Forums Forums Wirral History : Chasing the Past History Information Request Sebastopol Inn

What do we know of the Sebastopol Inn that used to be on Carrion Hill, now know as St. Hilary Brow, in about 1859?
And what about a monastry in the same area, possibly where the Christian Scientists had their building.
These subjects came up in a pub discussion.

Over to you Paul???

I believe the Inn was a forner stone cottage converted to a pub and gets its name from the Crimena War (1854-56) and demolished in the 1890s.

I am unsure about a monastry in the area. The founder of St. Hilary, St.Germanus de Gaul, came over and establised a wooden church in 429 AD. It was not until the 12th Century that the church was built of stone. The church was modified and enlarged many times - the tower was built in 1530. Burnt down in 1857 and rebult as we see it today. With such an impressive building I doubt there was a monastry - especially as there was one in Birkenhead.

Correction - The Inn was demolished in 1930. Here is a picture of it in 1920 as it jutted out into St. Hilary Brow.

St.Hilary's certainly occupies an ancient site and is shown on early maps as being surrounded by a curvilinear enclosure. This in itself is often considered to be an indication of great antiquity and a common trait of early churches and monastic sites. You also have to be careful in assuming that it's always been dedicated to St.Hilary, as most historic records only refer to it as 'Wallasey Church'.

Great picture, thanks Paul.

Any chance of a pic of what's there now and whereabouts on the brow it was please

wonder why it was called Carrion hill
Carrion (from the Latin "caro", meaning "meat") refers to the carcass of a dead animal

The house that dominates this picture below can be seen at the side of the Inn in the old photograph

Well done Paul, that was today's project. Thank you!

There's an excellent new book just come out featuring the art work of Harold Hopps. Many of them are old views of Wallasey including St.Hilary's; Breck Road; and St.Hilary's Brow. It's called 'Hopps Around Wallasey' and is definitely worth sticking on your Christmas wish list!

Got a copy, it is great!

I remember years ago that Seacombe library used to have many of Hopps' pictures on display but they all got removed, presumably to the Williamson. There also used to be many interesting old oil paintings of St.Hilary's at Earlston. It's a real shame that insurance premiums and the general fear of theft etc., mean that so much of our heritage gets locked away. There must be tons of stuff that never sees the light of day...