In 1907 the area was described as follows:
Somewhat undulating in the north, but flat in most
places. This is quite a residential district with the dwellers in the city of
Liverpool, for pleasant country houses with gardens and shrubberies are seen on
all sides. Beyond the houses are open fields, some pastures, others where corn,
potatoes, and turnips are generally cultivated. The soil is sandy, with a solid
base of red sandstone. At Huyton Quarry the character of the country varies;
coal mines begin to indicate their presence by shafts and ventilators. The
Huyton Quarry mine is the nearest to Liverpool of the South Lancashire mines.
Huyton proper, has an area of 1,819 acres. There was no
well-defined boundary between it and Roby to the south-west. On the eastern
side it was separated from Whiston by a brook which ran through Tarbock to join
Ditton brook. In 1258 Richard de Huyton claimed from Adam de Knowsley one-third
of the manor of Huyton, one-third of the church, and a third of the mill, and
of two oxgangs of land which Richard when under age demised to him. In 1252
Adam and his wife Godith, probably a relative of the lords of Billinge, sought
from Adam de Winstanley 1⅓ oxgang of land in Winstanley. The next step in the
pedigree is not clear. It would appear that Adam had several sons—Henry,
Robert, and William, whose descendants held or claimed the manor on a title
said to be derived from Adam de Knowsley. Henry de Huyton we know was still
living in 1307, he died about 1345.
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The Red Hazels, Liverpool Road, Huyton, was built in 1764 |
The main road from Liverpool to Prescot passed through the
northern part of the township, the South Lancashire system of electric tramways
running along it from the Liverpool boundary to St. Helens and beyond. The
principal road for Huyton, however, was that from Liverpool through Broadgreen
and Roby. The London and North-Western company's line from Liverpool to
Manchester passed through the centre, and just to the eastward of the village a
line branched off towards Prescot and St. Helens; there where stations at the
western and eastern ends of the village called Huyton and Huyton Quarry
respectively. The Hazels or Red Hazels and Hurst House were in the
north-eastern corner of the township; Wolfall Hall was near the northern
boundary and Dam House on the border of Roby, and Huyton Hey to the south of
the railway near the station.
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Lancashire, Huyton Village in the early 1920's |
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Huyton POW Camp © Trinity Mirror |
During the
Second World War, Huyton suffered bombing from the Luftwaffe. Some Huyton
residents were killed or injured but the scale of destruction was nowhere close
to that experienced by Liverpool, Bootle and Birkenhead. Unlike Liverpool,
schoolchildren were not evacuated from Huyton but schools and homes were
provided with air-raid shelters. Huyton was also host to three wartime camps:
an internment camp, a prisoner of war camp and a base for American servicemen
(G.I.s). The internment camp, one of the biggest in the country, was created to
accommodate those 'enemy aliens' deemed a potential threat to national security.
Churchill's demand to 'collar the lot' meant that around 27,000 people ended up
being interned in the UK. The camp, first occupied in May 1940, was formed
around several streets of new, empty council houses and flats and then made
secure with high barbed wire fencing. Twelve internees were allocated to each
house, but overcrowding resulted in many sleeping in tents. Initially the camp
was only meant to hold the internees until they could be shipped to the Isle of
Man. However, largely in response to the torpedoing of the transport ship 'The
Arandora Star', with the loss of nearly 700 people, the deportations ended.
Most of the internees were released long before the camp closed in 1942. The
camp was sited in and around what became known as the 'Bluebell Estate' and
many of the streets were given names of the great battles of the Second World
War. The prisoner of war camp closed in 1948. Many of its inmates 'went
native', stayed in Britain and married local women. Among those in the Huyton
camp was Bert Trautmann who later went on to be the 1950s goalkeeper for
Manchester City. From 1944, American servicemen were temporarily stationed in
Huyton. Older Huyton residents still recall the tensions between black and
white G.I.s which apparently resulted in a night known as ‘the shoot out at the
Eagle and Child’.
The original township of Huyton was united with Roby to form the township of Huyton with Roby and in 1877 Thingwall was added and also part of the parish of Childwall. The area of the amalgamated townships was 3,054 acres, and the population in 1901 numbered 4,661.
St. Michael's
Parish Church, Huyton seen here alongside it the old Wheatsheaf Inn
photographed in 1860. The old Cross (of 1819) in the foreground was replaced in
1897 with a replica and its site is now in Blue Bell Lane between Stanley Road
and Derby Terrace. The Wheatsheaf Inn was demolished prior to 1900.
Huyton is home
to the National Wildflower Centre, which is set in Court Hey Park. There are
also another seven parks: Bowring Park, on Roby Road the oldest public park in
Knowsley, opened in 1907, Huyton Lane Wetland, Jubilee Park, McGoldrick Park,
Sawpit Park, Stadt Moers Park, covering more than 220 acres and St. John's
Millennium Green.
Huyton is home
to many public houses including The Huyton Park Hotel, The Stanley Arms (named
after Frederick Stanley, 16th Earl of Derby), The Crofters, Seel Arms, Queens
Arms, Oak Tree, The Old Bank, Longview Social Club and The Swan.
Huyton-with-Roby
boasts two 18 hole golf courses: Huyton & Prescot Golf Club (Founded in
1905, it can be found at Hurst Park, Huyton Lane) and Bowring Golf Club
(According to a sign at the course, it is the oldest municipal golf course in
England. Huyton has its own cricket club, located off Huyton Lane which was
founded in the mid-1860s by the Stone family and the town has produced at least
one first class cricketer: Reginald Moss. Huyton also had a professional rugby
league club from 1968 to 1985. It was formed from Liverpool Stanley (1934–1951)
and Liverpool City (1951–1968).
Links
Sources
British History Online
Liverpool Central Library
Liverpool Records Office
Trinity Mirror
Knowsley History Website
National Archives
Robert F Edwards