Forums Forums Wirral History : Chasing the Past History Information Request River Fender

He Erainn. What is your interest in the river?

A curiosity in terms of its name origin, as you may know topographical features carry names usually of great antiquity, often used by language historians to identify distant ethnological groups. For example the River Tyne, though in an area of considerable Angle/Friesian/Danish settlement bears an earlier 'British' ancestry, there are many more such examples.

In light of that general pattern it's interesting to note the interpretation that the Fender owes its name to water course management. It may not be related, but one sugestion for the surname of Fender has it that it's an "English" medieval name, is occupational and derives from the French "defendre" and means a "town guard", one who defends the city walls, or who was the local champion at arms. As I say it may be unrelated however it's interesting to se a connection between the claims that 'fender' was a defensive river embankment and a medieval term for a defensive watchman. If there is a connection, does this suggest the Fender was either named/renamed, at a time when the Wirral was under local Norman control? Should that be the case, I would be very surprised, as already noted, rivers tend to cling tenaciously to their ancient names. The puzzle continues....

...perfectly plausible, but not your average kind of Wikiwirral request. All sounds a bit academical to me.

Suggest you try and contact the English Place-name Society (Nottingham University) I'm sure they would have up-to-date info on the earliest known use of the Fender name on Wirral. Also suggest you test your theory by looking for other examples of the Fender name outside of Wirral and see if they are also associated with "defences" in one way or another.

I can only confirm that the Fender name on Wirral certainly existed in the 18th century. If the river was renamed at any particular period in time, I would suggest it was in response to coastal erosion and the constant problems faced by North Wirral from the ever increasing threats of flooding. If you look at the history of Meols and work out roughly when the original port (?) was probably lost to rising sea levels etc., you could reasonably argue a late Medieval date for the river defences becoming more established???

What makes this forum shine is the pleasure of reading the far from average contributions, information and support of so many people, including of course your very good self

As to the topic in hand, can you share any sources/references relating to the Fender river dating from pre-Industrial development, that would be interesting to see.

Note the comments on coastal erosion, however not sure of such marine processes, long shore drift being a prime factor, as operating prior to the silting up of the Dee, and thus which specific areas be prone to either erosion and or flooding. Some thoughts surface, is the almost central location of the Fender, isolated somewhat from the coast, and its relatively diminished dimensions, being more of a stream for a considerable length of its course. Difficult to imagine it as being anything significantly larger in width, depth or flow, although rivers over time do of course change. That said it's hard to reason why such defensive attention would be invested on just one river for the purpose of flood prevention (to the theoretical extent of it being named after such measures) while other rivers strems in the area, presumably did not receive such protection (or if they did, curiously retained their original names) which begs the queston of course, why would the Fender be treated so differently and renamed?

Treat this as partly an "aside" but when I was nought but a lad and living not far from the Woodchurch Rd. railway bridge, the Fender was my playground - along with rest of the gang. Stirring the grey matter in the cranium made me recall most of the length of it. My "territory" was bounded by the bridge mentioned earlier carrying the Landican Lane footpath over the Fender (adjacent to the rail bridge) and up to Upton Station area.

In all that length. I can't recall any great fall at all. No weirs, rapids etc. Just a slow, gentle flow. The only exception was when we made a dam across the stream with clay and anything to hand. Then we would let it back up as much as possible. The dambusters game then ensued !! That was the only time I ever saw fast moving water in the Fender.

Soooooo, can one assume then that the Fender Valley could have flooded on occasions a long time ago ? ie. before coastal protection works of any sort on the N.Wirral coast. What would have stopped a high spring tide with a good blow behind it from backing up inland for some distance ? Just a thought.

The weakest coastal point on the Wirral was always the stretch between Leasowe & Meols. The land around this area (particularly Moreton; Leasowe; and Bidston) is below sea level. There are plenty of documented accounts of coastal erosion in the area and local inhabitants continually expressed concerns about flooding.

Before the enclosure of Wallasey Pool, this low lying area of North Wirral would have been under threat of flooding from both the Irish Sea and the tidal creek of the Wallasey Pool. I'm guessing but I would have thought that the original course of the Birket/Fender would have connected with Wallasey Pool.

There's another thread on the history forum concerning The Great Culvert. I haven't looked at this in any great detail before, but am sure some of the information you are after may be included on those postings.

If you are interested in this from an academic perspective, I would definitely recommend that you contact the English Place-name Society. Also, the most recent archaeological study of the area was 'Meols - The Archaeology of the North Wirral Coast' published in 2007. There may be something in there of use.

Most of us here on Wiki are mere armchair historians but, a little local knowledge does go a long, long way.

Thanks for your thoughts on that, shall certainly not dismiss other avenues of enquiry, yet local knowledge is invaluable, as indicated by recent posts. No doubt the Wirral suffered flooding in some parts, yet the questions remain as to any definitive linkage of the name origins of the Fender with defensive banks.

The brass/steel/wooden thing that stopped the hot coals from falling out onto the lino/carpet was the fender, 'when I were a lad'. That's defensive!

Perhaps Erainn, the answer lies in your own question about the precise location of the Fender (as we know it today).

Prior to the 19th century, places like Upton & Bidston were far more important than they are today. You only have to consider the signifance of the Overchurch place-name to get an insight into the fact that this was an ancient settlement overlooking an area of water. These important settlements are located in lowland Wirral and any watercourses in this area would have been specifically managed in a way to protect valuable farmland from flooding. Other areas of Wirral above sea level would not have required the same emphasis on such flood defenses.

Regardless of any historical evidence, you need to look specifically at where the name Fender occurs; look at the relative sea levels for those areas; and then attempt to match them up with any written references in support of your theory.

There are definitive references to the local use of words like 'fender' & 'fendering' as a protective measure but you need to consider the physical evidence as well as the linguistics. Otherwise your theory about a Norman influence may not stand up to scrutiny.

Also defensive is the American use of fender for what we call the bumper of a car.

Very true, I'd forgotten that!

...just to add that, for anyone seriously interested you might want to look up another study done a few years ago by Lancaster University, on 'The Wetlands of Merseyside'. Seem to think there's a fairly hefty chapter on the Wirral waterways in there. Can't say I've checked myself but it might be available to view somewhere on the internet.

The oldest detailed map you'll find featuring North Wirral is the 1665 Kingston Estate Map. I know it shows the Bidston Marshes & Wallasey Pool in detail but I'm not so sure about the Birket or Fender.

For sure, we had one of those too

Well not so much a theory which I am possessive about, more a speculation really. That denudation of areas of the Wirral occured is not doubted, what remains a tantalizing puzzle is the name itself, along with thus far a lack of historical documentation, of any great age, to verify that the Fender name was used for the river prior to the 19th Century, Personally I consider the possible Welsh/British/Brythonic connection more alluring, than the possibility of Norman/Medieval beginnings. As you will know there are a few Celtic survivors written still into the land of the Wirral and who knows maybe, just maybe Fender could be a derived variant, albeit in English of such a name. After all nearby Landican itself is a candidate for a (pre-Saxon/Viking) British place name.

Many thanks for the help on those, shall try and see if copies are viewable