BIRKDALE
Erengermeles, Dom. Bk.; Argarmeols, xiv. cent.;
Birkedale, 1311.
The greater part of the area of this township, which
measures 2,214½ acres, (fn. 1) consists of a broad band of
sand-hills, fringing the sea-coast and raising the surface
of the land to some fifty feet above sea-level. The
seashore itself is flat and sandy, and a large expanse of
sand is uncovered at low tide. The sand-hills are
covered with a dense growth of dwarf willow and
star-grass, or sea marram, which by their long subterranean stems and roots bind the shifting sands together. The sand-hills are so strictly preserved on
account of 'game,' that the naturalist has little chance
of searching the hills for the many uncommon wild
plants which grow there. Inland from the shore it is
quite flat, and the land is occupied by cultivated fields
yielding crops of corn and potatoes in a sandy soil.
There are no brooks, but numerous ditches drain the
lower portions of the district.
The northern portion of the township is occupied
by the residential district of Birkdale, the houses being
usually surrounded by gardens. Two railways cross
it going north to Southport, viz. the Lancashire and
Yorkshire, with a station named Birkdale; and the
Cheshire lines, by the shore, with a station called
Birkdale Palace, near the large Hydropathic Hotel.
The population in 1901 was 14,197.
A local board was formed in 1863, (fn. 2) and a school
board in 1883. (fn. 3) The township is now divided for
local government into four wards, each returning three
members to the urban district council. The town
hall was built in 1872. A recreation ground was
opened in 1886.
MANOR
Wibert held the manor in 1066,
when it was assessed as two plough-lands
and its value was 8s. It was placed at
the head of the privileged district of three hides comparatively free from the interference of the reeve of
the royal manor of West Derby. (fn. 4)
It was certainly made a portion of the Bussels' fee
of Penwortham, and may have been held by Warin
Bussel under Roger of Poitou before 1100. Of the
barons of Penwortham it was held by Roger son of
Ravenkil, and descended to his son Richard, lord of
Woodplumpton and founder of Lytham Priory. Two
only of Richard's five daughters left issue—Maud, wife
of Sir Robert de Stockport, and Amuria, wife of
Thomas de Beetham; (fn. 5) their heirs continued to hold
it down to the time of Edward II.
By this time there had probably been an infeudation in favour of the Halsall family. In 1346 (fn. 6)
the fourth part of a knight's fee in Argar Meols was
held by Otes de Halsall; he rendered 10s., but it was
stated that the place 'had been annihilated by the sea
and there was no habitation there.' (fn. 7) From an inquisition taken in 1404 it appears that the manors of
Argar Meols and Birkdale had been held by Otes' father,
Gilbert, so that the transfer from the old lords to the
new must have taken place about 1320. (fn. 8) The matter
is somewhat complicated by the statement in a feodary
compiled about 1430 that 'Thomas de Beetham and
his parceners' held the fourth part of a knight's fee in
Argar Meols, (fn. 9) while in a later feodary (1483) it is
stated that Hugh de Halsall held it of the king in
chief. (fn. 10) The more correct statement would appear to
be that from the beginning of Edward III's reign the
Halsall family held it of the king as of his barony of
Penwortham, though this intermediate barony is
usually omitted in the inquisitions. (fn. 11)
The manor descended regularly with the Halsall
estates until their dispersal early in the seventeenth
century by Sir Cuthbert Halsall. (fn. 12) The most interesting incident in connexion with their tenure was an
inquiry in 1503, when the escheator was endeavouring to prove that Sir Henry Halsall held lands and
tenements in Argar Meols of the king, as duke of
Lancaster, in chief, Sir Henry in reply asserting
that the place had long ago been swallowed up by
the sea. (fn. 13)
It was about 1632 that Birkdale, Meandale, and
Ainsdale were sold by Sir Cuthbert Halsall to Robert
Blundell of Ince. Boundary disputes at once began
with Sir Charles Gerard, who had purchased Halsall
and Downholland. The latter's son, created earl of
Macclesfield after the Restoration, carried on the dis
pute with much bitterness, (fn. 14) and it was not settled till
1719. The Gerards had then died out, and their
representative, Colonel Charles Mordaunt, having
brought an action against Robert Blundell of Ince,
a minor represented by his mother and guardian,
a final decision was given in favour of the defendant.
The manor has since descended with Ince Blundell,
and the lord of the manor, Mr. Charles Joseph WeldBlundell, owns the whole township.
In 1246 the township was amerced in 22s. for a
wreck which had been concealed. (fn. 15)
There appears to have been no manor-house or
resident lord, nor did the place give a surname to any
family of note. It was not rated separately for subsidies, &c., and for the hearth tax of Charles II's
time it ranked only as a hamlet of North Meols; in
1673 there were twenty-seven houses charged, only
one of which had more than a single hearth.
In connexion with the Established Church there
are three places of worship in Birkdale. The
earliest is St. James's, opened in 1857 (fn. 16) ; St. John's,
at first a mission church in connexion with it, became
a parish church in 1905; St. Peter's, preceded by a
school-chapel in 1870, was consecrated in 1872. (fn. 17)
The vicars are appointed by different bodies of
trustees.
The Wesleyan Methodists have a large church
in Aughton Road, called Wesley Chapel; there are
also two mission chapels. The United Methodist
Free Church has a place of worship. The Congregationalists acquired a building here in 1877.
There are two Roman Catholic churches,
St. Joseph's, built in 1867, and St. Teresa's, opened in
1884. The convent of Notre Dame is served
from the former. There is also the Birkdale Farm
Reformatory school.