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The image above is shown with the permission of Graham Todd Birch Fields
Park is a remnant of the Birch Estate, which in the
1830s was owned by John Dickenson, after whom
Dickenson Road was named. The map below, dated 1850
shows the site, near the junction of Anson and
Dickenson Roads, when it was open fields. I
added the name of Anson Road and coloured in Gore
Brook.
John Dickenson sold part of the estate located north of the road, named after him, to the company which created the exclusive Victoria Park community. In 1873 the ownership of the remaining estate south of Victoria Park passed through the Dickenson Family to Sir William Anson who lent his name to the road which joins Dickenson Road at the Birch Fields Park gates.
The boulder shown in the
image above was discovered by a building
contractor working on a nearby estate. It
weighs 13 tonnes and was presented to the park as
an object of curiosity. Apparently it is a
glacial erratic carried to the Manchester area by
the glaciers from the northern Pennines.
The 32 acre park was opened officially by Prince Albert in 1888. 
 The park was regarded as a place of beauty where you could stroll among well kept gardens.
Gore Brook snakes its way through the park.
 During World War II the park, like many of Manchester's parks, was used as a barrage balloon site. Manchester
Corporation reports that Birch Fields Park has a
playground, a large open show field and two 5-a-side
football pitches. It also says that part of the park
is to be developed into a wild flower meadow with
poppies, cornflowers and marigolds. The images below
were taken 1n March of 2014     |
