2004
The idea for the Gladstone Roots project was generated by the Friends of court hey park after a big response to the release of the book 'The History of Court Hey Park' written by George Peet, a founder member of the Friends.

Early in 2004, Bob Dutton, Chairman of the the Friends informed the local community through our newsletter 'The Woodpecker', of the proposal to carry out an archaeological excavation on the site of the Gladstone mansion and to involve the community as much as possible. We would need as much support as possible to raise the funds for the project. It was our dream that the Friends would find the support for a sustainable historical asset for the park and local community. Bob was instrumental in devising the plan that would eventually enable the local community and schools to take part in an archaeological exploration of the site of Gladstone Hall, the former home of Robertson Gladstone.

The Friends met with officers from Knowsley Council to develop this project and to ensure that the wider community would have the opportunity to explore the history and conserve the heritage of Court Hey Park, the Gladstone family and servants / workers on the estate.

2005
Petition to the Heritage Lottery Fund
We asked for demonstrable support of our "Gladstone" project at the Knowsley Flower Show in August 2005 by providing a petition form for visitors to sign. The response was excellent, the Friends received over 400 names from people in support.

2006
Visit to Grange Park
Knowsley council officers organised a trip for the Friends to Grange Park in Preston, to explore the site of a similar project. Grange Park was developed from the grounds of Ribbleton Hall, a Victorian manor house built in 1865 for Thomas Birchall, a local solicitor and one time mayor of Preston. Excavation of the original foundations has allowed the re-creation of the layout of the Hall and conservatory, as well as the adjacent kitchen garden. Friends visit Photo

2007
Great News.
In September the Friends were informed by project manager Dave Ramsbottom, that the Heritage Lottery had accepted our latest application and that a date must be set for 2007. The initial H.L.F. application forms had again been re-submitted and accepted thanks to many long hours of hard work by chair Bob Dutton. Celebration Photo

The Friends decided to meet up every monday from October onward and to arrange extra meetings to target important areas of work.
Photo courtesy of Dave Ramsbottom.

The date was set for November, leaving us about 2 months to organise ourselves. T-shirts were ordered, work was to begin on 'fact sheets' to be given out to participants, contacts made with the necessary companies to print extra newsletters and a re-print of our book, 'A History of court hey park' was also requested. Dr. Mark Adams from Liverpool Museum was contacted and he organised his field staff to prepare for work.

A new sign for the front of the park was ordered to point visitors in the right direction and a banner to advertise the event was to be made and hung on the railings at the front entrance. Posters were to be printed and placed in every local shop and in member's cars.

We were extremely fortunate to have the support of very helpful Knowsley council staff - Dave Ramsbottom as project manager and ranger Karen Brady. Advice was also appreciated from Jan Pell of Landlife & help from The National Wildflower Centre.

Phase 1 had started in earnest and it was worth the hard work when the JCB turned up on the 9th of November 2007 to begin work on the first trench. Read more about phase 1 here.

Heritage Lottery Fund information released about this project can be read in a Word document here.

2008
Phase 2 of the project began in late January.
Due to bad weather and staff needing to return to other projects work commenced on a stop start basis. In May 2008, all of the footings were in place (see images page) and a date for the official opening set for later in the year.

Two columns were erected to represent the entrance to the original Gladstone Mansion.

November 2008
The site was officially opened by the Mayor of Knowsley on the 12th of November and the interpretational sign was unveiled. Please use this link for more information about the opening event.

Currently
Research into the Gladstone Mansion, family and servants will continue and the results made available in the near future.