Croxteth | |
---|---|
Church of the Good Shepherd, Croxteth | |
Location within Merseyside | |
Population | 16,543 |
OS grid reference | SJ405961 |
Metropolitan borough | |
Metropolitan county | |
Region | |
Country | England |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
Post town | LIVERPOOL |
Postcode district | L11 |
Dialling code | 0151 |
Police | Merseyside |
Fire | Merseyside |
Ambulance | North West |
UK Parliament | |
Croxteth is a suburb of Liverpool, Merseyside, England, and a Liverpool City Council Ward. Although housing in the area is predominantly modern, the suburb has some notable history. At the United Kingdom 2011 Census it had a population of 14,561. [1] Croxteth is within the boundaries of the traditional county Lancashire.
The name Croxteth appears to be of Old Norse origin. The name appears to mean "Croc's landing place" or "river-bend landing place", derived from the elements Croc (personal name) or Old Norse krókr ("river-bend") + Norse stǫð ("landing-place, jetty"). Or else, the second element may be staðr ("place"). [2]
The suburb is in the north of Liverpool and borders Norris Green, Gilmoss, Fazakerley and West Derby. The "Dog and Gun" public house (demolished in 2005) was a historic hostelry, likely associated with the hunt from Croxteth Hall.[ citation needed ]
The first tranche of housing in Croxteth was built to rehouse families from the Scotland Road area of the city that was subject to mass demolition during the construction of the second Mersey Tunnel. Within the past twenty years very large areas of Croxteth Park and a City Council playing field have been sold for housing development to create a huge housing estate, noted for its lack of local amenities. [ citation needed ]
From the A580 road (the Liverpool-East Lancashire Road, abbreviated to and known commonly as East Lancs Road) passing Malpas Road to St. Swithens including the much talked about haunting of Gillmoss School. Croxteth was one of the first "suburbs of Liverpool".
The first houses in the Croxteth estate were in fact built in the immediate post war period to house skilled workers from Slough and Rugby who had been brought in to the English Electric and Napier factories (on the East Lancs Road), and families from the dockland inner-city areas who had lost their homes through bombing and slum demolition. The second tunnel came much later. The first families arrived in 1951 to live in an estate that was without roads, pavements, shops, pubs or buses. However, in the wake of World War II during the late 1940s and early 1950s, massive residential extensions at Croxteth, alongside similar and indistinguishable development of neighbouring Norris Green, resulted in what together, are now regarded as the largest municipal housing estate in Europe.[ citation needed ]
The main road network is the A580 East Lancashire Road which is the United Kingdom's first purpose-built inter-city highway. This is to the north of Croxteth at nearby Gillmoss and links the area to Walton in Liverpool to the junction of the A6 at Irlams o' th' Height in Salford. The A580 also provides links to the M6 Motorway near Haydock in St Helens approximately 11 miles away.
The M57 motorway is much nearer to Croxteth, 1–2 miles away on the Gilmmos/Kirkby border and this provides connections to the M62 motorway and eventually becomes A5300 Knowsley Expressway at Tarbock Interchange providing links to the A562 to Widnes and Runcorn and A561 Speke Boulevard to the south of Liverpool.
The Croxteth estate was generally built around Storrington Avenue, Altcross Road and Middle Way.
The 14/14A is the main high frequency bus route serving the Croxteth estate and this has operated (with variants) for many decades. 14's link Croxteth to Liverpool City Centre via Norris Green and its Broadway shopping parade, Clubmoor and the south of Anfield via the Utting Avenue East/Towsnend Lane/Breck Road bus corridor. The 14A (and other variants) continue from Croxteth to Kirkby and these services are shared between Arriva Merseyside and Stagecoach Merseyside & South Lancashire and are part of a Quality Bus Partnership with Merseytravel. Other routes serving the Croxteth Estate include the 102 (Page Moss/Broadgreen Hospital - Fazakerley Hospital), 214/215 (Walton Park circulars) and 898/899 (Page Moss - Knowsley Industrial Estate). These services are provided by Arriva Merseyside, Cumfybus and HTL Buses along with other industrial and school services which pass through Croxteth some of which are subsidised by Merseytravel. Stagecoach 19/19A (Kirkby - Liverpool City Centre) could also be included as serving the north of Croxteth (Gillmoss, Stonedale) via the East Lancashire Road.
The nearest National Rail station is approximately three miles away in Fazakerley on the Kirkby branch of the Northern Line, Merseyrail network.
A proposed light rail system, Merseytram was intended to serve Croxteth. Approved in 2002 Line One would have linked Kirkby and Croxteth to Liverpool City Centre via West Derby, West Derby Road, the Royal Liverpool University Hospital and a city centre loop. The Merseytram Line 1 Transport and Works Act was approved by the then Secretary of State for Transport Alistair Darling in December 2004 and construction of the route was expected to begin with the M-Pact consortium of GrantRail and Laing O’Rourke selected to do so from 2005. However, due to cost overruns and other associated difficulties with the Merseytram project the scheme was cancelled in November 2009. It remains to be seen whether these plans will be revived in future.
The area is serviced by two secondary schools (11–18); Dixons Croxteth Academy (mixed) and St John Bosco Arts College (Catholic Girls). In 2010, a third school, Croxteth Community Comprehensive (Mixed), closed due to poor academic standards and falling pupils numbers, despite local protests and the school achieving higher academic standards in OFSTED reports and on average higher student grades than De La Salle. In June 2008 it was revealed a new £20m "super-school" would be built on the site of De La Salle. [3] However, this proposal has since been scrapped.
Former England footballer Wayne Rooney and his wife Coleen (née McLoughlin) grew up and met in the area. Coleen was a pupil at St John Bosco School [4] and Wayne attended De La Salle School (now Dixons Croxteth Academy). [5]
One-time England footballer Francis Jeffers also attended De La Salle School. [6]
Distance runner Robert Pope, who became the first person to complete the 15,600-mile Forrest Gump run, was born and raised in the area. [7]
Merseyside is a ceremonial and metropolitan county in North West England. It borders Lancashire to the north, Greater Manchester to the east, Cheshire to the south, the Welsh county of Flintshire across the Dee Estuary to the southwest, and the Irish Sea to the west. The largest settlement is the city of Liverpool.
Kirkby is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Knowsley, Merseyside, England. The town, historically in Lancashire, has a size of 4,070 acres (16.5 km2) is 5 miles (8 km) north of Huyton and 6 miles (10 km) north-east of Liverpool. The population in 2016 was 41,495 making it the largest in Knowsley and the 9th biggest settlement in Merseyside.
Huyton is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Knowsley, Merseyside, England. Part of the Liverpool Built-up Area, it borders the Liverpool suburbs of Dovecot, Knotty Ash and Netherley.
Norris Green is a suburb and ward of Liverpool, England, in the east of the city. At the 2001 Census it had a population of 17,784, which had fallen to 15,047 at the 2011 Census.
The A580 is the United Kingdom's first purpose-built A road. The road was officially opened by King George V on 18 July 1934. Despite its name, the actual road runs through the modern day metropolitan counties of Merseyside and Greater Manchester which were historically in Lancashire when the road was built until 1974. Notable towns and cities along the route include Liverpool, Kirkby, St. Helens, Leigh, Swinton and Salford. It was described as "Britain's biggest road" at the time.
Fazakerley is a suburb of north Liverpool, Merseyside, England. It is part of the Liverpool Walton Parliamentary constituency. At the 2011 Census, it had a population of 16,786.
Merseytravel is the passenger transport executive, responsible for the coordination of public transport in the Liverpool City Region in North West England. Merseytravel was established on 1 December 1969 as the Merseyside Passenger Transport Executive. From 1 April 2014, with the creation of the Liverpool City Region, Merseytravel expanded its area of operation from the metropolitan county of Merseyside to also include the Borough of Halton.
Merseytram was a proposed light rail system for Merseyside, England. Originally proposed in 2001, forming part of the Merseyside Local Transport Plan, it was to consist of three lines, connecting the Metropolitan Borough of Knowsley with central Liverpool. The project was postponed due to funding problems before eventually being formally closed down by Merseytravel in October 2013.
Liverpool, West Derby is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2019 by Ian Byrne of the Labour Party.
MTL Trust Holdings was an English bus, coach and train operator based in Liverpool, Merseyside. MTL was originally part of the MPTE. To comply with the Transport Act 1985, the bus operations were divested into a new independent company, Merseyside Transport Limited (MTL). Merseyside PTA retained shareholding, but the company was purchased by its management and staff in a £5.9 million Employee Share Ownership Plan in 1993. On 17 February 2000, MTL was purchased by Arriva for £85 million, with MTL's shareholding workers each receiving £13,500 in windfall gains from the sale.
Stagecoach Merseyside is a major operator of bus services in the city of Liverpool and the surrounding Merseyside region. It is a sub-division of Stagecoach Merseyside and South Lancashire.
Gillmoss is an area in north Liverpool, Merseyside, England, located between Croxteth, Fazakerley and Kirkby.
Glenvale Transport (GTL) was a bus company that operated services in Liverpool between July 2001 and July 2005.
Liverpool in North West England, is a major British city with significant road, rail, and ferry networks, in addition to an international airport and a well-known dock system. As with most other major UK cities, Liverpool's transport infrastructure is centred on its road and rail networks. Public transport services within the city are controlled and run by Merseytravel.
Stonebridge Park is a new business park under construction in Gillmoss on the outskirts of Liverpool, created by St. Modwen Properties with the help of Liverpool Vision. The park lies close to the East Lancs Road the A580 road on the border of the Fazakerley and Croxteth areas of the city.
Norris Green ward is an electoral division of Liverpool City Council centred on the Norris Green district of Liverpool. The ward sits within the Liverpool West Derby and Liverpool Walton Parliamentary constituencies.
Fazakerley ward was an electoral division of Liverpool City Council between 1953 and 2022.
Croxteth ward is an electoral division of Liverpool City Council. Ward in the Liverpool West Derby Parliamentary constituency.