A History of Oxton Village

The name Oxton is derived from the Old Norse word Oxa-tún meaning 'a farm or enclosure where oxen are kept' which in 1278 had been adapted to Oxeton and then recorded in 1549 as Oxon.

Although not mentioned in the Domesday Book, Oxton is understood to have been given to the Norman knight Hugh de Mara, following the Norman Conquest. In the middle of the 12th century however we find it in the hands of one of Cheshire''s most powerful families the Domvilles, with Hugh de Domville recorded as Lord of Oxton. Oxton stayed with the Domvilles until 1397 when it passed to Sir Hugh Hulse on his marriage to Margery Domville, the sole heiress to the Domville's estates, after her only brother died unmarried. The only son from his marriage, Thomas, assumed the arms and title of Domville, but once again without a male heir, all of his estates and titles, which locally included Raby, Barnston, Upton and part of Neston together with Oxton and Brimstage, passed to his daughter Margery on his death. Margery Hulse was still a minor and when her father died, she was made the ward of one William Troutbeck and married his son Sir John Troutback in 1432. Sir John was killed in 1459, in the bloody battle at Blore Heath, where over 2000 supporters of the House of Lancaster were slaughtered by the Yorkists, under the leadership of the Earl of Salisbury. Oxton changed hands finally when Sir John Talbot, Earl of Shrewsbury married Margaret Troutbeck and they conveyed it to his first cousin, George Talbot, 4th Earl of Shrewsbury. A grandson of Sir John Talbot entered the line of Earls in 1619 as the 9th Earl when his predecessor died without issue and likewise a ninth generation descendent became the 18th Earl in 1856. It remained under successive Earls until 1990 when, at the time of the 22nd Earl, the manorial title was put up for sale by auction.

It is undeniable that the evolution of Oxton is due the overwhelming importance of the Earls of Shrewsbury. This has been commemorated over the years in many of the road names, which bear their family names and titles: Alton Road, Beresford Road, Chetwynd Road, Ingestre Road, Shrewsbury Road, Talbot Road, Waterford Road and Wexford Road. The oldest pub in Oxton Village is called the 'Shrewsbury Arms', presumably for the same reason, and the bar which is now known as the 'Oxton Bar and Kitchen' was formerly the 'Talbot Hotel'. The most notable period of the development of Oxton was during their tenure as Lords of the manor between 1521 and 1990.  Oxton at the turn of the 19th century was an inhospitable place, a sandstone hill with poor soil, covered in bracken. The descriptions of early chroniclers reveal that it was indeed a place of solitude and desolation. In 1801, with a population of 137 and just 26 dwellings it had 27 more inhabitants than Birkenhead. The declining importance of agriculture and the emerging dominance of industrialisation reversed the situation with Oxton's eventual incorporation into the Borough of Birkenhead. By 1841 the population had risen from 546, living in 105 houses and by 1847, when Mortimer was writing his 'History of the Hundred of Wirral', the number of people living there had grown to over 1400 and the number of houses to 255.

However Oxton gradually became one of the most affluent areas in England, mainly due to its proximity to Liverpool and the fact that, along with various other Wirral locations, it was a favourite residential area for wealthy Liverpool ship-owners, merchants and tradesmen of the time. They had gradually turned away from populous Birkenhead towards a nearby high and imposing hill, still green and relatively untouched, where the land commanded views to the north of the River Mersey and beyond, and to the south, the River Dee and the Welsh hills. In these times of great industrial activity on both banks of the River Mersey, on Oxton Hill there was still to be found an almost country way of life. Recognising the attraction of Oxton as a desirable place to live, its development was managed by the Earl of Salisbury with the deliberate practice of granting restrictive building leases. This degree of foresight, tempered with a dash of good fortune, enabled Oxton to emerge as a distinct and self-contained manor within the conurbation of Birkenhead. In 1834 a haul of Roman coins, some bearing the head of Antonius and others of Victorinus, was found by quarrymen working at the Earl of Shrewsbury's stone quarry in Oxton, now part of the Arno Park. By the 1850s Oxton had now turned from an agricultural area into a prosperous, bustling, interesting and beautiful place, with inns, churches, parks, mansions, businesses, shops and people. Many of the houses in Oxton date from that period in the 19th century, when it had indeed become a popular residential location. The Woodside ferry had provided an easy commute across the Mersey and the village's position on high ground afforded fine views of incoming ships with several houses incorporating towers specifically for this purpose. Frequent horse-drawn omnibuses and trams, the first in Europe, would carry passengers down to the river. Perhaps the biggest tenant to occupy Oxton at that time was Mr William Potter, the Liverpool merchant, who owned 150 of its 800 acres.  Although he is not remembered in any road or street name in Oxton, he has his memorial Christchurch, which he built in 1847 on the then Claughton/Oxton border, with sandstone taken from the nearby Claughton Firs quarry. Beneath the church is a large room, which was used as a school until the 1880s.  William Potter was clearly a most influential man in respect of Oxton's early development, although he didn't lived there until the late 1860s when we find him in Hampden Villa, Rose Mount.

The general character of the area reflects its history as an early rural hamlet and subsequent expansion as an early Victorian commuter settlement. Oxton Village has many fine sandstone and brick built houses, many of which now form part of a conservation area designated in April 1979 and administered by the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral with some of these buildings designated by English Heritage as Grade 11 listed. The village includes a variety of housing, ranging from terraces, to stone built cottages and detached stuccoed villas which give the area a character which is unique in Birkenhead. Quite a number of houses stand on their own or are semi-detached in spacious gardens with Oxton Old Hall, a private residence on Talbot Road at the western end of the village, being Oxton's oldest building. It dates from the mid-17th century and is thought to have been a shooting lodge for the Earls of Shrewsbury. Along Rose Mount and Village Road there are some fine 19th century stuccoed Italianate houses. Holly Lodge on Village Road is thought to have been built around 1760 and to have been the Earl of Shrewsbury's hunting lodge. Oxton Lawn on Rathbone Road is a good example of a shipping magnate's house, now converted into apartments. Rose Mount, Mount Pleasant, Poplar Road, Roslin Road, Willan Street (then Willan Terrace), Victoria Mount (then Victoria Road) and Claughton Firs were all established by 1850.

Throughout the 1880s and 1890s, the growth of Oxton continued as the wealthy Oxtonians continued to live out their lives in pampered style and there was now a proper school for young ladies, in a house at No.11 Village Road which replaced the services provided by earlier Academies. This establishment moved to bigger and still current premises in 1901 and is today known as the Birkenhead High School for Girls.

A gentleman from the Southern States of the USA, James Dunwoody Bulloch, was personally responsible for commissioning the building of the most famous fighting ship of the time, the CSS Alabama, built secretly at the Birkenhead shipyard of John Laird. When the American Civil War was over, James Bulloch could not return home to America and remained in Liverpool as a cotton broker until his death in 1901 when he was by then a British citizen.  When he had formally applied for British citizenship in 1869, there were just two gentlemen who were his proposers - Mr Eugene Perrin and Mr John Armstrong, both of Shrewsbury Road, Oxton.

Arno Park still gives today the slightest glimpse of Oxton Hill of centuries ago. Behind its formal rose gardens there is still some rough open ground which escaped the Victorian's clutches.'The Secret Gardens of Oxton', organised by the Oxton Society, is an annual event held in May where a number of local houses (usually around thirty) throw open their gates and allow visitors to see behind their walls and hedges.

see also:- http://www.thefootballvoice.com/2021/04/a-history-of-eastham.html