Edge Hill, Liverpool

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Edge Hill
Edge Hill, Liverpool.JPG
Sign on Holt Road at the boundary of Edge Hill
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Edge Hill
Location within Merseyside
OS grid reference SJ365900
Metropolitan borough
Metropolitan county
Region
Country England
Sovereign state United Kingdom
Post town LIVERPOOL
Postcode district L7
Dialling code 0151
Police Merseyside
Fire Merseyside
Ambulance North West
UK Parliament
List of places
UK
England
Merseyside
53°23′42″N2°57′07″W / 53.395°N 2.952°W / 53.395; -2.952

Edge Hill is a district of Liverpool, England, south east of the city centre, bordered by Kensington, Wavertree and Toxteth.

Contents

Edge Hill University was founded here, but moved to Ormskirk in the 1930s.

History

The area was first developed in the late 18th-early 19th century Georgian era. Many of the Georgian houses of the time still survive. Edge Hill was designated a Conservation Area in 1979. Most of the Georgian property around St. Mary's Church is now English Heritage listed. The later terraces, of the Victorian era, have also largely been demolished. Although some modern housing has been built, the area still has a depopulated appearance, with many vacant lots and derelict pubs and shops.[ citation needed ]

Joseph Williamson (1769–1840), a tobacco magnate, was responsible for much of the building in the area in the early 19th century.[ citation needed ] The "Mole of Edge Hill" employed hundreds of men to construct the Williamson Tunnels beneath the area. Part of the tunnel network is now open to the public as a tourist attraction.

In the early 19th century, Edge Hill was the site of two railway works. Both the Liverpool and Manchester Railway and the Grand Junction Railway initially set up workshops, but with restricted expansion as the business grew, the Grand Junction Railway moved its main locomotive production to Crewe in 1843. Locomotives continued to be built at Edge Hill until 1851. The Liverpool and Manchester was absorbed by the Grand Junction in 1845, which in turn became part of the London and North Western Railway in 1846.

The first Edge Hill station was built in 1830 on a site about 150m from its present location. Of this little remains. There was a "Moorish Arch" with a stationary engine hauling trains up and down from Crown Street Station until locomotive-hauled trains were able to cope with the gradient. The current station dates from 1836 when the main city railway terminus was moved to Lime Street. The station retains its original buildings but is very quiet owing to the sheer lack of population or industry in the area. These buildings are the oldest in the world still open to the public at a working railway station. [1]

Formerly all trains stopped at Edge Hill at the entrance to the tunnel to Lime Street station, giving rise to "getting off at Edge Hill" as a euphemism for coitus interruptus. [2]

Edge Hill was the site of huge railway marshalling yards until the 1970s, sorting trains to and from the docks via the Victoria Tunnel and Wapping Tunnel to Park Lane and Waterloo goods stations on the dockside.

Crown Street Resource Centre is a mental health resource centre in Edge Hill opened in 1982 and run by Liverpool social services and Merseycare for people living in the Liverpool city area.

Edge Hill University began work in the area in 1885 as a teacher training college, though it moved to its current Ormskirk site in 1933. [3]

Notable residents

Herbert Rowse Armstrong, the Hay poisoner, lived at 52 Durning Road, Edge Hill whilst practising as a solicitor in the city.

Patrick Mahon, convicted of the 1924 murder of Emily Kaye at the Crumbles, Eastbourne, grew up in Helena Street. The site of the street is now covered by a DIY store car park.

The actor Chris Mason was born in Edge Hill. [4]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Liverpool and Manchester Railway</span> Railway in England

The Liverpool and Manchester Railway (L&MR) was the first inter-city railway in the world. It opened on 15 September 1830 between the Lancashire towns of Liverpool and Manchester in England. It was also the first railway to rely exclusively on locomotives driven by steam power, with no horse-drawn traffic permitted at any time; the first to be entirely double track throughout its length; the first to have a true signalling system; the first to be fully timetabled; and the first to carry mail.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Liverpool Lime Street railway station</span> Terminus railway station for the city of Liverpool on the West Coast Mainline

Liverpool Lime Street is a terminus railway station and the main station serving the city centre of Liverpool. Opened in August 1836, it is the oldest still-operating grand terminus mainline station in the world. A branch of the West Coast Main Line from London Euston terminates at the station, as does the original Liverpool and Manchester Railway. Journeys from Lime Street cover a wide range of destinations across England, Scotland and Wales.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Merseyrail</span> Commuter rail system in England

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Crewe railway station</span> Railway station in Cheshire, England

Crewe railway station serves the railway town of Crewe, in Cheshire, England. It opened in 1837 and is one of the most historically significant railway stations in the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Earlestown railway station</span> Railway station in Merseyside, England

Earlestown railway station is a railway station in Earlestown, Merseyside, England, and one of the few "triangular" stations in Britain.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Crown Street railway station</span> Former railway terminus in Liverpool, England

Crown Street railway station was the Liverpool terminus railway station of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway in Liverpool, England, it opened on 15 September 1830. The station was one of the world's first on an inter-city passenger railway in which all services were operated by mechanical traction.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wapping Tunnel</span> Disused railway tunnel under Liverpool, England

Wapping or Edge Hill Tunnel in Liverpool, England, is a tunnel route from the Edge Hill junction in the east of the city to the Liverpool south end docks formerly used by trains on the Liverpool-Manchester line railway. The tunnel alignment is roughly east to west. The tunnel was designed by George Stephenson with construction between 1826 and 1829 to enable goods services to operate between Liverpool docks and all locations up to Manchester, as part of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway. It was the first transport tunnel in the world to be bored under a city. The tunnel is 2,030 metres (1.26 mi) long, running downhill from the western end of the 262 metres (860 ft) long Cavendish cutting at Edge Hill in the east of the city, to Park Lane Goods Station near Wapping Dock in the west. The Edge Hill portal is near the former Crown Street Station goods yard. The tunnel passes beneath the Merseyrail Northern Line tunnel approximately a quarter of a mile south of Liverpool Central underground station.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Edge Hill railway station</span> Station serving the district of Edge Hill in Liverpool, England

Edge Hill railway station is a railway station that serves the district of Edge Hill, Liverpool, England and is one of the oldest railway stations in the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Williamson Tunnels</span> Series of 19th-century subterranean excavations in Liverpool, England

The Williamson Tunnels are a series of extensive subterranean excavations in the Edge Hill area of Liverpool, England. They are thought to have been created under the direction of tobacco merchant, landowner and philanthropist Joseph Williamson between 1810 and 1840. Although popularly described as "tunnels", the majority comprise brick or stone vaulting over excavations in the underlying sandstone. The purpose of the works remains unclear and remains a subject of heavy speculation; suggestions include commercial quarrying, a philanthropic desire to provide employment, and Williamson's own eccentric interests.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Liverpool Central railway station</span> Railway station in Liverpool, England

Liverpool Central railway station in Liverpool, England, forms a central hub of the Merseyrail network, being on both the Northern Line and the Wirral Line. The station is located underground on two levels, below the site of a former mainline terminus. It is the busiest station in Liverpool, though considerably smaller than Lime Street station, the mainline terminus, and the busiest station to operate solely on the Merseyrail network. The station is the busiest underground station outside London serving 40,000 people daily. The station in passengers per platform is the busiest underground railway station in the United Kingdom outside of London at 3,979,547 per platform per annum and coming tenth out of all stations outside the capital, underground or overground.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Preston railway station</span> Grade II listed railway station in Preston, England

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Liverpool–Manchester lines</span> Railway line serving between Liverpool and Manchester

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Northern line (Merseyrail)</span> Line part of the Merseyrail network

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Liverpool–Wigan line</span> Railway line in the north-west of England

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fifteen Guinea Special</span>

The Fifteen Guinea Special was the last main-line passenger train to be hauled by steam locomotive power on British Rail on 11 August 1968 before the introduction of a steam ban that started the following day, the extra day added to allow for the movement of locomotive BR Standard Class 7 70013 Oliver Cromwell to Bressingham Steam Museum. It was a special rail tour excursion train organised for the occasion from Liverpool Lime Street via Manchester Victoria to Carlisle and back, and was pulled in turn by four steam locomotives during the four legs of the journey. The last scheduled standard gauge steam-hauled passenger services had run on 3 August 1968 from Preston. Steam continued to be used on the narrow gauge Vale of Rheidol Railway under British Rail, which was subsequently privatised in 1989.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joseph Williamson (philanthropist)</span> English businessman, property owner and philanthropist

Joseph Williamson was an eccentric English businessman, philanthropist and property owner who is best known for the Williamson Tunnels, which were constructed under his direction in the Edge Hill area of Liverpool, England. His philanthropy earned him the nickname the King of Edge Hill, whilst his tunnel-building activity earned him posthumous nicknames, including the Mole of Edge Hill and the Mad Mole.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Urban rail in the United Kingdom</span> Overview of the role of the urban rail in the United Kingdom

Urban andsuburban rail plays a key role in public transport in many of the major cities of the United Kingdom. Urban rail refers to the train service between city centres and suburbs or nearby towns that acts as a main mode of transport for travellers on a daily basis. They consist of several railway lines connecting city centre stations of major cities to suburbs and surrounding towns.

Liverpool in North West England, is a major British city with significant road, rail, and ferry networks, in addition to an international airport and a well-known dock system. As with most other major UK cities, Liverpool's transport infrastructure is centred on its road and rail networks. Public transport services within the city are controlled and run by Merseytravel.

References

  1. Civil Engineering Heritage: Northern England , p. 250, Rennison, R. W & Barbey, M. F., London (1996)
  2. Lern Yerself Scouse, vol. 4: "The language of Laura Norder", Fritz Spiegl, Liverpool (1989)
  3. Edge Hill University - History Archived 2009-02-24 at the Wayback Machine
  4. Vaynshteyn, Gina (23 February 2021). "Chris Mason Is Nothing Like His Terrible Character in 'Riverdale' in Real Life". Distractify. Retrieved 16 May 2024.