TOXTETH PARK
Stochestede, Dom. Bk.; (fn. 1) Tokestat, 1207; Toxstake,
1228; Tokstad, 1257; Toxstath, 1297; Toxsteth,
1447.
This township, which comprises the ancient vill of
Smeedon or Smithdown, having been included in the
forest, became extra-parochial. (fn. 2) It has from north to
south a frontage of 3 miles to the River Mersey, and
stretches inland for 2 miles. The ground in the
northerly half rises somewhat steeply from the river;
inland there are several undulations, the highest point,
at the corner of Smithdown Lane and Lodge Lane,
being about 190 ft. The total area is 3,598 acres (fn. 3) of
which about half, 1,737 acres, was taken within the
borough of Liverpool in 1835, and with the exception
of Prince's Park is now quite covered with streets of
dwelling houses; the outer half, with the exception of
Sefton Park, containing 387 acres, has, within recent
years, fallen largely into the hands of the builder. This
portion also was included within the borough of
Liverpool in 1895.
The northern half of the township is densely populated and there are docks and quays along the river
front with the severe buildings of numerous factories
reared in the background. In the southern half the
character of the district changes abruptly, green fields
and trees sloping down to the water's edge instead of
stone quays and dock gates, and the neighbourhood
becomes an important residential suburb, with larger
houses set in private grounds.
The geological formation consists of the new red
sandstone or trias, the pebble beds of the bunter
series occurring in the centre from the river to
Windsor, and again towards Aigburth, with upper
mottled sandstones of the same series between, again
occurring above the docks, where they intervene
between areas of the basement beds of the keuper
series. The soil is clay and sand.
Formerly a brook (fn. 4) rose in the eastern side of
Parliament Fields, at the north end of the township,
and ran down to the river near the boundary in
Parliament Street, being used to turn a water-mill
just before it fell into the river. About the middle
of the river frontage is a creek called Knot's Hole,
and a little farther to the south another creek once
received a brook which rose near the centre of the
township; (fn. 5) the Dingle lies around the former creek,
and round the latter the district is named St. Michael's
Hamlet, from the church. Just beyond the southern
boundary is the creek called Otterspool, receiving a
brook, known as the Jordan, which rose near Fairfield,
formed the boundary between Wavertree and West
Derby, and then flowed south to the Mersey; it was
joined by another brook, rising in Wavertree and
flowing south and west past Green Bank. (fn. 6) Portions of them are still visible in Sefton Park, part of
the course having been formed into a lake there.
The principal road has always been that from
Liverpool parallel to the river, formerly known as
Park Lane, now as Park Place, Park Road, and (beyond
the former municipal boundary) Aigburth Road.
Park Road rises quickly to the summit, 180 ft., where
the Park Coffee House formerly stood, (fn. 7) and then
descends still more rapidly to the Dingle; near the
bottom on the left is the old Toxteth Chapel.
The foot of the hill was in 1835 the municipal
boundary; Ullet Road thence goes eastward to the
old lodge of the Park, situated almost at the centre of
the township, where is now the principal entrance to
Sefton Park. The main road, as Aigburth Road, (fn. 8)
pursues its way to Otterspool, having the Dingle
and St. Michael's on the right and Sefton Park on the
left. (fn. 9)
Smithdown Road, formerly Smithdown Lane,
forms on the east or inland side for some distance
the boundary between the township and West Derby;
by it are the Toxteth cemetery and the workhouse.
It is joined at its northern and southern ends respectively by two ancient roads, called Lodge Lane from
the old Lodge, and Ullet Road already named.
Modern necessities have covered the district with a
vast number of streets, of which only a few can be
named. Parliament Street follows the northern
boundary line from the river to Smithdown Lane,
at which point the district is popularly termed
Windsor. Prince's Road runs from the centre of
Parliament Street to the entrance to Prince's Park,
round which are roads ending in Ullet Road. Mill
Street lies between Park Road and the river.
The Liverpool tramway system provides liberally
for locomotion. The Overhead Railway has a terminus
at the Dingle, and runs by the dock side, with a
number of stations. The Cheshire Lines Committee's
Railway from Liverpool to Manchester has stations at
St. James's, St. Michael's, and Otterspool, with a
goods station, formerly the passenger terminus also, at
Brunswick Dock. The London and North-Western
Company's Liverpool to London line passes through
the south-eastern corner of the township, with a
station called Sefton Park, opened about ten years
since.
The following docks of the Liverpool system are in
this township: Queen's, formed 1796, and recently
modernized; Coburg; Brunswick, 1811, formerly the
seat of the timber trade; the old discharging ground
has been utilized as the site of a carriers' dock;
Toxteth, Harrington, and Herculaneum. To the south
of the last are graving docks, and then the petroleum stores.
The Mersey forge stood near the Toxteth dock.
The flour mills are further inland. The Herculaneum
dock takes its name from a pottery established there
in 1796 on the site of a former copper works; it
was given up in 1841. (fn. 10) On the river side of the
Queen's dock were formerly considerable shipbuilding
yards. Near them a ferry was in operation for some
years.
The principal park is Sefton Park, formed by the
corporation of Liverpool in 1872; a palm house and
aviary have since been presented. A statue of
William Rathbone, unveiled in 1877, stands in it.
Prince's Park, purchased about 1840 by Richard
Vaughan Yates, with the intention of preserving it
as an open space, is now public property.
An improvement Act was passed in 1842, (fn. 11) and a
local board was constituted in 1856; (fn. 12) its operations
were restricted to the extra-municipal portion in
1859. (fn. 13)
The former wards within the borough of Liverpool,
down to 1895, were called North and South Toxteth.
On the inclusion of the rest of the township in 1895
an entirely new arrangement of wards was made; five
wards, since increased to six, having been formed, each
having an alderman and three councillors.
The Royal Southern Hospital was founded in
1841; the first building was in Parliament Street,
close to the docks. The present buildings in Grafton
Street were opened in 1872. Not far from them is
the City Hospital, under the management of the
corporation; at Parkhill, Dingle, is the Infectious
Diseases Hospital.
The new buildings of Liverpool College in Lodge
Lane accommodate the principal school.
The industrial schools founded by the late Canon
Henry Postance, (fn. 14) the school for the deaf and dumb,
and the Turner Memorial Home at the Dingle for
incurables, 1882, are among the charitable institutions.
Reports upon the wasting of the shore caused by
the Mersey were made by Edward Eyes on behalf of
the Duchy in 1828 and subsequent years. (fn. 15)
MANOR
Before the Conquest, TOXTETH
was divided equally into two manors,
each assessed at 'a virgate and a half of a
plough-land,' otherwise two plough-lands; one was
held by Bernulf, the other by Stainulf. (fn. 16) After the
Conquest it was probably taken into the demesne of
West Derby, but part at least seems to have been
granted by Count Roger of Poitou to the ancestor
of Molyneux of Sefton, being soon exchanged for a
moiety of Litherland. (fn. 17) The whole vill was then
afforested, and until 1604 continued to form part of
the forest of West Derby, being described as a 'Hay'
in the earlier records, and as a
park from the time of Edward I.
A separate keeper or parker was
appointed for it. (fn. 18) The boundaries, somewhat within the
present ones, are described in
the perambulation of 1228. (fn. 19)
Stanley of Lathom. Argent, on a bend azure three stags' heads cabossed or.
In 1257 the yearly issues
of Toxteth amounted to
£7 14s. 6½d., arising from perquisites, agistment, and wood
sold. (fn. 20) At the death of Edmund,
earl of Lancaster, in 1296,
the issues of Toxteth, Croxteth,
and Simonswood amounted to
£8 3s. 10d. per annum. (fn. 21) His son and successor,
Thomas, in 1316, while a guest of the monks of
Whalley, then but recently translated from Stanlaw
in Cheshire, gave them Toxteth and Smithdown;
they being dissatisfied with Whalley owing to the
lack of timber there for building. (fn. 22) However, they
decided to stay at Whalley, and the grant of Toxteth
was revoked, Sir Robert de Holand being put in
possession of this and other manors in the hundred,
which he held till the earl's attainder in 1322. (fn. 23)
Five years later Toxteth, with the other parks, was
granted to Henry, brother of Thomas of Lancaster,
on being allowed to succeed to the earldom and
estates. (fn. 24)
By this time the profits of the park from the sale of
fuel, &c., had become more important than the
preservation of deer for the chase, and various leases
and grants were made. (fn. 25) The custody of the park,
after various changes, (fn. 26) was in 1447 granted in fee to
Sir Thomas Stanley, controller of the household, at a
rent of 11s. 7½d. yearly, with a lease also of the
turbary. (fn. 27) This office descended
in the Stanley family until 1596,
when William, earl of Derby,
sold the park with all his lands
and tenements there and in
Smithdown to Edmund Smolte
and Edward Aspinwall, (fn. 28) who
subsequently made a number of
grants to kinsmen and others.
Eight years later the earl agreed
to sell the same to Sir Richard
Molyneux of Sefton, (fn. 29) and after
various intermediate arrangements (fn. 30) the transfer was completed in 1605, (fn. 31) from which time the estate has
descended in the Molyneux family to the present earl
of Sefton. The disparking occurred about 1592. (fn. 32)
Molyneux, Earl of Sefton. Azure, a cross moline or.
No courts have been held from about 1770, and
no perambulations of boundaries made. Lord Sefton
has claimed wreck. (fn. 33)
The offices of forester and keeper of Toxteth park
and of the park of Croxteth and chase of Simonswood
were of some importance. They were usually held
for life, the wages of the former being £2 per annum
with some small perquisites. Robert de Sankey, the
verderer, was incapacitated in 1330; (fn. 34) Roger de
Moreton was succeeded in 1360 by Roger de
Ditton; (fn. 35) Sir John le Boteler was master forester in
1379. (fn. 36) James Harebrown and Sir Thomas Stanley
had a grant of the office of parker in 1440, to be
held for their lives or in survivorship. (fn. 37) The master
forestership of West Derbyshire had four years earlier
been conferred on Sir Richard Molyneux, (fn. 38) but this
grant, though confirmed in 1461 and 1483, (fn. 39) was
revoked by Henry VII, who appointed Thomas
Scarisbrick, servant of Sir Edward Stanley, to the
office. (fn. 40) In 1505, however, the former grant was
revived, (fn. 41) which confirmation was enrolled in 1706 in
the office of the auditor of the duchy. (fn. 42)
SMITHDOWN
SMITHDOWN (fn. 43) has been merged in Toxteth Park
for 700 years. The area is not definitely known, though
the name continued in use down to the sixteenth
century or later, but it is believed to have extended
from Lodge Lane eastwards to the boundary. (fn. 44) Ethelmund held it as a separate manor in 1066, when it
was assessed as one plough-land, and its value, beyond
the customary rent, was the normal 32d. (fn. 45) King John,
desiring to add it to the park of Toxteth, took it from
its owner, a poor man, and gave him Thingwall for it.
The perambulators of the forest in 1228 seem to have
considered the exchange equitable, for they conclude
their reference to Smithdown with the words:
'Therefore let the king do his will therewith.' (fn. 46)
From that time onward the vill was involved with
Toxteth, but a strip on the side of Liverpool, afterwards known as Smithdown Moss, was granted at
various times in parcels for turbary. (fn. 47)
The prior of St. John's Hospital, Chester, at one
time held 26 acres of waste in the hills by Smithdown
by the grant of Henry, earl of Lancaster. (fn. 48)
In consequence of the change to a thickly populated
urban district, there have been erected in recent times
a large number of places of worship. The earliest
in connexion with the Established Church was
St. James's, on the border of Liverpool, built in 1774
under an Act of Parliament; the money was raised
by shares, Lord Sefton giving the land. (fn. 49) A burial
ground surrounds it. A district was assigned in
1844. (fn. 50) The rector of Walton presents to the perpetual curacy. St. Michael's was built in 1817, from
Rickman's designs, being one of the iron churches of
the time. There is a monument to commemorate
Jeremiah Horrocks. The present patron is Mrs. W.
Jones. (fn. 51) The more recent churches, with the dates of
erection, are as follows: St. John the Baptist's, near
the top of the hill, 1832; (fn. 52) St. Paul's, Prince's Park,
1848; (fn. 53) St. Thomas's, near the docks, 1840; (fn. 54) St. Barnabas's was built in 1841, and demolished in 1893; (fn. 55)
St. Clement's, Windsor, 1841; St. Matthew's, Hill
Street, 1847; (fn. 56) St. Silas's, High Park Street, 1865; (fn. 57)
Holy Trinity, Parliament Street, 1858; (fn. 58) St. Margaret's, Prince's Road, 1869; (fn. 59) St. Cleopas's, 1866; (fn. 60)
Christ Church, Sefton Park, 1870; (fn. 61) St. Philemon's,
Windsor Street, 1874; (fn. 62) All Saints', Prince's Park
entrance, 1884; (fn. 63) St. Gabriel's, 1884; St. Bede's,
Hartington Road, 1886; St. Agnes's, Ullet Road,
1884; (fn. 64) and St. Andrew's, Aigburth Road, 1893. (fn. 65)
The patronage is vested in various bodies of trustees,
except where otherwise stated in the notes. St.
Deniol's, Windsor, was built as a place of worship for
Welsh-speaking Anglicans. After difficulties which
kept it closed for some years it was licensed for service
in 1901. (fn. 66)
The Wesleyan Methodists have many churches in
Toxteth. The earliest is Wesley chapel, Stanhope
Street, built in 1827. St. John's, Prince's Park, was
built in 1862; St. Peter's, High Park Street, in
1878; and Wesley, Lodge Lane, in 1883. Smith
down Road chapel dates from 1897. There is another
in Lark Lane. Mission halls are Templar Hall and
Hutchinson Hall. Mount Zion in Prince's Avenue
is for Welsh-speaking Methodists; a previous chapel
was in Chester Street. The New Connexion have a
church in Park Place. The United Free Methodists
have two places of worship.
The Baptists have three churches: the Tabernacle
in Park Road, built in 1871; Prince's Gate chapel,
1881; and Windsor Street Welsh chapel. This last,
built in 1872, represents a congregation formed in
Gore Street in 1827.
The Welsh Calvinistic Methodists have churches in
Prince's Road and David Street. They had a
chapel called Ebenezer in Bedford or Beaufort Street,
Toxteth, as early as 1805. (fn. 67)
As a result of a 'tent mission' begun in the year
1823, a Congregational church was formed in 1827.
now represented by the Berkley Street church. (fn. 68) The
same body opened Toxteth chapel in 1831; this
building was replaced in 1872 by that at the corner
of Aigburth Road. In 1881–5 a school chapel was
built in Hartington Road. (fn. 69) In Park Road is a chapel
for Welsh-speaking Congregationalists. (fn. 70)
There is a Church of Christ in Windsor Street.
The Presbyterians have four churches. The senior
is that in Belvedere Road, known as Trinity, erected
in 1857. The important church by the Sefton Park
gates, where Dr. John Watson (Ian Maclaren) was
minister, was built in 1879. In the same year a
church was built in Prince's Road, replacing a temporary one founded by the United Presbyterians in
1864. St. Columba's, Smithdown Road, was opened
in 1897.
The 'ancient chapel' of Toxteth Park is supposed
to have been built about the commencement of the
seventeenth century by the tenants and farmers of the
park. (fn. 71) It was probably never consecrated, and it is
not known whether the Anglican services were ever
used in it. The commissioners of 1650 noticed it,
and recommended that it should have a parish assigned
to it. (fn. 72) In 1718 Bishop Gastrell recorded that it was
uncertain whether the Park was extra-parochial or in
the parish of Lancaster; that the chapel was held by
the Dissenters under a lease from Lord Molyneux,
whose agents returned it as a house belonging to his
lordship when as a 'papist' his estates were registered. (fn. 73) A similar statement had been made in
1671–2, on the Declaration of Indulgence, the chapel
being then licensed for worship. (fn. 74) At that time it was
said that 'there was neither a Churchman nor a
Catholic' here. (fn. 75) About 1716 a sum of £300 was
bequeathed to the township by John Burgess and others,
of which the interest on £260 was considered to
belong to the 'orthodox minister' and the rest to the
poor. (fn. 76)
Richard Mather, the first minister, is said to have
settled in Toxteth as a schoolmaster about 1612;
showing aptitude he was sent up to Brasenose College,
Oxford; afterwards he was minister at Toxteth and
Prescot, until silenced in 1633 by the archbishop of
York for his nonconformity. In 1635 he emigrated
to New England. (fn. 77) From his departure until 1646
nothing is known of the chapel's history; in the
latter year Robert Port was minister; (fn. 78) Thomas Higgins in 1650; (fn. 79) and Thomas Crompton in 1657. (fn. 80)
No doubt regular public services had to be discontinued for a time after 1662. Michael Briscoe,
ejected from Walmsley, was minister at Toxteth at
his death in 1685, (fn. 81) and was followed by Christopher
Richardson, ejected at Kirkheaton. (fn. 82) About a hundred
years afterwards the minister and most of the congregation, like the English Presbyterians in general, had
adopted Unitarian tenets, (fn. 83) and the building continues
to be used as a Unitarian place of worship. Another
Unitarian church has been built in Ullet Road; (fn. 84) and
there is a mission in Mill Street.
The Society of Friends have a burial-ground in
Smithdown Road.
The first Roman Catholic church erected in Toxteth was St. Patrick's, Park Place, begun in 1821 and
opened in 1827. (fn. 85) Our Lady of Mount Carmel,
suitably placed at the top of the hill, was begun in
1865; the present church was opened in 1878.
St. Bernard's school church was built in 1884; it was
in 1901 replaced by the new church of Our Lady of
Lourdes and St. Bernard. St. Clare's, near Sefton
Park, was consecrated in 1890. St. Charles Borromeo's in Aigburth Road, begun in 1892 in a temporary iron building, was opened in 1900. (fn. 86)
The Orthodox or Greek church at the corner of
Prince's Road, in the Byzantine style, was built in
1870 for the accommodation of the numerous Greek
merchants and others resident in Liverpool.
The Jewish synagogue in Prince's Road was built
about 1878 to replace the older one in Seel Street,
Liverpool.