Victoria park was opened in 1900 to celebrate the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria. It is built on the former Appleton House estate and was created by the local council with funds collected via a public subscription. The park contains a Grade II listed war memorial pillar incorporating detailed carvings and standing more than 16m high, the memorial is a striking and prominent architectural building. The pillar was designed by Harold E Davies and unveiled by the 17th Earl of Derby in a ceremony on 28 September 1921 after a civic parade from Widnes Town Hall. The memorial cost £6,000 and was paid for by public subscription. The sculptural additions were undertaken by the national artist Herbert Tyson Smith.
There is a memorial fountain in honour of William Ewart Gladstone.
A milestone marker, with plaque, commemorates the last effective Zeppelin air raid of World War I in England. Five Zeppelins dropped bombs in Widnes, Ince and Wigan.
There is a statue of Sgt. Thomas Mottershead V.C., DCM (1892–1917) who was born in Widnes and was awarded a Victoria Cross and Distinguished Conduct Medal in World War I. There is also a combined memorial headstone for Mottershead and two other recipients of the V.C. from Halton namely Thomas Wilkinson and Thomas Alfred Jones.
Thomas Mottershead was born in Widnes, Lancashire on 17 January 1892. He was the son of Thomas and Lucy Mottershead. He studied engineering at Widnes Technical School and was apprenticed as a fitter and turner after leaving school. In February 1914, he married Lilian Medlicott Bree and the couple had a son, Sydney, the following year. Mottershead was living at 31 Lilac Avenue in Widnes and working as a garage mechanic when World War I broke out. He enlisted in the Royal Flying Corps on 10 August 1914 as a mechanic, and was posted to the Central Flying school at Upavon and was promoted to Sergeant on 1 April 1916. In May 1916 he began pilot training and on 9 June he obtained his Flying Certificate. He was posted to No.25 Squadron at St Omer, flying the FE 2, on 6 July 1916 and saw action in the Battle of the Somme.
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