Beautiful paintings showing how Southport used to look as the early town was growing are on display in a fascinating exhibition at The Atkinson in Southport.
‘Southport Watercolours’ is hosted inside Gallery 4 with free admission, running until 8th March 2025.
The artwork has been gathered from within The Atkinson’s own collection and from Crosby Archives.
Renowned artists including W G Herdman and Edwin Beattie are on display showing how Southport has inspired artists to record the area.
You can admire early scenes of Lord Street; Southport Pier; of William ‘Duke’ Sutton’s original ‘Duke’s Folly’ Hotel; the Marine Lake; the Scarisbrick Hotel; the old underground Nevill Street; the old Garden Of Remembrance; shrimping on Southport Beach; and of course The Atkinson itself.
At a time when Southport is once again showing real ambition for change, with new developments including the Marine Lake Events Centre, Cove Resort, The Grand, The Garrick and more, it is interesting to look back and discover just how Southport has evolved.
From very humble beginnings in the late 1700s, by the 1800s Southport had become a fashionable spa town.
Southport gained the reputation of being a refined place to visit. By 1820, the town was being visited by over 20,000 visitors per year.
Southport also began to attract some very talented artists. Edwin Robert Beattie and William Gawin Herdman are possibly the best known but from the very beginning the town was inspiring people to take up a brush and record the sites and scenes.
The Southport Watercolours exhibition uses the collections from The Atkinson and Crosby Archives to illustrate the rich history of Southport and through these recordings the visitor today can see the changes that have made the town the place that we see today.
Southport Watercolours is at The Atkinson, Southport, until 8th March 2025. Free entry.
Open Monday – Saturday, 10am – 4pm, closed Sundays and Bank Holidays.
For more details on what’s on at The Atkinson in Southport please visit: www.theatkinson.co.uk
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