Clifton Park Estate Birkenhead

The most striking feature of Tranmere is Clifton Park, situated on the western side of the hill by which the township is intersected. Within the last few years this has been converted from a large plot of waste land into a favourite place of residence, and it is now studded with villas, generally of handsome and attractive elevations. The park, which is private property, has been laid out by Mr. Walter Scott, of Birkenhead, from whose designs most of the houses in it have built. They exhibit a most studied diversity of character, the whole forming a splendid ornament to the neighbourhood. [William Williams Mortimer: The History of the Hundred of Wirral 1847, page 200]

Between 1820 and 1840 Birkenhead grew from a small village to a sizeable town. The ambitions of William Laird, shipbuilder, led to the development of Hamilton Square and Birkenhead Park. Those with sufficient wealth soon chose to move away from the centre with residential villas of high quality occupying the higher land or the banks of the Mersey where air was supposedly cleaner and views more extensive.

Located to the south west of the town centre and enclosed within a set of lodge gates, the Clifton Park Estate was begun about 1840 by developer Captain William Sharp to a layout by Walter Scott as an opulent suburb for the wealthy of Birkenhead. Like Birkenhead Park it provided a more spacious residential environment than Hamilton Square and the earlier terraces. By 1843 a number of large villas had been built along Clifton Road, together with an area of ornamental landscape with a central circular driveway and connecting paths behind. Among the villas designed by Walter Scott the following are listed Grade II:

• c1843: 23-25 Clifton Road, Clifton Park Birkenhead . Pair of houses. c1843. By Walter Scott. Stucco with Welsh slate roof. 2 storeyed, each a two-room double depth plan with side entrance.
• c1845: 11 Clifton Road, Clifton Park Birkenhead. Ashlar faced with low pitched roof not seen behind parapet. 2 storeys, symmetrical 3 bays articulated by pilasters, and with central entrance.
• c1845: 21 Clifton Road, Clifton Park Birkenhead. Stucco with Welsh slate overhanging hipped roof. 2 storeyed, 3 window range double depth plan with central entrance.
• c1845: 27 Clifton Road (Masonic Temple) , Clifton Park Birkenhead . Masonic temple, originally dwelling. c1845, but remodelled on change of use. Ashlar faced, roof not seen behind parapet. 2 storeys, 4 symmetrical bays divided by full height pilasters with egg and dart capitals.
• 1846: 10 Clifton Road, and 72 The Woodlands, Clifton Park Birkenhead.Pair of houses. Dated 1846. Ashlar faced with Welsh slate and concrete tiled roof. Asymmetrical grouping in picturesque gothic style. No.72 The Woodlands is 2 storeyed with main range of 2 units with central door, and projecting gabled block to the left.

The first edition of Buildings of England Cheshire also noted Nos. 17-19 Clifton Road, a semi-detached pair in brick in one of which Scott lived, Also, Nos. 38-40 Clifton Road, a semi-detached Italianate pair in the form of end pavilions linked by a lower block. Further Italianate, Gothic and Jacobethan houses can be found in Whetstone Lane, Hollybank Road and Lowwood Road. (Pevsner and Hubbard, 1978).

Clifton Park was designated a Conservation Area in July 2004.