Guide to the Industrial Heritage of Merseyside GUIDE TO THE INDUSTRIAL HERITAGE OF MERSEYSIDE 2020
The society first published a guide to the industrial heritage of Merseyside in 1974, in its earlier guise as NWSIAH. Over the years it continued to be produced in various forms, most recently as a desk-top publication. Now we have a truly impressive successor. Expertly edited by Maurice Handley and Paul Rees and published in association with the AIA.
The new Guide to the Industrial Heritage of Merseyside contains 132 pages and details more than 330 sites across the boroughs of Knowsley, Liverpool, Sefton, St Helens and Wirral, each with map references and listing status. It is in pocket sized A5 format. There are more than 140 illustrations, almost all of them new colour images never published before. A key feature is the inclusion of 12 specially commissioned maps, clearly showing the location of the sites. The guide is much more than a listing of locations. It contains comprehensive overviews of the industrial development of both the region and of the individual boroughs. Further features are panels on “Notable Dock Engineers” and a guided walk past places associated with “Railway Pioneers”. To secure your copy contact the Treasurer on 01928 724804 or at [email protected] to order.
Guide to the Industrial Heritage of Merseyside - updates, revisions and errata It is inevitable that the new Guide to the Industrial Heritage of Merseyside will become out of date. The most significant change is that in July 2021, UNESCO removed Liverpool’s status as a World Heritage Site. All references to the World Heritage Site in the Guide to the Industrial Heritage of Merseyside should now be amended to ‘former World Heritage Site’. Four of the ten storage bunkers at the former Royal Ordnance Factory in Kirkby have been demolished (page 20). The site of the Vulcan Motor Works in Southport is a housing estate (page 72). The editors are grateful to those members who have provided corrections and additional information. If anyone has spotted any further errors or an entry which has recently changed, please let MIHS know. Page 7, line 7: The Mersey Docks and Harbour Company was known as the Mersey Docks and Harbour Board from 1857 to 1971. Page 20, K5: When the Royal Ordnance Factory closed in 1946, it became the Kirkby Industrial Estate. It was not called the Knowsley Industrial Estate until the late 1990s. The bunkers are located on Draw Well Road (not Drawell Road). Four of the ten original bunkers were demolished in Autumn 2020 including those in the photograph. An archaeological survey was carried out prior to demolition (Phelps, A 2020 Historic Building Survey Report,Knowsley Industrial Park, Draw Well Road, Knowsley, Merseyside Oxford Archaeology North, Lancaster [https://archaeologydataservice.ac.uk/archives/view/eh_monographs_2014/contents.cfm?mono=1089008 ] Page 22, line 9: should read "centred" not "centered" (except for American readers). Page 24: Not indicated on the map are: L1.6 (Manchester Dock), L1.11 (Hartley Swing Bridge), L1.16 (Duke's Dock), L1.17 (Wapping Dock Basin). Their positions can be determined from the grid references. Page 30, L1.14: On line 6 in the entry, Ripley should be replaced by Steers. A new book Bluecoat, Liverpool - The UK’s first arts centre, edited by Brian Biggs (Artistic Director of Bluecoat) and John Belchem (Emeritus Professor of History at the University of Liverpool) has been published by the University of Liverpool Press in 2020. It provides a convincing case for the Bluecoat being built by Thomas Steers shortly after he completed the Old Dock in 1716. Page 34,L1.25: Herculaneum Dock was filled in early 1980s (not 1990s), and was used as a car park for the 1984 International Garden Festival. Page 44,L2.4e: Stanley Dock Tobacco Warehouse The area of floor space should be 36 acres (14.6ha). Page 44, L2.4h: Revised entry for the Sugar Silo: Tate and Lyle’s former sugar silo was built in 1957 and in use until the mid 1970s. The reinforced concrete parabolic arch provides a huge unrestricted floor area and has a capacity of 100.000 tons of unrefined sugar. It is the only substantial remainder of a trade that lasted over three centuries. Page 49, L5.12: Most of the wide dual carriageway reservations in Liverpool were used for trams, Walton Hall Ave, Edge Lane Drive, Utting Ave. etc.. However Queens Drive, the long dual carriageway between Walton [SJ 365945] and Allerton [SJ 395882], never had a tramway. Page 49,L5.9: The Lamb Hotel wasn't a 'coach stay' as it was well off the turnpike road; there were only short journeys to Woolton and Garston, as roads were bad. There is a story about a press gang visit, but it's an urban myth. Also, Dilworth's horse buses operated 1830 to 1890, not in the 20th century as mentioned. Page 56, L7.11: The Overhead Railway was 7 miles 160 yards long at its longest, not 9 miles as mentioned. Page 72, S3.6: The Vulcan Motor Works was demolished in July 2020. A comprehensive archaeological report has been published in the Industrial Archaeology Review (Miller, I. & Stitt, L. 2021 ‘The Vulcan Works, Southport; The Archaeology of an Edwardian Car Factory’ Industrial Archaeology Review v43 [https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/03090728.2021.1885878]) Page 86, SH3.2: The Grade II listed Ravenhead ‘Windmill’ was damaged by high winds in Autumn 2020. It was reported in poor condition and its future is uncertain. Page 94, SH5.6: The Hall Street Bus Depot - St Helens Corporation buses were taken over by MPTE in 1974, not 1986, which was when the depot was closed by MPTE. Page 100, SH 7.4: Taylor Park is listed Grade II for its historical interest. Full details of the park’s history are given in the list entry on Historic England’s website (https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1001632). The quarry (page 85, SH 2.8) is designated Grade II because it lies within the park.
