Forums Forums Wirral History : Chasing the Past History Information Request Synagogue in Balls Road, Oxton?

Does anybody have any memories or photos of the Synagogue which was on Balls Road, Oxton? Thanks!

Are you sure you have the right area, never heard of a purpose built Synagogue in Balls Road

There was a synagogue at 41 Balls Road.

http://www.jewishgen.org/jcr-uk/Community/birken/index.htm

I can remember the synagogue being in Balls Road but it was up a driveway behind a high stone wall. You couldn't see the building itself. I've had a look on Google Earth and the entrance is still there but it's now called Normanston Close. Hope this helps

Thanks for that. So Im presuming the original synagogue on chester street was maybe cleared around the tunnel building and that normanston was a house which they converted. Would still love a photo of either site as I believe my Jewish ancestors lived in Birkenhead during this era before emigrating to Israel. Shalom!

I think Normanston Close has been developed into a row of modern houses now. I'm not sure if the Normanston name is something new since the synagogue was demolished. I know I'd never heard of it before yesterday.

The following may also be of interest and of some relevance to this topic.

"Shopkeepers operating in Birkenhead inaugurated their first minyan in 1889 in a room in Argyle Street, while business and professional people who could afford to commute from across the Mersey opened their first synagogue in a former chapel in Egremont, Wallasey, in 1911"

Normanston is still there I thought perhaps it was the grounds of the house sold for development, but this thread would suggest there was a house previously on Balls road, that in turn was demolished and the Close named after the house behind?

Pictures of Normanston here;
http://www.oldwirral.com/oxton_norm.html

I agree, Normanston is between Barren Grove and Christchurch Road and is unlikely to have a Balls Road address. There was another house on Balls Road between what is now Normanston Close and Lynnbank, I'm guessing this to have been the Synagogue.

1910 directory hasn't helped, that stops at 39 Ball's Road but there were houses along Balls Road above that number up to Palm Grove.

hmm..just been to have a look at normanston close, on balls road, and it clearly says normanston on the original gate posts. There also appears to be original steps leading up to where a house was. Do you think the the gateposts have been taken from christchurch or barren grove?! Or maybe Normanston was originally occupying the whole land between christchurch rd and balls rd, with entrances on both?

In my 1903 Directory Normanston is listed as 41 Balls Road and was located exactly where the six town houses of Normanston Close are now. Maps show it to have been a large house set well back from the road, approached by two flights of steps, with an extensive conservatory attached at the rear; there were two back gates giving access to Barren Grove, but the main entrance was certainly on Balls Road. The occupant in 1903 was Dr William Robert Dalzell MA MB CM Edin, who appears to have had a medical practice at 38 Hamilton Square. I'm not sure when the house was demolished, but my guess is late 1960s or early 70s, as there was a Planning Application to build a three storey block of 9 flats on the site in 1971. Planning Approval for the current houses was apparently granted in November 1977.

There used to be one further house in Balls Road, named Highgrove, which was set even further back from the road and had its main entrance right on the corner of Palm Hill. In 1903 this was the home of James McDonald, Assistant General Manager of the Bank of Liverpool.

Thanks for that! My 1909 OS map looks just like your description and shows two seperate houses on the balls rd and christchurch sites. So the problem now is why is the house on christchurch also called normanston?

I wasn't going to bring up the subject of Barren Grove but now it's been mentioned I wondered if that lane had been renamed. When I was a little girl I used to go to Brownies there - but I seem to remember we used to call it Fiddler's Green? It does separate the Christchurch Road property and the houses in Balls Road though.