A History of Leasowe

The name 'Leasowe' comes from the Anglo-Saxon Leasowes or 'Meadow Pastures'. Its sand dunes are the largest such system on the Wirral. Much of the area is at or below sea level and is protected by the coastal embankment. The name Moreton was first recorded in 1278, and derives from Anglo-Saxon words meaning a settlement, 'tun' beside a marsh 'more'. It is difficult to say for sure where Leasowe starts and Moreton ends as Moreton Shore on some maps is actually marked Leasowe and along the embankment between Leasowe and Moreton are the remains of fortifications built during the Second World War. A little to the east of Saughall Massey, Moreton lies on the plains, which stretch out below Bidston Hill. It was here the Tranemores of Tranmere and the family of West-Kirbies held land during the reign of Edward III and there is a modern church erected here in 1863 by William Inman, the founder of the Inman Line of steamships between Liverpool and New York. The plains at Moreton, being below the level of the highest tides, were it not for the great embankment would be under water nearly as far as the village. The great housing shortage of World War I brought many people to Moreton and Leasowe and makeshift homes were made from old tramcars, huts and wooden bungalows. Houses built in the early 20th century were often flooded and unsanitary, but after about 1926 new roads and drainage were put in by the Borough Council, and much new housing was developed. Many people suffered from bronchitis, other lung problems and rheumatism.  Moreton, Lingham and Great Meols have been occupied since before Roman times. Moreton became part of the Parish of Bidston and was the wealthiest and most productive part of the area run for the Birkenhead Priory. Although it was allowed to become run down during the early 1800s, the introduction of the Wirral Railway Line in 1866 brought day-trippers from Liverpool and further afield. By 1900 Moreton was again thriving and was even being recommended by doctors as a place for a holiday or a place to live because its fresh air and clean sea was seen as beneficial for conditions such as rheumatism. Its association with health attracted the attention of Margaret Bevan who was the driving force, admired by all, known affectionately as the 'Little Mother of Liverpool', also the 'Mighty Atom' and 'Clever Beggar'. Margaret chose Leasowe as the place to build Leasowe Hospital or 'The Leasowe Sanatorium For Crippled Children and Hospital for Tuberculosis', to give its full and original name, later became known as the Liverpool Open-Air Hospital for children with tuberculosis - later to become the Leasowe Children's Hospital when the National Health Service came into operation in 1948 and finally Leasowe Hospital. The first mention of a Sanatorium for children with Tuberculosis occurred on 16 December 1911. Slowly Leasowe Hospital changed from being principally a children's T.B. hospital to one for dealing with burns and skin grafts, and then arthritis until its closure in 1979. It is a sign of the times that the buildings were later demolished and 'luxury apartments and houses' were built on the site.

The first building to be heated entirely by solar energy can be found on Leasowe Road and at 53.4°N, it is also the most northerly. The 'Solar Campus' was formerly St George's Secondary School built in 1961 to the designs of Emslie Morgan, the Assistant Borough Architect, who spent a lifetime looking into ways of harnessing the rays of the sun. His research resulted in a matchbox like building with, on one side a drab, windowless façade and on the other 10,000 square feet (1,000 m²) of glass, a giant solar wall. The wall is built of glass leaves. two feet apart, which become warm and heat the air with hardly any warmth escaping through the school's massively thick roof and walls covered with slabs of plastic foam. On the coldest days it is always 60 degrees Fahrenheit inside, and in summer the school is cooler than its more conventional neighbours as panels inside the glass wall can be turned to deflect heat or absorb it. The property is maintained by the Children & Young People's Department of the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, which struggles at times to find the necessary revenue and capital to fully maintain this Grade II listed building.

Leasowe Castle was originally the property of the Stanley family and may have been built in 1593 by Ferdinando Stanley, the 5th Earl of Derby, a patron of Shakespeare and.second heir to the English throne. Named 'New Hall', it consisted only of an octagonal tower. The door was about six feet above ground level, for security and protection from high tides, and the walls were one metre thick. In the following year he was awarded with the Manor of Wallasey, and in 1594 became the Mayor of Liverpool. The original purpose of the building is not known but was possibly a general sporting residence for hounds and hawks and an observation platform for the Wallasey races which took place on the sands in the 16th and 17th centuries, and which are regarded as a forerunner of the Derby races. Ferdinando's brother William, the 6th Earl was described as a noted sportsman and is remembered as a keen supporter of the Wallasey races. The original octagonal tower had become disused by 1700, and it became known as 'Mockbeggar Hall', a term often used for an ornate but derelict building. Indeed the term 'Mockbeggar Wharf' is still used for the adjoining foreshore. The 'Mockbeggar Hall' is also the name of a Wetherspoons pub in Moreton. The castle passed through several families until bought in 1802 by Mrs Boode. Her daughter Mary Anne married Colonel Edward Cust in 1821 when ownership then passed to the Cust family where it remained until 1895. After 1826 Edward Cust, the 6th son of Lord Brownlow, tried initially to run the castle as a hotel but, unsuccessful, he then took up residence in 1843 and made many additions to the building. The ceiling of the Star Chamber at the Palace of Westminster was brought to the castle in 1836 along with panelling and other furnishings. They had been salvaged from the old Palace of Westminster before the Star Chamber was demolished in an 1806 building project. The ceiling and four tapestries depicting the four seasons still remain. Oak panelling from the Star Chamber and some made from the submerged forest along the coast were also installed. In 1911 it was bought by the Trustees of the Railway Convalescent Homes, who ran the place until 1970. It was later bought in 1974 by the Wallasey Corporation who did little with it, Wirral Borough Council eventually reselling it in 1980 to Ken Harding who opened it again as a hotel in December 1982. The first St Bernard dog ever brought in England found a home at Leasowe Castle. It was acquired by Lawton Hotels Ltd in 2000. The hotel is now a popular venue for weddings and other family functions, with around 50 bedrooms.

With a chart of 1689 showing no lighthouses or navigational aids, mariners took their bearing from 'Mockbeggar Hall' and the buildings on Bidston and Grange Hills. Large vessels would make their way into the Hoyle Lake or smaller ships bound for Liverpool would use the Rock Channel into the River Mersey. In 1761 an Act of Parliament was passed that lights were to be erected to aid boats to enter the Hoyle Lake anchorage and consequently Leasowe Lighthouse was built in 1763 by Liverpool Corporation's Docks Committee from 660,000 hand-made bricks. It is actually situated in Moreton on common land known as the Leasowes and nothing to do with 'Leasowe' Estate which was built post war. It is the oldest surviving brick-built lighthouse in Europe and according to local tradition its foundations were built on bales of cotton from a nearby shipwreck. Around 1763 William Hutchinson installed what may have been the first parabolic reflector in a lighthouse. The lighthouse was one of four lights on the North Wirral foreshore, the others being two at Hoylake and the Upper and Lower Mockbeggar lights at Leasowe. The latter was soon destroyed by the sea and was replaced by a lighthouse on Bidston Hill in 1771. The Leasowe Lighthouse was operational until 14 July 1908, with the only known female lighthouse keeper in those days, a Mrs.Williams, who was moved to a nearby cottage and ran a tearoom in the lighthouse for a period. The lighthouse was closed to the public in 1935 and was unused until 1989, since when it has been the base for the ranger service of the North Wirral Coastal park. The building now houses a visitor centre and is occasionally open to the public. As a matter of interest the world's first passenger hovercraft service operated here in 1961–62. The service travelled from Moreton Common, and was advertised as between Wallasey and Rhyl in North Wales, but it was not profitable and soon ceased.

see also:- http://www.thefootballvoice.com/2021/08/a-history-of-thurstaston.html