Where does Liverpool reach the outer limit?

Nov 20 2007 by Liza Williams, Liverpool Daily Post

LIVERPOOL has grown beyond all recognition during its 800-year history, but at what point does the city stop and alien territory begin?

We want readers of the Daily Post to tell us what areas should be classed as Liverpool as part of the Liverpool Map campaign.

Nowhere outside the city’s current limits will be assumed to be included in the map, so it is up to you to shape the outcome.

Today’s official Liverpool City Council boundary, which has stood since 1974, includes Fazakerley but not Aintree; Woolton, not Huyton.

Prescot, Southport, Halewood and Rainhill are all fringe areas that could be included or cast aside, as the project finds out how Merseyside people see Liverpool’s geographical, cultural and historical boundaries.

The final outcome of the project will be an artistic representation of the Liverpool Map, which will be donated to Museum of Liverpool as part of the 2008 celebrations.

The original city plan from 800 years ago consisted of only seven streets, which still stand in the city centre, illustrating how much the city has sprawled outwards.

The original street plan is said to have been designed by King John when he granted Liverpool a royal charter. They consisted of Bank Street (now Water Street), Castle Street, Chapel Street, Dale Street, Juggler Street (now High Street), Moor Street (now Tithebarn Street) and Whiteacre Street (now Oldhall Street).

The Magical History Tour at Liverpool Maritime Museum documents how the city bloomed.

The exhibit illustrates how, for some local people, Liverpool offered the chance to start a new life free from the control of local lords.

Many settlers travelled from West Derby, then the most important settlement in the region, to live in the new borough.

The new settlers could use the town’s mill, a chapel, Saturday market and the annual fair, all granted by John to help kick-start Liverpool’s growth.

But Dr Alan Scarth, from Liverpool Maritime Museum, says Liverpool only became a significant city with the building of its ports.

With the docks and an improvement in British infrastructure came mass migration, meaning the city drastically changed size and shape, sprawling outwards from the original heart.

In turn, emigration from the ports took Liverpool influence abroad.

Dr Scarth said: “My own view is that Liverpool is a place where little happened until the first docks were built in the 18th century.

“They made the city different and people were attracted here to make use of the opportunities, for sailors, work building vessels or buying and selling.

“The Irish famine brought many people to the city and a lot of people settled here but you also have people from all over the UK, for instance sailors and fishermen came down to work from the Orkneys. Many people came to work in service too, for families in the large mansions of south Liverpool.”

But what areas which were affected by this migration should be included in the Liverpool Map and at what point does Liverpool stop?

Can a heritage trail be drawn from patterns of migration and growth within the city? Let us know your views.

lizawilliams