Forums Forums Wirral History : Chasing the Past Wirral History Ilchester Square - The Dock Cottages

There is'nt a next road down

Clicky

ahh I thought there was another street between ribble street and alwen street.

Perhaps it is there then.

I still live in the area and I reckon that picture was taken from the end of Alwen Street looking down Ilchester Road.

There are no houses on that corner of Townsend Street in the lower picture, as it would have been the wall of the Tapestry Works.

There has never been a street between Alwen and Ribble Street.

The 'new' flats being built (probably in the early 1930's) were the 4 storey flats known as the 'Old' flats.

These were eventually demolished in the early 1970's after many flats became empty and vandalised. This was partly due to Birkenhead corporation using the Square as a dumping ground for problem families which caused people to move out.

The original Dock Cottages seen in the picture were demolished in the late 1930's and 3 storey flats were built on the site, and were originally intended to be called St James Gardens. They eventually became an extension of Ilchester Square.

Building work on the flats was halted during World War II and the flats were completed around 1950. These flats were earmarked for improvement in the early 1970's after the demolition of the 4 storey older flats but after objections from residents, the whole site was cleared by 1975 and still looks much the same.

Incidentally, there is only one 'L' in Ilchester Square but some people added the extra 'L' because that's how the place made you feel!

Exelllent read,thanks to all, i wondered about these flats, heard a lot of stories about them

Hello

I found this website which is about the north end estate and features pictures of the demolition of Tyrer Street which is opposite where Ilchester Square was, as well as the demolition of the Roundabout Centre opposite St James Church.

http://riverstreets.tripod.com

Pictures here:

http://pub38.bravenet.com/photocenter/album.php?usernum=3195905445

Here is a pictorial video of the area as well:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dyq9sfO6kVg

Good finds.

Strange to see the Church back as a roundabout.

Slightly off topic, but does anyone have any pictures of the petrol station off the Church?

There are some shots of it and more in this video on Youtube:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=4TIagabESl4

Cheers

This is a page of the 1901 Census showing my great-great grandparents living in the Queen's Buildings. There names were Samuel and Sarah Jackson. He was a blacksmith. Also living with them were their 2 daughters and 2 sons, Alice Jackson was my maternal great-nan on my dad's side. She is buried in Flaybrick but I have yet to find the grave. She was 97 when she died and asked to be 'buried in a raincoat' as the grave plot was on a slope. I guess this shows the sense of humour that people with a rough life had. She was certainly no stranger to death and illness. (btw I don't think she did actually get buried in a coat lol )

http://www.panoramio.com/photo/12271848

Memories I have gathered from relatives are that they were the first Victorian tenements (high-rise) to be built in the country (not proven), they were advanced for their time in that they had rubbish shutes from each flat to the ground floor - could this be the same thing as the 'thunderbox'. I wasn't given the impression that it carried faeces, just household rubbish - but then in that day maybe the 2 were the same thing lol

Exelllent read heard a lot of stories about Illchester Sqaure when i was younger thanks all

The tenement building was first used in Scotland, the most well-known being in Glasgow. These date from the late 18th/early 19th century. It looks as if the Dock Cottages were modelled on these. Many of the Glasgow ones are now listed & are now very desirable & expensive.

there is a good book called up r lobby all about the dock cottages

Wirral libraries have several copies

Can you buy this Up Our Lobby book or is it a reference book?

It's available on Amazon at present, a secondhand copy at £9.99