The History of The Arno and Oxton Fields

Here we have listed a little of the history and events that gave us The Arno and Oxton Fields.

Spend a little time here and enjoy your visit to the The Arno and Oxton Fields to experience them in all their glory.

The Arno was officialy opened as a 'Recreation Ground' on Saturday 30th March 1912. The Little Arno can also claim its official opening date as the same day, but it is not mentioned in the following note from the Borough Engineer & Surveyor's Office describing how events of the day should proceed. 

                                                                                                                                Borough Engineer & Surveyor's Office 
                                                                            Town Hall
                                                                            Birkenhead
                                                                            30th March 1912.

ARNO RECREATION GROUND

Opening of the Arno Recreation Ground on Saturday, the 30th instant

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The Guests will assemble at the entrance gate at 3:00 p.m. when the Chairman of the Health Committee Mr. Alderman Mason, will make a statement giving the history of the negotiations in connection with the Aquisition of the ground, and, in conclusion, will call upon His Worship the Mayor to formerly open the Recreation Ground for the welfare and benefit of the community at large, and, on behalf of the Committee, present to His Worship a suitably inscribed Key for the purpose.

His Worship the Mayor will then make a few remarks prior to formally opening the Ground, and will then unlock the padlock at the entrance and declare the grounds open to the public.

The Mayor will then ask the assembled Company to proceed with him into the Recreation Ground to a small enclosed site, where the Chairmanof the Health Committee, Mr. Alderman Mason, will plant a commemorative tree, and the assembled Company will then proceed to the enclosure.

Mr. Alderman Shaw, ex Deputy Chairman of the Health Committee, will then ask Mr. Alderman Mason, to plant the commemorative tree, and for that purpose will hand him a small silver spade to be used for the final operations in conection with the work.

Mr. Alderman Mason will then plant the tree, and, on behalf of the assembled Company, tender thanks to His Worship the Mayor for his presence, and will invite the Company, after an inspection of the grounds to proceed to St. Saviour's Parish Hall near the junction of Ingestre Road & Storton Road for the purpose of having light refreshments.

The Company will proceed to St. Saviour's Parish Hall for afternoon tea & c.

But The Arno - or Arno Hill as it was then locally known - had already been a popular place of recreation for Oxton folk for some years before its official transformation into a 'Recreation Ground'. The site was a former stone quarry owned by the Earl of Shrewsbury that had been left to return to its natural state after quarrying had finished towards the end of the 19th century.

A number of public-spirited local residents felt strongly, though, that it should be made into a propper park rather than be built over much like the rest of Oxton at that time, and in 1900 they leased the site from the Earl of Shrewsbury for 15 years. That The Arno was created, we have tothank, therefore, Mr Edmund Taylor (Merchant & Ship Owner, Wirral Lodge, Mount Pleasant), Miss Catherine E. King (Point of Ayr, Ingestre Road) and Mr George Wilson (Ship Owner, The Hermitege, Ingestre Road) for their forsight and concern.

In 1910, the Earl of Shrewsbury advised Birkenhead Corporation that he was willing without charge to hand over the deeds of The Arno (and The Little Arno) if the Corporation would agree to plan a 'Recreation Ground' on the site - and maintain it.

His offer was accepted and the total cost of converting his disused quarry into a formal park was £1,106 8s 9d (£1,106.43p) - at that included £182to build the stone wall and provide gates on Storton Road.
But by far the most expensive cost was the laying out of the Rose Garden. At £679 8s 8d (£679.43p) it was at that time,quite a substantial amount of money.

The Little Arno, by comparison, cost very little to lay out. The site was the garden of a former house that stood on Mill Hill. This simple little park cost only £108.75p to create.


Here are some more early images of The Arno & Oxton Fields.

We are constantly updating our site with new facts and snippets of history so make sure you regularly come back to visit our web site.