Lingfield Grove, Liverpool L14 3LG/Q
A "local interest" web-page for residents. Last updated March 2005

Link to our Newsletter Page.      Email the editor.     Back to Lingfield Grove main page. 		This page will hold a web version of any items of local interest or history that come our way. items of continuing interest or reference.

NEWSLETTER; our Newsletter items can now be found on their own Newsletter Page, by following this link.
Lingfield Grove, in the Broad Green area of Liverpool, was built in land belonging to Staplands House, a large house and grounds fronting on Thomas Lane, and after which Staplands Road was named.
Staplands House and its grounds were owned by the Molyneux family, (after whom Molyneux Road was named, ) but they also owned a lot more nearby land, from the railway to the land which now holds the Jewish Cemetery and part of the Hospital grounds, then up to Queens Drive, and a touch of Edge Lane Drive.

In 7th Feb. 1881 Edward Molyneux sold this land for £15,000 to Thomas Price Jones, who sold off most of it in parcels on 2nd August 1928
some to the Jewish community to develop into a cemetery,
some to the City Of Liverpool (the hospital part)
And he sold the area which would become Lingfield Road and Lingfield Grove to Benjamin and Samuel Scarratt, brothers and builders, of Town Row West Derby,who were the ones who got the houses built.
A daughter or Ben Scarratt still lives in Town Row, West Derby; E. Scarratt.In March 2005, Gerry Jones phoned, and spoke to a bright 81-year old lady, who needed a bit ofd a reminder about our roads, but then confirmed that she was indeed the daughter of Ben Scarratt the leading partner, and niece to his brother Sam, the lesser partner. She is still living in their family house, on the edge of Croxteth Park, and although too young at the time to remember Staplands House, she did tell me that it was her father's form that demolished it. She remembers her father bringing home the wooden pegs that carpenters used instead of clever ironmongery to fix roof timbers. Mal Turner believes that the firm actually went under after building the Grove and completing the Road.
On 3rd July 1930, they had Searches done, and confirmed their title to the land,

Lpool Central Library, 4th Floor, spools of Kelly's/Gore's ":Liverpool Directory" for 1930 shows the Road partly built, and a broken line where the upper half of the Grove will be, but NO houses in the Grove when this 1930 edition was dead-lined for publication.

1931 edition shows the Grove mentioned, but only four houses built/occupied. This is not straighforward, as the houses mentioned, numbers 1, 3, 5. 7. are numbered from the ROAD, with these Odds houses on the left. Householders were surnamed Balmer, Hart, Harrison, Richardson.
Herbert Balmer, detective, was still living in that house, in 1943, but now numbered 52.
so, 3, 5, and 7 would now be Nos 50. 48. and 46.

1932 is when most houses were built, maybe the lot, allowing for Kelly's cut-off date for receiving information. Certainly Odds 1 - 23 and Evens 2 - 40. BUT they are still numbered downhill from the Road.
So house 44 would originally have been numbered No 9., and that may still be in the original water-board records for when they started supplying. Herbert Balmer is still at No 1. and Alfred Ernest Owen is at No 21.

There are on each side, further down after where the numbers stop, a couple of "named" houses, such as "Erbistock" and Rossmore" between (downhill ) 32 and 40. and with Lynwood and "Nervana" following on from (downhill) No 23.

1933 it is complete, and the numbering has been changed to run uphill from Thomas Lane, the way we know it today. With Herbert Balmer at 52, Alf Owen at No 32, etc. while Silas Swettenham of No 32, is now living in the house next door to No 11.

Some old maps show that Thomas Lane came first, with Staplands and Seymour next, say 1893. And even then, a dotted-line projection shows that Lingfield Road, and the top section of the Grove were planned/proposed even then, but nothing much happened according to the maps of 1908. Even by 1927 just a few of the Road houses had been built, from the Hospital end.

In 1931 (31st Aug.) number 27 was sold by the Scarratt brothers to R.J & I M Williams, the first actual owner-occupiers. For £620. In the days when "a £5 a week Job" was good wages.
In 1945 (24th April) they sold it to Muriel Laetitia Hughes,
Who made a tidy gain when in 1948, just three years later, she sold it to J.L.Cartwright for £1600.
Courtesy of Christine and Ronnie Guy. In 2005

In about 1975, when Gerry Jones bought No 11, most of the houses were still pebble-dashed, slate-roofed, and with the original grey walls. This gave a first impression of a very grey road indeed, when looking up it. In 2005 there are very few houses still in the original appearance, most having tiled roofs and creamy shades of colour-wash rendering, and looking altogether much brighter.
This map on the left is from about 1927, before Lingfield Grove existed. Notice the dotted line showing where Lingfield Road would be, and where the Grove would start.
Note the pond, lower left, which has caused No 33 to be built as a double-fronted house, because the water was too deep to allow foundations to be built any further back.
ADVERTISING
What are you doing Monday Afternoons? Gerry Jones is running a Country Dancing Club , 2.00 - 4.00 behind the Fiveways, off Dunbabin Rd, in the Community Hall by the Tennis Club. Our own very moderate fees apply. Good exercise! Good company! Good fun!

Here are some pages linked to this page:
Lingfield Grove NEWSLETTER page
Liverpool CONTRA Folk-dance club
Country Dancing Classes
Liverpool Country Dance Band
Gerry Jones, the handy musician
Liverpool branch of the RSCDS
IRISH Dancing information.
Back to the M.A.D.Folk home page
Back to the Home page

The English Folk Dance & Song Society.
The WIRRAL SOUND, the marching band of Moreton (Wirral) Boys & Girls Brigades.
Our Home Watch Co-ordinator is:
Paul LIMBERT,;
our Assistant Co-ordinators are ;
Joyce HILL, ;
Gerry JONES.
Stan DAVIES.
John COSTIGAN,
Mal TURNER, .