CHAPTER XII.

BLUNDELLSANDS, CROSBY AND BROMBOROUGH.

Having already described the pretty suburbs of Bootle, Seaforth and Litherland, lying to the north of Liverpool, and the little seaside resort, Waterloo, as they were in the 'forties and 'fifties, we will now proceed further afield. Two miles to the north-west of Waterloo the quaint old-fashioned village of Crosby stood, with its thatched black and white cottages and its old church built of red brick with its square tower. Between Crosby and the seashore there were no houses. Immediately to the north of Waterloo, Squire Houghton had built a large house (Sandheys) surrounded by quite a park, but to the north of this there was only a long stretch of sandhills until Hightown Lighthouse was reached. About 1860 Mr. Arnold Baruchson built a large house on the sea front, which for some years was the only house on the shore, and was the beginning of Blundellsands. Other large houses followed, lining both sides of Burbo Bank Road. The splendid air and magnificent marine views quickly made Blundellsands an attractive place, but it had no roads, only sandy lanes, and the only approach was the circuitous one through Crosby. Its little iron church nestled in the sand dunes. Altogether it was a very quiet, secluded place. We took up our residence at "Ramleh" in 1871. Shortly afterwards an American friend expressed his surprise that people who could afford to live in the fine houses he saw scattered about should be content to worship God in a "tin" church, as he termed it. This made me think. I called upon the clergyman, the Rev. B. S. Derbyshire, and put the matter before him, and offered, if he would accompany me, to go round and try to raise money to build a permanent church. Our first effort was not very successful, we received promises of only £1,450; but by dint of begging, bazaars, etc., we eventually got together sufficient money to build St. Nicholas' church, of which Mr. Derbyshire was appointed the first incumbent. Before the iron church was erected a service was held every Sunday by the Rev. S. C. Armour (now Canon Armour) in a schoolroom at Brighton-le-Sands, to which he attracted large congregations by his excellent preaching.

In the slight allusion made to Blundellsands--my home from 1871 to 1898--I have scarcely done justice to its attractions. Probably no place in the United Kingdom possesses a finer marine prospect. Its wide expanse of sea, with its background of the Welsh mountains, Snowdon standing in the far distance, and in the near foreground the constant parade of great merchant ships and steamers, which pass and repass all the day long, make a picture which for beauty and varying interest it is difficult to surpass.

The Earl of Northbrook, when First Lord of the Admiralty, stayed with us at "Ramleh," and remarked that when he looked out of his bedroom window in the morning he was amazed at the lovely view expanded before him, and could not resist getting up, although it was only seven o'clock, and taking a walk along the terrace in front of the house. At breakfast he told us he knew of no marine view so charming except the Bay of Naples. Of course, it is not possible to compare the two places; each has its points of attractiveness.

"Ramleh" was a fine, commodious house, on the sea front. We bought it partly built; its completion and the various additions we made gave us much pleasure and delight, and we were greatly attached to it.

CROSBY GRAMMAR SCHOOL.

We had in Crosby an old school, endowed some three hundred years ago by a Crosby boy who made his fortune in London, a part of which he handed to the Merchant Taylors' Company for educational purposes in the village in which he was born.

The school was established, the old schoolhouse erected, and it was carried on with varying, but no great success, for over two hundred years. At one time when the Merchant Taylors came down to inspect it, they found it had been closed for some years, whilst the head-master was living at Sefton quietly drawing his salary. Within my recollection the scholars numbered only fifteen to twenty, and the head-master frequently adjourned the school in the afternoon to go rat-hunting. But when Canon Armour was appointed head-master, he at once sought to bring about a change and extend the area of the school's usefulness. The city property belonging to the school had meantime greatly increased in value, and the opportunity appeared favourable to make the school a great middle-class institution. In this I was in hearty accord with Canon Armour. We called meetings of the inhabitants to promote a petition to the Charity Commissioners in favour of our project. The Vicar of Crosby offered very strong opposition on the ground that we were robbing the poor man of his school. In the end we were successful, the present schools were built at a cost of £37,000, and were soon filled with 250 pupils, and under Canon Armour's able guidance quickly took a leading position for scholarship, and became celebrated for the success attained by the pupils at Oxford and Cambridge. Canon Armour made this school his life's work, and right well he did it.

BROMBOROUGH.

Bromborough Hall became our residence in 1898. It is a very old house built in 1617, but enlarged several times since, with the result that the exterior, though quaint, is not pleasing--partly Georgian and partly an old English homestead; it cannot be said to have been built in any style of architecture. Fortunately, the entire south front is wreathed with wisteria, jasmine and clematis, and this makes it harmonise with the charming old Dutch garden which stretches out before it. The interior is rambling, but possesses some interesting features. The hall has a stone staircase which winds round the walls as in old Georgian houses. It also has a capacious lounge, a minstrel gallery, and a quaint old oak chimney-piece. It opens out into an alcove which forms a very pleasant resort in summer; and beyond again is the Dutch garden, which is bright and gay in spring with tulips and in summer with begonias and roses. We have a ghost, which however we have never seen, and a priest's room with a cupboard carved in stone for the chalice and patten. The charms of Bromborough Hall are the gardens, which cover about thirteen acres and contain probably the most extensive lawns and the largest trees in Wirral. The outlook from the grounds across the river Mersey is extensive and very lovely. The park is beautifully planted with copses and groups of trees, and being 500 acres in extent, it forms a very attractive feature. We have a walk three miles in length which passes through the woods down to the river, then along the river bank above the red sandstone cliffs, which at this point margin the river, and back through the woods, which form our boundary on the south.

Although the present house dates back only to 1617, a Bromborough Hall has existed since the year 1100; this former hall probably stood in the park, as there are clear indications of a moated grange having existed there. The present house was built by a Bridgeman, who became chancellor of the diocese, one of his sons becoming Bishop of Chester, when for a time the hall was the bishop's palace. Another son was made Lord Bradford. The hall afterwards passed into the hands of the Mainwaring family, who for 150 years were the squire rectors of the parish. The family is now represented by Mr. E. Kynaston Mainwaring, of Oteley Park, Salop.

Bromborough was an active village in very remote days. There is strong evidence that the battle of Brunaburg was fought in its neighbourhood--this battle was the "Waterloo" of Anglo-Saxon times, and secured the Saxon ascendancy in England. The story goes that the Danes were encamped at Bromborough, and were joined by the five Irish kings; and that Athelstan, hearing of this, marched out from Chester, gave them battle, and utterly defeated them. The Queen of Mercia afterwards erected a monastery in Bromborough as a thank-offering for this victory. This monastery stood for 200 years, but was destroyed in the times of the Normans. The old Saxon church remained, and was pulled down only in 1822. The Runic stone decorations still exist in the gardens of the rectory, and from these archæologists say the church must have been built about A.D. 800. The two large fields which adjoin Bromborough Park and run down to the sea are known as the "Wargraves," and Bishop Stubbs, the great historian, stated it to be his opinion that this was the site of the famous battle celebrated in verse by Cædmon.

Bromborough was for centuries the chief market town in the Wirral; the village cross around which the market was held still exists, also the manor house in which Charles I. stayed after his defeat near Chester in 1645.