BLUNDELLSANDS, CROSBY AND BROMBOROUGH.
Having already described the pretty suburbs of Bootle, Seaforth and
Litherland, lying to the north of Liverpool, and the little seaside
resort, Waterloo, as they were in the 'forties and 'fifties, we will now
proceed further afield. Two miles to the north-west of Waterloo the
quaint old-fashioned village of Crosby stood, with its thatched black
and white cottages and its old church built of red brick with its square
tower. Between Crosby and the seashore there were no houses. Immediately
to the north of Waterloo, Squire Houghton had built a large house
(Sandheys) surrounded by quite a park, but to the north of this there
was only a long stretch of sandhills until Hightown Lighthouse was
reached. About 1860 Mr. Arnold Baruchson built a large house on the sea
front, which for some years was the only house on the shore, and was the
beginning of Blundellsands. Other large houses followed, lining both
sides of Burbo Bank Road. The splendid air and magnificent marine views
quickly made Blundellsands an attractive place, but it had no roads,
only sandy lanes, and the only approach was the circuitous one through
Crosby. Its little iron church nestled in the sand dunes. Altogether it
was a very quiet, secluded place. We took up our residence at "Ramleh"
in 1871. Shortly afterwards an American friend expressed his surprise
that people who could afford to live in the fine houses he saw scattered
about should be content to worship God in a "tin" church, as he termed
it. This made me think. I called upon the clergyman, the Rev. B. S.
Derbyshire, and put the matter before him, and offered, if he would
accompany me, to go round and try to raise money to build a permanent
church. Our first effort was not very successful, we received promises
of only £1,450; but by dint of begging, bazaars, etc., we eventually got
together sufficient money to build St. Nicholas' church, of which Mr.
Derbyshire was appointed the first incumbent. Before the iron church was
erected a service was held every Sunday by the Rev. S. C. Armour (now
Canon Armour) in a schoolroom at Brighton-le-Sands, to which he
attracted large congregations by his excellent preaching.
In the slight allusion made to Blundellsands--my home from 1871 to
1898--I have scarcely done justice to its attractions. Probably no place
in the United Kingdom possesses a finer marine prospect. Its wide
expanse of sea, with its background of the Welsh mountains, Snowdon
standing in the far distance, and in the near foreground the constant
parade of great merchant ships and steamers, which pass and repass all
the day long, make a picture which for beauty and varying interest it is
difficult to surpass.
The Earl of Northbrook, when First Lord of the Admiralty, stayed with us
at "Ramleh," and remarked that when he looked out of his bedroom window
in the morning he was amazed at the lovely view expanded before him, and
could not resist getting up, although it was only seven o'clock, and
taking a walk along the terrace in front of the house. At breakfast he
told us he knew of no marine view so charming except the Bay of Naples.
Of course, it is not possible to compare the two places; each has its
points of attractiveness.
"Ramleh" was a fine, commodious house, on the sea front. We bought it
partly built; its completion and the various additions we made gave us
much pleasure and delight, and we were greatly attached to it.
CROSBY GRAMMAR SCHOOL.
We had in Crosby an old school, endowed some three hundred years ago by
a Crosby boy who made his fortune in London, a part of which he handed
to the Merchant Taylors' Company for educational purposes in the village
in which he was born.
The school was established, the old schoolhouse erected, and it was
carried on with varying, but no great success, for over two hundred
years. At one time when the Merchant Taylors came down to inspect it,
they found it had been closed for some years, whilst the head-master was
living at Sefton quietly drawing his salary. Within my recollection the
scholars numbered only fifteen to twenty, and the head-master frequently
adjourned the school in the afternoon to go rat-hunting. But when Canon
Armour was appointed head-master, he at once sought to bring about a
change and extend the area of the school's usefulness. The city property
belonging to the school had meantime greatly increased in value, and the
opportunity appeared favourable to make the school a great middle-class
institution. In this I was in hearty accord with Canon Armour. We called
meetings of the inhabitants to promote a petition to the Charity
Commissioners in favour of our project. The Vicar of Crosby offered very
strong opposition on the ground that we were robbing the poor man of his
school. In the end we were successful, the present schools were built at
a cost of £37,000, and were soon filled with 250 pupils, and under Canon
Armour's able guidance quickly took a leading position for scholarship,
and became celebrated for the success attained by the pupils at Oxford
and Cambridge. Canon Armour made this school his life's work, and right
well he did it.
BROMBOROUGH.
Bromborough Hall became our residence in 1898. It is a very old house
built in 1617, but enlarged several times since, with the result that
the exterior, though quaint, is not pleasing--partly Georgian and partly
an old English homestead; it cannot be said to have been built in any
style of architecture. Fortunately, the entire south front is wreathed
with wisteria, jasmine and clematis, and this makes it harmonise with
the charming old Dutch garden which stretches out before it. The
interior is rambling, but possesses some interesting features. The hall
has a stone staircase which winds round the walls as in old Georgian
houses. It also has a capacious lounge, a minstrel gallery, and a quaint
old oak chimney-piece. It opens out into an alcove which forms a very
pleasant resort in summer; and beyond again is the Dutch garden, which
is bright and gay in spring with tulips and in summer with begonias and
roses. We have a ghost, which however we have never seen, and a priest's
room with a cupboard carved in stone for the chalice and patten. The
charms of Bromborough Hall are the gardens, which cover about thirteen
acres and contain probably the most extensive lawns and the largest
trees in Wirral. The outlook from the grounds across the river Mersey is
extensive and very lovely. The park is beautifully planted with copses
and groups of trees, and being 500 acres in extent, it forms a very
attractive feature. We have a walk three miles in length which passes
through the woods down to the river, then along the river bank above the
red sandstone cliffs, which at this point margin the river, and back
through the woods, which form our boundary on the south.
[Illustration: BROMBOROUGH HALL, GARDEN FRONT.]
Although the present house dates back only to 1617, a Bromborough Hall
has existed since the year 1100; this former hall probably stood in the
park, as there are clear indications of a moated grange having existed
there. The present house was built by a Bridgeman, who became chancellor
of the diocese, one of his sons becoming Bishop of Chester, when for a
time the hall was the bishop's palace. Another son was made Lord
Bradford. The hall afterwards passed into the hands of the Mainwaring
family, who for 150 years were the squire rectors of the parish. The
family is now represented by Mr. E. Kynaston Mainwaring, of Oteley Park,
Salop.
Bromborough was an active village in very remote days. There is strong
evidence that the battle of Brunaburg was fought in its
neighbourhood--this battle was the "Waterloo" of Anglo-Saxon times, and
secured the Saxon ascendancy in England. The story goes that the Danes
were encamped at Bromborough, and were joined by the five Irish kings;
and that Athelstan, hearing of this, marched out from Chester, gave them
battle, and utterly defeated them. The Queen of Mercia afterwards
erected a monastery in Bromborough as a thank-offering for this victory.
This monastery stood for 200 years, but was destroyed in the times of
the Normans. The old Saxon church remained, and was pulled down only in
1822. The Runic stone decorations still exist in the gardens of the
rectory, and from these archæologists say the church must have been
built about A.D. 800. The two large fields which adjoin Bromborough Park
and run down to the sea are known as the "Wargraves," and Bishop Stubbs,
the great historian, stated it to be his opinion that this was the site
of the famous battle celebrated in verse by Cædmon.
Bromborough was for centuries the chief market town in the Wirral; the
village cross around which the market was held still exists, also the
manor house in which Charles I. stayed after his defeat near Chester in
1645.
[Illustration: THE OLD DUTCH GARDEN.]