Originally a Norse settlement, Roby appears in the Domesday Book as 'Rabil', at which time it was one of the manors held by Uctred. The name means boundary farm. It was part of the West Derby Hundred and as with many of the surrounding townships became part of the Barony of Widnes in 1351 and subsequently merged into the Duchy of Lancaster. The manor was held by the de Lathom family, and although they were based at Knowsley, they did make numerous attempts to develop and extend Roby. In 1372 there was an attempt to establish Roby as a borough, but again this was ultimately unsuccessful. A few years later Isabel, the daughter of Sir Thomas Lathom married Sir John de Stanley and the lands were divided between the Stanley and Harrington families. A 'manor' of Roby is mentioned in a fine of 1552 as held by Robert Knowl and his wife Joan, from whom it was claimed by Henry Bury. From the latter, 'the buildings and land called 'Roby Hall' was in turn claimed, perhaps as trustees, by Richard Sanderson and William Spencer in 1568. John and Elizabeth Bury, in 1569, did claim by descent, seeking land, buildings, etc. in Roby, from George Stockley, who alleged a conveyance from William Bury.
The medieval village of Roby was clustered around the crossroads of what is today Station Road, Roby Road and Carr Lane. In the centre was the Cross, the exact date or purpose of which remains unclear, although it has also been called the Market Cross, Stocks Cross (from the stocks which were in front of it until the early 19th century) and the Boundary Stone. For many years it had the impressive Edenhurst Cottages for a backdrop. Roby Old Hall, was known as Bury Hall in the 16th century after Henry Bury and his family who lived there. In 1761, John Williamson, Mayor of Liverpool, but also a slave trader who was involved in at least 16 slave voyages between 1750 and 1759, built a new Roby Hall to the south-west of the Old Hall, with both buildings featuring on later Ordnance Survey maps. The principal road was that from Liverpool to Prescot by Broadgreen which went eastward through the centre of the township, having the residences called Court Hey and Roby Hall on the southern side of it.
The present Roby Hall built in 1761had the the main entrance a 5 minute walk from Roby railway station. The estate had a frontage to the main road of approximately half a mile and was almost 100 acres in size, several acres larger than Stanley Park or the Calderstones Estate, with 80 acres being pastureland with a good natural water supply. The drives and park were well wooded with beech, lime, chestnut, ash, elm and oak trees. The estate sloped gently down southward commanding a fine view of Childwall Vale, with the churches of Woolton, Gateacre and Childwall comparatively near, a grand view of the Cheshire Hills beyond and a distant glimpse of the North Mersey. A public footpath ran through part of the estate from Broadgreen Road to Childwall. The Hall itself was a spacious mansion with all the appurtenances of an English gentleman's home, including a beautiful vinery. The old Roby Hall was divided into houses for the estate gardeners.
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| Bowring Park |
John Williams left three daughters coheirs and one of these, Mary, in 1794, married General Isaac Gascoyne, for many years a member for Liverpool, and they resided there. Afterwards William Leigh, a Liverpool merchant, son of William Leigh of Lymm, purchased it. When Roby Hall Estate came up for sale in 1906, Liverpool's first lord Mayor, William Benjamin Bowring bought it and with great munificence gave it to Liverpool for the recreation and enjoyment of the people, in memory of his father, Charles Tricks Bowring. He was the senior partner in a shipping firm and his wife Isabel Maclean Bowring (née Jarvis) of Saint John, New Brunswick, was sympathetic to the suffering and needy among the poor of Liverpool. Consisting of over 100 acres, a mansion and some cottages, it was offered to the Corporation for the use of the inhabitants of Liverpool for all time and renamed Bowring Park and opened in 1907. The year, 1907, marked the 700th anniversary of the King John Charter, which the City of Liverpool and the City Council celebrated in all manner of ways. Council Minutes record that 11,000 schoolchildren enjoyed School picnics in Bowring Park during 1907. In 1913, part of the grounds was in use as the first municipal golf course in England. Additionally in 1921, the old English gardens were opened to the public. The 1761 Roby Hall was damaged by fire during World War II, and after the war it was in such a poor state of repair that it was judged too expensive to refurbish. The Hall was eventually demolished in the early 1950s, but the golf course was re-instated and reopened in 1956 and the land and gardens, which had been cultivated during the war were restored by the Corporation.
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