Toxteth

Coordinates: 53°23′22″N 2°58′17″W / 53.3894°N 2.9713°W / 53.3894; -2.9713

Toxteth
Toxteth Toxteth shown within Merseyside
OS grid reference	SJ355885
Metropolitan borough	Liverpool
Metropolitan county	Merseyside
Region	North West
Constituent country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	LIVERPOOL
Postcode district	L8
Dialling code	0151
Police	Merseyside
Fire	Merseyside
Ambulance	North West
European Parliament	North West England
UK Parliament	Liverpool Riverside
List of places: UK • England • Merseyside

Toxteth is an inner city area of Liverpool, Merseyside, England. It is located to the south of the city, bordered by Liverpool city centre, Edge Hill, Wavertree, Dingle, and Aigburth.

Description

The district of Toxteth is formed within the ancient township of Toxteth Park. In the 18th and 19th Centuries, as Liverpool expanded the ancient park of Toxteth was gradually urbanised. Large Georgian houses were built in the Canning area, followed later by grandiose Victorian houses, especially along the tree-lined Prince's Road/Avenue boulevard and around Prince's Park. The district quickly became home to the wealthy merchants of Liverpool, alongside a much larger poor population in modest Victorian terraces. Toxteth features many fine examples of Georgian architecture, most of it built after the Georgian era, including many fine examples of buildings constructed for ritual use, and Canning has become known to estate agents as the "Georgian Quarter."

Toxteth's housing contrasts, with some affluent parts with houses reflecting the wealth of the district in Victorian Britain, and some parts clearly deprived. Some parts have rows of boarded up terraced houses.

Two of the city's largest parks, Sefton Park and Princes Park, are located in or around Toxteth. The earlier Princes Park was laid out by Richard Vaughan Yates around 1840, intending it to be used as open space, funded by the grand houses to be constructed around its edge, as would later happen with Sefton Park. Sefton Park was formed in 1872 by the Corporation of Liverpool, inspired partly by Birkenhead Park, across the River Mersey. Sefton Park has a large glass Palm House, which contains a statue of William Rathbone, which was presented in 1877, and originally had many other features including an aviary and an open-air theatre.

History

Toponymy

There is some ambiguity as to the origin of the name. One theory is that the etymology is "Toki's landing-place". However, Toxteth is mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086, and at this time, it appears as "Stochestede",^[1] i.e. "the stockaded or enclosed place", from the Anglo-Saxon stocc "stake" and Anglo-Saxon stede "place" (found in many English placenames, usually spelled stead).

The Manor

Before the time of the Norman Conquest, Toxteth was divided into two manors of equal size. One was owned by Bernulf and the other by Stainulf. After the conquest part was granted by Count Roger of Poitou to the ancestor of the Earl of Sefton. From this time to about 1604 the land formed part of West Derby forest. The boundaries of the manor are described in the perambulation of 1228 as follows, "'Where Oskell's brook falls into the Mersey; up this brook to Haghou meadow, from this to Brummesho, following the syke to Brumlausie, and across by the old turbaries upon two meres as far as Lombethorn; from this point going down to the "waterfall" of the head of Otter pool, and down this pool into the Mersey.^[1]" In 1327, Toxteth was granted to Henry, Earl of Lancaster.

Over the years various leases and grants were made and the park was owned by Adam, son of William de Liverpool in 1338. In 1385, William de Liverpool had licence "to take two cartloads of gorse weekly from the park for 12d. a year rent." In 1383 a grant was made to William Bolton and Robert Baxter, in 1894 the lease was resigned and handed over to Richard de Molyneux. The park finally came into the hands of Sir Thomas Stanley in 1447. The parkland descended within the Stanley family until 1596 when the land was sold by William Stanley, Earl of Derby, to Edmund Smolte and Edward Aspinwall. In 1604, the Earl sold the same at a cost of £1,100 to Richard Molyneux of Sefton, the estate has descended from this time until 1972 with the death of the the 7th Earl.^[1]

Toxteth Park

The ancient township of Toxteth, contains the ancient village of Smeedon or Smithdown. It stretches over an area of three miles along the River Mersey and two miles inland, the highest point being on the corner of Smithdown Lane and Lodge Lane. An ancient brook ran from the northern end of the area towards the river, near the boundary of Parliament Street, where it was used to power a water wheel before it ran into the river. Along the river are two creeks, one near the middle is known as Knot's Hole and another further south called Dickinson's Dingle received a brook which ran past the east end of St Michael's Church.^[1]

At some time in history the creeks were filled in. The Dingle is now in the area where the old northern creek was situated, and St Michael's Hamlet is situated around the southern creek. Outside the southern boundary of the area lies the creek known as Otterspool, which formed the boundary between Wavertree and West Derby. The major road through the area was Park Lane, now Park Place, Park Road. The road ran from the Coffee House, which stood near Fairview Place, down towards the Dingle, and the old Toxteth Chapel.^[1]

In 1796 the Herculaneum Pottery was established on the site of an old copper works, the site later became Herculaneum Dock, which was filled in during the 1980s. Toward the end of the 16th Century the Royal park ceased to be, and Puritan farmers from Bolton settled in the area. Setting up 25 farms on land outside Church of England control, which became Toxteth Village, they worshiped at the "Ancient Chapel" of Toxteth on Park Road. In 1611, they built a school at the Dingle, appointing Richard Mather as the master. Some years later he began preaching to the local farmers in the Ancient Chapel.^[2]

Smithdown

Smithdown, referred to as Esmedune in the Domesday Book, and variously as Smededon, Smeddon, Smethesdune, Smethedon, Smethdon, Smethden,^[1] has been merged into Toxteth Park since the granting of the Liverpool Charter in 1207. The definite boundaries of Smithdown have never been fully recorded, but continued to be used from 1207 up until the 16th Century, although it is thought to have reached from Lodge Lane to the eastern boundary of Toxteth Park. In 1066, Smithdown was held as a separate manor, by Ethelmund. During the reign of King John the Manor of Smithdown was taken from its owner, and the king gave him Thingwall in its stead.

Places of worship

As the area began to develop and become more urbanised several buildings of worship were erected to serve the growing community. The first church to be built was St James' Church, in 1774. Other churches built during the 19th Century include St John the Baptist's, 1832; St Paul's, 1848; St Thomas's, 1840; St Barnabas's, 1841; St Clement's Windsor, 1841; St Matthew's, 1847; St Silas's, 1865; Holy Trinity, 1858; St Margaret's, 1869; St Cleopas's, 1866; Christ Church, 1870; St Philemon's, 1874; All Saints', 1884; St Gabriel's, 1884; St Bede's, 1886; St Agnes's, 1884; St Andrew's, 1893.^[1]

Immigration and 1981 Riots

Liverpool's post-Second World War decline took its toll on Toxteth. Continued rises in unemployment in the city, lack of government action, and general poverty, led to the Toxteth riots that took place in July 1981, for which the area is probably most famous.

Immigration to Toxteth took place from the 1950's to the present day, mostly from Africa and the Caribbean with relatively few from the Indian sub-continent. In July 1981, the Toxteth riots took place, in which dozens of young males, both black and white, caused a great deal of damage and many injuries. Crime had increased over the same period^{[citation needed]}, and with this came increased police actions including stop and search, believed have sparked the unrest^{[citation needed]}. Some believe the root problem was social deprivation^{[citation needed]}.

Politics

Politically, Toxteth is within the parliamentary constituency of Liverpool Riverside and the Member of Parliament is Louise Ellman, of the Labour Party (although the MP actually represents the Co-operative Party, a Labour Party affiliate whose candidates stand as "Labour and Co-operative"). The council ward is Princes Park, and has three Labour councillors.

Regeneration

The neutrality of this section is disputed. Please see the discussion on the talk page. Please do not remove this message until the dispute is resolved. (April 2009)

A picture of some derelict terraces in Ducie St, Toxteth.

Much of the area continues to suffer from poverty and urban degradation. House prices reflect this; in summer 2003, the average property price was just £45,929 (compared to the national average of £160,625).

Housing in Toxteth tends to be in terraces but there is a growing number of flats available as larger Victorian properties (particularly around the Prince's Road/Avenue Boulevard) are broken up into separate dwellings. Many of the examples around Princes Park have enjoyed improvement work to create a neater appearance.

"Welsh streets"

Extensive regeneration has taken place in Toxteth over the last few years, including demolition of many of the Victorian terraces in the area creating much new development, particularly aimed at middle class people. The most recent scheme, costing £54 million, will see the clearance of 11 streets near Princes Park, nicknamed the "Welsh Streets" due to the streets being built and lived in by the Welsh workers who built a large percentage of buildings around Liverpool city centre around the turn of the 20th century. The streets were named after Welsh towns and villages because of this. In 9 Madryn Street, Ringo Starr was born and lived until the age of 4 when his family moved a minute's walk away to Admiral Grove where he still lived when he joined the Beatles.

The threat of Starr's birthplace and one time home being demolished prompted uproar throughout the neighbourhood and among fans all over the world. The decision was made in September 2005 to take down the house brick-by-brick and rebuild it at the Museum of Liverpool Life as its centre piece after the council made a rapid U-turn after a councillor first stated that the house had no historic value (the council still doesn't have any planning permission for its proposed demolition plans, as of July 2007). This has not been a successful decision. Ringo said the it was not worth bothering to take it down to rebuild it elsewhere, but he is known to feel no emotional link with the city. Some suggested demolition of the area surrounding Starr's home was unsatisfactory, claiming "People liked the city's character, not packaged replicas".^[3] The Welsh Streets had been one of Liverpool's popular landmarks, but were condemned for demolition, despite dating back to the 1880s, allegedly because many were in poor condition and lacked basic amenities.^[4] The demolition is highly contentious, with many taking the view that the houses are fundamentally sound, and it has been proved that renovation would be preferable and cheaper.

Landmarks

• Toxteth Unitarian Chapel
• Church of St. Agnes and St. Pancras, Toxteth Park also in Ullet Road
• Church of St Clare on the corner of Arundel Avenue and York Avenue
• Sefton Park, one of the last remnants of the royal hunting park.
• The Belvedere Academy
• Welsh Streets

Demolished/former landmarks

• Royal Park Hotel

Transport

Rail

Toxteth's nearest railway stations on the Merseyrail network are Brunswick in Dingle and St Michaels.

Both stations are on the Northern Line with trains departing to Southport via Liverpool city centre and to Hunts Cross. Brunswick station is located on Sefton Street, St Michaels station is located in Buckland Street.

St. James Station is a disused railway station in Toxteth. It was located at the Corner of St.James Place and Parliament Street, on the Merseyrail Northern Line. This station is in a deep cutting, cut into the Northern Line tunnel, being in effect an underground station with the roof open to the atmosphere. The station was closed in 1917 as it was too near to the terminus at Liverpool Central High Level railway station. The station is now in a through line from Southport to Hunts Cross. However, Merseytravel have stated they would consider reopening when the population density increases around the station. The station is well located to serve the Liverpool Echo Arena at Kings Dock and Liverpool Cathedral.

The nearby Sefton Park railway station, another disused station, was located at Smithdown Road and Garmoyle Road in Wavertree.

Buses

Toxteth is well served with bus routes.

Notable residents

• Victor Anichebe, footballer.
• Reginald Bevins, Cabinet minister in the 1950s and 1960s, was the local MP.
• Ian Callaghan, footballer.
• Alex Cox, filmmaker. Cox was responsible for the films Repo Man, Sid and Nancy, and Revengers Tragedy.
• Robbie Fowler, football player.
• Howard Gayle, former Liverpool FC player.
• Niall Griffiths, author.
• Alois Hitler, Jr. (1882-1956), half-brother of Adolf Hitler (Adolf is said to have stayed here with his brother for six months in 1912-13^[5])
• William Patrick Hitler nephew of Adolf Hitler.^[6]
• Jeremiah Horrocks, astronomer. First to observe the Transit of Venus. A plaque dedicated to him can be found in Toxteth Ancient Chapel.
• Holly Johnson, former lead singer of Frankie Goes to Hollywood.^{[citation needed]}
• Fred Lawless, writer and playwright.
• Mark Moraghan, actor.
• Wes Paul, guitarist and singer.
• Willy Russell writer and playwright.
• Herbert Louis Samuel, the first Viscount Samuel of Mount Carmel and of Toxteth, who became the first Jewish Home Secretary.
• Margaret Simey (1906-2004), political and social campaigner
• The Real Thing, soul band of the 1970s/1980s.
• Ringo Starr,
• Allan Ivo Steel (1892-1917) was born in Toxteth and was an English cricketer.
• Curtis Warren,

Cultural references

Toxteth O'Grady, a fictional American, was famously referred to in the classic 1980s BBC TV comedy, The Young Ones.

References

Bibliography

• Liverpool District Placenames, Henry Harrison 1898
• Liverpool 8, John Cornelius 2001

Notes

External links

• Liverpool Street Gallery - Liverpool 8
• History of Toxteth
• Canning area
• Jeremiah Horrocks and the Transit of Venus
• A series of accounts of the Toxteth riots
• History of the Sefton Park