Bird House is a grade II listed building made of sandstone, its the oldest inhabited house in wallasey and former home to William Bird a builder and his wife Mary, the lintel above the front door is inscribed with their initials and the date 1627.
It stayed in the family until recently and now has a lovely new owner who is very keen to lovingly restore it to its former glory. Roger the new owner very kindly allowed us to have free reign around the house to take photos and we also helped with some of the restoration, i have to add theres alot to do so we only made a small dint but have arranged for future visits to continue to help when needed.
there is such a lovely "feeling" to the house its a very calm quiet place and whether your in the house or the garden you could be anywhere in the world it really is a special place.

wiki csi

the door that leads to the cellar

The rooms we worked in where- the middle floor- the one with the window open. I think there were 3 windows in that room. Also, top right- beneath the chimney.

.

Any ideas for what the third pic in the third set, is? (the cellar pics)

samples of old hessian lino

the door and the wall to the left are not original to the house they have been added later to create a small bedroom on the other side, the original room would of been L shaped. this is the wall that has the map on it

Nice pics roxy yeah heres some of mine

old specks roger found

boss loving your pics!!

.

I'm loving the pix, guys.

Just a small point, but the great close-up shot you've taken of the date on the lintel quite clearly shows that it says '1621' not '1627' - there's no way that last digit is a '7'.

i had my doubts too but when i googled the house for info it says 1627 on more than one site on another it says 1697 and if you look close at the "2" it looks possible it could be a "9" but the owner should be able to put me right if its wrong and i'll change it

Who wants to 'in' in a few weeks time? We just confirming with Roger.
the 1st or 2nd Saturday in August-
Rudebox
Plusone
T.C
Rocks
Bezzy and The Flapjacks

Anybody else? Add your names.

nice pics.

Rocks you have done a grand job for your first report,well done you.

thanx bezzy

I love the pic, in the upper room, where we all look like Ghostys?! X
I also like the pic of me and T.c 'having a go' at the Chimney Breast!'.

I scraped loads of Green?!

I love seeing pics and reading about this lovely house! When we heard it was coming up for auction at quite a low (ish) price we thought about bidding but my god, there is a lot of work needs doing!! Still, it's like a piece of History going through all that stuff in there...LOVE IT!

Quite a few orbs in some of those photographs. I hope they were just down to dust!

Put your name on the list, jenscho, if you want.
It was great fun!!

Hi where is the house and how much did it go for on auction? cant believe i missed this one!

The house is on Limekiln Road, Wallasey.



It was actually sold after the auction in November 2010, rather than at the drop of the hammer for around Ł40,000. It's an interesting place, just in the wrong area I feel.

Interestingly, see the below links;

Conveyance Dated 1929
Vesting Deed Dated 1929
Conveyance Dated 1958
Conveyance Dated 1996
Death Certificate
Epitome of Title
Deed of Appointment

Probably best right click and save as. Some of them are quite large files.

You're right about the third digit - it is possible that the tail of the '2' is actually just weathered surface damage, so the date could be either 1621 or 1691. There's no doubt in my mind, however, that the first and last digits are meant to be the same.

oo we'll have to play detective and find out
when you look at the top of the first digit the line at the top runs left and right but on the last digit it only runs on the left, and the 2? well i cant wait to find out from the owner

Maybe if someone checks the parish registers to see when William Bird and Mary actually married, because if they didn't get married until the 1690's then surely that would give you your answer?

iv been googling today and its looking more like the date being 1697..its been a bit of a mystery aswell but you can never tell if other peoples findings are true (or if the person looking is looking in the right place ha) but i found a date of 1682 for their marrige and also someone says theres no records of him ever living in the house! i also read a william bird's will today that mentions the house and other property/land but this william was born 1748-1833 so must be a relative g.grandson?

The 1690s is certainly the correct decade - the old barn (now demolished) that belonged to the house also had a datestone bearing the same initials and a date of 1704.

ooo its all very interesting and the only info the owner has on the house is what he reads here so the more we can find the better! i wonder if the date stone from the barn will be knocking around the house or garden? i will ask and have a mooch when im next there!!

If it turns out to be the 6th August I'd like to come and lend a hand - can't do heavy lifting, but have done a fair bit of decorating prep etc in my time. Looks like there's a LOT of work to be done - and the pictures were fascinating. The cellar looks like some sort of art installation...!

Great work guys an girls, well done.

thanx we work well as a team! cant wait to go back

Well, it's anybody's guess! The following is the offical text from the listed buildings Heritage Gateway, which as you can see says 1627, but in the book it refers to, compiled in 1975, the text reads "House built of coursed rubble and dated 1621 over the door.." Personally I think it's 1621 because the first and last digits of the date are clearly the same and it can't be 7627!

SJ 39 SW WALLASEY LIMEKILN LANE
(west side)
3/48 The Old House
20.5.52
- II
B
House. Lintel inscribed: "W M/1627" (William and Mary
Bird). Stone with slate roof. 2 storeys with attic, 3
bays. Coped gables with kneelers. Single-chamfered-
mullioned windows of 3 and 5-lights with label moulds to
ground floor, 3:2 + 2:1-light windows to 1st floor. 2
gabled 2-light dormers. Entrance has large inscribed
lintel with label mould. Returns and rear similar. Rear
has brick, but that to right partly of stone. Interior not
inspected but described in E. Mercer, English Vernacular
Houses, pp 142

Oh, for a tame dendrochronologist, eh?!

Shame the date is a mystery,will be nice when its renovated.

I think that it's unlikely that the date is 1621 for the reason I've already mentioned - the old barn that belonged to the house apparently bore an identically-styled datestone bearing the date 1704, and it's unlikely that two such similar carvings would have been done over 80 years apart (for drawings of the two house plates - albeit not very good ones - see Woods & Brown The Rise and Progress of Wallasey, p163). I think that what appears to be the bottom stroke of the '2' is actually just a damaged area where a chip of sandstone has weathered away. If you look at the following photo you can see that there's an equally deep area of damage next to the top of the '6', though this one isn't so obvious on Rocks' photo.

I used invert colours on both pics and as Marty says it looks like horizontal damage on the nine, i think it shows better on Rocks pic that it not a 2.

Looking at Bert's inverted colours (particularly in the first photo) my money is definitely on 1691.

id defo say its 9...pity there arnt any records of the stone mason who done it as it may have been recorded on a receipt

I agree that 1691 seems to be the most likely interpretation of the date, which fits in well with a date of 1682 for the marriage of William and Mary Bird, if that date is correct.

What the date 1691 actually refers to, however, is a different kettle of fish as 'house plates' such as this are notoriously difficult to interpret. It's unlikely to be the original date of construction, as stylistically the house appears to me to be more early- to mid-17th century. It may refer to a major rebuild or renovation, or, alternatively it may relate to some long-forgotten family event, such as the birth of a first child. We'll probably never know.

On a more positive note, I have found some documentary evidence connecting the name of William Bird with the house in the 17th century, which I'll post as soon as I get the relevant scans sorted out. Keep watching this space...

marty you should add your name to the list to help out so you can come and see the date stone for yourself, its an interesting story isnt it? my dad said sometimes the date stones arnt done the same time as the house too, it could have even belonged to their previous house and they stuck it above the door when they moved in haha
glad your trying to find stuff out thanks

Whats been puzzling me about this date stone is, why would the stone mason or whoever carved the stone make life difficult for himself and do the ones (1) as he did, I've been trying to find 17th century examples, not much success, though i did find 17th century lettering for tombstones and a bible box carved 1689. notice the 6 and 9 are the same, the one (1) would be considerably easier to do.

Keep up the good work,i'm sure someone's going to solve this puzzle.

we need to find the stone mason!! haha
oh im enjoying this! i didnt think of checking the way things were wrote in that era, and he did make things hard for himself as he couldnt match them (1s) perfectly which is how all this began ha
ooo keep it up your doing a great job

Bird's House is just lovely and I am so pleased someone has come along to lovingly restore it.
William Bird was a ancestor of myself and after spending many years of research I must add that there is no record of anyone by the name of Mary in the family until much later. I believe William's wife was Margarete or Margaret who was from Lowton. Married in 1616,her maiden name being Mather and the sister of Richard Mather who later ministered at the little Chapel of Toxteth in Liverpool. He then became a Puritan and sailed to America as one of the first settlers.There appears to be no record of what happened to Margarete but a William Bird from Wallasey was married in 1624 and his first daughter was also called Margaret, this I believe would add to the proof.He also became the Parish Clerk(or similar) at St.Hilary's and lost many of his family in the plague of the 1600's.Hope this is of interest.

Wow Granny,so it could be 1621,or 1627,somewhere near times of marriages.
Great info thanks for posting.

I believe it to be 1621, but have no proof. The date stone of the barn could have been 1704 as there was a Mary in the family at that time. I don't think any of us can be 100% sure but it keeps our interest and brain ticking.

Its a shame,that there's very few records available for the 1600's.
Did you find the marriages in church records?

william and mary married in 1682 so your william and margaret may have been the generation before them.i also found another william bird connected to the house thats from the next generation.
our william bird was a church warden at st hilarys in 1658.

Would love to see these records where are they available,chester record office,parish records??

Yes. William Bird and Margaret Mather marriage offers no other information apart from date.The marriage of William Bird to Alice Sherlock in 1628(sorry not 1624) and his family's christenings are all listed in St.Hilary's parish register.

all the info iv found pp has been on line and iv not paid for any

Rocks, Were they in free parish records on line?
I would like to see the records for myself,so i think a trip to chester is needed.

Congrats Granny on getting that far back on your ancestors,i've hit a brick wall in the 1700's.

I have actually given you the bare bones. There was a big family of Bird's in the area going back further and to put them all into boxes was long and hard.I must say that some of the family History search sites are not too brilliant.e.g Family Search.org is not the best place for accurate information. Also one must remember that many records have not yet been released for Wirral and other places. The connections and History between different families is fascinating such as the Bird's and the Sherlock's at such times. Chester I think would be a good idea.Take a big pad and pen with you.A book of invaluable History of the area is Rise and Progress of Wallasey. Should find it in your library. Gives much detailed information about life an events.Personally I find much more from books than internet.

i found it confusing finding what i did but it looks like i found the same as marty, i cant remember were i found it all i think some was in "roots"? and i looked at some kind of church records and a petition thing he signed to do with the church and also land registry (rings a bell) i honestly cant remember i just sat here on afternoon and searched

Just a thought - if I remember rightly, they don't allow pens in the record office, only pencils? Take both to avoid disappointment!

Follow up on Bird's House. Have found some more of my records and came across William Bird(Poulton) marriage to Margery Gill of Liscard(a widow)3/2/1661 @St Mary's on Hill, Chester.Now the Gills' were a very big and wealthy family in the area at that time. Maybe that could throw the cat amongst the pigeons so far as the date stone is concerned.,Also have you any idea of when the Bird's House transferred to Vyners and how old the map of Jerusalem uncovered on the walls might be? In the last quarter of 1600'sand beginning of 1700's there appeared quite a number of biblical name's in the family of Bird's .Nehemiah, Jeremiah. Isaac, Joshua, Samuel, Emmanuel and Joseph. These have appeared from nowhere. They are not previous family names. I wonder if one family member may have been of the Jewish faith.Although it could have been the strong church connection from William Bird,Church Warden. Any ideas or thoughts are welcome. Thanks

ooo i did think those names were strange so you may have something there, we'll take all this info back with us when we return to house nxt mth, iv got to admit im rubbish at this kind of thing but bezzy is good at it i'll tell her to come and read what youve put thanks for all this help

Not only but also, got details of William Bird and others going back to 1545. It's so complicated tho' to put all down in a way it can be understood. There is also a Viners map of Seacombe dated 1665 which is in Rise and Progress of Wallasey. That I am sure, shows Bird's house but a magnifying glass is most definitely needed. Other info I have and still finding, I still feel is pointing to 1621 for the house date stone. It would be nice to show someone and have a chat about it.

Great work Granny! There's another work party coming up,tag along and meet the owner.

well im sure the owner wont mind you popping along when we next go as he doesnt know that much and hes a lovely man so pop your name down on the list as you sound invaluable with the info you have!

Oh gosh, would love to if that's ok. Thanks. How do I add my name

granny

Hi Guys
Had a PM this morning from the owner. He can't make the 6th Aug' and probably no other weekend through the summer.
I have said that I will put it to the gang and maybe go on a weekday!
What do you think?

Ah, what a shame! Only day I could do during the week would be a Tuesday; working/childminding grandson (who is crawling like a caterpillar on speed at the moment!) at other times. If that day doesn't work for others, then no worries.

i thought it was planned for the 13th? oh well i can make any day if he doesnt mind us coming?

this is all so interesting and i love the pics!!

glad you've enjoyed the pics its a very interesting History!

Good with me Bezzy!!

A weekday is fine for me too. Thanks

Will see what the owner come up with.
Hi Granny!

Hi there! I haven't got a clue who I'm talking to or which buttons I should be pressing really. Just hope for the best!

your doing just fine queen! welcome Aboard

Have just been speaking to my mum-in-law who knows Beatie and her family.
She grew up around the corner in Surrey Street and used to go in the house on a Sunday afternoon.
I was just giving her a lift to her bowls match so it was a short conversation.
I have told her to brace herself for interrogation!!!

Hi all, Granny calling.
Guess what I have come up with?
Henry Bird's son William Bird of Poulton married to Ellen (not sure when)He was buried 17th July 1704. Daughter baptised 15th Oct 1704 mother Ellen. Baby's name as written 'William-Mina Bird'(I assume it to be Wilhelmina) Maybe that's how they spelt it then.So the barn date stone could well have been 1704? W.M.B.
I have to admit info was found on Family Search.Org which I often have issues with due to input of wrong information.Strangely I am not going to challenge this time!!!
Do you think I done well?

There is (or certainly used to be) a full transcript of the Wallasey Parish Church Registers available upstairs at Earlston Library in Wallasey. You should be able to confirm those dates just by looking in there.

Hi,
Thank you for your help. I have scoured those records numerous times, resulting in reams of fullscap sheets of info.So many listings for this family of Birds.
I do have other children listed for William and Ellen,christenings at St. Hilary's and could have missed the baby, but no marriage record.Of course Ellen may have come from another Parish altogether which means it would be virtually impossible to trace.

Good work Granny.I can pop into the library tomorrow and cnfirm that info if you want me to?

That would be great. Another pair of eyes is always good.
Thank you and enjoy! Let us know what you find.

No problem Granny,will report back tomorrow evening.

Sorry I didn't put any info up last night,I was sort of cross eyed after three hours of reading!
So here goes....

Granny quotes,
Henry Bird's William married Ellen
Parish Register says,
Hennery Berd(?)and Ellin Robison 1 of Feb 1662.

Granny quotes,
He was buried 17th July 1704
Parish Reg' says,
Wm son of henry Bird July 17th(P) 1704.

Granny quotes,
Daughhter baptised 15th Oct 1704 Mother Ellen.Baby's name was William-mina Bird.
Parish Reg' says,
William-mina d of Ellen Bird 9ber 21 PomS 1708.


I didn't come across a marriage of William to Ellen!



Don't know if this is of any help?

Well done.
I see you have William-Mina Bird daughter to Ellen born 1708. That's why I don't trust Familysearch.org. They have it as 1704.
William and Ellen had 2 more children that I know of.Info taken from Parish registers, so they must have been a couple:

William christened 14/07/1700
Mary christened 14/05/1702

Obviously William-Mina Bird can't be from the parentage of William and Ellen.

This is such a puzzle but all your help is much appreciated. Thanks so much.

well done ladies!!

Sorry for the long silence everyone - it's been a very busy summer (and still is). Also I've only just come across this thread - didn't know this was where all the discussion about the house was happening! Lots of interesting stuff..... How does Saturday 3rd September sound for another work party? It would be good to see you all again, but if you want to just drop by in the meantime please just send me a PM and we can fix a time.

Brill.

[quote=RUDEBOX][quote=RUDEBOX][quote=RUDEBOX]Who wants to 'in' in a few weeks time?
Rudebox
Plusone
T.C
Rocks
Bezzy and The Flapjacks
Greenwood

Anybody else? Add your names.

Bezzy and the Flapjacks! Not seen them since June I think?

Big hello!
And me please. Maybe I could pay a quick visit in the morning as I have a babies birthday party to go to in the afternoon. Could somebody put 'granny' on the list please as I haven't worked out how to do it.
Ta.

[quote=RUDEBOX][quote=RUDEBOX][quote=RUDEBOX][quote=RUDEBOX]Who wants to 'in' in a few weeks time?
Rudebox
Plusone
T.C
Rocks
Bezzy and The Flapjacks
Greenwood
Granny
Anybody else? Add your names.
a

just to remind you all you have mail about sat 10.30

Enjoyed the second Wiki Work Party today.
Us girlies focused on removing wallpaper and limewash to restore the wood beneath.
The boys opened up an old bricked up fireplace-wow, the amount of soot that poured out!! Dusty but a rewarding days work.
It was lovely to meet Granny and Charlotte. Thanks to Roger for a lovely lunch.

Oh and the item we photographed from the cellar, during our first visit (the photo is called 'Whats this'?) has been identified.
It was a homemade, purposebuilt Hen Egg Incubator. Built in the early 1800s and the owner found a detailed, handwritten Manual inside it.

All of the above,it's such fun guys you don't know what your missing!

great day thanks roger for the lunch and the moutain of dohnuts i ate
look forward to the next visit
nice to meet granny and friend

Thanks again to everyone who came today - it really feels as if we're getting somewhere after a day with lots of helping hands!

Bring on the next one, i say!!

Hi,
Thanks so much for including myself and Charlotte. A wonderfully interesting place and what a great crowd you are. So pleased to have met you all.
Maybe next time I may feel somewhat more able to help, but it all takes time.
x

i will post up the few pics i took on this visit which were mainly the fire place being knocked out when iv topped my dongle up.

Argh - my hard drive has been in sickbay and I've only just got it back - had very limited internet access at work, so I completely missed this. Sorry! Am still interested in lending a hand though.

OK Greenwood,your still very welcome. We have no date fixed as yet,watch this space!

Great stuff, Greenwood. Look out for updates and P.M message for the next Work Party, in a few weeks.

All great stuff this, I have recently found this web site and to my amazement I find photos of the "Bird" house, I had to visit this house early in 1962 to see a Mr Woosman(sp) My girl and I had to see him to arrange our wedding,he was the verger of St Lukes church which was across the road from the Pool Inn, (and thats another story) we married there in the March62, I can remember the very small room in the house that we were ushered into at the time.
This has been brilliant for me and I would like to thank you all for the information and the pics, I am elated, thanks again.

Brian .

The owner of the Bird House, invited us - 'The Wiki Working Party Gang' to a get together today, with food and drink provided by way of Thankyou for our assistance.

This was considered by all to be most generous as we all enjoy helping to restore this beautiful Old House!!

We had a most enjoyable day, especially as we could see how much work that the owner has done since our last visit. He has worked so hard!!

Today, Plus and TC continued to restore the fireplace in the first floor main bedroom and Rocks and I, with the owner started to scrape away the limewash, on the landing, revealing beautiful wood beneath!!

Dusty work! 'Slow' work but oh so satisfying!!!

Look forward to future 'Work Parties' in the New Year. xx

I feel so leftout! But glad that you all had a great day! X

Oh Bezzy hun!! Behave!!! There would have been no room for you anyway. We were on the landing.

You get them bloody legs sorted, thats first and foremost!!!!! xxxx

And no flaaaaaap jaaaaaacks!!!

is it not finnised yet ?
if you wantideas of the colours inside pm me ,i more than welcome to help with the finnishing touches .

nope queen the whole house from top to bottom is being scraped back to what it originality looked like so takes time we are always looking for people to help out restoring this place so please feel free to pm us if your interested peeps had a great time today cant wait till our next one

We are restorating a 400 year old house!!Its not a re-decoration project!!!!

lol okay i am good at interior designs if the owners want to pm me;i have done my place up as well so can give you ideas if ya want.
and i do the restoring as well i done mine if want the piocs of my place your more than welcome, i have never failed in this believe me. pm me anytime when stuck

thanks queeen!

Show us your plocs? (not here, obvs, elsewhere)

yes [pm me i have some ideas you may like xx

Hi, I have found a little booklet called 'Wirral the place where the wild myrtle grows' published in 1998 by W.E.A. Local History Group.
Various pieces of interesting information are included and of course a bit about 'Birds House'

In it is stated that first of all the house was built in 1627 (but we've been through that) the small window's were due to Cromwell's light tax,the kitchen was added 100 years later (later from what I am not sure, must be either date of build or Cromwell's light tax). It then said that behind the present fireplace are a set of steps which were used by the chimney sweeps to go up to the third floor. As girls the Woosemans played hide and seek up there.
There wasn't a toilet or bathroom until 1997.
Also said a chap hanged himself there in 1800's.
I hope that doesn't upset anyone.
How much of this can be relied upon,I do not know. Have been unable to find anything much about Cromwell's light tax either. Do we know if the windows were metal or wooden frames? They could be the clue to the date.
One other thing which I forgot to mention and not sure if it is general knowledge; The date stone for the barn used to be in Earlston library. I have seen it there probably about 13 years ago.

If you pose the question "Window Tax" instead of "Light Tax" you may get more joy, hope this helps.

the windows are metal and we knocked the downstairs fire place out and didn't see any steps and also the upstairs bedroom fire place was knocked out last time we were there

Thanks Bandy.
Tried both now but there's no reference to 'Cromwell's Light Tax' unless it could have been Thomas Cromwell in 1500's. So dismissed that. The only other that I found William III 'Window Tax' in 1696/7. This would fit with the house dates nicely. The other thing of course, is the fact that Rocks has dismissed the bit about chimney sweeps steps (and I wasn't aware that they had those until half way through 1700's earliest), just maybe the publication was created with one or two myths thrown in!

This might help shed a little light on things...

http://www.historyhouse.co.uk/articles/window_tax.html

And here's another useful link re: investigating old properties -

http://www.buildinghistory.org/taxation.shtml

I thought you had gone into hibernation!

Thanks for these websites. The second one looks to be very interesting.
Maybe it was a single story and a couple more levels were added later. That did happen sometimes, I believe.

The Window Tax gave a whole new meaning to the expression "daylight robbery"...

Ah! Is that where the expression came from ?

...probably not, but it should have been!

Pretty awful really,for many different reasons. Hard to imagine living without daylight in your rooms.
There again it's getting that way now as the trees in the roads are so huge (not being lopped) lights are on in the summer by 7pm. When the country is trying to save energy,, it's not good.
Possibly they spent more time outside back in the days of Window Tax, as they would be working all hours probably alot on the land too.
It must have been very unhealthy, no light,no air flow ,smokey old fires, damp stone walls and probably condensation streaming down them .

...which is exactly why the law was repealed in the 1850's.

Interesting! I've been right up inside the chimney but no sign of any steps anywhere. The chimney is certainly big enough to climb up, but there's no way into the top floor from it.
The windows are cast or wrought iron - not sure which - but they're the size they are because of the limitations of stone window surrounds - I don't think it's anything to do with a light tax.

Re. Daylight
I think that twowheelkelly would agree with me that, despite the small windows, there is loads of natural light.

Twowheelkelly, many apologies for sending you up the chimney on a wild goose chase!

Seriously, it is quite bizzar that this little book described as a 'pot pourri' of loal History seems, so far,to have got most things wrong! Some of the info they included I refrained from posting, as it didn't ring true anyway. It would appear that the lesson to be learnt here is 'don't believe all we read.
So yet again, another misleading bit of information. Sorry!

The main thing that surprises me, is the fact that the person who edited and gave the acknowledgements, happened to be quite a well informed and active person from one of the main local History groups in Wirral.

...he's also a wiki member so be careful what you say, granny

How do you know Have you got the booklet?

The steps are said to be behind the fireplace not inside.

I do, indeed, have the booklet.

If you want to check which local properties were affected by the Window Tax they'll probably be listed in one of the volumes of the 'Cheshire Sheaf'. You might find other info on the Bird family in there also.

Yes, thanks again, always helpful Geekus.

Lovely