This may look like a typical house on a typical street – but in its garden there is something extraordinary
04:00, 31 Aug 2025Updated 07:46, 31 Aug 2025
In the garden of this normal-looking house lies something remarkable (Image: Liverpool Echo)
On a sleepy suburban street in a quiet Merseyside village, there lies a house that from the outside looks like any other. But in the garden of the property in Pershore Grove in Ainsdale lies a world of wonders that simply have to be seen to be believed.
That’s because for nearly 30 years now, the house’s owner Francis Proctor has been creating a remarkable set of underground caves in his back garden. This includes an extraordinary cavern that reaches 20ft below ground.
Inspired by a visit to the Blue John Mines in Derbyshire, Francis, a former civil servant and photographer, began working on the caves in his garden around 27 years ago. While he admits the project may never truly be completed, it was officially opened by Lady Anne Dodd in 2023 and now regularly opens up to allow members of the public to come and take a look inside.
The garden 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.
Francis Proctor by the waterfall at the bottom of his garden in Southport(Image: Liverpool Echo)
The incredible garden is dedicated to Francis’ late wife Barbara, who died four years ago. Barbara used her skills and knowledge as a mathematician to help Francis create the caves, which was a serious challenge as the garden borders the sand dunes near Ainsdale Beach.
Francis 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.”
He said he and his late wife, a keen gardener, would joke about his eccentric project. “I tell people that she hated it,” he said with a laugh. “She didn’t like all the mechanical things I was bringing in that might damage her beautiful lawn.
“But I think she would be pleased with the results, although I don’t know if she would like all the publicity it is receiving. At least her section of the garden and the lawn has been restored. Before she died I mentioned some of the things I wanted to do in the garden and I was pleased she was ok with it all.”
Francis Proctor on the steps down to the cave at the bottom of his garden in Southport(Image: Liverpool Echo)
The publicity Francis speaks of includes being featured on Channel 4’s Amazing Spaces, where presenter George Clarke described the garden as “extraordinary.” Architectural designed Will Hardie said the space is the “most remarkable” he had ever seen.
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.”
Francis says that he hopes when he dies that his family won’t sell his house with its magical garden caves. He said: “I don’t know how many years I have left and I am hoping someone will take it on, but my four children have so far said they are not interested. Hopefully one of my grandchildren will.”
Francis Proctor in the cave at the bottom of his garden in Southport(Image: Liverpool Echo)
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, which raises money for charity.
You can find out more about the National Open Garden Scheme listing and how and when to visit the garden here.
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