{{Short description|Nature reserve in Wirral, Merseyside}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} {{Infobox SSSI |image= [[Image:Dibbinsdale.jpg|250px]] |name=Dibbinsdale |aos=Merseyside |interest=Biological |gridref={{gbmappingsmall|SJ338815}} |coordinates = {{coord|53.331|-2.995|type:landmark_region:GB|display=inline,title}} |area=53.2 [[hectare]]s, {{convert|131.5|acre|m2}} |notifydate=1979 / 1983 |enref=1002884 }}
'''Brotherton Park and Dibbinsdale Local Nature Reserve''' informally known as '''Dibbinsdale''' is a combined [[park]] and [[local nature reserve]] managed by the [[Metropolitan Borough of Wirral]] and located in [[Bromborough]], [[Merseyside]], England.
==History== Dibbinsdale takes its name from the River Dibbin which flows through the area. It is thought to have formed part of the boundary in the 10th and 11th centuries between the [[Viking|Norse]] colony in Wirral, to the north and west, and [[Anglo-Saxons|Anglo-Saxon]] [[Mercia]] to the east and south. After the [[Norman Conquest]], the whole area became part of the [[Hundred of Wirral]].<ref name=roberts>Stephen J. Roberts, ''A History of Wirral'', 2002, {{ISBN|978-1-86077-512-3}}</ref> In the 1800s the land on which Brotherton Park resides was part of an estate called 'Woodslee', this estate was bought in 1866 by a Liverpool Merchant called Robert Rankin who built 'Woodslee' house on the site as a wedding present for his daughter. The estate comprised Woodslee, servants cottages, a lake, stables, [[coach house]], a [[walled garden]] and formal gardens with a [[rockery]]. At some stage it was sold [[William Johnston of Liverpool]] who is listed as living there in the 1901 Census.<ref>{{Citation |last= |first= |title=Local History Archives-Dibbinsdale Local Nature |date= |year= |url=https://dibbinsdale.co.uk/park/History%20of%20Dibbinsdale.pdf |access-date= |publisher=Metropolitan Borough of Wirral |last2= |first2= |author-link= |author2-link=}}.</ref> In 1919 the estate was bought by [[Lord Brotherton]], an industrialist and [[member of parliament]] who donated the estate to the council in the 1930s, by the 1940s the house had become dilapidated and was demolished. In 1978 Brotherton Park and Dibbinsdale was designated a local nature reserve owing to the ancient woodland and became a single entity with much of Dibbinsdale donated by the Lancelyn Green family.<ref name = FoD>{{cite web |url = http://www.dibbinsdale.co.uk/history/woodslee-history/ | title = Woodslee History | accessdate = 16 March 2020 | publisher = Friends of Dibbinsdale}}</ref>
==Brotherton Park==
Brotherton Park is an urban park with an informal grassed area for recreation, dog walking and picnicking.<ref name = Wirral>{{cite web | url = https://www.wirral.gov.uk/leisure-parks-and-events/parks-and-open-spaces/brotherton-park-and-dibbinsdale-local-nature-reserve | title = Brotherton Park and Dibbinsdale Local Nature Reserve | accessdate = 16 March 2020 | publisher = Wirral Council}}</ref>
==Dibbinsdale Local Nature Reserve==
Dibbinsdale is a local nature reserve<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.lnr.naturalengland.org.uk/Special/lnr/lnr_details.asp?C=0&N=dibbinsdale&ID=1500|title=Dibbinsdale|series=Local Nature Reserves|publisher=Natural England|accessdate=4 August 2013|archive-date=4 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304060754/http://www.lnr.naturalengland.org.uk/Special/lnr/lnr_details.asp?C=0&N=dibbinsdale&ID=1500|url-status=dead}}</ref> with a woodland valley which is an example of [[ancient woodland]] in the Merseyside area. It is also a [[Site of Special Scientific Interest]].<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.sssi.naturalengland.org.uk/citation/citation_photo/1002884.pdf|title= Dibbinsdale citation|series= Sites of Special Scientific Interest|publisher= Natural England|accessdate= 4 August 2013|archive-date= 24 October 2012|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20121024074104/http://www.sssi.naturalengland.org.uk/citation/citation_photo/1002884.pdf|url-status= dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://magic.defra.gov.uk/MagicMap.aspx?startTopic=Designations&activelayer=sssiIndex&query=HYPERLINK%3D%271002884%27 |title=Map of Dibbinsdale |series= Sites of Special Scientific Interest|publisher=Natural England|accessdate=4 August 2013}}</ref>
==Facilities== The park has woodland walks, nature trails, a meadow, historic woodland, wetland habitats, a small unmanned visitor centre, a rangers office, toilets and a free car park.<ref name = Wirral/>
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== {{commons category|Dibbinsdale Local Nature Reserve}} * [https://web.archive.org/web/20080207034612/http://www.wirral.gov.uk/LGCL/100006/200073/1008/content_0000977.html Metropolitan Borough of Wirral: Brotherton Park & Dibbinsdale LNR] * [https://web.archive.org/web/20080216201845/http://www.wirral.gov.uk/LGCL/100006/200073/1008/content_0000987.html Metropolitan Borough of Wirral: Dibbinsdale SSSI] * [https://web.archive.org/web/20071029102418/http://www.wirral.gov.uk/LGCL/100006/200073/1008/content_0002158.html Metropolitan Borough of Wirral: Nature Conservation] * [http://www.stevenround-birdphotography.com Steven Round Bird Photography - Many wild bird images from Dibbinsdale]
{{Parks and Commons in Wirral Borough}} {{SSSIs Merseyside}}
[[Category:Parks and commons in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral]] [[Category:Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Merseyside]] [[Category:Local nature reserves in Merseyside]]