Hidden History
October 30, 2015 / July 15, 2025 by Martin Greaney | 1 Comment on Hartley Quay Dock Railway
The dock railway was built in Liverpool to solve a challenge which other cities did not face. With dock expansion, ships were docking further and further from the central business... read more
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October 28, 2015 / July 15, 2025 by Martin Greaney | Leave a Comment
Liverpool is (like so many other places) full of the remains of hidden paths and landscape clues. Blessig’s Style is one such path in West Derby, once the home of... read more
October 19, 2015 / July 15, 2025 by Martin Greaney | 2 Comments on Sanctuary Stone, Castle Street
All sorts of stories are associated with the Sanctuary Stone. Its name conjures up anything from slave-related scenes to cheeky apple snatching medieval urchins. You might never see the same... read more
October 11, 2015 / July 15, 2025 by Martin Greaney | Leave a Comment
Liverpool, as a city, is master of reinventing itself. It re-uses parts of its landscape when priorities (and economics) change. The Pier Head area in general has seen many, many... read more
Landmarks
November 2, 2014 / July 15, 2025 by Martin Greaney | Leave a Comment
From The Ancient Crosses of Lancashire by Henry Taylor: The church (dedicated to S. Michael) is of ancient foundation. The ornamentation of the font testifies to the pre-Norman date of... read more
October 23, 2014 / July 15, 2025 by Martin Greaney | Leave a Comment
From The Ancient Crosses of Lancashire by Henry Taylor: Mr. Cox writes (in 1888): “The base of the churchyard cross still lies opposite the site of the old south porch.”... read more
October 23, 2014 / July 15, 2025 by Martin Greaney | 3 Comments on Knotty Cross
From The Ancient Crosses of Lancashire by Henry Taylor: These words occur on the six-inch ordnance map at the intersection of roads one-third of a mile south-east from the centre... read more
Woolton Cross was put up at the northern end of the original village in around 1350. A second cross, Hunt’s Cross, was erected at the southern end of the township,... read more
From The Ancient Crosses of Lancashire by Henry Taylor: The words “pedestal of stone cross” occur on the 1848 six-inch ordnance map at “Hunt’s Cross,” close to Hunt’s Cross Station,... read more
October 23, 2014 / July 15, 2025 by Martin Greaney | 2 Comments on Garston Village Cross
From The Ancient Crosses of Lancashire by Henry Taylor: Mr. Cox writes: “The other cross stood below the rock on which was built Garston Hall at the head of the... read more
Archaeology
October 23, 2014 / July 15, 2025 by Martin Greaney | 12 Comments on Brook House Farm
Brook House Farm is the name given to an Iron Age farmstead site in Halewood. It consists of an enclosure surrounded by two ditches (one large and one small), and... read more
October 23, 2014 / July 15, 2025 by Martin Greaney | 1 Comment on Church Street Cross
There is a brass Maltese cross embedded in the pedestrianised pavement of Church Street. It once lay in front of HMV before the building was converted into a passage through... read more
Natural Features
October 23, 2014 / July 15, 2025 by Martin Greaney | 20 Comments on River Alt
The River Alt flows north east through Lancashire and Merseyside. It rises in Huyton township at the Hag Plantation, and flows through Croxteth Park, West Derby and Maghull. It then... read more
October 23, 2014 / July 15, 2025 by Martin Greaney | 6 Comments on Ditton Brook
Ditton Brook makes up the northern boundary of Halewood, and flows in a south-westerly direction before flowing out into the River Mersey between the town of Ditton and Hale Bank.... read more
From The Ancient Crosses of Lancashire by Henry Taylor: A water-colour drawing in the Binns Collection shows this cross in an open space near a cottage. A church appears in... read more
From The Ancient Crosses of Lancashire by Henry Taylor: The word “cross” in Gothic letters appears on the 1848 map one and a half miles east of Wavertree. Mr. Cox... read more
From The Ancient Crosses of Lancashire by Henry Taylor: Mr. Hope writes in his Legendary Lore of the Holy Wells of England: “There is a well here which has the... read more
Landscapes
October 6, 2014 / July 15, 2025 by Martin Greaney | 7 Comments on Port Sunlight: traces of nature in the man-made landscape
Port Sunlight is a classic and easy-to-read ‘landscape’, in the sense that word is used on this site: it was created in one quick phase, for one purpose, obliterating everything... read more
April 18, 2014 / July 15, 2025 by Martin Greaney | Leave a Comment
This site often talks about the role played by Liverpool’s geography throughout history. From the location of the ancient Calder Stones (wherever that might have been) to the collection of... read more
March 16, 2014 / July 15, 2025 by Martin Greaney | Leave a Comment
From The Ancient Crosses of Lancashire by Henry Taylor: This holy well is referred to in the following terms in the Chartulary of Cockersand Abbey:- Grant in frankalmoign from Robert,... read more
From The Ancient Crosses of Lancashire by Henry Taylor: In the Binns Collection, vol. ii., p. 26, an illustration is given of this structure, consisting of a classical pillar carried... read more
From The Ancient Crosses of Lancashire by Henry Taylor:
From The Ancient Crosses of Lancashire by Henry Taylor: The pedestal of this cross was dug up by the gravedigger a few years ago and has been left above ground... read more
From The Ancient Crosses of Lancashire by Henry Taylor: The site is on the southerly side of the road, between Liverpool and Prescot, distant three miles in a south-westerly direction... read more
