A History of Parkgate

The origin of the unique little village of Parkgate, which is nestled in the crevice of Little Neston, can be traced back to the former Neston Park which was created when land was enclosed as a deer park in about 1250 by Roger de Montalt, steward to the powerful Earl of Chester. The hunting park came to an end in 1599 when the land was sold off to new owners. This anchorage hamlet, a small fishing community, gradually developed on the foreshore of the Dee estuary, near the gates of the Neston deer park. The first recording of the name Parkgate was thought to be in 1610 when it was noted that shipping was being handled at 'the park gate', probably denoting a location at the end of Moorside Lane, where the entrance to the park is understood to have been. Neston is considered to have been an agricultural settlement dating from the Saxon times and is listed in the Domesday Book of the 11th century. Historically, it included eight townships: Great Neston, Little Neston, Ness, Leighton, Raby, Ledsham, Willaston and Thornton Hough.
At the northern end of 'the Parade' in Parkgate, in the township of Leighton, an inn (first shown simply as a Beerhouse) is recorded from 1613, and the stretch of water at this point is recorded as 'Beerhouse hole', implying an anchorage with deeper water than elsewhere. This natural feature may have been the catalyst for the first settlement here. The first descriptive reference to Parkgate came from a traveller who in the late 1660s described 'the little village of Birhouse…(with) some large storehouses for the keeping of mercandize to be embarked for Ireland…'. The first mapped evidence of a settlement known as Parkgate is shown on Greenvile Collins' survey of 1686 showing Parkgate (in Neston township) and Beerhouse (in Leighton) apparently as separate developments.

In 1672 the ownership of the land transferred to the Mostyn family by the marriage of Bridget Savage of Leighton Hall to (Sir) Thomas Mostyn, whose residence was across the water at Mostyn Hall in Flintshire. In June 1849 their descendant, the 2nd Baron Mostyn, sold off all his family's Cheshire holdings (including the whole of Parkgate) at a public auction held over six days at the former Mostyn Arms Hotel. He had decided, quite astutely, that Llandudno would be a better place for the investment of his money. The sale was intended to encourage development and divided the former Mostyn holdings between many different new ownerships. The Mostyn family may now be long gone but the family name still lives on in Parkgate.

Showing Parkgate and Heswall Regatta in 1908

The 18th century was a key era for Parkgate, being the site of a vital port which saw the trade of many imported goods, and in particular as an embarkation point for Ireland. Irish packet boats began to sail from Parkgate to Dublin in 1685 and there was also some trade with America and the Caribbean. This was the beginning of a period of relative prosperity and merchants built their houses here close to their business with many of the houses on The Parade dating from this time. It was Irish packet ships that were also the source of illegal goods entering here until the 19th century. These ferry boats sailed between Parkgate and Dawpool to Dublin, carrying passengers, newspapers, and thousands of pounds worth of cargo. The River Dee, which served as a shipping lane to the Roman city of Chester had silted up in part by 383 AD, creating the need for a port further downstream. This silting of the river, which was instrumental in the birth of Parkgate, was conversely to see a continuing struggling to survive the encroaching salt marsh over many years. At first quays were built at Burton and later near the small town of Neston, but further silting required yet another re-siting slightly further downstream near the gate of Neston's hunting park. Hence the settlement of Parkgate was born but, without a sea wall or jetty, meant boats anchored in the main channel of the river about 100 yards from the shore and passengers and cargo transferred to and fro by tender. There was already a local ferry service between Parkgate and Flint in the 1740s and by 1813 a regular service was operating from the Pengwern Arms (now the Boathouse) to Bagillt/Flint, a service for which there were onward connections to Liverpool via Eastham, Tranmere and, later, with the coming of the Chester-Birkenhead railway, via Hooton. Soon afterwards, however, in 1864, after a period of decline, this service finally lapsed. Also in the 18th century there was a busy boatyard on the shore close to the Boathouse and another probably by the Old Quay. The 'Duke', one of the ships built at Parkgate, is known to have been involved in the African slave trade, and three boats were built by Thomas Makin for the Parkgate Packet Company before his business went into liquidation in 1790. The Ship Hotel was named after a boat called the 'Princess Royal', built around this time for the Parkgate Packet Company to carry passengers to Dublin, sailing from Parkgate in 1808, but by 1810 had commenced sailing out of Liverpool.

Eventually, as silting progressed, with no beach and no direct access to the sea, Parkgate could manage only a small subsistence from fishing and shrimps. Now unsuitable as a port it was stripped of that status and was superseded by the port of Liverpool. With the port no longer trading, it became a fully fledged beachfront, with locals picnicking on their sandy banks and bathing in the water. With the de-escalation and eventual loss of the shipping trade, Parkgate had to re-invent itself as a community. It was around this time that the present sea-wall was constructed, not for the shipping, but as a parade for fashionable visitors, who had already started to visit from about 1760 for sea-bathing. One such bather was Lord Nelson's mistress, Lady Emma Hamilton, who was born in nearby Ness and, staying at Dover Cottage, bathed at Parkgate apparently as a cure for a skin complaint. However, as the end of the 18th century crept in, so did the grass and greenery through the sand and before long, the beach that once stood became the grassy marsh we see there today. New Brighton had now taken over as a popular visitor destination but in 1923 a new open air baths were constructed on the North Parade, beyond the Boathouse, for Mostyn House School. They were also made available to the public and became very popular with visitors from a wide area, who arrived at Parkgate in great numbers by car and by train. A second, smaller pool was added in 1930. These baths made use of the available sea water but, alas, they too fell into disuse with the encroaching marsh stemming the supply. The baths finally closed in the early 1950s, despite various attempts to rectify the problem in the early post-war period. Mostyn House School, a striking black-and-white building, is an admirable example of Victorian architecture and a building that defines quintessential 'Parkgate'. The school was first moved to Parkgate in 1862 in order to accommodate more boarding students. Run by the Grenfell family, it is now a grade II listed building which included an ornate chapel built in 1898. As time went on, its purposes changed; once being the site of an air raid shelter in WWII. In 1973 Parkgate became a conservation area, and in 1979 the RSPB nature reserve was established on the Dee marshes. Now it is an affluent village boasting the highest life expectancy for females in the whole of Cheshire West and Chester. Still popular with tourists and bird watchers who enjoy the regionally famous Nicholls ice cream, fresh local seafood including shrimps and cockles and lovely sunsets. During seasonal high tides the water reaches the sea wall, and visitors arrive at the village to witness the unusual sight with birdwatchers coming to watch the birds usually hidden in the grasses of the marshland.

see also:- http://www.thefootballvoice.com/2021/06/a-history-of-burton.html