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Halewood is a town in the
Metropolitan Borough A metropolitan borough (or metropolitan district) is a type of local government district in England. Created in 1974 by the Local Government Act 1972, metropolitan boroughs are defined in English law as metropolitan districts within metropolitan ...
of Knowsley in Merseyside, England. It lies near the city of Liverpool's southeastern boundary, bordered by the suburbs of Netherley, Hunt's Cross and Woolton. Historically a part of Lancashire, Halewood originated as a small village that later became absorbed by residential development as a suburb of Liverpool. Between the 1950s and 1970s the area developed as a housing overspill for the city. Halewood's population during this time increased from just over 6,000 to over 19,000 people. At the 2001 Census, the population of the civil parish was 20,309, remaining similar at the 2011 Census. The combined population of Halewood's four local government
wards Ward may refer to: Division or unit * Hospital ward, a hospital division, floor, or room set aside for a particular class or group of patients, for example the psychiatric ward * Prison ward, a division of a penal institution such as a priso ...
was 29,217.


History

The township of Halewood lies between the old course of Ditton Brook in the north and Rams Brook in the south. Disputes over the manor lands of Halewood between the Ireland and Holland families began in the 13th Century and were to be ongoing for some time. The Ireland family had Hale, most of Halebank and part of North End, while the Holland family who were the superior lords, controlled most of North End and a portion of Halebank. However, the Hollands were based at a Hall in Halebank, while the Irelands’ main residence was the ‘Hutt’ within Halewood. By the 15th century Halewood was a separate township from Hale and in 1682 the manor of Halewood became part of the dower of Charlotte, Countess of Derby. Halewood once had a workhouse for the township's poor that opened in 1723. The workhouse was housed in a cottage rented from the Earl of Derby in 1722. It was run at a cost of 6d per annum, and had space for 40 people. It worked with other parts of the community to give aid to the homeless (‘vagrants’) and gave the poor a coal allowance and schooling. In 1839 the Chapel of St. Nicholas was built. It was later enlarged in 1847 and in 1868 St. Nicholas' Chapel become a rectory and a true Parish Church. A tower and bells were added to the church around 1883. St Nicholas' Church is Grade II listed and has 17 historically significant stained glass windows designed by William Morris (1834–1896), the English textile designer, poet,
novel A novel is a relatively long work of narrative fiction, typically written in prose and published as a book. The present English word for a long work of prose fiction derives from the for "new", "news", or "short story of something new", itsel ...
ist, translator, and socialist activist, and Edward Burne-Jones. The church also has a Henry Willis organ installed in 1889. William Imrie, Liverpool
shipowner A ship-owner is the owner of a merchant vessel (commercial ship) and is involved in the shipping industry. In the commercial sense of the term, a shipowner is someone who equips and exploits a ship, usually for delivering cargo at a certain frei ...
who owned the White Star Line is buried in Halewood. Imrie died in 1906. A service was held at St Margaret’s Church and his body was laid with that of his wife in the family plot in the graveyard of St Nicholas Church. The church also has war memorial, erected in 1921.
Halewood railway station Halewood railway station is in Halewood, Merseyside, England. The station, and all trains serving it, is operated by Northern Trains. History Halewood station is modern, having been opened in May 1988, built at a cost of £440,000. A station, ...
opened in 1988. An earlier station, a few hundred metres further east, on Baileys Lane had closed in 1951. The original Halewood station opened 1874 and first appeared in the timetable in May that year. The railway line in Halewood passed on a three-arched sandstone viaduct. The station was high up on an embankment, and for this reason it was constructed from timber (unlike nearly all of the other CLC stations which were palatial brick structures). There are still a few pubs in Halewood, but the oldest remaining is the Eagle & Child (c.1750). It was renamed The Reverend Plummer in late 2018, but restored back to its original name in mid-2020. Reverend Canon F B Plummer was the vicar of St Nicholas Church from 1902–26, and tragically lost three of his seven sons during the First World War. His sons are memorialised on the cenotaph in St Nicholas' churchyard. Halewood is home to the first war horse grave to be awarded heritage protection. Blackie was a war horse buried at the RSPCA Liverpool Animal Centre, Higher Road, Halewood in 1942. He served with the 275th Brigade Royal Field Artillery ‘A’ Battery – 55th West Lancashire Division in most of the major battles of the First World War, including Arras, the Somme Offensive and Ypres. Recognising the contribution Blackie made as a horse in service with the British Army during the First World War, his grave in Halewood became a
grade II listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...
monument in 2017.


Car factory

Halewood body and assembly facility was originally opened by Ford Motor Company in 1963, to build the then small-saloon Ford Anglia, reflecting pressure on Ford of Britain's principal plant at
Dagenham Dagenham () is a town in East London, England, within the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham. Dagenham is centred east of Charing Cross. It was historically a rural parish in the Becontree Hundred of Essex, stretching from Hainault Forest ...
. In March 1963, the Lord Mayor of Liverpool, Alderman David John Lewis, drove the first car – an Anglia de Luxe – off the production line at the £30m Ford plant. The first Ford Anglia to roll of the production line at Halewood was featured as the prize in a competition in the Liverpool Echo newspaper, which was won by a Mr Taylor. Mr Taylor could not drive and sold the car on. Ford bought the car back three years later and donated it to Liverpool City Museum, as World Museum was then known. The car is now housed at the Museum of Liverpool. Production of the Anglia ceased in 1967 and the Ford factory began work on the Escort, a car it would churn out through to the turn of the millennium. The Halewood plant was also used for assembling the Ford Corsair between the model's 1964 launch and 1969. Female machinists at Ford, Halewood downed tools and walked out in solidarity with their southern colleagues in Dagenham in 1968. In the 1960s the female machinists at Ford were classified within the company pay structure as grade B. That meant they were officially unskilled, despite having to pass tests in order to gain their employment. After years battling for recognition as skilled workers, they finally walked out, bringing car production to halt and becoming the focus of national news stories.


Education

Halewood contains many primary schools and one secondary school, Halewood Academy.


Economy

The Halewood plant, which is in Speke, L24 9BJ, is now home to the Jaguar Land Rover Body & Assembly facility, which produces the Land Rover Discovery Sport,
Range Rover Evoque The Land Rover Range Rover Evoque (generally known simply as the Range Rover Evoque) is a subcompact luxury crossover SUV developed and produced by Jaguar Land Rover, a British car manufacturer, under their Land Rover marque. The original Evoqu ...
and until Friday 18 December 2009 the Jaguar X-Type. On the same site is a large factory owned by Ford Motor Company which produces gearboxes for amongst others the
Ford Transit The Ford Transit is a family of light commercial vehicles manufactured by the Ford Motor Company since 1965, primarily as a cargo van, but also available in other configurations including a large passenger van (marketed as the Ford Tourneo in ...
,
Ford Fiesta The Ford Fiesta is a supermini car marketed by Ford since 1976 over seven generations. Over the years, the Fiesta has mainly been developed and manufactured by Ford's European operations, and has been positioned below the Escort (later the ...
and the Ford Focus. There is also the Eli Lilly Factory which produces pharmaceuticals.
Liverpool City Council Liverpool City Council is the governing body for the city of Liverpool in Merseyside, England. It consists of 90 councillors, three for each of the city's 30 wards. The council is currently controlled by the Labour Party and is led by Mayor ...
have built a new training ground and youth academy for Everton Football Club on the edge of Halewood called Finch Farm.


Regeneration efforts

Following significant regeneration efforts since 2004, Halewood has turned a corner. Crime has reduced, the performance of local schools has drastically improved (with Halewood Centre for Learning topping the local authority league tables). New housing developments have created high quality housing which has resulted in an influx of professionals. The old sports centre, Bridgefield Forum, has been knocked down and replaced with the state of the art Halewood Leisure Centre. Other housing communities such as Okell Drive and surrounding areas and housing close to the original Halewood village are also thriving. Halewood's largest employer is the Jaguar Land Rover factory. In 2012 Halewood’s old Raven Court shopping centre was replaced with a 7 million pound shopping centre with new shops including Aldi, Iceland, Card Factory, Tesco Express, Barnardos, Ladbrokes and a newsagent. Halewood Park Triangle is Halewood's main public park, securing Green Flag Award in 2011. Consisting largely of mature woodland, with ponds, meadow habitat and heathland remnants, the Park is a designated Local Wildlife Site. Its layout is closely linked to its railway history. It formed part of the Liverpool Loop Line and the Transpennine Trail now follows the route leading southwards to Halewood Doorstep Green. On the abolition of the administrative county of Lancashire in 1974, the urban district was also abolished and its former area was transferred to Merseyside to be combined with that of other districts to form the present-day
metropolitan borough A metropolitan borough (or metropolitan district) is a type of local government district in England. Created in 1974 by the Local Government Act 1972, metropolitan boroughs are defined in English law as metropolitan districts within metropolitan ...
of Knowsley. The Knowsley borough was formed on 1 April 1974 by the merger of, Huyton-with-Roby Urban District,
Kirkby Urban District Kirkby Urban District was a local government district in the administrative county of Lancashire, England, from 1958 to 1974. From 1949 onwards, the main settlement of the district was Kirkby new town. A District Council was created in 1958. The ...
and
Prescot Urban District Prescot Urban District was a local government district in the administrative county of Lancashire, England from 1895 to 1974.the main settlement of the district was the town of Prescot. In 1974 it was abolished and its former area was transferr ...
, along with most of Whiston Rural District (of which Halewood was part) and a small part of
West Lancashire Rural District West Lancashire was a rural district from 1894 to 1974 in Lancashire, England. It was created with other rural districts in 1894, based on the Ormskirk rural sanitary district. It was expanded in 1932 by the abolition of the Sefton Rural Distric ...
, all from the administrative county of Lancashire. The Garston and Halewood
constituency An electoral district, also known as an election district, legislative district, voting district, constituency, riding, ward, division, or (election) precinct is a subdivision of a larger State (polity), state (a country, administrative region, ...
was created in 2010 represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2010 by Maria Eagle of the Labour Party.


Notable people

George Harrison George Harrison (25 February 1943 – 29 November 2001) was an English musician and singer-songwriter who achieved international fame as the lead guitarist of the Beatles. Sometimes called "the quiet Beatle", Harrison embraced Indian c ...
,
MBE Mbe may refer to: * Mbé, a town in the Republic of the Congo * Mbe Mountains Community Forest, in Nigeria * Mbe language, a language of Nigeria * Mbe' language, language of Cameroon * ''mbe'', ISO 639 code for the extinct Molala language Molal ...
who achieved international fame as the lead guitarist of the Beatles, lived in Halewood with his family between 1962 and 1965. Steve McMahon, the former Everton and Liverpool F.C. midfielder, was born in Halewood.
Aaron Cresswell Aaron William Cresswell (born 15 December 1989) is an English professional footballer who plays as a left-back for Premier League club West Ham United. Cresswell made his first-team debut for Tranmere Rovers in 2008 and made 70 league appearan ...
, an English professional
footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...
who plays as a
left back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...
for Premier League club West Ham United and the English national team was born and raised in Halewood. Halewood born Katarina Johnson-Thompson is an English track and field athlete specialising in the
heptathlon A heptathlon is a track and field combined events contest made up of seven events. The name derives from the Greek επτά (hepta, meaning "seven") and ἄθλος (áthlos, or ἄθλον, áthlon, meaning "competition"). A competitor in a hept ...
and
pentathlon A pentathlon is a contest featuring five events. The name is derived from Greek: combining the words ''pente'' (five) and -''athlon'' (competition) ( gr, πένταθλον). The first pentathlon was documented in Ancient Greece and was part of t ...
. Mary Peters was born in Halewood. In the
1972 Summer Olympics The 1972 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad () and commonly known as Munich 1972 (german: München 1972), was an international multi-sport event held in Munich, West Germany, from 26 August to 11 September 1972. ...
in Munich, Peters competing for Great Britain and Northern Ireland won the gold medal in the women's
pentathlon A pentathlon is a contest featuring five events. The name is derived from Greek: combining the words ''pente'' (five) and -''athlon'' (competition) ( gr, πένταθλον). The first pentathlon was documented in Ancient Greece and was part of t ...
. Christine Mcguinness, wife of Paddy McGuinness, model, former Miss Liverpool, and guest star on the reality TV show The Real Housewives of Cheshire, based on '' The Real Housewives'' franchise is from Halewood. Playwright
Fred Lawless Fred Lawless is a British playwright from Liverpool who writes mainly for the stage, but also for television and radio. Biography Fred Lawless was born in Dingle, Liverpool. He attended St Patrick's School in Toxteth before his family moved to ...
spent most of his childhood in Halewood and attended St. Mark's Primary School in Leathers Lane. Edward Whitley was a solicitor and Conservative politician who resided at The Grange, Halewood. Whitley was major of Liverpool in 1868. He sat in the House of Commons from 1880 to 1892. In 1880 Whitley was elected as one of three Members of Parliament (MPs) for Liverpool. He was then elected MP for Everton between 1885 and 1892. There is a statue of Whitley St George's Hall, Liverpool. In the sciences, one Halewood family produced two Fellows of the Royal Society:
John Hilton Grace John Hilton Grace FRS (21 May 1873 – 4 March 1958) was a British mathematician. The Grace–Walsh–Szegő theorem is named in part after him. Early life He was born in Halewood, near Liverpool, the eldest of the six children of farmer Wil ...
, a mathematician; and his nephew, Alan Robertson, an animal geneticist. The Grace family lived at Okells Farm and Court Farm.


See also

* Listed buildings in Halewood


References


External links


Halewood Town Council Halewood Local History PagesHalewood College
{{authority control Towns and villages in the Metropolitan Borough of Knowsley Towns in Merseyside Civil parishes in Merseyside