A HISTORY OF LANCASHIRE 



for the fresher breezes which blow over open fields 

 and through masses of foliage. True, there is hardly 

 a break in the long line of houses from the city to the 

 village of West Derby, but the larger houses set amidst 

 gardens and paddocks are separated by air>- spaces and 

 are overshadowed by trees. The country is very flat, 

 and has, except in the far east, the unmistakable stamp 

 of suburbanism. In the easterly direction are the 

 plantations and grounds of Croxteth Hall ; in the 

 north is open land which was once mossland, a large 

 cemetery being a conspicuous object in the level 

 country. South and west are more crowded with 

 houses, where such suburban neighbourhoods as Knotty 

 Ash, Broad Green, and Old Swan are situated. The 

 old-fashioned village of West Derby still presents a 

 countrified aspect in spite of the advent of electric 

 cars, and clusters principally about the gates of Croxteth 

 Park. The open ground is chiefly pasture, but crops 

 of corn and potatoes are raised in a loamy soil. 



The geological formation is mostly the new red 

 sandstone or trias, consisting of pebble beds of the 

 bunter series on the west and in the centre, alternating 

 with the upper mottled sandstone of the same series 

 between the centre and the west, recurring on the 

 eastern side, except where a small area of the coal 

 measures crops up in Croxteth Park. These alternat- 

 ing areas of different formation extend through the 

 township and beyond from north-west to south-east. 



The map of 1 768 ' shows how the town has grown 

 up. At that time the principal road out of Liverpool, 

 leading to Prefect and Warrington, ascended eastward,' 

 by Cheetham's Brow, to Low Hill, and went onward ' 

 with fields on either side for about two miles to the 



Old Swan Inn,' which has since given name to the 

 hamlet around it. 



At the ' Old Swan ' the road divided. The mam 

 track, as Prescot Lane, went north-east, passing Knotty 

 Ash,' a small hamlet, near which the Dovecote was 

 built.' The other track, as Petticoat Lane,' went 

 east to Broad Green, then a small hamlet round a 

 triangular space. 



To the south of Prescot Road another led eastward 

 from Liverpool. At the foot of the hill it divided, 

 one road bending towards Low Hill,* the other going 

 direct to the top of the hill, where was a large open 

 space called Greenfield.' Here again the road divided. 

 Edge Lane '"running parallel to the Prescot Road, while 

 the other road " led to Wavertree, passing Wavertree 

 Hall " on the north side. Smithdown Lane " led south- 

 ward, near the Liverpool and Toxteth boundary, to- 

 wards AUerton. 



To the north of the Prescot Road a third road ran 

 eastward ; it was then called Rake Lane," and formed 

 for some distance the boundary between this township 

 and Everton. After passing the Upper Breck," the 

 road, as Rocky Lane, descended the hill,'* and then 

 crossed Tue Brook," which here gives its name to the 

 neighbourhood. From the crossing Green Lane " led 

 away to the ' Old Swan.' The main road " led upward 

 to the Mill-house, near which had stood the ancient 

 Derby windmill. Lark Hill *" lying to the north. As 

 Mill Lane the road then descended to the village with 

 its ancient chapel," being further prolonged, as Castle 

 Lane, in the direction of Croxteth Hall. 



At the village cross-roads led south-east to Town Row, 

 from which Deys Lane " branched off; and north-west 



* Printed in Enfield's Liverpool. Some 

 notes have been added from Sherriff's map, 

 1816, reprinted 1823. 



'^ This portion is now called Prescot 

 Street. In Harper Street at the top arc 

 the parish offices, originally a court-house; 

 the cells, with chains, etc. still exist un- 

 derneath. 



* Now called Kensington and Prescot 

 Road. On the north side in 1816 stood 

 the house of Dr. Solomon, proprietor of a 

 then famous medicine called the * Balm of 

 Gilead.' On the south side the corporation 

 of Liverpool have formed Jubilee Gar- 

 dens, a recreation ground. Further on, 

 at the north side of the road, is Newsham 

 Park ; the Yellow House (16 17) formerly 

 stood there; and on the south side is the 

 district called Fairfield. Beyond Fairfield 

 is Stanley, where is the principal cattle 

 market lor Liverpool ; it was formerly 

 owned by a private company, but has been 

 acquired by the corporation. 



* Formerly the inn was called the 'Three 

 Swans.* A rival * Swan ' having been 

 opened the 'Original Old Swan' thus distin- 

 guished itself in 1824.. A 'street rail- 

 way' was laid in 1861 from Fairfield to 

 OKI Swan, as an experiment. 



^ At Knotty Ash there is a well-known 

 brewery. 



* The fifteenth-century house called 

 Boulton's stood near, and Ackers miU and 

 hall, now a farmhouse. 



^ In the angle between Petticoat Lane, 

 now Broadgreen Road, and Prescot Lane 

 was Oakhill, built in 1773 by Richard 

 Watt, afterwards of Speke. Further to 

 the cast is Highfield, earlier called Stap- 

 lands ; this was built about 1763, and was 

 in 1775 ^^^ later the residence of Char- 

 lotte, Dowager Duchess of Athole and 

 heiress of Man. On the south side of Pet- 



ticoat Lane was May Place, now a reform- 

 atory. 



®Now Fairclough Lane. This and the 

 neighbouring streets have now become a 

 crowded Jewish quarter. 



* Part of the enclosed wastes of West 

 Derby. Most of this has now been en- 

 closed and built upon, but a triangular 

 portion, presented to the corporation, forms 

 a recreation ground. 



^•^ It is the lane near the edge or border 

 of the township. About the middle is 

 Edge Lane Hall, formerly the residence of 

 John Shaw Leigh, and now the property 

 of the corporation. The Exhibitions of 

 1886 and 1887 were held in the grounds. 

 1' Now Wavertree Road. 

 ^* The house was originally built by John 

 Plumbe, afterwards lord of the manor of 

 Uplitherland, about 171 5, and is frequently 

 mentioned in N. Blundell's Diary. In 

 1823 it was the residence of Charles 

 Lawrence, a West India merchant, first 

 chairman of the Liverpool and Manchester 

 Railway. It was acquired by the corpora- 

 tion of Liverpool and made into a park. 

 Two guns captured at Sebastopol stand at 

 the entrance. The Botanic Gardens ad- 

 join and have an entrance from Edge Lane. 

 " The name preserves the Esmedune of 

 Domesday Book. It was frequently spelled 

 Smetham. In this lane further on stood 

 Spekelands, the residence of Thomas Earle 

 in 1823 ; see the account of Allerton. 



" Now West Derby Road. Here from 

 1833 were the Zoological Gardens. 



" The house stood in the present Sheil 

 Park. 



" This portion is mostly in Walton 

 township. Newsham Park, with the Sea- 

 man's Orphanage, lies on the south side. 



•' This brook flows north to join the 

 Alt. ' 



12 



^^ In and near are the old Local Board 

 offices, a pumping station for the Liver- 

 pool waterworks, a bathing place, a free 

 library (the gift of Mr. Andrew Carnegie), 

 a Council school and an electric generat- 

 ing station belonging to the corporation. 

 The district on the cast side is usually 

 known as Stonycroft. 



1* A house here has the inscription 

 'I 1615 M.' The initials probably stand 

 for John Mercer ; see Tram. Hist. Soc. 

 (New Ser.), xii, 186. 



2° Lark Hill was built by Jonathan 

 Blundcll about 1777, and sold in 1784 

 to Richard Hcywood, banker, whose de- 

 scendants still own it. For an account of 

 this branch of the Heywood family, de- 

 scended from Nathaniel Heywood, the non- 

 conforming vicar of Ormskirk ejected in 

 1662, see Trans. Hist. Soc. xxx, 163 ; and 

 Burke, Landed Gentry : Heywood Jones 

 of Badsworth Hall. 



'•" A cross marks the position of the old 

 chapel. The court-house, built about 1663, 

 stands close by. The village pound, in 

 which the ancient stocks are preserved, 

 has been converted into a garden, and an 

 inscribed stone states ; 'To commemorate 

 the long and happy reign of Queen Victoria 

 and the Coronation of King Edward VII 

 this site of the ancient pound of the Dukes 

 of Lancaster and others Lords of the Manor 

 of West Derby was enclosed and planted 

 and the Village Stocks set herein, Easter, 

 1904.' 



*" Dcysbrook Lane. In it is Summer 

 Vale, now Dcysbrook, in 1833 the resi- 

 dence of Henry Blundell HoUinshead, 

 and late the property of his descendant 

 Col. Henry Blundell-Hollinshead-Blundell, 

 C.B. The name of John le Deye occurs 

 at West Derby in 1332; Exch. Lay 

 Subs. p. 9. 



