Historic Liverpool blog

The Historic Liverpool blog is where you can find an assortment of posts which don't fall in to the other categories that you'll see around this site. For example, there are book reviews, articles on events I've been to, and other little historic details which are there in Liverpool's historic landscape for you to find.

Feel free to comment or ask questions, and I'll see what I can do to help!

Martin

The Latest Posts

Ridge and Furrow, West Derby

Ridge and Furrow formations are possibly one of the best-known archaeological features which survive into the modern day. These long, sinuous raises beds of earth can be seen across Britain, from train (more…)

50 Finds From Manchester and Merseyside: Objects from the Portable Antiquities Scheme

Modern administrative areas have little meaning when we go back even a short time. But they can make all the difference when it comes to modern heritage work. So that’s why we have this book on finds from (more…)

Future heritage

Following on from the previous post, looking back to 1984, I want to look in the other direction. Heritage, in its most common use today, usually refers to something around the legal, social, and environmental (more…)

Liverpool in 1984: first hand history

Ever had that feeling where you wish someone at the time had taken photos? Imagine the Victorian wealth of knowledge we’d have if even more people had hopped on the photography bandwagon! And sometimes, (more…)

Accents, buses and lost architecture

I’ve got another bunch of links for you today. I’m still catching up with my saved sites, so some of these pages have been around a while. Even if you’ve seen them before, I hope you enjoy revisiting them (more…)

West Derby Yeoman’s House up for sale

This is an exciting post to write, although the topic is often bitter-sweet. The so-called ‘Yeoman’s House’ in the centre of West Derby village is currently up for sale, for the princely (or yeomanly) (more…)

Liverpool history sites of interest

This post marks a new era for Historic Liverpool, as I’m closing down my venerable Liverpool Landscapes blog after just under 10 years, and moving all the posts here, to the main Historic Liverpool website. (more…)

Paton Street from the air

A question came in back in October 2016, looking for information on Paton Street in Kirkdale. I couldn’t find out any information on this myself, as there were few clues. However, Phil D came to rescue (more…)

Going underground in Liverpool history, part I – the Williamson Tunnels

Last week was one of my history-indulgent weeks on Merseyside. One where I catch up on the ever-changing town centre (it’s still changing), check that my book’s still on the shelves of Waterstone’s (it’s (more…)

Rapidly diminishing heritage

This is a sort of short follow up to the most recent blog post on the Futurist cinema, which was demolished against the wishes of a vocal number of Liverpool’s citizens.

Another planning application raising (more…)

The future and the Futurist

And so the Futurist cinema is coming down.

It’s been on the cards for a few months, and now people are generally coming to the opinion that it was inevitable (for which read ‘the Council pretended it (more…)

Neolithic Anglesey and the Merseyside connection – a trip with the NSG

Anglesey and North Wales are very close to Liverpool hearts. Countless Welsh builders helped create some of our inner suburbs in distinctive yellow brick, and the red bricks of the University are Welsh (more…)

A compendium of Liverpool history compendia

In this post I’ve collected together a few articles and pages which delve a little deeper into aspects of Liverpool history. They’re either longer, detailed articles about one topic, or they bring together (more…)

Spirits of Place: Where historic landscapes collide (with folklore and fiction)

There’s nothing like a gathering of like minds to get the keyboard fingers itching to put down a few words! And this past Saturday (2nd April, 2016), the Spirits of Place symposium held at the Calderstones (more…)

Rail remains of Liverpool Riverside Station

Following the curve of Princes Parade, on the north west side of Princes Dock, are a set of rails which are one of the few clues left to the presence of Liverpool Riverside Station.

Today the rails (more…)

Parkside Drive – a West Derby bypass?

Plans were once put together to make West Derby a more peaceful village. Only a few clues now remain to those plans.

Martin’s Note: I’m indebted to the West Derby Society again for revealing this feature (more…)

Speke Hall and the Speke Estate

Speke Hall is one of the most famous historical features on Merseyside. Its distinctive black and white appearance, highlighting its amazing timber structure, make it a memorable sight for visitors.

Speke (more…)

Clarke Gardens Pillbox, Allerton

There is an octagonal pillbox in the grounds of Allerton Hall, seemingly ‘defending’ Springwood Avenue from an invisible army. While many no doubt pass it day to day without a second thought, a lot of (more…)

Calderstones

The Calderstones name refers these days to a group of six megaliths (large stones) which stand in a greenhouse in Calderstones Park. These are the remains of a Neolithic burial chamber which once stood (more…)

Blackburne Place ventilation shaft and the Wapping Tunnel

This red brick and sandstone tower on Blackburne Place is a beautiful ventilation shaft for a railway which once ran beneath it, and could be seen as representing the tunnel and railway in a nutshell.

The (more…)

Robin Hood’s Stone

Robin Hood’s Stone (or the Robin Hood Stone) is a Neolithic or Bronze Age standing stone currently to be found within a set of railings on the corner of Booker Avenue and Archerfield Road. It originally (more…)

Camp Hill Iron Age enclosure, Woolton

In the woods above Woolton lie mysterious remains, amounting to little more than some dry stone walls, in a location reputed to have once held so much more.

Camp Hill is a name which suggests a settlement, (more…)

Teagle (crane) at 11 Dale Street

In the Victorian period Liverpool was Britain’s second greatest port (London being the first), and there are hundreds of remnants of Liverpool’s trading golden age dotted around the landscape.

We’re (more…)

Everton Beacon

Liverpool has always been a trading port, and so it’s no surprise that features have come and gone in the landscape which sought to make this as easy and safe as possible.

Everton Beacon was one such (more…)

Springfield Park Prescot Road entrance

The recent rebuilding of Alder Hey Hospital has drawn my attention to Springfield Park in a bigger way than for many years. The scale of the changes took me by surprise, and though I love the new building (more…)

Hartley Quay Dock Railway

As the Liverpool Docks expanded along the Mersey, they came face to face with a challenge which other cities did not: ships docked further and further from the central business district. Places like Manchester (more…)

Sanctuary Stone, Castle Street

There are all sorts of stories 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 story (more…)

Candles, Carts & Carbolic: A Liverpool childhood between the wars

Is this the best Liverpool memoir? It’s certainly different to all the rest.

There are plenty of memoirs and autobiographies written by people who lived through some of Liverpool’s darkest days (or, (more…)

Who’d be a Scouser?

Are you proud to be a Scouser? Are you relieved not to be a Scouser? Which is right?

I’ve recently started reading Candles, Carts & Carbolic: a Liverpool childhood between the Wars by J. Callaghan, (more…)

St George’s Dock road sign

Liverpool, as a city, is master of reinventing itself, and re-using parts of its landscape when priorities (and economics) change. The Pier Head area is perhaps the greatest example of this, not least (more…)