Croxteth Hall is a country estate and
Grade II* listed
In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, H ...
building in the
West Derby
West Derby ( ) is an area of Liverpool, Merseyside, England, in the east of the city. At the 2011 Census, the population was 14,382.
History West Derby
Mentioned in the ''Domesday Book'', West Derby achieved significance far earlier tha ...
suburb of
Liverpool
Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...
, England. It is the former country estate and ancestral home of the
Molyneux family, the
Earls of Sefton.
After the death of the seventh and last Earl in 1972, the estate passed to
Liverpool City Council
Liverpool City Council is the Local government in England, local authority for the City status in the United Kingdom, city of Liverpool in Merseyside, England. Liverpool has had a local authority since 1207, which has been reformed on numerous ...
, which now manages the remainder of the estate following the sale of approximately half of the grounds. The remaining grounds, Croxteth Park, were at one time a hunting chase of the Molyneux family and are now open to the public.
History

The original house was built in about 1575, and has been expanded in several stages in
Tudor,
Georgian, and
Queen Anne styles. The principal front, the west façade, was built in 1702. During this period, a bakery and a brewery were built though during the Victorian era these were demolished. In 1874 a wing was added for visitors to the hall to stay in.
Queen Victoria, Prince Albert, and their children stayed at Croxteth Hall on 9 October 1851 before visiting Liverpool the following day during torrential rain. However, the visit started fine with 700 members of the local gentry being entertained in the hall grounds.
The hall and its outbuilding are a
Grade II* listed
In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, H ...
building, as are three of the outbuildings; another 15 buildings on the estate are Grade II. The Molyneux family lived at the hall from the 16th century until 1972, when the last Earl died. His American-born widow Josephine, Countess of Sefton (1903–1980) – once a close friend of the Duchess of Windsor and nicknamed "Foxy" for her abundant auburn hair – continued to spend some time at Croxteth. She became the last member of the Molyneux family to reside in the hall.
When the last Earl died in 1972, a worldwide search was made for an heir to the title but without success. Much of the original estate has since been sold off for development, but approximately remain as a country park, which is open to the public and includes various play facilities for children. The estate also contains the historic hall itself, open to the public for a small fee, as well as a maintained
Victorian walled garden and a working country farm.
The walled garden is home to what remains of the Liverpool Botanics. This is one of the oldest horticultural collections in Britain, founded by
William Roscoe
William Roscoe (8 March 175330 June 1831) was an English banker, lawyer, and briefly a Member of Parliament. He is best known as one of England's first abolitionists, and as the author of the poem for children '' The Butterfly's Ball, and th ...
in 1802. Amongst the tropical plants is the National Collection of ''
Dracaena'' (dragon trees); there are orchids and the National Collection of ''
Codiaeum'';
pelargonium
''Pelargonium'' () is a genus of flowering plants that includes about 280 species of perennial plant, perennials, succulent plant, succulents, and shrubs, common name, commonly called geraniums, pelargoniums, or storksbills. ''Geranium'' is also ...
s and the National Collection of ''
Solenostemon'' (coleus) as well as a rich collection of
bromeliads. Liverpool was once world-famous for its orchids as the collection is composed mainly of wild collected species rather than the more usual garden hybrids.
In March 2013, it was announced that a £400,000 programme would be undertaken to restore the damaged Queen Anne wing which was gutted by fire in 1952.
Liverpool City Council announced in 2017 that they were looking for bids from developers to manage the hall and park with the facility costing the council over £1 million a year to run. By January 2018, two bids had been submitted to run the hall and park, one of which planned to use the facility as a luxury hotel, spa and wedding venue. However, by March 2018 the council announced plans to run the facility itself, aiming to develop it into a tourist attraction, hosting concerts, fairs and markets.
The hall had to have urgent structural work undertaken during the summer of 2020 when an engineering report discovered that repairs were needed to chimney breasts, guttering and roof linings, costing around £650,000.
Future
Liverpool City Council announced a public consultation in August 2022 as to how the park and hall could be used and generate more revenue. The public were invited to give their views on a number of ideas, including the creation of a pet crematorium, paid parking and the types of events they would like to see held there.
The park
The park is listed at Grade II, and is a
country park
A country park is a natural area designated for people to visit and enjoy recreation in a countryside environment.
United Kingdom
History
In the United Kingdom, the term ''country park'' has a specific meaning. There are around 250 designated c ...
. It also contains Mull Wood, which is part of the Croxteth
Local Nature Reserve. In partnership with Lancashire Wildlife Trust, the reserve was doubled in size. This allows people better access to the reserve areas and include new habitats within the reserve. One of the improvements to Mull Wood is the sowing of a
Wildflower
A wildflower (or wild flower) is a flower that grows in the wild, rather than being intentionally seeded or planted. The term implies that the plant is neither a hybrid nor a selected cultivar that is any different from the native plant, eve ...
Meadow, situated near the Old Kennels.
Myerscough College
Myerscough College (pronounced as ''Myers-coe'') is a Higher and Further Education college near Bilsborrow on the Fylde in Lancashire, England.
Origins
Myerscough College was founded on 15 March 1894 as the ''Lancashire County Institute of ...
operate their Liverpool campus from part of the hall, at which they teach 350 full-time students
See Myerscough College Liverpool Homepage
The "Friends of Croxteth Hall and Country Park" support the work of Liverpool's major stately home. The Friends hold a variety of fun events to raise funds. Among the things they have paid for are benches, plants, equipment, and horticultural studies.
Each Saturday at 9am the park hosts a free, weekly, timed 5 km
parkrun
Parkrun (stylised as parkrun) is a collection of 5K run, events for runners, walkers and volunteers that take place every Saturday morning at more than 2,000 locations in 23 countries across five continents.
Parkrun was founded by Paul Sinto ...
event starting and finishing at the hall.
Kennels
The
kennel
A kennel is a structure or shelter for dogs. Used in the plural, ''the kennels'', the term means any building, collection of buildings or a property in which dogs are housed, maintained, and (though not in all cases) bred. A kennel can be made o ...
s in Croxteth Hall Lane were built in the 1870s and are a
Grade II listed
In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, H ...
building.
They were designed by the
Chester
Chester is a cathedral city in Cheshire, England, on the River Dee, Wales, River Dee, close to the England–Wales border. With a built-up area population of 92,760 in 2021, it is the most populous settlement in the borough of Cheshire West an ...
architect
John Douglas for the
4th Earl of Sefton.
The kennels are built in red brick with a patterned roof of blue and green
slate
Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous, metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade, regional metamorphism. It is the finest-grained foliated metamorphic ro ...
s. The building is in one storey and has three
bays; the left two bays consist of the kennels and the bay on the right is higher with a steeper half-
hipped roof. There is a tall brick chimney stack.
[ The kennels are currently occupied and maintained by the Croxteth Park Volunteer Group (founded 2017).
]
See also
* Grade II* listed buildings in Liverpool – Suburbs
*
References
External links
*
Official Site
(old)
Dairy
*
Croxteth Park Information Site
Friends of Croxteth Hall
{{Green Liverpool
Grade II* listed buildings in Liverpool
Country houses in Merseyside
Grade II listed parks and gardens in Merseyside
John Douglas buildings
Historic house museums in Merseyside
Country parks in Merseyside
Museums in Liverpool
Local Nature Reserves in Merseyside
Parks and commons in Liverpool
Grade II* listed houses
Grade II* listed museum buildings
1570s establishments in England