North Liverpool: Edge Hill to Croxteth

	Newsham Park, Fairfield Fairfield was a new and fashionable suburb in the mid-18th century and many of the small villas survive. This was Liverpool's first public park (Princes Park was initially private), dating from 1846 and developed from an estate owned by the Molyneux family. The imposing Royal Liverpool Seamen's Orphan Institution completed in 1875, looms over the trees. Iit was designed by Alfred Waterhouse in a Gothic style. It became a hospital after 1949.
	Newsham Park, Fairfield
	Tue Brook House, Tue Brook The Jacobean Tue Brook House, dated 1615, is the oldest dated house one of the oldest inhabited properties in Liverpool. According to the 1851 map, Tue Brook, which gives its name to the district, used to rise near here and flow north. It currently makes its first tentative appearance in Fazakerley (near the railway bridge on Long Lane) and flows east via Fazakerley Brook to join the River Alt.
Tue Brook in Lewis's Topographical Dictionary of England (1848) This locality, from its elevated situation and the salubrity of the air, is chiefly inhabited by Liverpool merchants, whose numerous mansions and villas adorn the scenery. Tue-Brook Villa is an elegant building in the Italian style; it is appropriated to insane persons of the wealthy classes. Here is a powerful steam-engine connected with the Green-Lane Waterworks, which partly supply the town of Liverpool.
	Moss Cottage, Stoneycroft Another old property, dated 1642, swallowed by Liverpool's expansion but retaining its period character.
	Derwent Square, Stoneycroft Derwent Square, a conservation area in Stoneycroft, is one of those corners of Liverpool where, but for the presence of cars, you seem to step back in time. Old Victorian houses fronted by unrestored roads surround a tranquil square of grass and mature trees.
	The Church of St.John the Evangelist, Knotty Ash This fine, elegant church, constructed from local West Derby and Woolton sandstone, was built in 1836. It is located in the conservation area of Knotty Ash village, a peaceful enclave seemingly far removed from the busy highways that surround it. Adjacent is the area that was once the hilltop location of the ancient hamlet of Thingwall. The church was extended during the 19th century and the stained glass windows are particulary noteworthy, including one by Edward Burne-Jones and William Morris. An impressive lych gate dates from 1900. It was constructed from oak timbers rescued from the demolition in 1897 of Boltons, then the oldest house in West Derby (built around 1400) and incorporates features of the original woodwork. There is a bell of 1707 from St. Peter's Church (once of Church Street, Liverpool).
Knotty Ash in Lewis's Topographical Dictionary of England (1848) The situation of this locality is very beautiful, and its air salubrious; it contains several handsome mansions, and some of the principal merchants of Liverpool have seats and villas here.
	The Trans-Pennine Trail near Knotty Ash The Trans-Pennine Trail here follows the old Cheshire Lines railway line (the Liverpool Loop Line) that passes through the eastern suburbs of Liverpool and once connected Hunts Cross to the north docks (via Walton on the Hill) and Southport (via Aintree Central). Other stations were Gateacre and Woolton, Knotty Ash and West Derby and Clubmoor. Not much remains of these except at West Derby. Passenger services ceased in 1960. It is hard to imagine steam trains running here so recently. Despite the proximity of habitation, there is a sense of isolation, peace and quiet all along the track. Near Knotty ash, it cuts through sandstone bedrock. Elsewhere it is surrounded by trees.
	St. Mary's Church, West Derby Situated in West Derby Village on the edge of the extensive open spaces of Croxteth Park. There was a church here from at least 1360, including a chapel of 1793. The present one was commisioned by Lord Sefton and designed by George Gilbert Scott on a grand scale. It was completed in 1856. The West Derby place-name is viking in origin and West Derby was an important administrative centre (a Hundred) at the time of the Norman Conquest (1066) when Liverpool itself was almost non-existent. Edward the Confessor had a castle and hunting lodge here. A second castle was built in the 11th or 12th century, though it was in ruins by the early 14th century; the remains are barely discernible at Castlesite Road behind the church.
West Derby in Lewis's Topographical Dictionary of England (1848) In the Saxon era West Derby was probably the capital of the hundred; and a mound of earth, removed some years ago by Mr. Gascoyne, indicated by its name, Castle Hill, the site of the ancient castle. The parish [...] stands on rising ground, commanding beautiful views of the surrounding country. The Zoological gardens of Liverpool are here; they occupy a pleasant site, encompassed by elevated land, and the natural features of the spot have been judiciously improved by art. The only house of early date is that, not appropriately, called New Hall, the residence for many generations of a branch of the Molyneux family; but the district abounds in elegant modern mansions and villas. [...] Tue-Brook Villa, situated three miles from Liverpool, a private asylum for insane persons in the higher ranks of society, under the management of Mr. and Mrs. Owen, is a handsome building in the Italian style, and admirably adapted for the comfort and classification of the inmates.
West Derby in the Victoria History of the County of Lancaster (1907) In the eighteenth century the township was divided into four quarters: Woodside, on the east; Town Row, embracing the village and the north-west portion; Low Hill, on the border of Liverpool; and Ackers End, the Old Swan district. The township lies on the edge of the open country, where the smoke-laden air of the city is exchanged 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 airy 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.
	West Derby Station The original station buildings and platforms still survive here at the West Derby and Clubmoor station on the dismantled Cheshire Lines railway, now the Liverpool Loop Line, a cycle track that is part of the Trans-Pennine Trail.
	Tunnel near West Derby Station
	Croxteth Park The 500 acre (200 ha) Croxteth Country Park is an enclave of rural England within the outer suburbs of Liverpool that also includes historic Croxteth Hall. There are huge open spaces, woodland, farmland with livestock, a model Victorian farm and miles of tracks for walking and cycling.
Croxteth Park in the Victoria History of the County of Lancaster (1907) It is well wooded. A public footpath crosses the park, which is pleasantly carpeted with turf and shaded by good-sized trees. The woodlands have been planted with evergreen shrubs, chiefly rhododendrons, which make cover for the abundant game. The River Alt, rising in the township of Knowsley, before it attains much volume flows through the park, and finds its way through the most level of country into the sea at Hightown. Beyond the confines of the park there are wide open fields, some pasture, but the majority arable, where some of the finest Lancashire potatoes are grown. Corn and turnips also are successfully cultivated in the rich loamy soil.
	Croxteth Park A distant view of St. Mary's Church, West Derby, from the park.
	The Queen Anne Wing, Croxteth Hall Croxteth Hall was the property of the Molyneux family, the Earls of Sefton, from ca.1475 until the death of the last earl in 1972. Following the completion of the Queen Anne (South) Wing, the most attractive part of the house, and the demolition of Sefton Hall in 1702, it became their principal seat.
	The Edwardian Wing, Croxteth Hall The Edwardian (West) Wing replaces earlier building extensions ca. 1760, 1805 and 1870. The present wing, designed by J. McVicar Anderson and completed in 1904, now incorporates the main entrance.
	The Elizabethan House, Croxteth Hall This is all that remains of the original Elizabethan house built by Sir Richard Molyneux in about 1575-1600, which could be the one of the earliest known brick buildings in Lancashire. It has been rather overwhelmed by subsequent developments.
	The River Alt at Croxteth Park The name Croxteth is Viking in origin, meaning either 'Croc's landing place' or 'river-bend landing place'. It had become Croxstath by 1228. Vikings are presumed to have sailed up the River Alt and peacefully established a settlement here, possibly in the 9th century. Looking at the river now, it is hard to imagine Viking ships here, but up to a few hundred years ago, before the construction of flood gates near the estuary and the expansion of Liverpool depleted the water supply at both ends, it was a much more substantial waterway.