Caldy is a small, affluent village on the
Wirral Peninsula, England, south-east of
West Kirby. It is part of the West Kirby & Thurstaston
Ward of the
Metropolitan Borough of Wirral and is in the parliamentary constituency of
Wirral West. At the time of the
2001 Census, Caldy had 1,290 inhabitants,
of a total ward population of 12,869.
History
It was first mentioned in the ''
Domesday Book'' in 1086 as being owned by Hugh of Mere. Nearby is a large area of
National Trust land called
Caldy Hill
Caldy Hill is an area of heath and woodland on a sandstone outcrop on the Wirral Peninsula. The land was bought by Hoylake District Council between 1897 and 1974. The village of Caldy is nearby.
Including Stapledon Woods, the whole area covers ...
. Many of the houses and walls in the village centre are built from the local red
sandstone.
Caldy was a
township in the West Kirby
Parish of the
Wirral Hundred. The population was 92 in 1801, 142 in 1851, 202 in 1901 and 607 in 1951. Until the twentieth century, Caldy was effectively a farming and agricultural village. However, The Caldy Manor Estates Company divided the land into smaller building plots, and from this one of the north of England's most exclusive residential villages emerged.
Between 1894 and 1933, Caldy was part of
Wirral Rural District, then subsequently
Wirral Urban District. On 1 April 1974,
local government reorganisation in England and Wales resulted in most of Wirral, including Caldy, transfer from the county of
Cheshire
Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's county t ...
to Merseyside.
Caldy railway station
Caldy railway station was a station on the single track Hooton to West Kirby branch of the Birkenhead Railway, on the Wirral Peninsula, England.
History
The Birkenhead Railway, owned jointly by the Great Western Railway (GWR) and London an ...
was on the
Hooton to West Kirby branch of the
Chester and Birkenhead Railway. The station closed in 1954 and the trackbed is now the 'Wirral Way' of
Wirral Country Park.
Geography
Caldy is on the western side of the Wirral Peninsula, on the eastern side of the
Dee Estuary. The village is approximately south-south-east of the
Irish Sea at
Hoylake and about west-south-west of the
River Mersey at
Woodside
Woodside may refer to:
Places and buildings Australia
*Woodside, South Australia, a town
*Woodside, Victoria, a town
Canada
*Woodside National Historic Site, the boyhood home of William Lyon Mackenzie King
*Woodside, Nova Scotia, a neighborho ...
. The centre of the village has an elevation of about above sea level.
Education
Calday Grange Grammar School is between Caldy and West Kirby, with
West Kirby Grammar School
West Kirby Grammar School (abbreviated to WKGS) is a non-denominational selective state grammar school, founded in 1913, with academy status in West Kirby on the Wirral Peninsula, England. The school admits girls from age 11 to 18 and, since ...
and
Hilbre High School
Hilbre High School is a co-educational secondary school and sixth form with academy status located in Newton, a suburb of West Kirby on the Wirral Peninsula, England.
The school has a drama studio theatre and many other drama classrooms funded ...
nearby.
Sport
Caldy Rugby Football Club, a
rugby union club, play at
Paton Field in nearby
Thurstaston. The team currently compete in
the
Championship, the second tier of the rugby union pyramid in England.
Caldy Cricket Club play at
Paton Field in nearby
Thurstaston in the summer months. They currently field four Saturday teams in the
Liverpool and District Cricket Competition.
Transport
Road
Caldy is at the junction of the
B5140 and
B5141 roads, and is near to the
A540.
Rail
The nearest railway station to Caldy is
West Kirby, on the
Wirral Line of the
Merseyrail network after
Caldy railway station
Caldy railway station was a station on the single track Hooton to West Kirby branch of the Birkenhead Railway, on the Wirral Peninsula, England.
History
The Birkenhead Railway, owned jointly by the Great Western Railway (GWR) and London an ...
was closed in 1954.
Notable residents
Caldy is noted for having many well-known residents, particularly those connected to
professional football, such as
Robbie Fowler
Robert Bernard Fowler (born 9 April 1975) is an English football manager and former player, who most recently managed East Bengal in the Indian Super League.
As a player, he was a striker, and is the eighth-highest goalscorer in the history ...
and
Rafael Benítez.
Rafael Benitez in a press conference referred to "John the milkman" in the Wirral while launching a cryptic attack on previous Liverpool club owner
Tom Hicks and managing director
Christian Purslow.
The poet and novelist
Malcolm Lowry
Clarence Malcolm Lowry (; 28 July 1909 – 26 June 1957) was an English poet and novelist who is best known for his 1947 novel ''Under the Volcano'', which was voted No. 11 in the Modern Library 100 Best Novels list. lived in Caldy as a child, as did his brother the England rugby player
Wilfrid Lowry
Wilfrid Malbon Lowry (; 14 July 1900, Wallasey – 4 July 1974, Heswall) was a rugby union wing who played for Birkenhead Park FC and for England in 1920.
Personal life
Lowry was born on Sandrock Road, in Wallasey and grew up in New Brighton, ...
, and the science fiction author
Olaf Stapledon lived in Caldy from 1940 until his death in 1950.
Sir
Cyril Clarke KBE, FRCP, FRCOG, (Hon) FRC Path, FRS, physician, geneticist and lepidopterist, lived in Caldy for many years until his death in November 2000.
See also
*
Listed buildings in Hoylake
Hoylake is a seaside town in Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Wirral, Merseyside, England. It contains 41 buildings that are recorded in the National Heritage List for England as designated listed buildings. Of these, two are listed at Gra ...
References
Bibliography
*
External links
Caldy Cricket Club WebsiteMerseytravel
{{Populated Places in Wirral Borough
Towns and villages in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral