North Liverpool: Edge Hill to Croxteth

	Edge Hill Station This is the second station building at Edge Hill and one of the oldest railway stations still operating. The original station of 1830 served a passenger terminal uphill at Crown Street and the Wapping Tunnel, a long incline leading to Wapping Dock. On these inclines, goods wagons descended by gravity but were hauled up by a winding engine. It was soon decided to divert passenger traffic via a new tunnel to Lime Street Station. This required a new station at Edge Hill just to the north (the present one). Both stations were opened in 1836. Initially gravity and winding engines were also used on the stretch to Lime Street. The station linked passengers to Manchester via George Stephenson's Liverpool and Manchester Railway, opened 1830 in the presence of the Prime Minister, the Duke of Wellington. There was a tragic accident at the event in which Liverpool MP William Huskisson crossed in front of a loaded passenger train to speak to the Prime Minister and was knocked down by the famous Rocket locomotive, later dying of his injuries. Edge Hill station was restored in 1979.
	The Jewish Cemetery, Deane Road, Kensington The site for the cemetery was purchased in 1835 at a time when the Jewish community in Liverpool was growing rapidly in size and wealth. It was consecrated in 1837 and burials continued on a regular basis until 1904 (the last recorded burial took place in 1929). It is the resting place of many eminent Victorians, perhaps most the famous being David Lewis (1823-1885) of department store fame, and contains a number of imposing monuments. The site subsequently fell into decay, but in 2010 a Heritage Lottery grant of £ 494,000 was awarded for restoration work. The project will renew important features such as the ornate Grade II listed archway, re-erect and clean fallen gravestones, and create a visitor centre and formal garden. It will also allow the cemetery to be opened to the public.
	The Church of St. John the Divine, Fairfield The elegant Gothic spire of the church of St. John the Divine in Fairfield, dating from 1853, will be a familiar landmark to those entering Liverpool from the east as it rises above the houses to the north of Edge Lane. It has been under threat of demolition, but appears to have been saved for the time being.
	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
	Tuebrook House, Tuebrook Tue Brook once had its source about half way along Green Lane in the district now known as Tuebrook. The Jacobean Tue Brook House, dated 1615, is near here and is the oldest dated house and one of the oldest inhabited properties in Liverpool. Tue Brook made its way north towards the lake in Larkhill Estate Gardens, Clubmoor, and then toward the recreation ground on Townsend Lane. It then followed a route that is still relatively undeveloped along the west side of Kelly Drive and the northern edge of Walton Hall Park to the lake there, and then north to the recreation ground near Rice Lane Station and across to the railway bridge on Long Lane. Here in Fazakerley it makes its first present day appearance, flowing east (and currently renamed Fazakerley Brook) to join the River Alt at the bvery edge of the conurbation.
Tuebrook 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.
	The Old Swan, Old Swan
	St. Oswalds Church, Old Swan
	St. Oswalds Convent, Old Swan
	St. Oswalds Schoolhouse, Old Swan
	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.
	Thingwall Hall Thingwall was an ancient township that has now lost its identity, having been subsumed into Knotty Ash. Even in the mid-19th Century there was little here except for the manor house (ca.1824), known as Thingwall Hall, and Thingwall Farm. We still have the hall and the original road, Thingwall Lane. However Thingwall is Old Norse for assembly field and the small 175 ft (53 m) high hill was a major meeting place or parliament for Viking communities (who had begun to settle here in the early 10th century) from the entire region. A large number of Vikings had settled peacefully in the newly founded Viking kingdom of Dublin and some became Christianised by the native Irish. However they were expelled from Ireland beginning in 902 by Caerbhall, leader of the Leinster Irish, and continuing until 1014 with the Battle of Clontarf. The coastal regions of south-west Lancashire were at that time poor quality land, largely uninhabited, and hence undisputed by, the locals. Scandinavian culture became dominant in the area until the Norman conquest (Frenchified Vikings). The local language would have merged with that of the settlers, but would have had a predominantly Scandinavian character. This is a freely licensed image courtesy of Wikipedia Commons.
	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. 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. There is a bell of 1707 from St. Peter's Church (once of Church Street, Liverpool).
	Lych Gate at the Church of St.John the Evangelist, Knotty Ash This 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.
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.
	Congregational Church, Knotty Ash
	Old houses, Prescot Road, Knotty Ash
	Old Houses in Little Bongs, Knotty Ash
	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 Krokr's landing place. Vikings are thought to have sailed up the River Alt and peacefully established a settlement here in the 10th century. Much of the land in south-west Lancashire was of poor quality and relatively unihabited until then. 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.