Edge Hill is a district 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
England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
, south east of the
city centre
A city centre, also known as an urban core, is the Commerce, commercial, Culture, cultural and often the historical, Politics, political, and geographic heart of a city. The term "city centre" is primarily used in British English, and closely e ...
, bordered by
Kensington
Kensington is an area of London in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, around west of Central London.
The district's commercial heart is Kensington High Street, running on an east–west axis. The north-east is taken up by Kensingt ...
,
Wavertree
Wavertree is a district and suburb of Liverpool, in the county of Merseyside, England. It is a Ward (country subdivision), ward of Liverpool City Council, and its population at the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 census was 14,772. Located to ...
and
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 ...
.
Edge Hill University was founded here, but moved to
Ormskirk
Ormskirk is a market town in the West Lancashire district of Lancashire, England. It is located north of Liverpool, northwest of St Helens, Merseyside, St Helens, southeast of Southport and southwest of Preston, Lancashire, Preston. Ormski ...
in the 1930s.
History
The area was first developed in the late 18th-early 19th century
Georgian era
The Georgian era was a period in British history from 1714 to , named after the House of Hanover, Hanoverian kings George I of Great Britain, George I, George II of Great Britain, George II, George III and George IV. The definition of the Geor ...
. 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
In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the reign of Queen Victoria, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. Slightly different definitions are sometimes used. The era followed the ...
, 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.
Joseph Williamson (1769–1840), a
tobacco
Tobacco is the common name of several plants in the genus '' Nicotiana'' of the family Solanaceae, and the general term for any product prepared from the cured leaves of these plants. More than 70 species of tobacco are known, but the ...
magnate, was responsible for much of the building in the area in the early 19th century. 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
The Liverpool and Manchester Railway (L&MR) was the first inter-city railway in the world. It Opening of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, opened on 15 September 1830 between the Lancashire towns of Liverpool and Manchester in England. It ...
and the
Grand Junction Railway
The Grand Junction Railway (GJR) was an early railway company in the United Kingdom, which existed between 1833 and 1846. The line built by the company, which opened in 1837, linked the Liverpool and Manchester Railway to Birmingham via Warri ...
initially set up workshops, but with restricted expansion as the business grew, the Grand Junction Railway moved its main locomotive production to
Crewe
Crewe () is a railway town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East in Cheshire, England. At the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 census, the parish had a population of 55,318 and the built-up area had a population of 74,120. ...
in 1843. Locomotives continued to be built at Edge Hill until 1851. Liverpool and Manchester were absorbed by the Grand Junction in 1845, which in turn became part of the
London and North Western Railway
The London and North Western Railway (LNWR, L&NWR) was a British railway company between 1846 and 1922. In the late 19th century, the LNWR was the largest joint stock company in the world.
Dubbed the "Premier Line", the LNWR's main line connec ...
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 and are still open to the public at working railway stations.
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.
A local school on Durning Road, the Ernest Brown Junior Instructional College, was the site of one of the worst civilian bombings of the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
. On 29 November 1940, a
parachute mine dropped by the
Luftwaffe
The Luftwaffe () was the aerial warfare, aerial-warfare branch of the before and during World War II. German Empire, Germany's military air arms during World War I, the of the Imperial German Army, Imperial Army and the of the Imperial Ge ...
exploded on the building which was being used as an
air raid shelter by 300 people. The structure collapsed on itself and destroyed boilers and furnaces inside, which spilled into the shelter. This resulted in many suffering extreme burns or being
boiled alive. There was further damage and loss of life when nearby gas mains exploded.
Prime Minister
A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...
,
Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 1874 – 24 January 1965) was a British statesman, military officer, and writer who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945 (Winston Churchill in the Second World War, ...
, referred to the incident as "the single worst civilian incident of the war". 166 people were killed with many more physically and mentally injured. Survivors suffered severe
psychological trauma
Psychological trauma (also known as mental trauma, psychiatric trauma, emotional damage, or psychotrauma) is an emotional response caused by severe distressing events, such as Major trauma, bodily injury, Sexual assault, sexual violence, or ot ...
for many years afterwards.
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
Park Lane is a dual carriageway road in the City of Westminster in Central London. It is part of the London Inner Ring Road and runs from Hyde Park Corner in the south to Marble Arch in the north. It separates Hyde Park, London, Hyde Park to ...
and
Waterloo goods stations on the dockside.
Crown Street Resource Centre is a
mental health
Mental health is often mistakenly equated with the absence of mental illness. However, mental health refers to a person's overall emotional, psychological, and social well-being. It influences how individuals think, feel, and behave, and how t ...
resource centre in Edge Hill that opened in 1982 and is 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
Ormskirk is a market town in the West Lancashire district of Lancashire, England. It is located north of Liverpool, northwest of St Helens, Merseyside, St Helens, southeast of Southport and southwest of Preston, Lancashire, Preston. Ormski ...
site in 1933.
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 on 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.
Elon Musk's grandmother, Cora Robinson, was born at 36 Bridge Road, Edge Hill in 1923 and lived there until c1939.
References
External links
Edge Hill TodayWar time WW2 Factory in Edge HillLiverpool Street Gallery - Liverpool 7{{Liverpool
Areas of Liverpool