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THE HISTORY AND PRESENT
DAY OF EGREMONT
BY ANDREW WOOD
In 1870-72, John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales
described Egremont as “a town in Wallasey parish, Cheshire; on the Mersey,
opposite the lower part of Liverpool, 2 miles NNW of Birkenhead. It has
a post office under Birkenhead, a steam ferry to Liverpool, a principal
hotel, a church, and other prominent objects. It is a new place; partakes of
the history and prosperity of Birkenhead; comprises a number of streets,
principally laid out on straight lines and at right angles; and consists of two
parts, Egremont proper, and North Egremont”. promenade which, under various names, runs as an unbroken traffic-free
pedestrian route from Seacombe Ferry to New Brighton. John Tobin owned
the area of land from Tobin Street to Kinglake Road and between Wright
Street, before the present housing estate was built. He bought the land and
invested to build the houses in Kinglake and Wright Street. His home was
located in what is now Central Park. When he died he gave the land to the
community. By the early 21st century his house had become derelict and
vandalised and was subsequently demolished in 2009.
Until the 1820s, Egremont had been considered to be part of Liscard
township. However, the expansion of Liscard was deemed to have grown
sufficiently for it to be split into two townships. One of the architectural gems of Egremont is the Parish Church of St John
which was erected in 1832-33 and is situated on Liscard Road, near Church
Street. The land on which it was built was purchased by Sir John Tobin from
F R Price Esq., which had formerly belonged to Birkenhead Priory. The cost
of building the church was defrayed by shareholders in subscriptions of £100
each. For its first forty years of its existence the church was managed by
trustees. It was consecrated on 31st October 1831, by the Bishop of Chester,
the Reverend. J B Summer, who later became the Archbishop of Canterbury.
The church was opened on 19th May 1833 and today it is the oldest standing
church in Wallasey. The church, built to accommodate 1,800 to 2,000
persons, is in the dignified Grecian style, typical of the period of its erection,
it harmonised well with the houses in Church Street which led up to the
church from the ferry at Egremont.
One of the earliest buildings in Egremont was the Liscard Manor House, also
known as “Seabank”. Dating from the 1790s, it was home to the influential
Penkett and Maddock families. The area which grew up around Seabank was
eventually to become the Mariners' home founded in 1892 by William Cliff.
The name of the area was decided by a Captain Askew, who built a house
in the area in 1835 and named the village “Egremont” after his birthplace
in Cumberland. That Egremont, now in Cumbria, is a market town, 5 miles
(8.0 kilometres) south of Whitehaven and on the River Ehen. There is an
historic castle in Egremont built in the 12th century on the mound of an
older Norman site. It is hid den off the Main Street behind a line of trees.
The present castle was built by William Meschin, who founded it between
1120 and 1135. William was the brother of Ranulf le Meschin, the Earl
of Chester. Further additions were made in the 13th century. The castle
eventually fell into disuse and became the ruin it is today. A source from
1212 attests that the jurors of Cumberland remembered Ranulf as quondam
dominus Cumberland (“sometime Lord of Cumberland”). This may be the
connection between Egremont, Cumberland, and Egremont, Wirral.
Interestingly, there is also an unincorporated community in Sharkey County,
Mississippi called Egremont in the USA. In 1880, the Egremont Plantation
became the property of Hezekiah William Foote. It is not clear whether
there is any connection either with Cumberland or Wirral to account for
the name.
The Egremont Ferry pier, built in 1827, was the longest pier on Merseyside
until it was dismantled in 1946 after a coaster had crashed into it, causing
irreparable damage. The central point of Egremont Promenade, reached
from Tobin Street, is former the site of the Egremont Ferry. For a number of
years there was a building there which was originally a police station. There
were also a number of other structures which had probably been part of the
ferry buildings. Before being demolished in 1983, they had been used as a
boat yard and by a motorboat club.
On both sides of this minor promontory there is access to the sea-shore,
which used to be very popular with locals and trippers for some decades
after World War II. One of the most prominent buildings visible from the
promenade is Wallasey Town Hall - now one of the administrative buildings
for Wirral Borough Council. This large building is reached by road from
Brighton Street, or by way of a lengthy flight of steps from the promenade.
Another historic building overlooking the promenade and now converted
into apartments, is the “Captain's View”, which was built in 1897 by a
Captain Wright as his retirement home.
Today the area has a mixture of three and four-bedroomed terraced- and
semi-detached houses. There is a small shopping area on King Street, which
is the main road of the district. Egremont's river frontage is part of the
78 wirrallife.com
In March 2016 Andrew Gibson House on Seabank Road, Egremont, a
former home for the widows of retired seafarers, was threatened with
demolition after the owners Nautilus Welfare Trust said that it no longer
met the needs of their residents. However, Wirral Council in partnership
with developers Prospect Capital, came up with a solution that would see the
building renovated into apartments, next to a new residential development
and a dedicated base for the mariner’s charity.
There is a Community Centre in the heart of Egremont, the first of which
opened its doors to residents in July 2013 and was transformed from a
former café. Now the centre has moved to larger premises, due entirely to
the success of the centre. It is somewhere where people can drop in any time
for a cuppa and a chat, to share stories old and new, find out what's going
on in their area, pass on messages, meet new friends, and take part in some
classes if they fancy.
The Community Centre is the venue for coffee clubs, kids craft classes, Tai
Chi style exercises, mixed martial arts, Dementia café, job clubs, support
groups, chair exercises, lunch club and computer lessons. All the people
involved in running the classes are volunteers who give their time, for the
benefit of the whole community. New classes and activities may be added to
the menu in time after consulting with the local community as to what they
would like to see in the Centre.
Another annual event is the Egremont Festival, the first of which in 2013
was funded by The Big Lottery, without which the Festival may not have
happened. The same is true of “The Heart of Egremont. The Centre has also
been funded by Liverpool John Moore's University in the past and through
it's own fundraising. It receive no other funding, subsidies or assistance.
The Centre survives on the good will of the community and the time and
generosity of the volunteers working in there. Local people have generously
donated items to be sold in the Centre, decorating materials, and enormous
amounts of time to paint, renovate, and even plumb in toilets and sinks The
Heart of Egremont certainly brings out the heart in people.