Rock Ferry
Encyclopedia
Rock Ferry is an area of Birkenhead
on the Wirral Peninsula
, England
. Administratively it is a ward of the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral
. Before local government reorganisation
on 1 April 1974, it was part of the county of Cheshire
. At the 2001 Census
, the population of Rock Ferry was 13,676 (6,444 males, 7,232 females).
of Liverpool
, lived there in the 19th century. The house, located on Rock Lane West close to the New Chester Road, was demolished in the early 20th century.
Residential building did not really happen until the early part of the 19th century, the rise of the ferry and the railway, and the establishment of the Royal Rock Hotel and bath house
in 1836. Between then and 1870, the area received an influx of luxurious housing, the villa
s of Rock Park and many other large houses around the Old Chester Road making Rock Ferry one of the most desirable addresses in the North West. In the later part of the 19th century, Rock Ferry expanded due to the need to house the increasing population of workers, especially at Birkenhead's Cammell Laird
shipyard. By 1901, the population stood at 2,971.
In 1910, the Olympian Gardens were opened adjacent to the Royal Rock Hotel. These pleasure gardens
were considered a great attraction and customers travelled from the whole of Wirral and, using the nearby ferry terminal, from Liverpool
. The gardens hosted classical piano concerts and also slapstick comedy
shows, with performers including Arthur Askey
and Tommy Handley
. At times the gardens held a prestige similar to the more famous Vauxhall Gardens
in London
. Shows were held in a large tent set amongst the trees and shrubs of land owned by Charles Boult. The gardens closed in the late 1920s after Mr Boult's death.
The decline of local industries in the 1950s took its toll, and by the 1980s the area had a bad reputation for crime. Many of the spendid buildings were dilapidated and unrestored, while the building of a large council estate towards Tranmere did little to help matters. This decline was reflected in the loss of the Royal Rock Hotel, as well as many of the shops in the Old Chester Road and Bedford Road; whereas before Bedford Road had supported a wine merchant, a jeweller, two tailors, three banks, and two bookshops, most shops stood vacant. Large-scale regeneration
work in the 1990s, which involved the demolition or restoration of many such derelict properties, and the building of new housing, means that the area has improved considerably, although many buildings of considerable character have been lost.
, an area of large Victorian
villas of sandstone from Storeton
quarry. In what was one of the first residential park developments in Britain, the houses were built between 1837 and 1850, and were the first early Victorian properties to be designated listed buildings. The lodge and nine other houses were demolished in the 1970s to make way for the New Ferry By-Pass (A41
), including Hawthorne House, number 26, the former house of Nathaniel Hawthorne
when he was consul to Liverpool in the 1850s. The property was subsequently owned by astronomer Isaac Roberts
, who installed a seven-inch refracter in a revolving dome on the top floor. Immediately after the building of the bypass, the remainder of Rock Park was quickly designated a conservation area
in 1979.
Other areas of architectural significance include Egerton Park, an oasis of late nineteenth-century villas in a leafy setting, and the Byrne Avenue Baths, a 1930s swimming pool with plenty of Art Deco
features, which closed in February 2009. The row of semi-detached houses on Rockville Street, built in 1837, is one of the earliest rows of private houses in Britain to use Gothic detailing on their exteriors, while St Anne's Catholic Church on Highfield Road was designed by E. W. Pugin
. The writer May Sinclair
was a Rock Park resident. F. E. Smith, later Earl of Birkenhead, also briefly lived in a house on Green Lawn. Former Australian Premier Sir Charles Gavan Duffy
lived at Rose Cottage, which still stands on Rockville Street, where his son, Irish politician George Gavan Duffy
, was born in 1882.
, although much modified. A stone slipway originally used by the ferry service also remains.
The Royal Mersey Yacht Club was founded at Rock Ferry in 1844. Rock Ferry was home to the Enterprise Small Craft Company, which built a number of notable boats in the 1920s and 1930's. Among these were 11 Seabird Half Rater
one design sailing yachts in 1924 and Robinetta
in 1937.
The Naval training school vessels HMS Conway
and HMS Indefatigable
were moored at the Sloyne, in the River Mersey near the pier. These were ships converted for the purpose of training boys for a life at sea. During the nineteenth century, the reformatory ships HMS Akbar and HMS Clarence
were also moored there.
In the early years of the Second World War
, both the Conway and Indefatigable were moved from the Mersey to avoid damage.
Isambard Kingdom Brunel
's SS Great Eastern
was beached at Rock Ferry for breaking up in 1889, which took eighteen months to complete.
on the Wirral Line
of the Merseyrail
commuter rail network. Regular underground services (6 trains per hour) operate northbound cross-river to Liverpool
via Birkenhead and surface services southbound to Chester
(every 15 minutes) and Ellesmere Port
(every 30 minutes). There are also several scheduled bus routes that run along New Chester Road into Birkenhead and central Liverpool.
, which became an Associate College of Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts
(LIPA) in 2006. Rock Ferry also has many local primary schools, such as Rock Ferry Primary, St Annes Primary and Well Lane Primary. The Dell Primary School closed in 2006 and has since been demolished.
revealed in a 2008 interview with British music magazine Uncut
that the title for her single "Rockferry
", released in the UK in 2007, and album of the same name, were named after Rock Ferry, where her grandmother lives.
Liverpool band 'Deaf School
' released the song "Rock Ferry" on their 1977 album "Don't Stop The World".
Birkenhead
Birkenhead is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral in Merseyside, England. It is on the Wirral Peninsula, along the west bank of the River Mersey, opposite the city of Liverpool...
on the Wirral Peninsula
Wirral Peninsula
Wirral or the Wirral is a peninsula in North West England. It is bounded by three bodies of water: to the west by the River Dee, forming a boundary with Wales, to the east by the River Mersey and to the north by the Irish Sea. Both terms "Wirral" and "the Wirral" are used locally , although the...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. Administratively it is a ward of the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral
Metropolitan Borough of Wirral
The Metropolitan Borough of Wirral is a metropolitan borough of Merseyside, in North West England. It has a population of 311,200, and encompasses of the northern part of the Wirral Peninsula. Major settlements include Birkenhead, Wallasey, Bebington, Heswall, Hoylake and West Kirby. The city of...
. Before local government reorganisation
Local Government Act 1972
The Local Government Act 1972 is an Act of Parliament in the United Kingdom that reformed local government in England and Wales on 1 April 1974....
on 1 April 1974, it was part of the county of Cheshire
Cheshire
Cheshire is a ceremonial county in North West England. Cheshire's county town is the city of Chester, although its largest town is Warrington. Other major towns include Widnes, Congleton, Crewe, Ellesmere Port, Runcorn, Macclesfield, Winsford, Northwich, and Wilmslow...
. At the 2001 Census
United Kingdom Census 2001
A nationwide census, known as Census 2001, was conducted in the United Kingdom on Sunday, 29 April 2001. This was the 20th UK Census and recorded a resident population of 58,789,194....
, the population of Rock Ferry was 13,676 (6,444 males, 7,232 females).
History
In the 17th century Derby House, an occasional seat of the Minshull family, covered most of the grounds covered by present day Rock Ferry. Thomas Oakshott, MayorMayor
In many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....
of Liverpool
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
, lived there in the 19th century. The house, located on Rock Lane West close to the New Chester Road, was demolished in the early 20th century.
Residential building did not really happen until the early part of the 19th century, the rise of the ferry and the railway, and the establishment of the Royal Rock Hotel and bath house
Public bathing
Public baths originated from a communal need for cleanliness. The term public may confuse some people, as some types of public baths are restricted depending on membership, gender, religious affiliation, or other reasons. As societies have changed, public baths have been replaced as private bathing...
in 1836. Between then and 1870, the area received an influx of luxurious housing, the villa
Villa
A villa was originally an ancient Roman upper-class country house. Since its origins in the Roman villa, the idea and function of a villa have evolved considerably. After the fall of the Roman Republic, villas became small farming compounds, which were increasingly fortified in Late Antiquity,...
s of Rock Park and many other large houses around the Old Chester Road making Rock Ferry one of the most desirable addresses in the North West. In the later part of the 19th century, Rock Ferry expanded due to the need to house the increasing population of workers, especially at Birkenhead's Cammell Laird
Cammell Laird
Cammell Laird, one of the most famous names in British shipbuilding during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, came about following the merger of Laird, Son & Co. of Birkenhead and Johnson Cammell & Co. of Sheffield at the turn of the twentieth century.- Founding of the business :The Company...
shipyard. By 1901, the population stood at 2,971.
In 1910, the Olympian Gardens were opened adjacent to the Royal Rock Hotel. These pleasure gardens
Pleasure gardens
A pleasure garden is usually a garden that is open to the public for recreation. They differ from other public gardens in that they serve as venues for entertainment, variously featuring concert halls or bandstands, rides, zoos, and menageries.-History:...
were considered a great attraction and customers travelled from the whole of Wirral and, using the nearby ferry terminal, from Liverpool
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
. The gardens hosted classical piano concerts and also slapstick comedy
Slapstick
Slapstick is a type of comedy involving exaggerated violence and activities which may exceed the boundaries of common sense.- Origins :The phrase comes from the batacchio or bataccio — called the 'slap stick' in English — a club-like object composed of two wooden slats used in Commedia dell'arte...
shows, with performers including Arthur Askey
Arthur Askey
Arthur Bowden Askey CBE was a prominent English comedian.- Life and career :Askey was born at 29 Moses Street, Liverpool, the eldest child and only son of Samuel Askey , secretary of the firm Sugar Products of Liverpool, and his wife, Betsy Bowden , of Knutsford, Cheshire...
and Tommy Handley
Tommy Handley
Thomas Reginald "Tommy" Handley was a British comedian, mainly known for the BBC radio programme ITMA . He was born at Toxteth Park, Liverpool in Lancashire....
. At times the gardens held a prestige similar to the more famous Vauxhall Gardens
Vauxhall Gardens
Vauxhall Gardens was a pleasure garden, one of the leading venues for public entertainment in London, England from the mid 17th century to the mid 19th century. Originally known as New Spring Gardens, the site was believed to have opened before the Restoration of 1660 with the first mention being...
in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. Shows were held in a large tent set amongst the trees and shrubs of land owned by Charles Boult. The gardens closed in the late 1920s after Mr Boult's death.
The decline of local industries in the 1950s took its toll, and by the 1980s the area had a bad reputation for crime. Many of the spendid buildings were dilapidated and unrestored, while the building of a large council estate towards Tranmere did little to help matters. This decline was reflected in the loss of the Royal Rock Hotel, as well as many of the shops in the Old Chester Road and Bedford Road; whereas before Bedford Road had supported a wine merchant, a jeweller, two tailors, three banks, and two bookshops, most shops stood vacant. Large-scale regeneration
Urban Regeneration Company
Urban Regeneration Companies are private companies in the United Kingdom that seek to achieve a radical physical transformation of their areas through masterplanning and co-ordinating financial assistance to developers from both the public and private sector....
work in the 1990s, which involved the demolition or restoration of many such derelict properties, and the building of new housing, means that the area has improved considerably, although many buildings of considerable character have been lost.
Architecture and famous residents
The best-known part of Rock Ferry is Rock Park, on the banks of the River MerseyRiver Mersey
The River Mersey is a river in North West England. It is around long, stretching from Stockport, Greater Manchester, and ending at Liverpool Bay, Merseyside. For centuries, it formed part of the ancient county divide between Lancashire and Cheshire....
, an area of large Victorian
Victorian architecture
The term Victorian architecture refers collectively to several architectural styles employed predominantly during the middle and late 19th century. The period that it indicates may slightly overlap the actual reign, 20 June 1837 – 22 January 1901, of Queen Victoria. This represents the British and...
villas of sandstone from Storeton
Storeton
Storeton is a small village on the Wirral Peninsula, England. It is situated to the west of the town of Bebington and is made up of Great Storeton and Little Storeton, which is classified as a hamlet...
quarry. In what was one of the first residential park developments in Britain, the houses were built between 1837 and 1850, and were the first early Victorian properties to be designated listed buildings. The lodge and nine other houses were demolished in the 1970s to make way for the New Ferry By-Pass (A41
A41 road
The A41 is a formerly-major trunk road in England that links London and Birkenhead, although it has now largely been superseded by motorways. It passes through or near various towns and cities including Watford, Hemel Hempstead, Aylesbury, Solihull, Birmingham, West Bromwich, Wolverhampton,...
), including Hawthorne House, number 26, the former house of Nathaniel Hawthorne
Nathaniel Hawthorne
Nathaniel Hawthorne was an American novelist and short story writer.Nathaniel Hawthorne was born in 1804 in the city of Salem, Massachusetts to Nathaniel Hathorne and the former Elizabeth Clarke Manning. His ancestors include John Hathorne, a judge during the Salem Witch Trials...
when he was consul to Liverpool in the 1850s. The property was subsequently owned by astronomer Isaac Roberts
Isaac Roberts
Isaac Roberts was a Welsh engineer and business man best known for his work as an amateur astronomer, pioneering the field of astrophotography of nebulae. He was a member of the Liverpool Astronomical Society in England and was a fellow of the Royal Geological Society...
, who installed a seven-inch refracter in a revolving dome on the top floor. Immediately after the building of the bypass, the remainder of Rock Park was quickly designated a conservation area
Conservation area
A conservation areas is a tract of land that has been awarded protected status in order to ensure that natural features, cultural heritage or biota are safeguarded...
in 1979.
Other areas of architectural significance include Egerton Park, an oasis of late nineteenth-century villas in a leafy setting, and the Byrne Avenue Baths, a 1930s swimming pool with plenty of Art Deco
Art Deco
Art deco , or deco, is an eclectic artistic and design style that began in Paris in the 1920s and flourished internationally throughout the 1930s, into the World War II era. The style influenced all areas of design, including architecture and interior design, industrial design, fashion and...
features, which closed in February 2009. The row of semi-detached houses on Rockville Street, built in 1837, is one of the earliest rows of private houses in Britain to use Gothic detailing on their exteriors, while St Anne's Catholic Church on Highfield Road was designed by E. W. Pugin
E. W. Pugin
Edward Welby Pugin was the eldest son of Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin and Louisa Barton. His father, A. W. N. Pugin, was a famous architect and designer of Neo-Gothic architecture, and after his death in 1852 Edward took up his successful practice...
. The writer May Sinclair
May Sinclair
May Sinclair was the pseudonym of Mary Amelia St. Clair , a popular British writer who wrote about two dozen novels, short stories and poetry. She was an active suffragist, and member of the Woman Writers' Suffrage League...
was a Rock Park resident. F. E. Smith, later Earl of Birkenhead, also briefly lived in a house on Green Lawn. Former Australian Premier Sir Charles Gavan Duffy
Charles Gavan Duffy
Additional Reading*, Allen & Unwin, 1973.*John Mitchel, A Cause Too Many, Aidan Hegarty, Camlane Press.*Thomas Davis, The Thinker and Teacher, Arthur Griffith, M.H. Gill & Son 1922....
lived at Rose Cottage, which still stands on Rockville Street, where his son, Irish politician George Gavan Duffy
George Gavan Duffy
-Family:George Gavan Duffy was born in Rock Ferry, Cheshire, England in 1882, the son of Sir Charles Gavan Duffy and his third wife, Louise. His half-brother Sir Frank Gavan Duffy was the fourth Chief Justice of the High Court of Australia, sitting on the bench of the High Court from 1913 to...
, was born in 1882.
Ferry service and shipping
There are records of a ferry service from Rock Ferry pier to Liverpool from 1709 onwards, until being discontinued on 30 June 1939. Although the ferry landing stage was removed in 1957 and the terminal building demolished, the pier now forms part of Tranmere Oil TerminalTranmere Oil Terminal
Tranmere Oil Terminal is situated on the River Mersey, 1½ miles south of Birkenhead. It was opened on 8 June 1960 to handle vessels of up to 65,000 tons, and is connected to the Stanlow Oil Refinery by a 15-mile pipeline...
, although much modified. A stone slipway originally used by the ferry service also remains.
The Royal Mersey Yacht Club was founded at Rock Ferry in 1844. Rock Ferry was home to the Enterprise Small Craft Company, which built a number of notable boats in the 1920s and 1930's. Among these were 11 Seabird Half Rater
Seabird Half Rater
The Seabird Half Rater is the oldest one design class still sailing in Britain. It is a 20 ft carvel planked sailing boat, with a design dating back to 1898. To date there have been 106 built...
one design sailing yachts in 1924 and Robinetta
Denys Rayner
Denys Arthur Rayner DSC & Bar, VRD, RNVR fought throughout the Battle of the Atlantic. After intensive war service at sea, Rayner became a writer, a farmer, and a successful designer and builder of small sailing craft - his first being the Westcoaster; his most successful being the glass fibre...
in 1937.
The Naval training school vessels HMS Conway
HMS Conway (school ship)
HMS Conway was a naval training school or "school ship", founded in 1859 and housed for most of its life aboard a 19th-century wooden battleship. The ship was originally stationed on the Mersey near Liverpool, then moved to the Menai Strait during World War II. While being towed back to Birkenhead...
and HMS Indefatigable
HMS Phaeton (1883)
HMS Phaeton was a second class cruiser of the Leander class which served with the Royal Navy.-Construction:She was built by Napier in Glasgow, being laid down in 1880, launched in 1883 and completed in 1886.-Acceptance Trials:...
were moored at the Sloyne, in the River Mersey near the pier. These were ships converted for the purpose of training boys for a life at sea. During the nineteenth century, the reformatory ships HMS Akbar and HMS Clarence
HMS Clarence
Three ships of the Royal Navy have been named HMS Clarence:* The first Clarence, launched in 1812, was a 74-gun third-rate ship of the line, renamed HMS Centurion in 1826, broken up in 1828....
were also moored there.
In the early years of the Second World War
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, both the Conway and Indefatigable were moved from the Mersey to avoid damage.
Isambard Kingdom Brunel
Isambard Kingdom Brunel
Isambard Kingdom Brunel, FRS , was a British civil engineer who built bridges and dockyards including the construction of the first major British railway, the Great Western Railway; a series of steamships, including the first propeller-driven transatlantic steamship; and numerous important bridges...
's SS Great Eastern
SS Great Eastern
SS Great Eastern was an iron sailing steam ship designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel, and built by J. Scott Russell & Co. at Millwall on the River Thames, London. She was by far the largest ship ever built at the time of her 1858 launch, and had the capacity to carry 4,000 passengers around the...
was beached at Rock Ferry for breaking up in 1889, which took eighteen months to complete.
Transport
The area is served by Rock Ferry railway stationRock Ferry railway station
Rock Ferry railway station is situated in the Rock Ferry area of Birkenhead, Wirral, England. It lies south west of on the Chester and Ellesmere Port branches of the Wirral Line, part of the Merseyrail network...
on the Wirral Line
Wirral Line
The Wirral Line is one of the two commuter railway lines operated by Merseyrail that are centred around Merseyside, England, the other being the Northern Line...
of the Merseyrail
Merseyrail
Merseyrail is a train operating company and commuter rail network in the United Kingdom, centred on Liverpool, Merseyside. The network is predominantly electric with diesel trains running on the City Line. Two City Line branches are currently being electrified on the overhead wire AC system with...
commuter rail network. Regular underground services (6 trains per hour) operate northbound cross-river to Liverpool
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
via Birkenhead and surface services southbound to Chester
Chester
Chester is a city in Cheshire, England. Lying on the River Dee, close to the border with Wales, it is home to 77,040 inhabitants, and is the largest and most populous settlement of the wider unitary authority area of Cheshire West and Chester, which had a population of 328,100 according to the...
(every 15 minutes) and Ellesmere Port
Ellesmere Port
Ellesmere Port is a large industrial town and port in the unitary authority of Cheshire West and Chester and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. It is situated on the south border of the Wirral Peninsula on the banks of the Manchester Ship Canal, which in turn gives access to the River...
(every 30 minutes). There are also several scheduled bus routes that run along New Chester Road into Birkenhead and central Liverpool.
Education
The area is home to Rock Ferry High SchoolRock Ferry High School
Rock Ferry High School is a high school in Birkenhead, Wirral, England.-History:Rock Ferry opened in the 1920s and was a boy's school until girls started to join in the 1980s....
, which became an Associate College of Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts
Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts
The Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts is, despite its young age, one of the United Kingdom's leading institutions for the performing arts. The university is situated in the English city of Liverpool...
(LIPA) in 2006. Rock Ferry also has many local primary schools, such as Rock Ferry Primary, St Annes Primary and Well Lane Primary. The Dell Primary School closed in 2006 and has since been demolished.
Cultural references
Welsh singer DuffyDuffy (singer)
Aimée Ann Duffy , known as Duffy, is a Welsh singer-songwriter. Her 2008 debut album Rockferry entered the UK Album Chart at number one. It was the best-selling album in the United Kingdom in 2008 with 1.68 million copies sold...
revealed in a 2008 interview with British music magazine Uncut
UNCUT (magazine)
Uncut magazine, trademarked as UNCUT, is a monthly publication based in London. It is available across the English-speaking world, and focuses on music, but also includes film and books sections...
that the title for her single "Rockferry
Rockferry (song)
"Rockferry" is the debut single by Duffy, written by Duffy and Bernard Butler. It is the first track on the album Rockferry.-Song information:...
", released in the UK in 2007, and album of the same name, were named after Rock Ferry, where her grandmother lives.
Liverpool band 'Deaf School
Deaf School
Deaf School are an English rock band, formed in the mid 1970s and hailing from Liverpool. Their style is somewhere in between pub rock, punk, glam rock and art rock. They originally disbanded after their third album but their influence lived on...
' released the song "Rock Ferry" on their 1977 album "Don't Stop The World".