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Croxteth Hall is a country estate and Grade II* listed building in the West Derby suburb of Liverpool, England. It is the former country estate and ancestral home of the Molyneux family, the Earls of Sefton. After the death of the seventh and last Earl in 1972, the estate passed to Liverpool City Council, which now manages the remainder of the estate following the sale of approximately half of the grounds. The remaining grounds, Croxteth Park, were at one time a hunting chase of the Molyneux family and are now open to the public.
Queen Victoria, Prince Albert, and their children stayed at Croxteth Hall on 9 October 1851 before visiting Liverpool the following day during torrential rain. However, the visit started fine with 700 members of the local gentry being entertained in the hall grounds.Illustrated London News October 1851
The hall and its outbuilding are a Grade II* listed building, as are three of the outbuildings; another 15 buildings on the estate are Grade II. The Molyneux family lived at the hall from the 16th century until 1972, when the last Earl died. His American-born widow Josephine, Countess of Sefton (1903–1980)—once a close friend of the Duchess of Windsor and nicknamed "Foxy" for her abundant auburn hair—continued to spend some time at Croxteth. She became the last member of the Molyneux family to reside in the hall.
When the last Earl died in 1972, a worldwide search was made for an heir to the title but without success. Much of the original estate has since been sold off for development, but approximately remain as a country park, which is open to the public and includes various play facilities for children. The estate also contains the historic hall itself, open to the public for a small fee, as well as a maintained Victorian era walled garden and a working country farm.
The walled garden is home to what remains of the Liverpool Botanics. This is one of the oldest horticultural collections in Britain, founded by William Roscoe in 1802. Amongst the tropical plants is the National Collection of Dracaena (dragon trees); there are orchids and the National Collection of Codiaeum; and the National Collection of Solenostemon (coleus) as well as a rich collection of bromeliads. Liverpool was once world-famous for its orchids as the collection is composed mainly of wild collected species rather than the more usual garden hybrids.
In March 2013, it was announced that a £400,000 programme would be undertaken to restore the damaged Queen Anne wing which was gutted by fire in 1952.
Liverpool City Council announced in 2017 that they were looking for bids from developers to manage the hall and park with the facility costing the council over £1 million a year to run. By January 2018, two bids had been submitted to run the hall and park, one of which planned to use the facility as a luxury hotel, spa and wedding venue. However, by March 2018 the council announced plans to run the facility itself, aiming to develop it into a tourist attraction, hosting concerts, fairs and markets.
The hall had to have urgent structural work undertaken during the summer of 2020 when an engineering report discovered that repairs were needed to chimney breasts, guttering and roof linings, costing around £650,000.
Myerscough College operate their Liverpool campus from part of the hall, at which they teach 350 full-time students. See Myerscough College Liverpool Homepage
The "Friends of Croxteth Hall and Country Park" support the work of Liverpool's major stately home. The Friends hold a variety of fun events to raise funds. Among the things they have paid for are benches, plants, equipment, and horticultural studies.
Each Saturday at 9 a.m. the park hosts a free, weekly, timed 5 km
Croxteth Hall parkrun
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