Calderstones Park

Calderstones Park lies in Allerton, about six kilometres south-east of Liverpool city centre. The 51-hectare park mixes open lawns with a lake, a botanical garden and a Georgian mansion. Families come for the playground, café and children’s play area inside the mansion. A small stream winds through the grounds, feeding the lake where ducks and geese gather. The mansion itself was built in 1828 for a local merchant and later served as council offices until 2012. The park holds some of the region’s oldest monuments. Six Neolithic sandstone monoliths, arranged 4,000 years ago, stand near Robin Hood’s Stone, once part of the same circle. One thousand-year-old Allerton Oak has survived despite damage from a gunpowder ship’s blast in 1864; it was named England’s Tree of the Year in 2019. The botanical garden began in 1951 with 16 linked glasshouses that once held nearly 4,000 plant species from around the world. A Japanese garden and a bog garden were added later, while the dry nature reserve now draws wildlife and visitors alike. Visitors walk paths lined with labelled trees and shrubs, many planted by post-war apprentices. The lake offers views of waterfowl and the mansion’s rear stables and coachhouse. Inside the mansion, The Reader charity runs a Storybarn where children listen to stories. The annual Liverpool International Tennis Tournament brings crowds to the park each summer. Benches sit beneath the Allerton Oak, and the Neolithic stones stand quietly near the rose garden.