A HISTORY OF LANCASHIRE 



EVERTON 



Evreton, 1094; Euerton, 1201; Erton, 1380 ; 

 Everton, usual from xiii cent. 



This township lies on the hill to the north-east of 

 Liverpool, the highest point being at St. George's 

 Church. From that point there is a veiy rapid slope to 

 the north and to the west, the elevated ridge continuing 

 southward to Low Hill and Edge Hill. The height 

 allows an extensive panorama of the city of Liverpool, 

 including a distant view of the Cheshire side of the 

 River Mersey. At sunset the windows of the houses on 

 Everton Brow flash back the glowing radiance, show- 

 ing that nothing impedes the wide prospect westwards. 

 The foot of this ridge is the western boundary. The 

 area is 693 acres, the township being about a mile 

 and a quarter from north to south, and less than a 

 mile across. The population in 1901 was 121,469. 

 The geological formation is triassic, the lower ground 

 on the eastern side consisting of the basement beds of 

 the keuper series, which have been thrown down by a 

 deep fault running north and south ; the remainder 

 of the township, including all the higher ground, 

 consists of the pebble beds of the bunter series. 



Formerly the approach to it was by a road leading 

 eastward from Liverpool.' The old village ' stood at 

 the top of the ascent in what is now Village Street, 

 above the old roundhouse or bridewell,' which still 

 remains. About half way up the slope Netherfield 

 Lane turned away to the north, with a branch leading 

 up the hill. From the top of the village the road 

 led — north to the summit where the Beacon stood, 

 destroyed by a gale in 1803, and then dividing, down 

 the hill to Kirkdale and to Anfield ; ' and south to 

 Low Hill; this road remains one of the main thorough- 

 fares of Everton, as Heyworth Street and Everton 

 Road. The road from Liverpool after passing through 

 the village divided, the more northerly branch, Breck 

 Lane,' leading to Walton Breck, and the other, which 

 also divided, to Newsham and West Derby.' The 

 mere, afterwards called St. Domingo Pit, w.is below 

 the Beacon, to the east ; Mere Lane led down to it. 



The commanding situation of the village occasioned 

 its earliest prominent connexion with the general his- 

 tory of the count) , for here Prince Rupert fixed his 



head quarters when attacking Liverpool in 1644. In 

 more peaceful times the wealthier merchants of Liver- 

 pool chose it for their country mansions, and in 1824 

 it was thus described : ' This village has become a very 

 favourite residence of the gentry of Liverpool, and for 

 the salubrity of its air and its vicinity to the sea, may 

 not inaptly be called the Montpellier of the county.' ' 

 The roads were shaded with fine trees, and a walk to 

 the top of the hill was a pleasant exercise for dwellers 

 in the town. The growth of Liverpool northwards, 

 with the erection of chemical works and other factories 

 by the riverside, destroyed the amenities of the 

 situation, and within the last fifty years the great 

 houses in their spacious grounds have been replaced 

 by closely packed streets of small dwellings. The 

 roads above described remain the principal ones, 

 having been widened and improved. The Liverpool 

 electric tramways serve the district. 



There was a large sandstone quarry on the northern 

 slope of the hill. 



Until 1820 the shaft ot the market-cross stood 

 upon a flight of stone steps in the open space of the 

 village ; a sundial had been fixed upon it.' There 

 was formerly a holy well here, but the site has been 

 lost.'" The Beacon, already mentioned, was a plain 

 rectangular tower of two stories, about 1 8 ft. square 

 and 25 ft. high, built of local red sandstone." 



The little open green by the roundhouse is main- 

 tained by the corporation of Liverpool, and has been 

 slightly extended by the demolition of some cottages 

 on the north side of it, among them being the Old 

 Toffee shop." In 1825 the Necropolis was enclosed 

 as a burial place for Nonconformists." It is now a 

 public garden maintained by the corporation. Shaw 

 Street, the principal street on the Liverpool side of 

 Everton, was formed in 1828 by Thomas Shaw, a 

 councillor of Liverpool.'* On its eastern side is a 

 triangular pieceof rocky groundcalled Whitley Gardens 

 maintained by the corporation." 



EF ERTON was one of the six bere- 

 MANOR wicks dependent on the royal manor 

 of West Derby in 1066 ; its separate 

 assessment was three plough-lands." Subsequently 

 it formed part of the demesne of Roger of Poitou, 

 who gave its tithes to the abbey of St. Martin at 



* It is now called Everton Brow ; the 

 old name was Causeway Lane — *a deep, 

 sandy lane, the cops or hedges on each 

 side not being many yards asunder.' There 

 was a small ale-house in it called ' The 

 Loggerheads,' which gave an alternative 

 name to the road ; Robert Syer=, Hiit. of 

 Etcmn^ 1830, p. 236. 



'In Syers' 3 Hitt, of Everr-jn there isavePr' 

 interesting map, said to have been drafted 

 in 1790, from which the separate areas of 

 copyhold, leasehold, and freehold land may 

 be calculated. The dwelling-houses stood 

 in the centre of the copyhold land, repre- 

 sented by 24 oigangs, the area being 

 9"! acres, lar^c measure. An area of 

 58 acres of freehold land on the southern 

 and soutli-westem borders of the town- 

 ship appears to represent the * lands im- 

 proved upon the waste ' mentioned in 

 I 29-, with more recent enclosures. The 

 '60 acres' enclosed in 1667 in Anfield 

 and Nt-thcrfield are described as freehold 

 also, the areas being 37J, i2i, and 11 

 acres ; while the '115 acres ' enclosed in 

 1 7 16 are called leasehold, and measure 

 1 1 3 acres, lying upon Hillside, by the 

 Beacon, by the mere, between Walton Cop 



and Breck Lane, on the Walton boundary, 

 between Breck Lane and the freehold 

 enclosures of 1667, and in the Rake. The 

 total area was thus about 329 acres large 

 measure, somewhat more than the 693 

 acres statute measure allowed by the 

 Ordnance Survey. 



' Built in 1787 ; Syers, Hist, of E-ver- 

 lon, 35+. 



■• Here were fields called Sleepers. In 

 the fork between the roads stands St. 

 Domingo House. 



* Now Breck Road. A dwelling called 

 the Odd House stood in this road. 



' See the plan in Enfield's Lmerpool, 

 drawn in 1768. 



' Rupert's Lane and Prince Rupert's 

 house (standing in 1830) commemorate 

 this visit of royalty. The militia barracks 

 adjoin it. Rupert's camp is supposed to 

 have been to the north ; Gregson, Frag- 

 ment! (ed. Harland), p. 149. See also 

 Trans. Hist. Soc. iv, 71-3. In 1803 

 Prince William, son of the duke of 

 Gloucester, resided at St. Domingo House 

 as commander-in-chief of the district ■ 

 Syers, 371. His father visited him there.' 



* Baines, Lanes. Dir. ii, 712. 



20 



' Syers, Hist, of E-verton, 70. The 

 pound originally stood near it, and the 

 smithy also. 



'" Lanes, and Ches. Antiq. Soc. xix, 196. 

 On the common near the Beacon a ' headless 

 cross ' is supposed to have stood, from the 

 description on old maps; Syers, op. cit. 71. 



1' Ibid. pp. 56-61, where there is an 

 engraving. There is also a small drawing 

 of it in Gregson, Fragments, 143. 



"" Molly Bushell's original manufactory 

 of the sweet to which Everton has given 

 a name was in Village Street ; Syers, 

 68. She was living in 1759. 



" Syers, Hist, of Everton, 210. 



" Ibid. 216. According to this authority 

 he was the son and heir of John 

 Shaw, who had acquired lands in 

 Everton by the gift of his wife, who in 

 turn had had them by gift of her first 

 husband, named Halsall ; 204-5. I' 

 appears that Mr. Halsall died between 

 1764 and 1775 ; 418. Sec also Picton, 

 Li-verfool,\\, 341, 351. 



" This takes its name from the late 

 Edward Whitley, M.P. for the Everton 

 Division, who died in 1892. 



" v. C. H. Lanes, i, 283 



