Landican () is a

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

and former

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. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

on the outskirts of

Birkenhead Birkenhead () is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England. The town is on the Wirral Peninsula, along the west bank of the River Mersey, opposite Liverpool. It lies within the Historic counties of England, historic co ...

, 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 (), and encompasses of the northern part of the Wirral Peninsula. Major settlements include Birkenhead, Wallasey, Bebingt ...

Merseyside Merseyside ( ) is a ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial and metropolitan county in North West England. It borders Lancashire to the north, Greater Manchester to the east, Cheshire to the south, the Wales, Welsh county of Flintshire across ...

, England. The hamlet is on the

Wirral Peninsula The Wirral Peninsula (), 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 Dee Estuary to the west, the Mersey Estuary to the east, and Liverpo ...

, near to Woodchurch and the

M53 motorway The M53 is an motorway in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside and the Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough of Cheshire West and Chester, Cheshire on the Wirral Peninsula in England. It is also referred to as the Mid Wirral ...

Historically History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some theorists categ ...

part of the county of

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Merseyside to the north-west, Greater Manchester to the north-east, Derbyshire to the east, Staffordshire to the south-east, and Shrop ...

, 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 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 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 ...

(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 at the behest of William the Conqueror. The manuscript was originally known by ...

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, Cheshire West, Willaston, which was an important asse ...

, which became a

in 1866. From 1894 Landican was administered as part of Wirral Rural District before being absorbed into the County Borough of Birkenhead in 1928. The civil parish was abolished on 1 April 1933 and merged with Birkenhead St Mary. The population was recorded at 45 in 1801, 57 in 1851, 71 in 1901 and 66 in 1931. On 19 October 1944, a

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...

B-24 Liberator bomber from the 703rd Bomb Squadron, 445th Bomb Group based at RAF Tibenham, 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 is a body of water that separates the islands of Ireland and Great Britain. It is linked to the Celtic Sea in the south by St George's Channel and to the Inner Seas off the West Coast of Scotland in the north by the North Ch ...

at Leasowe Lighthouse, east-north-east of the

Dee Estuary The Dee Estuary () 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 miles wide forming t ...

Thurstaston Thurstaston ( ) is a village and former civil parish, in the Wirral district, in Merseyside, England, on the Wirral Peninsula. It is part of the West Kirby and Thurstaston Ward and the parliamentary constituency of Wirral West. The village l ...

and west-south-west of 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 ...

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 crude oil pipeli ...

. Landican is situated between Thurstaston Hill and the

Bidston Bidston is a village and civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral in Merseyside, England. Administratively, it is a ward of the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral. Before local government reorganisation on 1 April 1974, it was part of th ...

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

Landican Cemetery

Landican Cemetery is situated opposite Arrowe Park and is one of the main

cemetery A cemetery, burial ground, gravesite, graveyard, or a green space called a memorial park or memorial garden, is a place where the remains of many death, dead people are burial, buried or otherwise entombed. The word ''cemetery'' (from Greek ...

and

crematorium A crematorium, crematory or cremation center is a venue for the cremation of the Death, 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 ...

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 (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 ...

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 naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

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 to as a soldier in other definitions. As a military rank designat ...

. 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: *

Olaf Stapledon William Olaf Stapledon (10 May 1886 – 6 September 1950) was an English philosopher and author of science fiction.Andy Sawyer, " illiamOlaf Stapledon (1886-1950)", in Bould, Mark, et al, eds. ''Fifty Key Figures in Science Fiction''. New York ...

(1886-1950), philosopher and science-fiction author (ashes scattered near

). *Brigadier Sir Philip Toosey (1904-1975), who while prisoner-of-war of the Japanese in World War II was the officer in charge of building the

Bridge on the River Kwai ''The Bridge on the River Kwai'' is a 1957 epic film, epic war film directed by David Lean and based on the novel The Bridge over the River Kwai, ''The Bridge over the River Kwai'', written by Pierre Boulle. Boulle's novel and the film's screen ...

. *Lieutenant-Commander Ian Edward Fraser (1920-2008), VC winner, World War II, diver.

Notes

References

Bibliography

External links

{{Populated Places in Wirral Borough Hamlets in Merseyside Towns and villages in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral Former civil parishes in Merseyside Birkenhead