St John's Gardens, Liverpool, to the rear of St George's Hall. Thomas Shelmerdine. 1904. Photograph and text by Jacqueline Banerjee, 2009 [You may use this image without prior permission for any scholarly or educational purpose as long as you (1) credit the photograher and (2) link your document to this URL.]
Sir George Frampton was consulted at the inception of this scheme, but disavowed his part in it when it came under fire later on, chiefly, it seems, for a lack of greenery (see Cavanagh 169). Shelmerdine, who finally designed the layout of the gardens, was the Corporation Surveyor. However, even if little remained of Frampton's grandiose ideas for a full-scale Italianate sculpture park, the distinguished sculptor still contributed much to the final effect through his three sculptures here: Canon Lester, William Rathbone and Sir Arthur Forwood).
Reference
Cavanagh, Terry. Public Sculpture of Liverpool. Liverpool: Liverpool University Press, 1997.
Last modified 8 February 2009