Aigburth () is a suburb of

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

, England. Located to the south of the city, it is bordered by

Toxteth Toxteth is an inner-city area of Liverpool in the county of Merseyside. Toxteth is located to the south of Liverpool city centre, bordered by Aigburth, Canning, Liverpool, Canning, Dingle, Liverpool, Dingle, and Edge Hill, Merseyside, Edge Hill ...

and

Dingle Dingle ( or ''Daingean Uí Chúis'', meaning "fort of Ó Cúis") is a town in County Kerry in the south-west of Ireland. The only town on the Dingle Peninsula (known in Irish as ''Corca Dhuibhne''), it sits on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coa ...

to the north,

Mossley Hill Mossley Hill is a suburb of Liverpool and ward of Liverpool City Council. Located 3.5 miles southeast of the city centre, it is bordered by the suburbs of Aigburth, Allerton, Childwall, Garston, and Wavertree. At the 2001 Census, the popul ...

to the east, and Garston to the south, with the

River Mersey The River Mersey () is a major river 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 h ...

forming its western boundary.

Description

Historically a part of

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

, Aigburth is mainly residential and covers an area following Aigburth Road (A561) and the areas either side of it until it reaches Garston. The suburb is to the south of

Sefton Park Sefton Park is a public park in south Liverpool, England. The park is in a conservation district of the same name, It is the largest public park in Liverpool and the Liverpool City Region. Suburbs neighbouring the park include Toxteth, Aigb ...

and adjoins Otterspool Park, which leads to Otterspool Promenade on the

Mersey The River Mersey () is a major river 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 ...

. Housing in the district is mostly a mixture of terraced and semi detached homes, with large detached houses (mostly converted into flats or hotels) in Aigburth Drive overlooking Sefton Park and modern estates containing detached and semi detached houses in the Riverside Drive area. Lark Lane (between Aigburth Road and Sefton Park) is a lively place with many independent shops, restaurants and bars. ''The Guardian'' published an article about Aigburth in 2007 in its 'Let's move to ...' series.

Etymology

The name can be interpreted as "

hill A hill is a landform that extends above the surrounding terrain. It often has a distinct summit, and is usually applied to peaks which are above elevation compared to the relative landmass, though not as prominent as Mountain, mountains. Hills ...

where

oak An oak is a hardwood tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' of the beech family. They have spirally arranged leaves, often with lobed edges, and a nut called an acorn, borne within a cup. The genus is widely distributed in the Northern Hemisp ...

trees grow" and is a

hybrid Hybrid may refer to: Science * Hybrid (biology), an offspring resulting from cross-breeding ** Hybrid grape, grape varieties produced by cross-breeding two ''Vitis'' species ** Hybridity, the property of a hybrid plant which is a union of two diff ...

place-name Toponymy, toponymics, or toponomastics is the study of '' toponyms'' (proper names of places, also known as place names and geographic names), including their origins, meanings, usage, and types. ''Toponym'' is the general term for a proper nam ...

: the first part of the name is from

Old Norse Old Norse, also referred to as Old Nordic or Old Scandinavian, was a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants ...

''eik'' meaning "

oak tree An oak is a hardwood tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' of the Fagaceae, beech family. They have spirally arranged leaves, often with lobed edges, and a nut called an acorn, borne within a cup. The genus is widely distributed in the Northe ...

" (which is found in Eikton in

Cumbria Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial county in North West England. It borders the Scottish council areas of Dumfries and Galloway and Scottish Borders to the north, Northumberland and County Durham to the east, North Yorkshire to the south-east, Lancash ...

and

Eakring Eakring is a village and civil parish in the Newark and Sherwood district of Nottinghamshire, England. Its population at the 2011 census was 419, and this increased to 440 residents for the 2021 census. There was sizeable oil production there i ...

Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated ''Notts.'') is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. The county is bordered by South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. Th ...

) and

Old English Old English ( or , or ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. It developed from the languages brought to Great Britain by Anglo-S ...

''beorg'' or ''berg'' meaning ''

'' but as there is no real hill in Aigburth the sense here is more likely to be ''rising ground''. Beorg or berg is more usually rendered ''-borough'' (as in

Barlborough Barlborough is a village and civil parish in the Bolsover district of Derbyshire, England. According to the 2021 census it had a population of 2,855. The village is near junction 30 of the M1 motorway and is about north of Bolsover. Barlbo ...

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It borders Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, and South Yorkshire to the north, Nottinghamshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south-east, Staffordshire to the south a ...

) or more rarely as ''-barrow'' (as in

Backbarrow Backbarrow is a village in the Lake District National Park in England. It lies on the River Leven about 5 miles (8 km) northeast of Ulverston in Furness in the county of Cumbria. History Backbarrow probably grew during the Elizabethan p ...

in Cumbria). The name was also recorded as ''Eikberei'' in an undated record. A possible other meaning of Aigburth is Aiges' Berth, meaning the place where the Viking Aiges berthed his long boat. This is plausible because Aigburth is right on the Merseyside river mouth and not on a hill. The nearby hill has a Viking name Toxteth, which means the camp of Toces. The spelling ''Aigburgh'' (or, more rarely, ''Aighburgh'') is sometimes found in old publications and historical documents (for example, S. Lewis, '' A Topographical Dictionary of England'' (1848)), as well as in modern references to former residents and is occasionally seen as an alternative (if incorrect) spelling today.

Governance

The area was previously part of the

parliamentary constituency and, as such, returned

David Alton David Patrick Paul Alton, Baron Alton of Liverpool, (born 15 March 1951) is a British-Irish politician, formerly a Member of Parliament for the Liberal Party (UK), Liberal Party and later Liberal Democrats (UK), Liberal Democrat who has sat as ...

(now Lord Alton of Liverpool) for many years. It is now part of the Liverpool Riverside constituency and returned

Louise Ellman Dame Louise Joyce Ellman ( Rosenberg; born 14 November 1945) is a British politician who served as Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) for Liverpool Riverside (UK Parliament constituency), Liverpool Riverside from ...

as MP in the 2005 and 2010 general elections. The current MP is Kim Johnson. The area is covered by the

Liverpool City Council Liverpool City Council is the Local government in England, local authority for the City status in the United Kingdom, city of Liverpool in Merseyside, England. Liverpool has had a local authority since 1207, which has been reformed on numerous ...

wards of

Aigburth Aigburth () is a suburb of Liverpool, England. Located to the south of the city, it is bordered by Toxteth and Dingle to the north, Mossley Hill to the east, and Garston to the south, with the River Mersey forming its western boundary. Desc ...

and

. The current councillors are Dave Antrobus and Rob McAllister-Bell.

Parks and Green spaces

* Otterspool Promenade * Festival Gardens, once home to the International Garden Festival.

Landmarks

* Liverpool Cricket Club *

Sudley House Sudley House is a historic house in Aigburth, Liverpool, England. Built in 1824 and much modified in the 1880s, it is now a museum and art gallery which contains the collection of George Holt, a shipping-line owner and former resident, in it ...

Church of St Anne, Aigburth The Church of St Anne is in Aigburth Road, Aigburth, Liverpool, Merseyside, England. It is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II* listed building, and is an active Anglican parish church in the diocese o ...

* Stanlawe Grange * Lark Lane

Education

Th
Aigburth Park
halls of residence of

Liverpool Hope University Liverpool Hope University (abbreviated LHU) is a public university with campuses in Liverpool, England. ‌The university grew out of three Normal school#United Kingdom, teacher training colleges: Saint Katharine's College (originally Warring ...

are located close to the railway line on St Michael's Road. Up towards

are the former

University of Liverpool The University of Liverpool (abbreviated UOL) is a Public university, public research university in Liverpool, England. Founded in 1881 as University College Liverpool, Victoria University (United Kingdom), Victoria University, it received Ro ...

Carnatic Halls of Residence built in between Elmswood and Carnatic Roads. These are closed, pending redevelopment. On the piece of land between Mossley Hill Road and Barkhill Road is the IM Marsh Campus of

Liverpool John Moores University Liverpool John Moores University (abbreviated LJMU) is a public university, public research university in the city of Liverpool, England. The university can trace its origins to the Liverpool Mechanics' School of Arts, established in 1823. This ...

, where th
Faculty of Education, Health and Community
is based. Secondary schools in Aigburth includ
St Margaret's Church of England Academy
an
Auckland College
a private school for ages 5–18. State primary schools in Aigburth ar
Sudley Infants
an
Sudley Juniors
as well a
St Michael-in-the-Hamlet Primary
Prior to the reorganisation of secondary education in Liverpool in the 1980s, Aigburth was also home to Aigburth Vale Comprehensive School for Girls, formerly Aigburth Vale High School for Girls, which merged with Quarry Bank School to form

Calderstones School Calderstones School is an English comprehensive school located opposite Calderstones Park on Harthill Road in the Liverpool suburb of Allerton, Merseyside, Allerton. The school was founded in 1921 as Quarry Bank High School for Boys and its fir ...

Transport

The area is served by

Aigburth railway station Aigburth railway station serves the Aigburth district of Liverpool, England. It is situated on the Ormskirk–Hunts Cross route of the Northern Line of the Merseyrail suburban system. History The station, originally called ''Mersey Road'', ...

on the

Northern Line The Northern line is a London Underground line that runs between North London and South London. It is printed in black on the Tube map. It carries more passengers per year than any other Underground linearound 340million in 2019making it the bu ...

of the

Merseyrail Merseyrail is a commuter rail network which serves Merseyside and adjacent areas of Cheshire and Lancashire in the North West England, North West of England. Merseyrail serves 69 Railway station, stations, 67 of which it manages, across two lin ...

network, located some distance from larger residential areas.

St Michaels railway station St Michaels railway station is a railway station in St Michael's Hamlet, Liverpool, England, on the Northern Line of the Merseyrail suburban system. It is situated near, but not on St Michael's Road, Aigburth, a short distance to the south o ...

is also situated in the area, at the bottom of Southwood Road.

Sport

South Liverpool F.C. South Liverpool Football Club is a Association football, football club based in Aigburth, Aigburth, Liverpool, England, founded as a Phoenix club (sports), phoenix club of a club of the same name. It is currently a member of the ; the team pla ...

Liverpool Cricket Club
a regular home venue of

Lancashire County Cricket Club Lancashire Cricket Club represents the Historic counties of England, historic county of Lancashire in Cricket in England, English cricket. The club has held first-class cricket, first-class status since it was founded in 1864. Lancashire's ho ...

, an
Sefton Park Cricket Club
are located in Aigburth. St Margaret's Cricket and Community Sports Centre houses Respect 4 All, an official charity of

Liverpool Football Club Liverpool Football Club is a professional Football club (association football), football club based in Liverpool, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Founded in ...

offering free football sports coaching for the disabled.

Notable residents

* Gary Ablett, professional footballer at both Liverpool and Everton football clubs. *

Benjamin Howard Baker Benjamin Howard Baker (13 February 1892 – 10 September 1987) was an English athlete who excelled in a wide range of sports, mostly in association football and high jump.Peter Beckett Peter Beckett (born 10 August 1948) is an English musician and songwriter who has written songs for recording artists, his own bands, solo work, and films. He is the lead singer and guitarist for 1970s soft rock band Player, which scored a U. ...

, musician and composer. *

Cyril Bibby Cyril Bibby (''b.'' Liverpool, 1 May 1914 as Harold Cyril Bibby; ''d''. Edinburgh 20 June 1987) was a biologist and educator. He was also one of the first sexologists. Early life, family, etc. Bibby was the third of eight children and lived in ...

, sexologist and educationalist. * Ronald Brittain, Sergeant Major of the Guards. *

Peter Calvocoressi Peter John Ambrose Calvocoressi (17 November 1912 – 5 February 2010) was a British lawyer, Liberal politician, historian, and publisher. He served as an intelligence officer at Bletchley Park during World War II. Early years Calvocoressi ...

, wartime codebreaker, historian, author, publisher. *

Hollie Cavanagh Hollie Jessica Cavanagh (born 5 July 1993) is an English-American singer. She placed fourth on the eleventh season of ''American Idol''. Early life Hollie Jessica Cavanagh was born in Liverpool on 5 July 1993, the daughter of Lorraine and Peter ...

, British-born American singer * John Leslie Chadwick, original bassist,

Gerry & the Pacemakers Gerry and the Pacemakers were an English beat music, beat group prominent in the 1960s Beat music, Merseybeat scene. In common with the Beatles, they came from Liverpool, were managed by Brian Epstein and recorded by George Martin. Their early ...

* Kenneth Cranston, dentist and England cricketer. *

Gloria Grahame Gloria Grahame (born Gloria Penelope Hallward; November 28, 1923 – October 5, 1981) was an American actress. She began her acting career in theater, and in 1944 made her first film for MGM. Many biographies indicate she was born Gloria Graham ...

, Hollywood actress. *

Dixie Dean William Ralph "Dixie" Dean (22 January 1907 – 1 March 1980) was an English footballer who played as a centre forward. Dean holds the record for the most goals scored in a single season in top-flight English football, with 60. He is regarded as ...

, professional footballer for

Everton Football Club Everton Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Liverpool, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Founded in 1878, the club was a foun ...

. *

Harold Garnett Harold Gwyer Garnett (19 November 1879 – 3 December 1917) was an English-born first-class cricketer who played for Lancashire County Cricket Club and Argentina national cricket team, Argentina. He was killed during World War I in the fighting ...

, first class English cricketer. *

Gillian Gibbons Gillian may refer to: Places * Gillian Settlement, Arkansas, an unincorporated community People Gillian (variant Jillian) is an English feminine given name, frequently shortened to Gill. It originates as a feminine form of the name Julian, Julio, ...

, teacher and Sudanese prisoner *

Augustus Radcliffe Grote Augustus Radcliffe Grote (February 7, 1841 – September 12, 1903) was a British entomologist who Species description, described over 1,000 species of Lepidoptera, butterflies and moths.Osborn, H. 1937. Fragments of Entomological History. Columb ...

, born in Aigburth, noted

entomologist Entomology (from Ancient Greek ἔντομον (''éntomon''), meaning "insect", and -logy from λόγος (''lógos''), meaning "study") is the branch of zoology that focuses on insects. Those who study entomology are known as entomologists. In ...

and author * George Holt, shipowner and merchant *

Gérard Houllier Gérard Paul Francis Houllier (; 3 September 194714 December 2020) was a French professional football manager and player. Clubs he managed include Paris Saint-Germain, Lens and Liverpool, where he won the FA Cup, League Cup, FA Charity Shield, ...

, manager of

from 1998 to 2004 *

Alfred Lewis Jones Sir Alfred Lewis Jones (24 February 1845 – 13 December 1909) was a Welsh businessman and ship-owner. Described by W. T. Stead as "The Uncrowned King of West Africa", Jones was a pre-eminent figure in the colonial shipping trade who amassed ...

, shipowner, philanthropist *

Gillian Kearney Gillian Louise Kearney

, actor *

Billy Liddell William Beveridge Liddell (10 January 1922 – 3 July 2001) was a Scottish footballer who played his entire professional career with Liverpool. He signed with the club as a teenager in 1938 and retired in 1961, having scored 228 goals in 534 app ...

, professional footballer for

Dave Lister David Lister, commonly referred to simply as Lister, is a fictional character from the British science fiction situation comedy ''Red Dwarf'', portrayed by Craig Charles. Lister is characterised as a third-class technician (the lowest ranking ...

, fictional television character in

BBC Television BBC Television is a service of the BBC. The corporation has operated a Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television service in the United Kingdom, under the terms of a royal charter, since 1 January 1927. It p ...

's ''

Red Dwarf A red dwarf is the smallest kind of star on the main sequence. Red dwarfs are by far the most common type of fusing star in the Milky Way, at least in the neighborhood of the Sun. However, due to their low luminosity, individual red dwarfs are ...

'' *

Danielle Lloyd Danielle Lloyd (formerly O'Hara; born 16 December 1983) is an English TV host, model, businesswoman and beauty pageant titleholder who was crowned Miss England 2004 and Miss Great Britain 2006. Lloyd first rose to prominence when she was strippe ...

, former

Miss England Miss England is a national beauty pageant in England. History The contest, title owned by the Miss World organisation is organised each year by Angie Beasley, a winner of 25 beauty contests in the 1980s and has organised beauty pageants aro ...

and

Miss Great Britain Miss Great Britain is a national beauty contest held annually in Britain since 1945. It is Britain's longest-running beauty pageant. History Following World War Two, a number of seaside resorts around the United Kingdom introduced beauty cont ...

Florence Maybrick Florence Elizabeth Chandler Maybrick (3 September 1862 – 23 October 1941) was an American woman convicted in the United Kingdom of murdering her husband, cotton merchant James Maybrick. Early life Florence Maybrick was born Florence Elizabe ...

, convicted murderer, wife of James Maybrick, cotton broker, murder victim and Jack the Ripper suspect *

George Melly Alan George Heywood Melly (17 August 1926 – 5 July 2007) was an English jazz and blues singer, critic, writer, and lecturer. From 1965 to 1973, he was a film and television critic for ''The Observer''; he also lectured on art history, with an ...

, jazz/blues singer, Surrealist art collector and writer *

Elliot Morley Elliot Anthony Morley (born 6 July 1952) is a British former Labour Party politician, who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Glanford and Scunthorpe from 1987 to 1997 and then Scunthorpe from 1997 to 2010. In 2009, he was accused by ''The ...

, former MP *

Alun Owen Alun Davies Owen (24 November 1925 – 6 December 1994) was a Welsh playwright, screenwriter and actor, predominantly in television. However, he is best remembered by a wider audience for writing the screenplay of The Beatles' debut feature f ...

, Playwright *

Steven Norris Steven John Norris (born 24 May 1945) is a British Conservative Party politician and businessman. Norris served as Member of Parliament for Oxford East from 1983 to 1987. After narrowly losing that marginal seat in 1987 he re-entered the Ho ...

, former MP and businessman * John E. Owens, Liverpool born American comedian. *

Brian Reade Brian Reade is a British journalist and author who writes a weekly opinion column for the ''Daily Mirror''. He was born in Wavertree and grew up in Huyton. Life and career He began his journalism career working on the ''Reading Evening Post'' ...

Daily Mirror The ''Daily Mirror'' is a British national daily Tabloid journalism, tabloid newspaper. Founded in 1903, it is part of Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN), which is owned by parent company Reach plc. From 1985 to 1987, and from 1997 to 2002, the tit ...

journalist * Nicholas Robinson, Lord Mayor of Liverpool 1828-1829 *

Geoff Rowley Geoffrey Joseph Rowley Jr. (born 6 June 1976) is an English professional skateboarder, former co-owner of Flip Skateboards and owner of the Civilware Service Corporation. He received ''Thrasher Magazine'' "Skater of the Year" award in 2000. Ear ...

, professional skateboarder * Sonia, singer *

Stuart Sutcliffe Stuart Fergusson Victor Sutcliffe (23 June 1940 – 10 April 1962) was a British painter and musician from Edinburgh, Scotland, best known as the original bass guitarist of the Beatles. Sutcliffe left the band to pursue his career as a pa ...

, artist, Beatle * Richard Synge, 1952

Nobel Prize The Nobel Prizes ( ; ; ) are awards administered by the Nobel Foundation and granted in accordance with the principle of "for the greatest benefit to humankind". The prizes were first awarded in 1901, marking the fifth anniversary of Alfred N ...

winner, (Physics) *

Banastre Tarleton General Sir Banastre Tarleton, 1st Baronet (21 August 175415 January 1833) was a British military officer and politician. He is best known as the lieutenant colonel leading the British Legion at the end of the American Revolutionary War. He lat ...

, MP and cavalry commander in American War of Independence *

Ricky Tomlinson Eric "Ricky" Tomlinson (born 26 September 1939) is an English actor. He is best known for his television roles as Bobby Grant in the soap opera '' Brookside'' (1982–1988), DCI Charlie Wise in '' Cracker'' (1993–2006) and Jim Royle in '' T ...

, actor *

Alfred Waterhouse Alfred Waterhouse (19 July 1830 – 22 August 1905) was an English architect, particularly associated with Gothic Revival architecture, although he designed using other architectural styles as well. He is perhaps best known for his designs ...

, architect of the Natural History Museum and other noted public buildings *

Chelcee Grimes Chelcee Maria Grimes (born 8 May 1992) is an English singer, songwriter, television presenter, and footballer. She has written songs for Kylie Minogue, Dua Lipa, Blackpink, Kesha, Olly Murs, Jonas Blue, Louisa, the Saturdays, and Tom Walker. ...

, British singer and songwriter and also a footballer currently playing for Fulham Ladies *

Pete Wylie Peter James Wylie (born 22 March 1958) is an English singer-songwriter and guitarist, best known as the leader of the band variously known as Wah!, Wah! Heat, Shambeko! Say Wah!, JF Wah!, The Mighty Wah! and Wah! The Mongrel. Career Early ba ...

, English singer/songwriter and guitarist, best known as the leader of the band variously known as Wah! *

Guillem Balagué Guillem Ramón Antonio Balagué (born 2 November 1968) is a Spanish football journalist, author, and pundit. He was a regular pundit on Sky Sports' show ''Revista de la Liga'' and has also written for some of Britain's newspapers as well as seve ...

, Spanish football journalist, pundit on Sky Sports and has also written for British and Spanish newspapers

References

External links

Liverpool Street Gallery - Liverpool 17

Website of the Sudley Area Residents' Association

Aigburth Community Church
{{Liverpool Areas of Liverpool