Outlying Areas: Speke, Hale, Halewood and Cronton

	All Saints Church, Speke The noble and elegant church of All Saints was built in 1876 and boasts some fine stained glass. Until the early 20th Century, Speke was just a tiny hamlet, the few remains of which are in the immediate vicinity of the church. In the 1920s, Liverpool Corporation needed to build a new housing estate to re-house workers from other parts of Liverpool and to serve the growing industrial estate at Speke. A purpose-built community was planned and, in 1929, Liverpool Corporation bought the land; work began in 1937. The estate was designed using the Garden City model. During and after World War II, many more people moved here from the bombed areas of the city. An ancient scouse joke follows. Posh bloke: 'Excuse me, is this bus going to Speke?' Scouser: 'What d'you think I am, mate, a friggin' ventriloquist?'
Speke in Lewis's Topographical Dictionary of England (1848) The Hall, now the residence of Joseph Brereton, Esq., is a timber and plaster building, with a picturesque stone porch, bearing the date 1598, conducting to an inner court where are two venerable yew-trees. The great hall is very lofty, with wainscot and a ceiling of oak, and having a mantelpiece brought from Holyrood: at each angle of the southern wall, within the court, are two spacious corbelled windows, one of which lights the hall. The house was originally surrounded by a moat, of which the outlines remain, and over which a bridge leads to the principal entrance. The whole forms a highly interesting specimen of old English domestic architecture. The township is situated on the Mersey, and [...] the scenery over the Mersey commands a beautiful and extensive view of Runcorn, Frodsham, and the Welsh hills. A quarry here supplies a stone used for draining.
Speke in the Victoria History of the County of Lancaster (1907) This district contains some of the best wheat growing land in the hundred, and has a considerable river frontage opposite the widest portion of the River Mersey. There are scattered plantations amongst open fields, where barley and oats as well as wheat grow well in light, sandy, or stiff clay soils. There are no brooks. The village of Speke consists of a small group of cottages near the church, a mile from a railway station. Other houses are scattered thinly over the district. The river bank in places is flat, but principally consists of high clay banks. Upon and about these the botanist may find many plants locally uncommon. [...] the boundary of Speke, Halewood, and Hale there is a piece of land called Conleach. Here formal challenge fights used to take place between the inhabitants of the adjoining villages.
Rev Paterson writing in the 1930 Speke Parish Annual Magazine Another year has passed and the quiet village life goes on, awaiting the maturing of plans to take away its charm for us, and for the thousands of people who wander through its winding lanes. Not a word appears from any authority of the loss to South Liverpool which is inevitable when green fields, the hedges, the lanes and the undeveloped shore have vanished. But are the lanes and hedges of Speke - these in themselves beautiful and the product of years of attention and labour - even considered in the plans so far suggested? Or is it merely a question of a map and a ruler with the beautiful village Church at the centre, and some of the priceless cultivated land of England to be divided up and covered with straight roads with bricks and mortar in between?
	Speke Hall, Speke Speke Hall is one of the most beautiful and interesting Tudor houses in the country. It originates in the late 15th century, though much of the present building was begun around 1530 by Sir William Norris and completed by his son Henry around 1600. It rambles irregularly around a central shady courtyard and originally had some sort of moat (the sunken grassy area in this picture), the front door being approached over a stone bridge. The house has passed through several hands over the years and has at times been in a very dilapidated state. It has now been superbly restored by the National Trust.
	Speke Hall, Speke Two of the finest rooms in Speke Hall, both dating from the 1530s, are the Great Hall and Great Parlour. However, much of the interior of the house is influenced by Victorian tastes, restoration work begun by Richard Watt in 1856 and continued especially by lessee Frederick Leyland, manager of the Bibby Shipping Company. His appreciation of the contemporary Arts and Crafts movement is evident in the William Morris wallpapers. Even so, there is plenty of much older plaster and woodwork, and, the Norris family being Roman Catholic, a priest hole. It is fascinating to wander around this complex but cosy interior.
	Speke Hall, Speke This is the rear view of the house. It is set in magnificent grounds, with formal gardens, open spaces and woodland. How strange, then, that Liverpool Airport and vast industrial estates abut on all sides. You will notice the occasional aircraft, but on the whole the atmosphere here is rural and timeless. There is a little known 1870 etching of Speke Hall by James Abbott McNeill Whistler in the Liverpool Walker Art Gallery. It looks like the view from this side of the house but in mirror image because of the printing process.
	Speke Hall, Speke An aspect of the rear of the house. Just to lower the tone a bit, there is an ancient scouse joke: 'Excuse me, is this bus going to Speke?' 'What do you think I am, a bloody ventriloquist?'
	St. Mary's Church, Hale The village of Hale dates from Saxon times. It is still an attractive and tranquil place with many old whitewashed cottages. St. Mary's church stands on the site of an earlier church dating back to 1081. The present church dates from 1754, though the tower is 14th century. It was rebuilt internally in 1981 following a fire in 1977.
Hale in Lewis's Topographical Dictionary of England (1848) Among the families connected with this place have been the Waltons, Hollands, Irelands, and Blackburnes: Sir John de Hibernia, ancestor of the Irelands, came over with the Conqueror, and was buried at Hale chapel in 1088. The township is beautifully situated on the northern bank of the river Mersey; it forms the most southern point of land in Lancashire, and comprises 1626 acres. The village is a delightful spot, and one of the most ancient villages in the county: it received a charter from John, of a market and a fair. The Hall, the seat of John Ireland Blackburne, Esq., who is lord of the manor, is a very ancient mansion of brick, with stone ornaments, and a great part of it is covered with ivy: the north front was built in 1674 by Sir Gilbert Ireland; the south front was rebuilt in 1809, from designs by Nash.
Hale in the Victoria History of the County of Lancaster (1907) Hale is a riverside township, the southern and eastern limits being washed by the Mersey, which curves round Hale Point, the most southerly land in the county, whereon stands a lighthouse. The northern boundary is mainly formed by Rams Brook. The land is flat, interspersed with plantations and farms; rows of straight, tall Lombardy poplars being noticeable features of the open landscape. The park and grounds of Hale Hall occupy a large portion of the river frontage. The village of Hale is a straggling one, with some pretty cottages set in flowery gardens. The surrounding country is entirely agricultural. Crops of barley, wheat, and turnips are grown, on loamy and sandy soil with a mixture of clay. It is said to be one of the best wheat-growing districts in Lancashire. To the north is the hamlet of Ciss Green [what hamlet and where?], and at the western corner, on the banks of the Mersey, is [the] Dungeon, where a century ago there were considerable salt works, long since discontinued. The village is much frequented in summer by pleasure parties. [...] The highest ground is but little over 80 ft.; the lowest is in the Decoy Marsh, so called from a decoy for wild fowl formed near Hale Point. [...] A ferry from Hale to Runcorn was established at an early period. It had been discontinued for want of a boat for two years in the time of King John [...]. Formerly there was a ford in general use. John Walley of Runcorn in 1423, in attempting to ride across to Weston by it with two horses laden with fish from Formby, was drowned, though the fish-laden horses crossed safely. In 1465 the court rolls record that a certain John Jackson of the north country and some companions crossed by it with horses, cattle, and sheep, and were stopped by the bailiff until they paid the toll called 'stallage.' The ford was in constant use in the Civil War period and later, being mentioned in the deeds of the Halsall charity bequest in 1734. In the early part of the last [19th] century a fair for toys and pedlery was held on 19 November, when a large number of persons called freemen, chosen by the manor court, appointed a mayor. A wake was held on the Sunday next to 15 August. [...] he lord had a toll (4d [pence]) from every vessel casting anchor within the bounds. It was the duty of the water bailiff to collect this due or to make distraint for it. From the old court rolls it appears that money found on a drowned man brought ashore at Hale, like other things cast up by the river, went to the lord as 'dower of the sea'.
	Tree Carving of John Middleton, the Childe of Hale The graveyard of St. Mary's contains the tomb of local celebrity John Middleton (1578-1623), the Childe of Hale, easily spotted by being surrounded by railings. We are informed on the tomb that he was 9 ft 3 in (2.8 m) tall. If you look up over his tomb, you will see him as in the picture, serenely and surreally gazing back, carved life-size from a tree trunk and holding a lighthouse. The local lord, Gilbert Ireland, is said to have employed him as a minder. On being awarded a knighthood, he took Middleton to London with him where he trounced King James' favourite wrestler. Evidently not being one to bear grudges, the King gave him a prize of £20 but, being a simple soul, Middleton allowed himself to be separated from his cash by his more streetwise travelling companions. His portrait, wearing his posh London gear, is in Speke Hall.
	John Middleton's Cottage, Hale This lovely old cottage is where John Middleton is thought to have lived, though you may be left wondering how he managed to get in through the door.
	Hale Head Lighthouse This disused lighthouse at Hale Head to the south east of Liverpool was built on the site of an earlier lighthouse dating from 1838 and was completed in 1907. It is now a private residence and the lenses are in the Merseyside Maritime Museum. The widest part of the Mersey estuary is around here. The water is deserted now, though only a 100 years ago it was busy with shipping supplying the industries up-river. There are sandstone outcrops and a small sandy beach. It is a wonderfully isolated spot for walkers, cyclists and bird watchers; also for killer whale watchers, as one was stranded near here in October 2001. The Frodsham and Helsby Hills are across the water.
	The Old Dungeon Quay, near Hale The Dungeon is a tiny bay on the bank of the Mersey near Hale, where there are the remains of a late 17th Century salt refinery. There is also a substantial sandstone quay, which probably served a ferry at one time.
	St. Nicholas's Church, Halewood Halewood means simply 'Hale's wood', connecting it with nearby Hale, of which it was originally a part but had a separate existence by the 15th century. The original structure of the church of 1839 has been greatly modified over many years. A particular feature of the church are the 17 stained glass windows designed and produced by William Morris.
Halewood in Lewis's Topographical Dictionary of England (1848) It comprises [...] generally level surface, and for the most part good strong corn-land, which has been much improved by drainage and the application of manure. [...] An antiquated and secluded building here, called The Hutte, or The Haut, was the abode of the Ireland family, lords of the place, who subsequently removed to Hale Hall. [...] The church [in Hough Green?], dedicated to St. Michael, was built in 1839, at a cost of £1200, and was enlarged in 1847, at a cost of £900; it is a cruciform structure in the early English style, with a very neat interior.
Halewood in the Victoria History of the County of Lancaster (1907) This township lies between the old course of the Ditton Brook on the north and Rams Brook on the south, both running into the Mersey. Halewood Green, with a hamlet called North End, is near the northern boundary. To the south-east of this is the village. The part of the township bordering on the Mersey is called Halebank, in which is the site of a large moated house called Lovel's Hall. The country is bare and flat, with wide, open fields, principally cultivated, yielding crops of barley, oats, wheat, and root crops such as turnips and mangel-wurzels. Several wide main roads traverse the country in every direction, much appreciated by the cyclist and motorist. There are very few trees, but good substantial hawthorn hedges, especially about the farmsteads. On the Mersey bank is a fringe of flat marshy fields and mud banks. Houses and farms are very much scattered. [...] On sinking a well near Ditton Junction station in 1881 some Roman remains were found.
	The Unicorn Inn, Cronton The old village of Cronton near Widnes was first recorded in Norman times as Crohinton. The Unicorn Inn dates from 1752. The village is documented as far back as Norman times and was once known for watchmaking. Conveniently situated near the pub are the old village stocks, along with the remains of St. Anne's Well, whose waters were once said to be good for rheumatism (curing it, presumably), but which was filled-in in the late 19th century.
Cronton in Lewis's Topographical Dictionary of England (1848) The surface is principally flat; but on the east side is Pex Hill, the residence of Thomas Brancker, Esq., from which a most extensive view is obtained, embracing the Cheshire hills and the Welsh mountains. There is an excellent redstone quarry.
Cronton in the Victoria History of the County of Lancaster (1907) Cronton [...] is situated on ground undulating in the north, and gradually sloping to quite a flat surface in the south. The village is situated about the centre of the township, and is a favourite resort for cyclists and picnic parties, both from Liverpool and Widnes, on account of a public recreation ground on Pexhill. This hill, rising to only 200 ft. above sea level, is covered with heather and gorse, and on the top are the Widnes Corporation reservoirs, formed in 1868. There are but few plantations, but the most part of the country is occupied by arable fields, where good crops of turnips, wheat, oats, and barley are grown in a loamy soil. There are decidedly fine views of the surrounding country to be had from Pexhill. [...] Watchmakers' tools are made here. The remains of a cross - pedestal and part of the shaft - may be seen near the hall; the stocks remain, being in the village. Formerly there was a well close by dedicated to St. Anne, but known as the Stocks Well; it is now filled up.
	Pex Hill Quarry, near Cronton The old quarry is an interesting and atmospheric place. Sandstone had been quarried here since the 16th century, though it has been disused for over 100 years.
Tarbock in Lewis's Topographical Dictionary of England (1848) The township [...] is flat, and the soil a strong clay, with some parts sandy. There is a redsandstone quarry; coal is abundant, and many of the inhabitants are employed in the collieries. A brewery, established about eighty years ago, is conducted by Mr. George Fleetwood.
Tarbock in the Victoria History of the County of Lancaster (1907) The south-western boundary of Tarbock is formed principally by the old course of the Ditton Brook and its affluent the Netherley Brook. The northern boundary is in a great measure formed by two little brooks which divide it from Whiston, running one east and the other west, and uniting about the centre to form the Ochre Brook, which flows south and south-west through the township. Tarbock Green is near the centre of the township; Coney Green is a hamlet in the northern corner. [...] The flat country is divided into pastures and cultivated fields, where crops of potatoes, turnips, oats and wheat thrive in a loamy soil. It is not at all picturesque owing to its level nature and the absence of woods, excepting those of Halsnead Park, which fringe the township on the north. A little relief is given to the otherwise uninteresting landscape by the Ditton Brook, which is rather a pretty stream. [...] The principal industry is agriculture. There is also a brewery. In 1824 there were several collieries at the northern end of the township, but they have now been worked out. [...] A little hoard of silver and copper coins was discovered at a farm called the Old Sprink in 1838.
Ditton in the Victoria History of the County of Lancaster (1907) On the south, Ditton Brook and the low-lying marshy ground along it must once have formed a definite physical boundary for the township. In the east-central portion is Ditton village, with Ditchfield [no longer extant] to the west and Hough Green to the north. The eastern and northern boundaries are formed in great measure by two small brooks, Moss Brook dividing Ditton from Widnes, and what was formerly called Halliwell Brook from Cronton. The country is flat and divided into pastures and arable fields where wheat and oats are generally grown on a clay soil. There are but few trees and scanty hedges, for the locality is too close to the manufacturing town of Widnes to escape the inevitable effects of smoke and chemical fumes.