Issue 98 - September 2014
HOW WILL VILLAGE LOOK IN 50 YEARS? by Stephen Guy, West Derby Society
Communities evolve gradually over long periods when change is necessary to bring about social and economic progress. West Derby Village has matured over countless generations. Derby means Place of the Deer and harks back to the days when the area was thickly forested. The Village grew around the castle that stood in Meadow Lane. This was before Liverpool existed and indicates the strategic importance of West Derby. There were no surfaced roads until around 1750. People used ancient tracks and bridle paths to get around. West Derby Castle may have been built to protect the route between the Mersey ford at Hale and the Ribble. This was the way hostile armies, including the Scots, would have come. The construction of Liverpool Castle about 1237 made West Derby Castle redundant. The present-day Village was largely created around 1860 by the 4th Earl of Sefton to make a suitable entrance to his home, Croxteth Hall. He had seen service in the Crimean War and did
much to create the park and surroundings that we know today - a Victorian version of an old English village. Previously West Derby Village was a hotchpotch of buildings including an old chapel at the centre and various cottages, shops and taverns. Historic buildings such as the Tudor courthouse and Yeoman’s House were retained. The chapel was replaced by St Mary’s
Church set back from the Village. This photograph taken from the church tower reveals some of the changes over the past 50 years. Taken in the 1960s, it shows the Robewall furniture factory on the left. This was originally the horse tram shed and stables with waiting room and ticket office in front. Behind can be seen a
storage yard, originally the site of Georgian cottages known as The Barracks which were demolished in the 1930s. The factory and one of the offices were later cleared to make way for the present shops and housing. Washing flutters on a line behind the Yeoman’s House which backed on to premises of the Liverpool Steel Scaffolding Company.
The roof of the former Plaza Cinema can be seen on the right, backing on to large houses in Haymans Green including the famous Casbah Coffee Club. How will the Village look in another 50 years? Join the West Derby Society at its next meeting 7.30 pm on Wednesday 17 September at Lowlands, 13 Haymans Green, Liverpool L12 7JG.