HESKETH PARK BOTANIC GARDENS. II 



anywhere in England. It is filled, moreover, with valuable 

 and curious plants, including many of the most admired 

 varieties of exotic evergreens, such as tree-ferns ; and, in 

 regard to its flowers, presents throughout the year an unrelax- 

 ing current of cheerful beauty. The length is 180 feet, the 

 width 80 feet ; and along the centre which is an exact 

 miniature of the transept of the Crystal Palace at Sydenham 

 the height is the same, namely, 80 feet. There is nothing 

 else of the kind in Lancashire of similar altitude, so that such 

 plants as palms have at Southport the best chance the county 

 affords of a prolonged and beautiful existence. The Concert 

 Hall is devoted to the purpose for which it was designed, and 

 to the regular exhibition of dramatic entertainments. There 

 is also a large Skating Rink. 



Whilst upon the subject of provision for high-class pastime 

 and recreation, the time is opportune to speak of the Hesketh 

 Public Park, reached by tram-car in a few minutes from the 

 northern extremity of Lord-street. Up till 1866, the site 

 was chiefly occupied by sandhills. The thirty acres which 

 are now so thoroughly covered with trees, shrubs, grass, and 

 flower-borders, were then given to the town, as a present in 

 perpetuity, by one of the principal landowners, the late Rev. 

 Charles Hesketh, rector of North Meols. In 1868, the Park, 

 with its encircling carriage way, was thrown open, and from 

 that time forwards, it has been regarded as one of the most 

 charming possessions of all who care for a lovely and 

 peaceful resort, reached at a minimum expenditure of time. 

 For the same reason, the present becomes the suitable 

 opportunity for speaking of the Churchtown Botanical 

 Gardens. That they are situated rather more than two miles 



