Smithdown Road is a historic street in

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 ...

, which now forms part of the A562. The area was previously known as Smithdown (Esmedune or Smeedon in Olde English) and dates back to 1086 when it was listed 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 ...

. The causeway that actually became what is now Smithdown Road emerges in documentation around 1775. It is currently the location of Toxteth Park Cemetery, Wavertree Playground and was previously the location of Sefton General Hospital, known as the Smithdown Hospital and before that the ''Old Workhouse.''

Demographics

Smithdown Road, a long-established

student quarter A student quarter or a student ghetto is a residential area, usually in proximity to a college or university, that houses mostly students. Due to the youth and relative low income of the students, most of the housing is rented, with some cooperati ...

, is home to a large percentage of Liverpool's 55,000-plus university student population (alongside 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 ...

and

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 ...

). The upper part of the street separates Toxteth (L8) and Wavertree (L15), two of Liverpool's most ethnically diverse districts; Smithdown Road itself is the hub of Merseyside's

Afro-Caribbean Afro-Caribbean or African Caribbean people are Caribbean people who trace their full or partial ancestry to Sub-Saharan Africa. The majority of the modern Afro-Caribbean people descend from the Indigenous peoples of Africa, Africans (primarily fr ...

community. The area surrounding Smithdown Road is also home to a sizeable

South Asian South Asia is the southern Subregion#Asia, subregion of Asia that is defined in both geographical and Ethnicity, ethnic-Culture, cultural terms. South Asia, with a population of 2.04 billion, contains a quarter (25%) of the world's populatio ...

population, with a number of

mosque A mosque ( ), also called a masjid ( ), is a place of worship for Muslims. The term usually refers to a covered building, but can be any place where Salah, Islamic prayers are performed; such as an outdoor courtyard. Originally, mosques were si ...

s and

gurdwara A gurdwara or gurudwara () is a place of assembly and place of worship, worship in Sikhism, but its normal meaning is "place of guru" or "home of guru". Sikhism, Sikhs also refer to gurdwaras as ''Gurdwara Sahib''. People from all faiths and rel ...

s being located in the area.

Commerce

Both sides of the entire length of Smithdown Road (approximately 1.7 miles) are populated by commercial buildings, such as shops, supermarkets, restaurants and bars. Hattons Model Railways was founded here in 1946 taking up residence in several buildings for 70 years before relocating to

Widnes Widnes ( ) is an Industrial city, industrial town in the Borough of Halton, Cheshire, England, which at the 2021–2022 United Kingdom censuses, 2021 census had a population of 62,400. Historic counties of England, Historically in Lancashire, ...

in 2016. In the 1960s, '70s and '80s it was residence to a small but vibrant craft trade consisting of tailors, watchmakers, wrought iron workers and even leather-smiths. The area saw huge decline in the 1980s as privatisation affected various areas of the UK and globalisation meant the migration of Britain's crafts and manufacturing to Asian countries such as India, China and Indonesia. Smithdown Road was one of the central areas where the 1981 Toxteth Riots occurred due to increasing poverty and the tensions between the multicultural communities in the area and the local police force. The troubles that afflicted the area meant a lot of shop owners moved out of the area and it has taken considerable time to re-establish the area. ASDA Smithdown Road - geograph

The road was also known for "The Smithdown Ten"

pub crawl A pub crawl (sometimes called a bar tour, bar crawl or bar-hopping) is the act of visiting multiple pubs or bars in a single session. Background Many European cities have public pub crawls that serve as social gatherings for local expatriates ...

, particularly by the large student population that lived in the area, or used the road to journey into the centre from student halls further out. As there were more than ten pubs on the road, the specific ten venues chosen for a crawl could vary. In recent years commercial changes have reduced the number of pubs on Smithdown Road to far less than ten, resulting in the end of the tradition The upper part of Smithdown Road provides the official border line between the Liverpool districts of

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 ...

(L15) 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 ...

(L8) and these areas have seen tremendous growth, especially since 2008 when Liverpool won the

European Capital of Culture A European Capital of Culture is a city designated by the European Union (EU) for a period of one calendar year during which it organises a series of cultural events with a strong pan-European dimension. Being a European Capital of Culture can ...

award. The lower part of Smithdown Road provide borders between

(L15) and the Sefton Park (L17) and Mossley Hill (L18) districts of Liverpool. The road is also home to Belzan, which '' The Good Food Guide'' has named as one of Britain's hundred best local restaurants. The ''

Michelin Guide The ''Michelin Guides'' ( ; ) are a series of guide books that have been published by the French tyre company Michelin since 1900. The ''Guide'' awards up to three Michelin star (classification), stars for excellence to a select few restaurants ...

'' noted its "unassuming location".

Music

Penny Lane junction, the subject of

the Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...

song "

Penny Lane "Penny Lane" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles that was released as a double A-side single with "Strawberry Fields Forever" in February 1967. It was written primarily by Paul McCartney and credited to the Lennon–McCartney songwr ...

", is situated at the junction of Smithdown Road, Smithdown Place and Penny Lane. A song called "Smithdown Road" appeared on the second album of Liverpool band Tramp Attack, inspired by the band's experiences of living there after leaving home. Liverpool band The Vernons' 1989 album was entitled Smithdown Road. The Liverpool band The Christians recorded "Greenbank Drive" (junction of Ullet and Smithdown Roads) in 1990. It reached #63 in the UK charts. It is also home to the annual Smithdown Road Festival, with local bars and cafes hosting almost 200 bands every year.

Famous births

The Smithdown Hospital, later renamed the Sefton General Hospital, was at 126 Smithdown Road. *

Billy Fury Ronald Wycherley (17 April 1940 – 28 January 1983), better known by his stage name Billy Fury, was an English musician. An early star of rock and roll, he spent 332 weeks on the UK singles chart. His hit singles include " Wondrous Place", " H ...

Julian Lennon Julian Charles John Lennon (born John Charles Julian Lennon; 8 April 1963) is an English musician, photographer, author, and philanthropist. He is the son of Beatles member John Lennon and his first wife Cynthia; Julian is named after his pate ...

* April Ashley *

Bill Harry William Harry (born 17 September 1938) is the creator of ''Mersey Beat'', a newspaper of the early 1960s which focused on the Liverpool music scene. Harry had previously started various magazines and newspapers, such as ''Biped'' and ''Premier ...

* Peter Sissons

References

External links

Smithdown Road: A History

Liverpool Echo The ''Liverpool Echo'' is a newspaper published by Trinity Mirror North West & North Wales – a subsidiary company of Reach plc and is based in St. Paul's Square, Liverpool, England. It is published Monday through Sunday, and is Liverpool's da ...

South Liverpool and ToxtethAllerton Oak

Liverpool 1578
Community Commerce Group {{Roads in Liverpool Streets in Liverpool Student quarters