It’s official: Birkenhead Park is now on UNESCO’s list to be considered for World Heritage status! Following an application in July 2022, the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) announced that Birkenhead Park would be included on the UK Tentative List for potential nomination for inclusion on the UNESCO World Heritage List.
The Tentative List, which is only published every 10 years or so, does not guarantee that a site will progress to be nominated to UNESCO, but with only 33 UK sites having World Heritage status— like Stonehenge and Hadrian’s Wall— even the consideration marks Birkenhead Park’s significance as a pioneer of urban, public parks.
Birkenhead Park famously inspired Olmsted, his vision of “Parks for All People” and his design for the iconic Central Park in New York City, which was added to the US Tentative List in 2017.
