History of Kirkdale
Kirkdale occupies an area of flat land on the banks of the Mersey, formerly consisting of sandhills, for which this part of the Sefton coast is still well known. It is one of the oldest coastal settlements, predating Liverpool itself, and containing evidence for centuries of human occupation.
Chirchedale, Domesday; Kirkedale, 1185; Kierkedale, 1200.
Origins: from kirk – (village with a) church, and dale – valley; therefore the name would refer to a village with a church, located in a valley.
Morley Street was the original centre of the village, lying at the foot of the hill to Everton, on the north west side of the Liverpool-Walton road. The land rises to 150 feet towards Walton (in 1823 Springfield Mill stood near Spellow near Walton Road).
To the north of the village a brook once rose running down the slope to the river by Bank Hall (a mill is marked on this stream on Sherriff’s map of 1823). To the north was Kirkdale Marsh.
Beacon Gutter, a small stream running to the south of Blackfield House, formed the southerly boundary with Liverpool.
Kirkdale was one of the earliest suburbs to be incorporated into Liverpool, which happened in 1835.
Transport
The main roads through the village went to Sandhills (Latham Street and Sandhills Lane) and Bootle (Field Lane, later Bootle Lane and now known as Westmister Road). The principal road through the village was that from Liverpool to Walton and on to Ormskirk.
The Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway line from Liverpool to Preston passed through Kirkdale, with stations at Sandhills and Kirkdale. The Southport track branched at Sandhills, and passed through a station at Bank Hall. Smaller branch lines served the docklands, and the London and North West branch ran from Edge Hill to Canada Dock Station. Cheshire Lines Railway stopped at Huskisson Dock Station, and the Liverpool Overhead Railway had several stops in Kirkdale. The Liverpool tram system also had a number of routes taking dockworkers and labourers to work each day. The docks themselves were full of sidings, warehouses and stations.
Expansion
As Kirkdale was so close to the centre of Liverpool, by the turn of the 20th Century the area was already a mass of buildings, predominantly small cottages for the working class, along with factories, warehouses, the railway, and small shops. At the height of Liverpool’s industrial strength, a large proportion of the city’s Irish and Welsh and particularly Scottish population lived in Kirkdale.
In the massive slum clearances of the early 20th Century, Kirkdale was one of the most heavily affected districts, for example the area of Pleasant View. Logan Towers was, when it was built, the world’s tallest pre-fabricated building, and saw Liverpool overtake London in terms of high-rise residences.
Landmarks
Kirkdale Gaol, near Kirkdale Station, closed in 1897. Other notable buildings were the Liverpool Select Vestry Industrial School, and Stanley Hospital, founded in 1867. In 1837 the formerly provate St. Mary’s Cemetery opened as a public park, and was known as Lester Gardens. Bank Hall, located where the stream entered the Mersey, was situated at the present junction of Bank Hall Lane and Bank Hall Street. Built by the Moore family in in 1388-9, it was demolished as part of the expansion of the docks in the 19th Century.
The beach at Kirkdale, before the docks overtook the entire coastline, was popular with bathers in the 18th and 19th Centuries. When Wellington, Huskisson and Sandon Docks were built on the site, Southport became the preferred holiday location.
Flickr
O would like to know more about Back Westminster Road and the two very old cottages that are on the right hand side ?they have thick walls , and untill recently the did not have windows in the side elevation. i remember when i as a child they earth floors .
volin
Hi Colin,
These cottages could be very old indeed. Looking at the First Edition Ordnance Survey map (1:10,560) they are in a still rural area. Two major buildings nearby are Kirkdale Gaol, and the Liverpool Industrial School.
The houses which still exist on Bootle Lane are marked, and it seems very odd that a row of large houses and a row of small cottages are squeezed back to back between large fields. Perhaps the cottages were associated with the houses, for example as service buildings. Alternatively, perhaps the cottages are older, with the newer houses on Bootle Lane being built on the main road.
Looking at the layout of the gardens, it could be that the larger houses had only short gardens (having been built later), with the rest of the land belonging to the cottages, Back Westminster Road running between cottage and garden.
The two cottages you mention are the only ones left out of the whole row, which extended north to what is now Goodall Street. It’s amazing what survives down the centuries.
Hi Martin
I’m trying to find out what area in Kirkdale my father was born. His address on his birth certificate says 21 Sharp Street. This was in 1918.
How would I be able to find anything out about his house and area?
Hoping you can help
Thanks
Hi Jane,
According to some top research by Rob Ainsworth at the Liverpool History Society, Sharp Street has been redeveloped into Archer Close (Archer Street next to it has kept its name over the years). This is the place today: http://g.co/maps/sg2gj
I hope this gets you started in your research (there are plenty of books on the area), but is there anything specific you’d like to know?
Regards,
Martin
Hello Martin,
I grew up from when I was 5 yrs old in one of the two remaining cottages you were talking about in Kirkdale, I remember the stone walls and floors and how cold it used to be in the winter, I was there until I left to get married.
Regards,
Yvonne
Hi Yvonne,
That’s fascinating to hear that you lived in one of the cottages! I’m still amazed that they have survived for so long. Feel free to share any other memories you have of the buildings here, or create an account at http://historic-liverpool.co.uk/wp-login.php?action=register and add it to the map. (See http://www.liverpool-landscapes.net/2012/02/historic-liverpool-is-now-open-for-your-contributions/ for more details)
Regards,
Martin
Hi, I am currently researching the Molyneux family name, and research has shown that the family were Corn Millers, employing 7 men in 1851. The census shows the address as Molineux Mill & Cottage, Bootle Lane, Kirkdale, and the 1861 census shows the address as Windmill Yard, Bootle Lane, Kirkdale.
Do you have any information on the mills? I am assuming that they no longer exist.
Thank you.
Hi Gill,
The main reference to this windmill I’ve found is on Wikipedia, which states that it burned down in 1834, and references the book Windmill Land by Allen Clarke (1916) as its source. However, I’ve not been able to get at a copy of the book myself to check.
Its early demise means it doesn’t appear on the Ordnance Survey maps (the earliest of these being 1851). A windmill (“Spellow Mill”) appears on some earlier maps just north of Bootle Lane (now Westminster Road), though I’m not sure that this is the same one – it’s north of the still-present Spellow Lane, and may have used Bootle Lane as its address. If anyone else has an opinion on this do respond below.
I’ve added a scan of the Yates and Perry map of 1768 to the Historic Liverpool Facebook page to let you make up your own mind.
I hope this gives you a start in your research on the mill.
Hi Jane
You mention you are researching Sharp Street. Sharp Street was one of two side streets which ran off Sandheys Street. The other being Wilkin Street. They ran into Archer Street which ran from Walton Road, down past St Marys park and church and finished at Westminster Road, just by the baths. My family lived in Sandheys for a very long time and everybody knew each other. What was your father’s name.
Hi Jane = just put a little info about Sharp Street on the site. Let me know if I can help
Hi,
This link gets you to a map that shows the position of Molyneux mill, Bootle Lane.
http://www.british-history.ac.uk/mapsheet.aspx?compid=55125&sheetid=4742&ox=0&oy=0&zm=1&czm=10&x=284&y=80
The windmill that burnt down on Bootle Lane, 1834, was the mill that was owned by Jeremiah Shaw.
http://archive.org/stream/historyofcornmil04bennuoft#page/198/mode/2up
The Annals of 1843 Gores Directory says:
Shaws windmill at Bootle entirely destroyed by fire. This mill was one of the oldest in the neighbourhood of Liverpool. There having been one on site upwards of 200 yrs.
On the map above it shows New Mill which was the one that jeremiah Shaw built in place of the windmill that was destroyed by fire. His daughter and her husband ran New Mill on Bootle lane, after Jerry’s death in 1840.
I do have a picture of New Mill but I am not sure how to get it on here.
Any problems with the links let me know.
regards Gillian
Hi Gillian,
Thanks so much for those links – excellent sources which I will use more in future. It’s also good to see something describing the continuity between two parts of a building’s life (or rather, the reincarnation of a building destroyed).
If you’d like me to put your picture (fully credited of course!) under perhaps the Landmarks section of this page then you can email it to me at martin [at] historic-liverpool.co.uk.
Regards,
Martin
Hi Martin,
I will try and email the picture to you later. Unfortunately the quality isn’t as good as I
would liked as I had to use the camera on a phone to take it, because our camera was
broken, and I had promised to send a copy to someone, hence the phone camera. We
have not been able to replace our camera yet. The picture is also under glass in a frame.
Do you know where online I could find a copy of the Yates and Perry Map 1768 as I am
interested in having a look at the map to the area to the left of the map you put on
facebook for Gill.
Regards Gillian