. It closed at this location in January 2017 and the Eden Project stepped in to save its legacy and build a new partnership from its new southwest base. Originally located in Court Hey Park, Liverpool, the visitor attraction was hoped to regenerate and help communities in the local area. The centre was designed around the concept of Wildflowers. This was combined with a visitor centre, a shop and a cafe.
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