WEST DERBY HUNDRED 



An enclosure act for Childwall and Great and 

 Little Wool ton was passed in 1805.' 



WAVERTREE 



Wauretreu, Dom. Bk. ; Wauertrea, 1 167 ; Wauertre 

 or Wavertre is the most usual form from I zoo, with 

 Wauertrie as a variant. Wartre occurs in 1381, and 

 becomes common later ; it gives the old local pronun- 

 ciation, Wautry. 



This township has an area of 1,838 acres. 1 The 

 highest land is in the centre and north, rising to an 

 elevation of over 200 ft. : the surface slopes away in the 

 other directions, especially on the Liverpool side. The 

 old village stood on the higher part of this westward 

 slope, beside the road from Liverpool to Woolton, here 

 called High Street ; it has now grown into a town. 

 The eastern half of the township still retains a rural 

 or suburban character. The population in 1901 was 



2533- 



The soil is sandy and loamy ; the geological forma- 

 tion consists of pebble beds of the bunter series of 

 the new red sandstone or trias. Wheat, oats, and 

 potatoes are grown. 



The principal roads are those from Liverpool to 

 Woolton, with numerous cross roads. Portions of an 

 old pack-horse track exist. The London and North- 

 Western Company's Liverpool and Manchester line 

 passes along the northern boundary, where is the deep 

 Olive Mount cutting, celebrated in the earlier days 

 of railway engineering. The same company's railway 

 to the Bootle Docks branches off to the north, while 

 its principal line from Liverpool to London goes 

 through the western portion, where there is a station. 

 The Liverpool tramway system extends to the top of 

 the High street. 



Near the terminus is a small green with a pond, 

 and close by is Monks' well, a pin well, on which it 

 is said there was this inscription : 



QUI NON DAT QUOD H 

 DAEMON INFRA RIDET. 



HI4. 



reproduced on the modern covering of the well. 3 

 Close by is a clock tower commemorating Sir James 

 Picton, the Liverpool architect and antiquary, who 

 lived in Olive Mount. To the east is a piece of 

 ground which by the terms of the enclosure award 

 must remain an open space for ever. Near it is the 

 old windmill.' Lower down, towards the railway, is 

 the fine children's playground presented to Liverpool 

 by an anonymous benefactor. 5 Wavertree Nook is in 

 the north-eastern corner of the township. 



Mrs. Hemans lived in the High Street for some 

 time. 6 



CHILDWALL 



A prehistoric cemetery has been discovered here. 7 

 Gregson thus describes the place as it was in 1817: 

 ' Wavertree is a pleasant village and has increased 

 with Liverpool, within these few years, in a rapid 

 manner. . . . The salubrity of the air is highly and 

 very deservedly spoken of. ... In 1731 the town- 

 ship contained fifty houses, 8 of which only three were 

 untenanted.' 



The township was constituted a local government 

 district in 185 I, 9 and a town hall in the classical style 

 was built in 1872 in the High Street. In 1894 it 

 became an urban district, and in November, 1895, 

 was incorporated in Liverpool. 



At the death of Edward the Confessor 

 MJNOR WAVER.TTt.EE was in the possession of 

 Leving, assessed at 2 plough-lands and 

 valued beyond the customary rent at the normal 64</. 10 

 After the Conquest it was added to the demesne of 

 the honour, and in consequence its manorial history 

 is identical with that of West Derby. In the Pipe Roll 

 of 1 176-7 is a record of the payment of I mark from 

 Wavertree to the tallage levied that year." 



The Walton family, who held the master-serjeanty 

 of the wapentake, had 4 oxgangs of land in Waver- 

 tree by reason of this office." It would appear that 

 the remaining 12 oxgangs in Wavertree had been 

 given to Gilbert de Walton by King John when 

 count of Mortain and perhaps forfeited on the 

 count's rebellion for in 1198-9 Gilbert's son, 

 Henry de Walton, rendered account of a palfrey 

 and loos, due for having this land. He would thus 

 have the whole manor, though by different titles, the 

 service for the 1 2 oxgangs being a rent of 2 marks. 13 



The old rent payable from Wavertree to the sheriff 

 of the county was 20^. ; this was increased half a mark 

 in 1 199,'* and the increased payment continued to be 

 made in later years ; as, for instance, in 1323, when 

 the stewardship of the manor came into the king's 

 hands by the forfeiture of Robert de Holand. 16 



Occasional escheats reveal something of the value 

 of the place. In 1205-6 the sheriff had 70*. from 

 corn from Wavertree and other lands of Henry de 

 Walton, whose estates were then in the king's hands. 16 

 In the inquisition taken in 1298, after the death of 

 Edmund earl of Lancaster, it was found that I ox- 

 gang of land was held by Roger de Thingwall for a 

 rent of \d., and the other fifteen by various customary 

 tenants at the rate of 3/. an oxgang ; there were also 

 131 acres \\ roods of land improved from the waste 

 rented at \d. the acre, the total amounting to 

 4 9/. i^d." Again, after the forfeiture of Thomas 

 of Lancaster in 1322, when a detailed extent was 

 made of lands held by him, Wavertree, as part of the 

 demesne of the honour, was included. 18 In 1346, in 



