Waypoints

1. S : km 0 - alt. 23 m - Start on Aigburth Road, A561
2. 2 : km 0.48 - alt. 18 m - Turn right
3. 3 : km 0.49 - alt. 18 m - The bank on the corner here was built in 1900 . Fifty years earlier, this had been part of a largely manorial landscape dotted with a few townhouses. By the time it was built, the bank was part of an urban complex of terraces which still survive to its north and east. Trams ran along Aigburth Road at this time, integrating the area further with Liverpool city centre.
4. 4 : km 0.5 - alt. 18 m - Turn left onto Aigburth Road, A561
5. 5 : km 0.74 - alt. 20 m - Turn right onto Aigburth Drive
6. 6 : km 0.74 - alt. 20 m - On the south side of the road and a little to the west is a lodge and gate piers behind it of c.1840. This was built as the area developed urbanised for Liverpool's wealthy merchant community; indeed these mark the entrance to Fulwood Park, a street of several large listed townhouses.
7. 7 : km 0.85 - alt. 24 m - Turn right onto Mossley Hill Drive
8. 8 : km 0.87 - alt. 23 m - Sefton Park is Grade I listed , the highest available rank for a historic park. Prior to 1867, the area was merely farmland before being converted into the public park it has remained ever since opening in 1872. Its importance stems not only from its numerous listed buildings but being one of the first French style parks laid out in the UK, designed to form a green belt around the industrialised Liverpool. In this regard, it failed to stem the urbanisation which only accelerated beyond it in the decades after its opening. Escalating costs also meant plans for botanic gardens, formal gardens and a grand conservatory had to be abandoned. Similarly, not all the villas that were originally planned to surround the park were built. Nevertheless, the park succeeded in providing a pleasant reprieve from working life. Its design of interlocking elliptical paths, often hidden from each other by trees reflected parks found in Paris, while the small steam that ran through the area was turned into a lake and surrounded by trees, with smaller pools and cascades further north. By this point you will have passed through the grand entrance of c.1870, now without its gates, with Fulway Lodge a little to its east. Overlooking the lake is a gothic fountain featuring dolphins. These are all of the same date.
9. 9 : km 0.93 - alt. 20 m - Turn left
10. 10 : km 1.01 - alt. 20 m - There are several listed buildings along the shore of the lake. Back to your south east is the boathouse, now mostly rebuilt after a fire in 2002 but its base remains intact. Similarly, the stone plinth is all that remains of a shelter on the western side of the lake and another on the eastern side further north with the park's wooden structures having been plagued by arson attacks. Walking further up the west side of the lake, the small grotto remains intact, as does a similar looking stone tunnel to the north.
11. 11 : km 1.26 - alt. 20 m - Keep right
12. 12 : km 1.53 - alt. 21 m - At the head of the main lake, here seems an appropriate place to divulge the different purposes separate areas of Sefton Park have been used for. To the east of the lake was a deer park, with the circular path surrounding it preserved. The flower filled field of hope is also in this section of the park. Directly to the east of you is a statue of former Mayor of Liverpool and social reformer William Rathbone who advocated for civic amenities like public baths. Also, a redundant horse riding track runs along the western edge of the park.
13. 13 : km 1.53 - alt. 21 m - Turn left
14. 14 : km 1.54 - alt. 22 m - Turn right
15. 15 : km 1.71 - alt. 25 m - To the east is the grade II* listed Palm House, constructed in 1896 on a mound originally prepared for a bandstand which had never been built. The glasshouse contains not only plants but several statues of botanists and explorers. In the buildings surrounding enclosure is a Peter Pan statue of 1928 which once stood beside the lake. Like the nearby St Anne's Church, Aigburth; Sefotn Park was the site of numerous suffragette attacks including an attempted bombing of the glasshouse in 1913. The homemade bomb's fuse had been lit but was blown out by the wind when it was found and was likely the work of Kitty Marion, a suffragette arsonist. Beyond the Palm House at the eastern edge of the park are the Dell (the Fairy Glen) - four pools linked by waterfalls which sit on the river that leads down to the lake. To the southeast lies the impressive iron road bridge which crosses the same stream and like the Dell was constructed around 1870.
16. 16 : km 1.75 - alt. 25 m - Keep right
17. 17 : km 1.89 - alt. 26 m - Keep left
18. 18 : km 1.91 - alt. 26 m - Turn slight right
19. 19 : km 1.93 - alt. 27 m - By this point, you will have passed the smaller northern lake with its island being home to a bandstand of c.1910. To the west of this was the bowling green and tennis courts with their associated pavilions. These have been in place since the late nineteenth century. Beyond the lake to the east is an open green that was still farmland up until the turn of the twentieth century. The park's north eastern areas comprise a cricket pitch which has existed since the 1890s at least, with allotments on its southern side and a grotto of 1870 to the west. The cafe ahead of you is mid-20th century but beyond it is a garden whose curving wall once comprised the aviary built around 1900. This crossroads is however, dominated by the Eros fountain of 1932, built for public drinking. The original Eros statue is now in Liverpool Museum.
20. 20 : km 1.94 - alt. 27 m - Turn left
21. 21 : km 2.44 - alt. 38 m - As you may be able to tell, the straight path you have walked up does not match the rest of the park, but was in existence by 1882, reflecting the evolution of the park's planning; iron lamps were built on either side of the avenue, some of which still survive. In 1909 an obelisk with drinking fountains was added as a memorial to local MP Samuel Smith. Around the park's edge to the north are some of the grand villas intended to completely surround the park. Numbers 38, 40 and 42 Ullet Road are white neoclassical houses of the 1860s while 44 and the nearest house - Ullet Grange are both gothic of the 1870s, demonstrating the clear evolution of tastes.
22. 22 : km 2.5 - alt. 39 m - Turn slight right onto Aigburth Drive
23. 23 : km 2.65 - alt. 42 m - Keep right onto Sefton Park Road, B5173
24. 24 : km 2.67 - alt. 43 m - Passing out of the grand entrance to the park together with Princes Lodge to the left, both dating c.1870, you will see slightly to the south west the Bellerive Building and its associated lodge, a grandiose construction of the 1860s. Originally a convent, it is now part of a Catholic college. Heading along Sefton Park Road, you will see the contemporaneous numbers 16 and 18. Number 14 was a stable block of the 1850s, a relic of the area's rural past. It was built for one of the surrounding farms, most of which would soon be demolished,
25. 25 : km 2.91 - alt. 46 m - 12 Sefton Park Road is another construction of the 1860s but has been built in a Gothic style. Next door are Princes Park Mansions, a grand terrace of 1843 built concurrently with the park of the same name behind it and now flats. Further along, 16 and 18 Croxteth Road date from 1845, while 14 was added roughly two decades later. On the opposite side of the street, 7 also dates from the 1860s.
26. 26 : km 2.92 - alt. 46 m - Turn left onto Croxteth Road, B5175
27. 27 : km 3.31 - alt. 45 m - Keep right onto Princes Gate East, B5175
28. 28 : km 3.33 - alt. 45 m - The gates to the Grade II* listed Princes Park were built in 1842 when the park was first laid out.
29. 29 : km 3.87 - alt. 46 m - The Boulevard and Princes Avenue were added to Princes Road in the late 19th century, which is when the joint fountain and lampstand dates from.
30. 30 : km 4.07 - alt. 45 m - As we approach the end of Princes Road, which was once a major street in the city's tram network, there are a congregation of religious buildings. First, to the south is the Welsh Presbyterian Church of 1865-7, followed by the Merseyside Chapel for the Deaf of 1887 where the boulevard ends. Following on from this the Grade I listed Princes Road Synagogue, built between 1872-4. Containing an ornate ark, the original Victorian heating system and original fittings, this grand building is informally known as a 'cathedral synagogue'. The Jewish community in Liverpool was one of the largest in the country and had risen to prominence from the mid-18th century with its mercantile successes. Originally, a 300-seat synagogue was established in 1807 on Seel Street but this replacement could accommodate 800. The architects - W & G Audsley, had risen to prominence by constructing the Welsh Presbyterian Church received widespread acclaim for their works and has meant the synagogue is regarded as one of the finest in Europe. It also came at a time when Jews were beginning to express their religious freedom, which the unashamedly Oriental architecture reflects. Next door is the fabulously gothic mid-19th century house known as Streatlam Tower, while beyond is St. Margaret of Antioch's Church of 1868-9, listed Grade II* for its distinctive design and is attached to its vicarage of 1869. Across the street is the impressive Greek Orthodox Church of 1865-70 - as the city expanded, a new multi-faith religious centre coalesced, with several mosques also located nearby.
31. 31 : km 4.15 - alt. 45 m - Turn slight right onto Princes Road, B5175
32. 32 : km 4.38 - alt. 45 m - Upper Parliament Street has a multitude of listed buildings along its length, but those immediately visible here are the 1913 memorial to Florence Nightingale on the south side of the street and Catherine House to its east - built c.1830 it marks the first Georgian building featured on this walk and was once a home for those living with permanent neuro disabilities. On the opposite side of the road, the Georgian Quarter clearly begins, with the grand terrace of houses from the 1830s that form a square around Egerton Street to the north.
33. 33 : km 4.45 - alt. 45 m - Egerton Street itself comprises houses built as Mews (smaller dwellings built as if they were stable conversions) in the 1840s, after the earlier houses had surrounded it. These were still respectable houses for the growing artisan class however. A similar formation of houses further to the east was built but was largely demolished in the 1970s in anticipation of an unrealised ring road scheme. In 1854, number 2 was converted into a pub (which would later incorporate 4 and 6). Between 1897 and 1950 Peter Kavanagh, its owner who was an eccentric inventor fitted the pub with designs like tilting tables, humorous woodwork, a nautical cabin features and carved caricatures of the pub's patrons in the 1920s. All the houses surrounding the mews ae, as mentioned earlier from the 1830s with the exception of 58-70 Huskisson Street which date from c.1840 and 50-56 which are from the 1850s.
34. 34 : km 4.51 - alt. 45 m - The terrace to the south west dates from the 1830s as this area was being laid out, as do numbers 3. 43. 45 and 44-52 (even) on Catherine Street ahead of you. Stealing the show here however, is the neoclassical St. Bride's Church of c.1830, together with its surrounding walls. Its appearance as a Greek temple complements terraces beyond it on Percy Street dating from the same time (except numbers 2 and 4 from 1835). This street also includes five contemporary gas lamps.
35. 35 : km 4.64 - alt. 45 m - The houses on Canning Street all date to the 1830s except numbers 45-55 (odd) to your east which are two decades younger. Aditionally, the corner houses ahead of you (numbers 41 and 43 plus 42 Catherine Street) are from the 1820s, which may be the date for 38 and 40 Catherine Street to the north. 3-23 (odd) Catherine Street certainly are.
36. 36 : km 4.79 - alt. 45 m - St. Philip Neri Catholic Church behind you is Grade II* listed and was built between 1914-1920. It is an impressive example of a richly decorated neo-Byzantine Church. On Falkner Street, the terraces on the southern side date from the 1830s to your right and 1820s to your left. As you continue along Catherine Road, the houses begin to date from later in the 19th century and sit opposite a large Catholic girls' orphanage.
37. 37 : km 4.95 - alt. 45 m - Turn right onto Myrtle Street
38. 38 : km 4.96 - alt. 45 m - Turn left onto Mulberry Street
39. 39 : km 5.14 - alt. 45 m - Numbers 2 and 4 date from the 1820s, while on the street behind, Liverpool International College dates from the 1840s. Abercromby Square to the north east has houses dating from the 1830s (except those on the west side which are a decade older), and also contains a post box pillar from c.1866. The square has an Edwardian garden house at its centre.
40. 40 : km 5.23 - alt. 46 m - Turn left onto Oxford Street
41. 41 : km 5.33 - alt. 46 m - The even numbers on the terrace to your south east are also from the 1820s, while the Grade II* listed Liverpool Medical Institution on the corner with Hope Street is a spectacular Greek revival construction of 1836-7. The Catholic Cathedral is on the site of Liverpool's main workhouse and is within the Liverpool Maritime Mercantile City UNESCO World Heritage site. With only the crypt (1933-1940) completed of the original monumental design, the more modest but still distinctive modern construction dates from 1962-67.
42. 42 : km 5.38 - alt. 45 m - Turn right
43. 43 : km 5.39 - alt. 45 m - Turn left
44. E : km 5.45 - alt. 45 m

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