Southport garden caves, described by TV architect George Clarke as extraordinary, will be open to the public as part of the National Open Gardens Scheme.

Inspired by a visit to the famed Blue John Mines at Castleton, Derbyshire, Francis Proctor has created a unique space which includes a cavern, 20ft below ground.

The garden led architect and Channel 4 Amazing Spaces presenter George Clarke to exclaim that Francis had ‘taken creativity to new depths’.

The garden, at Pershore Grove, Southport, is named in memory of Francis’ wife Barbara and was officially opened by Lady Dodd of Knotty Ash.  

On a visit to film at the garden for the TV programme, architectural designer Will Hardie said: “This place is just bonkers.

“We (the Amazing Spaces team) have been looking at all sorts of unique builds and this is the most remarkable I have ever seen.

“It just keeps on delivering hidden wonders,”

The garden, a 30-year labour of love,  features a bridge and waterfall and has many unusual features, such as two stones from Canterbury and Durham cathedrals, a huge replica of an Easter Island head and deep underground, a film set skeleton brought back from the US.

The garden borders on to seaside sand dunes near Ainsdale beach and building them proved to be a triumph of engineering and maths.

Former civil servant and professional photographer Francis Proctor said: “Barbara was a maths teacher, and she used her knowledge to work out how to stop the sand flowing down into the excavations.

“As a result, we had to build by shoring the walls up from the top downwards.  creating five feet thick concrete walls to shore up the excavation. As we proceeded, we were given support by building and safety inspectors at Sefton Council. We didn’t need planning permission, but when I was completing the work, I applied for, and received retrospective planning permission, before registering with the National Garden Scheme.”

Since completion, Francis has encouraged visits and used them to help raise money for charities.

Barbara died before the official opening of the garden in 2023 by Lady Dodd of Knotty Ash, the widow of the late comedian Ken Dodd.

Francis said: “Everything we have here is reclaimed and recycled and there are many special features alongside the caves and, waterfalls, including  bricks from the Liverpool Blitz, and the foundation stone from Southport Hospital, unveiled by The Earl of Derby K.G., Minister of War, on 18th November 1922.  

One hundred years later,  Lady Dodd of Knotty Ash opened this special garden dedicated to my late wife Barbara.”

In 2025, the garden has been largely closed while vital work has taken place on the water pumps which run the waterfalls, but it will be open for a National Open Gardens Scheme on September 13.

You can find out more here via the National Open Garden Scheme listing for 33 Pershore Grove – https://ngs.org.uk/gardens/33-pershore-grove-pr8/