Forums Forums Wirral History : Chasing the Past History Information Request Submerged Church

Does anyone know of a submerged church in the Leasowe/Moreton area ? I read something but can't remember where, it could have been from John Hough's Journal, but there was no expansion or further information.

I lived in Moreton as a kid but never heard anything about a submerged Church. We lived over 2 km from the sea and even at that distance we had to pay embankment fees, which means we'd have been affected at high tide if the embankment wasn't there. Given that sort of area potentially covered by water before the construction of the embankment, I would imagine the possibility of your submerged Church having existed is quite high.

Hi Granny, you may have read something about it on hiddenwirral.org where it mentions swimmers have seen gravestones in the past on the shore. there are other comments too on face book.

Hi Habdad, This is taken from The History of The Hundred of the Wirral by William Williams Mortimer. Stating that the original lighthouse was nearer to the sea by half a mile.

Page 138

https://archive.org/stream/historyhundredw00mortgoog#page/n172/mode/2up/search/Leasowe+Castle

Kylix, Yes, that is where I saw it first and looked for further information. It can only be from one or two sources, and I'm retracing my steps at the moment as to where it said that a church was thought to be Saxon.

If it was a Saxon church, it could have been listed in the Doomsday Book, but so far I have not had time to scour a search on that.

There is also this, pages 59 and 60 but I'm not sure about the locations in relation to the sea at the moment.

https://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk...aracterisation-project/Wirral-Part-6.pdf

There were two Leasowe Lighthouses constructed at the same time, one was built "a quarter of a mile out to sea" but in reality this was the high tide mark, I presume they meant quarter of a mile seaward from the land based lighthouse. The lower lighthouse was demolished by the sea in 1769, Bidston lighthouse was built to replace it.

It has been strongly suspected that there were a number of villages off Leasowe shore (long before the lighthouses) but no firm evidence.

I would imagine that its a story that's got more embellished over the years. The most famous church I know of that was lost to the sea was Dunwich, and claims of ghostly bells ringing out from below the sea!

http://www.suffolkchurches.co.uk/dunwichas.html

Some other good local links:

http://www.hiddenwirral.org/lost-villages-of-wirral/4587687221

https://www.spookyisles.com/2015/09/the-sea-tombed-village-of-singleton-thorpe/

Dunwich !.. lots of spooky stories in Suffolk. It must have been a hub of activity there, as the Domesday Book records 3 churches and 3000 people. Reading your link, it mentions Walton Castle in Felixstowe. I lived there for 12 years and have to disagree with the information on Wikipedia.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walton_Castle,_Suffolk

They say that Walton Castle was in Walton, Felixstowe. They also say it was in Old Felixstowe, which are two different areas.. The image they show of the cliffs at Felixstowe is in Old Felixstowe. I have seen the ruins of Walton Castle from that very point on one occasion, when the tide was very low .
St Felix is still around and about Felixstowe on plaques and posts. Oh ! and they all hear bells in that part of the world !

Which brings me to think that maybe one day the submerged church at Moreton might become visible.

Thanks for the other links.

Church or Churches were submerged to provide water to Birkenhead and done by the Birkenhead Water Authority in Wales..Llyn Celyn

This is a good book worth a read.



Its incredible they left the tower standing.

Really a sad tale about Capel Celyn, Fish. It must have been heart breaking for them. Times when village communities were so closely knit. Families from generations and stories of old, they must have lost so much..

I bet it's especially heartbreaking if you wanted to put flowers on a loved one's Grave

Although a some water was for Wirral, the project was Liverpool Corporation's not Birkenhead and it was authorised by the UK Government.