Merseyside’s Birkenhead Park among UK sites in running to win UNESCO World Heritage status - full list

Seven sites which have received official UK government backing to attain UNESCO World Heritage status have been named, including one in Liverpool City Region. Birkenhead Park, Wirral, has been put forward for the honour.

The green space has been included in what is known as the UK Tentative List, which is published every ten years. These are normally the locations officials feel have the best chance of succeeding.

Birkenhead Park - known to many as the People’s Garden - has been listed due to its cultural significance. The major public park, located in the centre of Birkenhead, is generally acknowledged as the first publicly funded park in the world.

Wirral Council will now start working with the government to develop their official bid for the popular park to be given UNESCO World Heritage status. An exact date locals can find out if it will be successful is yet to be confirmed.

Laura Davies, HM Ambassador to UNESCO, said: “It is great that the UK is contributing to making World Heritage more representative. These five sites brilliantly reflect the diversity and beauty of the UK and its Overseas Territories’ natural and cultural heritage, and I look forward to working with them towards World Heritage listing.

See for yourself: If you wish to pay the site a visit to see what all the fuss is about, admission to Birkenhead Park is completely free of charge and it is open for 24 hours. For more information, visit the Birkenhead Park website.

One in, one out: The United Nations heritage body UNESCO decided to strip nearby Liverpool of its coveted World Heritage status following a meeting in China in July 2021. The decision came following what the committee cited as ‘irreversible loss of attributes’ to the Maritime Mercantile City due to a series of developments to the docks.

UK Tentative List - full list

• Birkenhead the People’s Park [Cultural]
• East Atlantic Flyway – England East Coast Wetlands [Natural]
• The Flow Country [Natural]
• Gracehill Moravian Church Settlements [Cultural, Transnational]
• Little Cayman Marine Parks and Protected Areas [Natural]
• York [Cultural]
• The Zenith of Iron Age Shetland [Cultural]