Landican () is a

hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...

on the

Wirral Peninsula Wirral (; ), known locally as The Wirral, is a peninsula in North West England. The roughly rectangular peninsula is about long and wide and is bounded by the River Dee to the west (forming the boundary with Wales), the River Mersey to ...

, in the

Metropolitan Borough of Wirral The Metropolitan Borough of Wirral is a metropolitan borough of Merseyside, in North West England. It has a population of 321,238, and encompasses of the northern part of the Wirral Peninsula. Major settlements include Birkenhead, Wallasey, ...

Merseyside Merseyside ( ) is a metropolitan and ceremonial county in North West England, with a population of 1.38 million. It encompasses both banks of the Mersey Estuary and comprises five metropolitan boroughs: Knowsley, St Helens, Sefton, Wir ...

, England. The hamlet is on the outskirts of

Birkenhead Birkenhead (; cy, Penbedw) is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England; historically, it was part of Cheshire until 1974. The town is on the Wirral Peninsula, along the south bank of the River Mersey, opposite Liv ...

, near to

Woodchurch Woodchurch may refer to the following places in England: * Woodchurch, Kent, Ashford * Woodchurch, a hamlet in Manston, Thanet * Woodchurch, Merseyside Woodchurch is an area of Birkenhead on the Wirral Peninsula, in England. Administrativel ...

and the

M53 motorway The M53 is an motorway in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral and Cheshire on the Wirral Peninsula in England. It is also referred to as the Mid Wirral Motorway. It runs between the Kingsway Tunnel, at Wallasey in the north, and the A55 at C ...

Historically History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...

part of 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 tow ...

, it is within the local government ward of Pensby and Thingwall and the parliamentary constituency of Wirral West. Landican consists of a small group of cottages and farm buildings as well as a cemetery and crematorium. At the 2001 census the community had a population of only 20.

History

The name possibly derives from ''

Llan Llan may be: * Llan (placename) Llan () and its variants ( br, lan; kw, lann; xpi, lhan; Irish and gd, lann) are a common element of Celtic placenames in the British Isles and Brittany, especially of Welsh toponymy. In Welsh an (often muta ...

diacon'', meaning "church of the deacon", with the ''llan-'' prefix being of Welsh origin. However, it does not have a parish church and probably refers to Woodchurch.In this instance, ''Llan de chesne'' would be a Welsh- Norman construct, literally "church uiltof oak (wood)". Alternatively, the name could refer to the "church of St. Tecan/Tegan", an obscure Welsh saint. Landican has been variously spelt over time, including: ''Landechene'' (1086), ''Landekan'' (1240), ''Lankekan'' (1347) and ''Lancan'' (1539). The settlement of ''Landechene'' was recorded in the

Domesday Book Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manusc ...

under the ownership of William Malbank and consisting of 21 households (nine villagers, seven smallholders, one priest and four Frenchmen). The hamlet was a township in Woodchurch Parish of the

Wirral Hundred The Hundred of Wirral is the ancient administrative area for the Wirral Peninsula. Its name is believed to have originated from the ''Hundred of Wilaveston'', the historic name for Willaston, which was an important assembly point in the Wirral ...

, which became a

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authorit ...

in 1866. From 1894 Landican was administered as part of

Wirral Rural District Wirral Rural District was a rural district on the Wirral Peninsula in Cheshire, England from 1894 to 1933. It was created under the Local Government Act 1894 from the Wirral Rural Sanitary District. From the beginning of the twentieth centur ...

before being absorbed into the

County Borough County borough is a term introduced in 1889 in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, to refer to a borough or a city independent of county council control, similar to the unitary authorities created since the 1990s. An equivalent te ...

of Birkenhead in 1928. The civil parish was abolished on 1 April 1933. The population was recorded at 45 in 1801, 57 in 1851, 71 in 1901 and 66 in 1931. On the 19th of October 1944, a

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Si ...

B-24 Liberator bomber from the 703rd Bomb Squadron, 445th Bomb Group based at

RAF Tibenham Royal Air Force Tibenham or more simply RAF Tibenham is a former Royal Air Force station located southwest of Norwich and north of Diss, Norfolk, England. History Tibenham was used as a Royal Flying Corps landing ground during the First Wo ...

, was on a familiarisation flight when it exploded in mid-air. The bomber crashed near the hamlet with the loss of all 24 people on board. In 1996 a large stone memorial to those who died was erected at the nearby North Cheshire Trading Estate in Prenton.

Geography

Landican is in the central part of the Wirral Peninsula, approximately south-south-east of the

Irish Sea The Irish Sea or , gv, Y Keayn Yernagh, sco, Erse Sie, gd, Muir Èireann , Ulster-Scots: ''Airish Sea'', cy, Môr Iwerddon . is an extensive body of water that separates the islands of Ireland and Great Britain. It is linked to the C ...

Leasowe Lighthouse Leasowe Lighthouse is a historic lighthouse in Leasowe on the Wirral Peninsula in Merseyside, England. The lighthouse was built in 1763 by The Mersey Docks and Harbour Company to guide shipping safely to the Port of Liverpool and is the oldest ...

, east-north-east of the

Dee Estuary The Dee Estuary ( cy, Aber Dyfrdwy) is a large estuary by means of which the River Dee flows into Liverpool Bay. The estuary starts near Shotton after a five-mile (8 km) 'canalised' section and the river soon swells to be several mile ...

Thurstaston Thurstaston is a village on the Wirral Peninsula, Merseyside Merseyside ( ) is a metropolitan and ceremonial county in North West England, with a population of 1.38 million. It encompasses both banks of the Mersey Estuary and comprises ...

and west-south-west of the

River Mersey The River Mersey () is in North West England. Its name derives from Old English and means "boundary river", possibly referring to its having been a border between the ancient kingdoms of Mercia and Northumbria. For centuries it has formed par ...

Tranmere Oil Terminal Tranmere Oil Terminal is situated on the River Mersey, south of Birkenhead. It was opened on 8 June 1960 to handle vessels of up to 65,000 tons, at two berths (North and South). It is connected to the Stanlow Oil Refinery by a pipeline. Part o ...

. Landican is situated between Thurstaston Hill and the

Bidston Bidston is a village, a parish and a suburb of Birkenhead, on the Wirral Peninsula, in the modern county of Merseyside. The area is a mixture of the well-preserved Bidston Village, Bidston Hill, a modern housing estate, and the Bidston Moss nat ...

Storeton Storeton is a small village on the Wirral Peninsula, England. It is situated to the west of the town of Bebington and is made up of Great Storeton and Little Storeton, which is classified as a hamlet. At the 2001 Census the population of Storeto ...

ridge, with the centre of the hamlet at an elevation of about above sea level.

Landican Cemetery

Garden of Remembrance Landican where George D Hardey's ashes were scattered (1)

Landican Cemetery is situated opposite

Arrowe Park Arrowe Park is an area to the west of Birkenhead, within the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England. It is situated on the Wirral Peninsula, adjacent to the Woodchurch housing estate and to the south of the large village of Upton ...

and is one of the main

cemetery A cemetery, burial ground, gravesite or graveyard is a place where the remains of dead people are buried or otherwise interred. The word ''cemetery'' (from Greek , "sleeping place") implies that the land is specifically designated as a bu ...

and

crematorium A crematorium or crematory is a venue for the cremation of the dead. Modern crematoria contain at least one cremator (also known as a crematory, retort or cremation chamber), a purpose-built furnace. In some countries a crematorium can also b ...

sites for the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral. Opening on 22 October 1934, the site now consists of nearly . A large population of

European hare The European hare (''Lepus europaeus''), also known as the brown hare, is a species of hare native to Europe and parts of Asia. It is among the largest hare species and is adapted to temperate, open country. Hares are herbivorous and feed mainly ...

s are known to inhabit the cemetery grounds. There are 125 Commonwealth service war graves of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

in the cemetery, 35 of them in a war graves plot, and include two unidentified sailors of the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against Fr ...

and an unidentified

airman An airman is a member of an air force or air arm of a nation's armed forces. In certain air forces, it can also refer to a specific enlisted rank. An airman can also be referred as a soldier in other definitions. In civilian aviation usage, t ...

. In addition, a Screen Wall memorial opposite the Cross of Sacrifice at the plot lists 38 service personnel of the same war who were cremated at the crematorium. Other individuals buried or cremated there include: *Lieutenant-Commander

Ian Edward Fraser Ian Edward Fraser, (18 December 1920 – 1 September 2008) was an English diving pioneer, sailor and recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth force ...

(1920-2008), VC winner, World War II, diver. *Brigadier Sir Philip Toosey (1904-1975), who while prisoner-of-war of the Japanese in that war was the officer in charge of building the Bridge on the River Kwai.

Notes

References

Bibliography

External links

{{Populated Places in Wirral Borough Hamlets in Merseyside Towns and villages in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral