Birkenhead Park, Merseyside

Birkenhead Park was the first publicly funded urban park in the world. ¹ Designated in 1843; designed in 1844 and built during 1845 and 1846, it was officially opened on 5 April 1847. Birkenhead is on the Wirral peninsula to the west of the River Mersey and Liverpool. The park was financed by the sale of adjacent residential building lots. At the end of the twentieth century it reflected the decline and deterioration of many of Britain’s older and larger, locally financed public parks. But, in recognition of its landmark position in the history of public parks, it underwent an exemplary renaissance in the 2000s largely funded by Britain’s National Lottery. Nevertheless Birkenhead remains one of the poorest parts of the European Community and, unlike most other local authority services in Britain, public parks are a non-statutory service and therefore constantly under threat.