Woolton Woods and Camphill
Encyclopedia
Woolton
Woolton is a suburb of Liverpool, Merseyside, England and a Liverpool City Council Ward. It is located at the south of the city, bordered by Gateacre, Hunts Cross, Allerton and Halewood. At the 2001 Census the population was recorded as 14,836.-History:...
suburb of Liverpool
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
in England. It is adjacent to St Julie's Catholic High School and Woolton High Street. Woolton Woods formed part of the estate of Woolton Hall
Woolton Hall
Woolton Hall, Woolton, England was built in 1704 for the Molyneuxs. In 1772, Robert Adam was employed to design a new frontage and redesign the interior. The hall is a grade I listed building....
, but was acquired by the city of Liverpool in the 1920s.
From 150 BC an Iron Age fort occupied the crest of Camp Hill. The name of Woolton (recorded in the Domesday Book
Domesday Book
Domesday Book , now held at The National Archives, Kew, Richmond upon Thames in South West London, is the record of the great survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086...
as Uluentune) is derived from 'Wulfa's Tun', from the Anglo-Saxon personal name Wulfa and the Old English tun meaning village, farm or homestead. Woolton Woods formed part of the estate of Woolton Hall, which from 1772 was owned by the Ashton family, well known prominent Liverpool citizens. In the 1850s ownership of the estate passed to William Shand, who married one of the daughters of Henry Ashton. By 1871 the Gaskell family, whose family tree can be traced back to the 16th century, was resident at Woolton Hall.
The site was acquired by the City of Liverpool in the 1920s, and several interesting garden features have been created and acquired since. The Floral Cuckoo Clock in the Old Walled Garden was presented to the public in 1927 by the family of James Bellhouse Gaskell in memory of his long connection with Woolton Wood. The Dutch Garden of Meditation was created in 1928, and although the pool and garden ornaments have long disappeared, it is still a sheltered and tranquil spot, known as the Sunken Garden.