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.