Royden Park is a park in

Frankby Frankby () is a village on the Wirral Peninsula, in Merseyside, England. It is located between Greasby and Newton on the outskirts of the town of West Kirby. The hamlet of Larton is to the north west. Historically within the county of Ches ...

, Wirral, England, managed by

Wirral Council Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council, or simply Wirral Council, is the local authority of the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral in Merseyside, England. It is a metropolitan district council, one of five in Merseyside and one of 36 in the metropolit ...

. The grounds of the park were originally part of an estate owned by Ernest Royden which comprised the park,

Hill Bark Hill Bark (also known as Bidston Court) is a large country house to the south of the hamlet of Frankby, Wirral, Merseyside, England. It is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II* listed building. The ...

house and

Thurstaston Common Thurstaston Common is an area of almost of parklands, wood and heath between Frankby and Thurstaston, on the Wirral Peninsula in North West England. The common is jointly owned by the National Trust and the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral. Royd ...

. Upon his death the estate passed to Hoylake council and was opened to the public for recreation. The park features a visitor centre,

walled garden A walled garden is a garden enclosed by high walls, especially when this is done for horticultural rather than security purposes, although originally all gardens may have been enclosed for protection from animal or human intruders. In temperate ...

miniature railway A ridable miniature railway (US: riding railroad or grand scale railroad) is a large scale, usually ground-level railway that hauls passengers using locomotives that are often models of full-sized railway locomotives (powered by diesel or petro ...

, woodland walks and a lake.

History

In the 1820s the land on which the park now sits was heath and woodland. During the 1860s a house called Hillbark was built on the estate and the area was planted and landscaped. In the 1870s a coach house and walled garden were added. In 1928 the estate was passed to Ernest Royden who demolished the earlier residence and moved his own house brick by brick to the site. This house is now known as

. After the death of Royden in 1960, the estate including Hill Bark,

and Royden Park was sold to Hoylake Urban District Council. Royden Park and Thurstaston Common were opened for public recreation. Hill Bark became an old people's home and is now a privately owned hotel and wedding venue. Following local government re-organisation in 1974 Wirral Council now manage the park and common.

Features

The park features a large lake called Roodee Mere where fishing is allowed with a permit. A miniature railway takes passengers around the grounds every Sunday afternoon weather permitting. The old

coach house Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Coa ...

for Hill Bark has been converted for use as a cafe and resource centre. There are conifer woodland walks, meadows with nature walks, car parking, a

and family events.

Nature

The park and commons are managed as a local nature reserve offering a range of habitats for plants, insects, flowers and wildlife.

Walled garden

The park has a

which was built in 1870 as the

kitchen garden The traditional kitchen garden, vegetable garden, also known as a potager (from the French ) or in Scotland a kailyaird, is a space separate from the rest of the residential garden – the ornamental plants and lawn areas. It is used for grow ...

for Hill Bark house and is a fine example of

Victorian architecture Victorian architecture is a series of architectural revival styles in the mid-to-late 19th century. ''Victorian'' refers to the reign of Queen Victoria (1837–1901), called the Victorian era, during which period the styles known as Victorian we ...

. The garden is used as a community resource. A

laburnum ''Laburnum'', sometimes called golden chain or golden rain, is a genus of two species of small trees in the subfamily Faboideae of the pea family Fabaceae. The species are '' Laburnum anagyroides''—common laburnum and '' Laburnum alpinum''� ...

arch was added by the Wirral Model Engineering Society who operate the miniature railway. Contained within the walls are a

herb garden The traditional kitchen garden, vegetable garden, also known as a potager (from the French ) or in Scotland a kailyaird, is a space separate from the rest of the residential garden – the ornamental plants and lawn areas. It is used for grow ...

, a

bog garden A bog garden is a type of garden that employs permanently moist (but not waterlogged) soil to create a habitat for plants and creatures which thrive in such conditions. It may exploit existing poor drainage in the garden, or it may be artificiall ...

, a flower garden and a traditional

cottage garden The cottage garden is a distinct style that uses informal design, traditional materials, dense plantings, and a mixture of ornamental and edible plants. English in origin, it depends on grace and charm rather than grandeur and formal structure. Ho ...

that originally grew plants for medicinal purposes.

Model railways

Royden Park Miniature Railway - geograph

Wirral Model Engineers Society operate two miniature railways at the park. The society came into existence in 1961 and they have been developing the railway track and facilities ever since. The first railway is a combined 2½, 3½ and 5½ inch

gauge Gauge ( or ) may refer to: Measurement * Gauge (instrument), any of a variety of measuring instruments * Gauge (firearms) * Wire gauge, a measure of the size of a wire ** American wire gauge, a common measure of nonferrous wire diameter, ...

raised track for detailed

scale models Scale or scales may refer to: Mathematics * Scale (descriptive set theory), an object defined on a set of points * Scale (ratio), the ratio of a linear dimension of a model to the corresponding dimension of the original * Scale factor, a number w ...

of full size

steam locomotives A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal, oil or, rarely, wood) to heat water in the locomot ...

; this track was extended in 1980 to 1,200 feet. The second railway is a 7¼ inch gauge

ridable miniature railway A ridable miniature railway (US: riding railroad or grand scale railroad) is a large scale, usually ground-level railway that hauls passengers using locomotives that are often models of full-sized railway locomotives (powered by diesel or petrol ...

pulled by a traction locomotive; this track was extended to 2,267 feet in 2004.

References

External link

{{Parks and Commons in Wirral Borough Parks and commons in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral Rail transport in Merseyside Transport in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral