In 1632, the First Viscount Molyneux, Earl of Sefton, bought rights from the king to enable him to act as Lord of the Manor for Liverpool. With the nearby castle in poor state of repair, and taken by Prince Rupert in 1644, later taken back by Sir John Moore, a house was built in the late 17th century for Lord Molyneux and, featuring his coat-of-arms, this town-house would survive for 250 years before being destroyed by enemy bombs in the Liverpool Blitz of May 1941. A proposal was put in 1668 by Caryl, Lord Molyneux, the Lord of Liverpool, to cut a road through the Castle orchard to enable his tenants to gain access to the Great Heath towards the original pool (where Whitechapel is today). The stream was to be crossed by a bridge with the path leading to the Great Heath (the land to the east of the pool and south of London Road) to take the place of the ferry over the Pool. This alarmed the burgesses, who feared for their rights over the common and waste land on the other side, and Professor Ramsay Muir in his interesting 'History of Liverpool' states: "When his servants began to build a bridge at the busy junction of our day where Lord Street joins Church Street, they were met by forcible resistance : the Mayor pulled the bridge down and confiscated the wood and stones. Lord Molyneux responded by a whole series of actions-at-law, in which the question of the right of ownership of the waste, as well as many other questions were raised." However, in the end a compromise was effected with the dispute settled by treaty in 1671 and Lord Molyneux Street ( later Lord Molinex Street then Molyneux Street ) was formed and a stone bridge was built across the stream. In return for liberty to build the bridge, Lord Molyneux agreed to maintain the bridge and pay twopence a year rent, and further to lease for 1,000 years to the town nearly all his privileges as lord of the borough. This lease (the reversion of which was bought up in 1777) placed the town in virtual possession of many valuable rights, including the control of the foreshores of the Pool (often referred to as " the waste ") and the receipt of the dues paid by shipping for keel-toll and anchorage. The lease also covered, in its general words, pools, waste, marshes, banks, rivers and water courses within the lordship of Liverpool.
 |
| The house is shaded pink on this map from 1891, Commerce Court can be seen behind it. Thanks to Liverpool Fragments for the image. |
Later it was called Molyneux's Lane, but as the traffic along it
increased, and shops were erected on either side, the lane was paved,
then lighted, and the importance of the thoroughfare was established by the
bestowal of the present name of Lord Street running east
from the site of the Castle. Where Lord Street joins modern Paradise
Street the remains of the bridge that was
built over the Pool in 1672 were found deep underground when the
building in which McDonald’s is
now situated was built after the devastation of World War II.
Intriguingly,
Picton in his 'Memorials of Liverpool' mentions that in 1851,
excavations for sewers uncovered the arch
of the bridge, which had apparently been buried a few feet below street
level. The width of the bridge was about 15 feet. According to Picton,
the bridge was covered up and still existed in 1873.
The Molyneux family occupied the house standing on the north side of the street, and in 1781 William Roscoe resided with his father at 51 Lord Street. Lord Molynuex's house was demolished and a commercial building called Commerce Court was built on the site and bore the Molyneux arms carved in stone. The building was destroyed during the last war and the carved arms were lost. The original site is now a Tesco store on Lord Street.
see also :- http://www.thefootballvoice.com/2023/03/historic-liverpool-dwellings-hart-hill.html
No comments:
Post a Comment