Southport Botanic Gardens

Southport Botanic Gardens
Botanic Gardens welcome map
Botanic Gardens Location in Southport
Type	Public park
Location	Churchtown, Southport, England
Created	1874
Operated by	Sefton Council
Status	Open all year round

Southport Botanic Gardens is a botanical garden situated in the suburban village of Churchtown, Southport, in Merseyside, England. It is often called "The Jewel in the Crown" as it is nationally known for its floral displays, which have been featured in the BBC TV program Gardener's World.

The gardens were founded by a local group of working men, known as the Southport and Churchtown Botanic Gardens Company. The company acquired land from the Hesketh Estate (which belonged to Meols Hall) to establish the gardens. The company raised £18,000 to build the museum, a conservatory and tea rooms and to landscape the gardens.

The Botanic Gardens' lake was formed from part of a stream (known as Otter Pool) that flowed from Blowick through Meols Hall out to the Ribble Estuary. It is said that monks who lived nearby fished for eels in the stream. Until recently the flow of this stream had been intentionally blocked for 20–30 years at the point where it passed into the Gardens under Botanic Road, but this conduit was reopened in 2012. The gush of water out of the lake on re-opening sluiced away silt and mud in the stream bed, briefly exposing the cobbled ford which predated the road bridge.

The gardens were officially opened in 1875 by Rev. Charles Hesketh, from whom the land occupied by the gardens has been acquired. The ceremony included the laying of a foundation stone for the museum, which eventually opened in 1876.

The gardens closed in 1932, as plans had been drawn up for a housing development, but were saved from being sold by the Southport Corporation. They reopened on 28 August 1937 as "The Botanic Gardens and King George Playing Fields". Today, the park's name has been reverted to Botanic Gardens.

The gardens boasted a large glass conservatory with a fernery, which proved very popular with visitors, as it featured many tropical plants from around the world. Although the magnificent conservatory was eventually demolished, the fernery still remains. The site of the conservatory can still be seen in front of the fernery today, as the outline of the remains are laid out as a floral garden.