Seaside town and home of the Royal Liverpool golf club, in Wirral, England
Human settlement in England
Hoylake
is a
seaside
town in the
Metropolitan Borough of Wirral
,
Merseyside
, England. It is at the north west of the
Wirral Peninsula
, near
West Kirby
and where the
River Dee
meets the
Irish Sea
.
[2]
Historically
part of
Cheshire
, the
Domesday Book
of 1086 recorded it within the
Hundred
of Wilaveston.
At the
2001 census
, the population of Hoylake was 5,710
[3]
of a total population of 13,042, as part of the
Hoylake and Meols
local government
ward
.
[4]
By the time of the
2011 census
specific population figures for Hoylake were no longer maintained. The total population for the Hoylake and Meols Ward at this census was 13,348.
[5]
History
[
edit
]
In 1690,
William III
set sail from Hoylake, then known as
Hyle
or
High-lake
,
[6]
[nb 1]
with a 10,000-strong army to
Ireland
, where his army was to take part in the
Battle of the Boyne
. The location of departure remains known as King's Gap.
[8]
[
verification needed
]
The previous year a large force under
Marshal Schomberg
had also departed from Hoylake on 12 August,
[9]
crossing to Ireland to
capture Carrickfergus
.
The present day township grew up in the nineteenth century around the small
fishing
village of
Hoose
,
[10]
the name of which means "hollows".
[11]
The 1848
Topographical Dictionary of England
described the inhabitants of Hoose as:
"...principally boatmen and fishermen, who have frequently evinced the greatest courage and alacrity in rescuing mariners from the horrors of shipwreck; large banks of sand, extending for miles on the northwest, being annually the scene of most fatal disasters to shipping."
[12]
The name Hoylake was derived from Hoyle Lake, a channel of water between
Hilbre Island
and Dove Point.
[13]
Protected by a wide
sandbank
known as Hoyle Bank and with a water depth of about 20 feet, it provided a safe
anchorage
for ships too large to sail up the Dee to
Chester
.
[14]
Civic history
[
edit
]
The township of Hoose was part of the
West Kirby
Parish of the
Wirral Hundred
. It existed as a
civil parish
between 1866 and 1894 when it was merged into Hoylake and West Kirby civil parish.
[15]
Between 1894 and 1974 Hoylake was governed by its own
urban district council
based at
Hoylake Town Hall
.
[16]
On 1 April 1974,
local government reorganisation
in England and Wales resulted in most of the Wirral Peninsula, including Hoylake, transfer from the county of
Cheshire
to the nascent county of Merseyside.
The population of the town over time was measured at 60 in 1801, 589 in 1851 and 2,701 in 1901.
[15]
The total population of the Hoylake Urban District (which included West Kirby) was recorded as 19,745 in 1931.
[16]
Landmarks
[
edit
]
The
Hoylake and West Kirby War Memorial
is a notable local landmark, as it was designed in 1922 by the British sculptor
Charles Sargeant Jagger
who was responsible for a number of war memorials around the world, including the
Royal Artillery Memorial
at
Hyde Park Corner
in
London
.
The former Town Hall, on the corner of Albert Road and Market Street, is due to be converted to a new arts centre, known as The Beacon, with craft workshops, restaurant, and flats above.
[17]
Kings Gap roundabout is home to a sculpture by Scottish sculptor
David Annand
. Called 'Knots', it consists of seabirds looping around four poles. It was commissioned by the council as part of the regeneration of Hoylake and was installed in June 2006 in time for the
2006 Open Championship
.
[18]
Lighthouses
[
edit
]
Lighthouse
To facilitate safe access into the Hoylake anchorage, two lighthouses were constructed in 1763,
[20]
at the initiative of
William Hutchinson
.
[21]
The lower light was a wooden structure that could be moved according to differing tides and shifting sands to remain aligned to the upper light, which was a permanent brick building. By the start of the 19th century each lighthouse was equipped with a single 3 ft-diameter
reflector
,
[22]
built to Hutchinson's design.
[21]
Both of these structures were rebuilt a century later,
[23]
and in 1865 new lenses (a pair of
fourth-order
fixed
optics
) were designed and manufactured for the two towers by
James Chance
.
[24]
The upper lighthouse, consisting of an octagonal brick tower, last shone on 14 May 1886 and is now part of a private residence in Valentia Road.
[23]
The building was given Grade II
listed status
in 1988.
[25]
The lower lighthouse, closer to the shore in Alderley Road, was deactivated in 1908
[26]
and demolished in 1922.
Former landmarks
[
edit
]
The Royal Hotel was built by Sir John Stanley in 1792, with the intention of developing the area as a holiday resort. The numerous
steam packet
vessels
sailing
between Liverpool and
North Wales
which called at the hotel provided valuable patronage. By the mid-19th century a
racecourse
was laid out in the grounds of the hotel. The hotel building was demolished in the 1950s.
[27]
Hoylake's
lido
, located on the
promenade
, was opened in June 1913 and rebuilt in the late 1920s. In 1976, the Hoylake Pool and Community Trust took over the running of the facility from Wirral Borough Council.
[14]
The baths finally closed in 1981.
[28]
Geography
[
edit
]
Hoylake is at the north-western corner of the Wirral Peninsula, and is situated on the eastern side of the mouth of the
Dee Estuary
and adjacent to the
Irish Sea
. Hoylake is approximately 11 km (6.8 mi) west-south-west of the
River Mersey
at
New Brighton
. The centre of Hoylake is situated at an elevation of about 9 m (30 ft) above sea level.
[29]
To the west of the town at Hilbre Point is
Red Rocks
, a designated
Site of Special Scientific Interest
. The area is an exposed
sandstone
outcrop consisting of
sand dunes
,
brackish marsh
and
reed beds
.
[30]
[31]
[32]
Governance
[
edit
]
Hoylake is within the parliamentary constituency of
Wirral West
. The current Member of Parliament is
Margaret Greenwood
, a
Labour
representative.
At
local government
level, the town is incorporated into the
Hoylake and Meols
Ward
of the
Metropolitan Borough of Wirral
, in the
metropolitan county
of Merseyside. It is represented on
Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council
by three councillors.
[33]
The most recent
local elections
took place on 6 May 2021.
Hoylake is a largely residential area and there is an active nightlife in the town centre, which is located at the original village of Hoose.
[10]
The town supports a permanent
lifeboat
station, manned by the
RNLI
. Initially founded in 1803 by the
Mersey Docks and Harbour Board
, it is one of the oldest in the country.
[34]
In 2008, the RNLI began to raise £2 million for a new lifeboat station and new generation all-weather lifeboat, to facilitate a faster response time to emergencies and rescues in the Irish Sea and the rivers Dee and Mersey. The building was opened in November 2009.
[35]
The Kings Gap
conservation area
has been designated by Wirral Borough Council. Bounded by the coastline and the Royal Liverpool Golf Club, it consists of large nineteenth and early twentieth century houses, Hoylake Lighthouse and
St Hildeburgh's Church
.
[36]
Education
[
edit
]
Hoylake includes the independent
Kingsmead School
, which educates girls and boys from 2 to 16 years old. Hoylake Holy Trinity C of E Primary School is the town's main primary school, educating children from the ages of 3 to 11.
Media
[
edit
]
Local news and television programmes are provided by
BBC North West
and
ITV Granada
, the local television station
TalkLiverpool
also broadcasts to the area. Television signals are received from the
Winter Hill
TV transmitter.
[37]
With its close proximity with
North Wales
,
BBC Wales
and
ITV Cymru Wales
can also be received from the
Moel-y-Parc
TV transmitter.
[38]
Local radio stations are
BBC Radio Merseyside
,
Heart North West
,
Capital North West & Wales
,
Smooth North West
,
Greatest Hits Radio Liverpool & The North West
and Wirral Wave Radio, a community based station.
[39]
[40]
The town is served by the local newspapers,
Wirral Globe
[41]
and
Liverpool Echo
.
Sport
[
edit
]
Golf
[
edit
]
Hoylake is the home of the
Royal Liverpool Golf Club
, built in 1869 on the site of the Royal Hotel racecourse.
[10]
It is the second oldest golf links in England, predated only by the
Royal North Devon Golf Club
, in
Westward Ho!
,
Devon
.
[42]
It has hosted many major tournaments such as
the Open Championship
and the
Walker Cup
. The club is often referred to as "Hoylake". It hosted the Open again in July 2006, after a gap of almost 40 years, with
Tiger Woods
earning the
Claret Jug
for the second year in a row. The
2014 Open Championship
is the 12th time the event was held at Hoylake. This was won by
Rory McIlroy
.
[43]
The
2023 Open Championship
is the most recent event to be held in Hoylake marking the 13th time it has returned to the town.
[44]
This was won by
Brian Harman
.
[45]
Hoylake-born amateur golfer
John Ball Jnr.
won the Open in 1890, becoming the first Englishman to do so. Another local amateur,
Harold Hilton
became Open champion two years later. He won again in 1897 at his home club of Royal Liverpool.
On the other side of Meols Drive and the railway is Hoylake Municipal Golf course which is used by Hoylake Golf Club (since 1933), West Hoyle GC and Irby GC. It was used as the
2006 Open Championship
practice course.
Rugby Union
[
edit
]
Hoylake RFC
rugby
club was founded in 1922. They currently play in South Lancs/Cheshire Division One, the seventh tier of English rugby. Its predecessor, connected with the Royal Liverpool Golf Club, had been founded in the 1890s. British Open golf champion Harold Hilton was also captain of the rugby team for the 1890?91 season.
[27]
Swimming
[
edit
]
Hoylake ASC was founded in 1931. The club now trains at the
West Kirby
Concourse and the Calday Grange Swimming Pool.
Sailing
[
edit
]
Hoylake Sailing Club was founded in 1887 and has a clubhouse and boatyard on North Parade. The club hosts an annual regatta and sends a team to the
Southport 24 Hour Race
.
Sand yachting
[
edit
]
Hoylake is one of the premier sites for
sand yachting
in Britain,
[42]
with banks around a quarter of a mile offshore. The town's beach was the venue for the European Sand Yacht Championships in 2007 and 2011 and hosted the 2017 event with Laytown & Bettystown, County Meath.
[46]
[47]
Cricket
[
edit
]
Cricket
was played at the now disused
Ellerman Lines Cricket Ground
from as early as the 1920s, when the then newly formed West Wirral Cricket Club played at the ground. It was later sold to
Ellerman Lines
, who transformed the site into their social club.
Cheshire
played
minor counties
cricket there from 1957 to 1968. The ground also held Cheshire's first ever appearance in
List A cricket
against
Surrey
in the first round of the
1964 Gillette Cup
.
[48]
The ground was later sold, with the site becoming a nightclub, before being demolished following a fire. In 2011 the site of the ground was selected for construction of 62 affordable homes.
[49]
Planning permission for this, and a revised plan for 26 properties, were refused. In 2020 a further planning proposal was submitted for 30 semi-detached bungalows and up to 61 assisted living retirement apartments.
[50]
Transport
[
edit
]
Hoylake
and
Manor Road
railway stations serve the town. Both are on the
West Kirby
branch of
Merseyrail's
Wirral line
.
Notable people
[
edit
]
- Joshua Armitage, pen-name "Ionicus" (1913?1998), the "Punch" artist and designer of covers for Penguin's editions of
P.G. Wodehouse
. He was born in Hoylake, where he lived and worked all his life.
- Julian Budden
, Italian opera scholar and BBC radio producer (1924?2007), born in Hoylake
- The former
Olympic Games
cyclist
Chris Boardman
(1968?), born in Hoylake
- Actor
Daniel Craig
(1968?), grew up in Hoylake
[51]
- Lieutenant Colonel
Jack Armand Cunningham
(1890?1966), the World War I
flying ace
. He retired to Hoylake and eventually died there.
- Author
Helen Forrester
(1919?2011), born in the town
[52]
- Pianist
Stephen Coombs
(1960?), grew up in Hoylake
- The former actress and
Labour
MP
Glenda Jackson
(1936?2023), grew up in Hoylake
- John Lennon
's first wife
Cynthia
(1939?2015). She grew up in Hoylake and returned there after their divorce in 1968. Their son
Julian
(1963?) spent much of his early life in Hoylake.
[53]
- Eric Morecambe
, comedian. He won a local amateur talent contest, held at Hoylake's Kingsway Cinema in 1940.
[54]
- Mike Rutherford
(1950?) of
Genesis
. He was a boarder at the Leas School, formerly on Meols Drive.
- Curtis Warren
(1963?), Merseyside gangster, formerly featured in the
Sunday Times Rich List
. He owned a house on Meols Drive.
- Cliff Williams
(1949?), bassist of
AC/DC
, grew up in Hoylake.
- Indie rock bands
The Rascals
and
The Little Flames
. They are from Hoylake.
- James Skelly
, Ian Skelly,
Bill Ryder-Jones
, Nick Power, Lee Southall, Paul Duffy and John Duffy, from the band
The Coral
. They were also brought up there.
See also
[
edit
]
Notes
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
"Coordinate Distance Calculator"
.
boulter.com
. Retrieved
6 March
2016
.
- ^
"Hoylake Tourist Information & Visitor Guide"
.
www.visitwirral.com
. Wirral Council
. Retrieved
29 May
2017
.
- ^
"Wirral 2001 Census: Hoylake"
. Metropolitan Borough of Wirral
. Retrieved
23 December
2007
.
[
dead link
]
- ^
"2001 Census: Hoylake & Meols Ward"
. Office for National Statistics
. Retrieved
20 February
2007
.
- ^
UK Census
(2011).
"Local Area Report ? Hoylake and Meols Ward (E05000963)"
.
Nomis
.
Office for National Statistics
. Retrieved
17 August
2020
.
- ^
Denham, Henry Mangles (1840).
Sailing directions from Point Lynas to Liverpool
. Liverpool: Mawdsley. p.
95
. Retrieved
27 August
2015
– via
Internet Archive
.
high lake ireland william iii.
- ^
"Derek Jacobi"
.
Who Do You Think You Are?
. Series 12. Episode 3. 27 August 2015. Event occurs at 52:50.
BBC
. Retrieved
27 August
2015
.
- ^
"Walker Art Gallery (Frieze of King William III setting sail to Ireland from Hoylake)"
. International Centre for Digital Content. Archived from
the original
on 24 September 2006
. Retrieved
22 February
2007
.
- ^
Bartlett, Thomas; Jeffery, Keith (9 October 1997).
A Military History of Ireland
. Cambridge University Press. p. 193.
ISBN
9780521629898
. Retrieved
3 September
2015
.
- ^
a
b
c
"Hoylake"
. Merseyside Views. Archived from
the original
on 27 September 2007
. Retrieved
1 May
2007
.
- ^
"Key to English Place Names: Hoose"
. University of Nottingham
. Retrieved
17 August
2020
.
- ^
"Hoo - Hope-Baggot: Hoose"
.
A Topographical Dictionary of England
. British History Online. 1848
. Retrieved
17 August
2020
.
- ^
Young, Derek; Young, Marian (1984).
Pictures From The Past: A unique collection of photographs of old Hoylake, Meols and West Kirby
.
ASIN
B001KA5LEY
.
- ^
a
b
"Hoylake History"
. HoylakeAndWestKirby.com. Archived from
the original
on 8 December 2007
. Retrieved
23 December
2007
.
- ^
a
b
"Hoose (Hoylake)"
. GENUKI UK & Ireland Genealogy
. Retrieved
17 August
2020
.
- ^
a
b
"Hoylake"
.
A Vision of Britain through Time
. GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth
. Retrieved
17 August
2020
.
- ^
Jones, Lauren.
"Plans approved to transform Hoylake's former town hall into 'The Beacon Arts Village'
"
. Wirral Globe
. Retrieved
2 August
2018
.
- ^
"REPORT OF THE DEPUTY CHIEF EXECUTIVE/DIRECTOR OF CORPORATE SERVICES HOYLAKE MARKET STREET IMPROVEMENTS ? CONTRACT FOR ART WORK"
(PDF)
. Wirral Council
. Retrieved
12 February
2017
.
- ^
Rowlett, Russ.
"Lighthouses of Northwest England"
.
The Lighthouse Directory
.
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
. Retrieved
2 May
2016
.
- ^
Robinson, John; Robinson, Diane (2007).
Lighthouses of Liverpool Bay
.
The History Press
.
ISBN
978-0-7524-4209-9
.
- ^
a
b
"William Hutchinson (1715-1801)"
.
The Maritime History Virtual Archive
. Retrieved
5 March
2019
.
- ^
"Hoylake Lighthouses: the old high light"
.
Lighthouse Compendium
. Retrieved
24 February
2019
.
- ^
a
b
"Hoylake Lighthouse"
. Archived from
the original
on 13 November 2007
. Retrieved
23 December
2007
.
- ^
Chance, James Frederick (1902).
The Lighthouse Work of Sir James Chance, Baronet
(PDF)
. London: Smith, Elder & co. p. 166
. Retrieved
24 February
2019
.
- ^
Historic England
.
"Lighthouse and adjoining keepers house (1259767)"
.
National Heritage List for England
. Retrieved
17 August
2020
.
- ^
"Hoylake Low Light"
. lighthousedepot.com
. Retrieved
23 December
2007
.
- ^
a
b
"Hoylake RFC History"
. Hoylake RFC. Archived from
the original
on 27 September 2007
. Retrieved
8 May
2007
.
- ^
"Hoylake Amateur Swimming Club has uncovered archive film of the town's outdoor Lido as part of its 75th anniversary celebrations"
.
BBC
. 19 October 2006.
- ^
"SRTM & Ordnance Survey Elevation Data in PHP"
. Retrieved
1 November
2016
.
- ^
"1:50000 geology series, England and Wales sheet 96, Liverpool, Bedrock and Superficial deposits"
.
Maps Portal
. British Geological Survey
. Retrieved
23 September
2020
.
- ^
"Red Rocks Marsh"
. Cheshire Wildlife Trust
. Retrieved
23 September
2020
.
- ^
Smith, Richard.
"Hoylake and Red Rocks"
.
Dee Estuary Birding
. Retrieved
23 September
2020
.
- ^
"Your Councillors by Ward"
. Wirral Borough Council
. Retrieved
17 August
2020
.
- ^
"History"
. Hoylake Lifeboat website. Archived from
the original
on 5 March 2008
. Retrieved
23 December
2007
.
- ^
"Former Hoylake lifeboat station to become museum"
. Wirral Globe. 9 February 2011
. Retrieved
30 July
2020
.
- ^
"Kings Gap conservation area"
. Wirral Borough Council
. Retrieved
17 August
2020
.
- ^
"Full Freeview on the Winter Hill (Bolton, England) transmitter"
. UK Free TV
. Retrieved
1 January
2024
.
- ^
"Full Freeview on the Moel-Y-Parc (Flintshire, Wales) transmitter"
. UK Free TV
. Retrieved
1 January
2024
.
- ^
"Wirral Wave Radio"
. Retrieved
1 January
2024
.
- ^
"North West Radio Stations"
. Retrieved
1 January
2024
.
- ^
"Wirral Globe"
.
British Papers
. 17 October 2013
. Retrieved
1 January
2024
.
- ^
a
b
"A-Hoylake!"
. BBC Sport. 17 July 2006
. Retrieved
15 April
2008
.
- ^
"Previous Opens - 143rd Open Royal Liverpool 2014 - The Open"
.
www.theopen.com
. Retrieved
3 August
2023
.
- ^
"The 151st Open at Royal Liverpool"
.
The Open
. Retrieved
3 August
2023
.
- ^
"American Harman wins first major at The Open"
.
ESPN.com
. 23 July 2023
. Retrieved
3 August
2023
.
- ^
"Sand yacht championships to start"
.
BBC News
. 16 September 2007
. Retrieved
23 December
2007
.
- ^
"Events"
.
British Landsailing - BFSLYC
. Retrieved
29 May
2017
.
- ^
"Ground profile: Ellerman Lines Cricket Ground, Hoylake"
. CricketArchive
. Retrieved
12 July
2012
.
- ^
"Supporting Planning Statement: Former Ellerman Lines Social Club, Carr Lane, Hoylake"
(PDF)
. www.wirral.gov.uk. October 2011. Archived from
the original
(PDF)
on 10 August 2014
. Retrieved
12 July
2012
.
- ^
"New bid to build on site of former social club in Hoylake"
. Today News. 19 October 2020
. Retrieved
4 April
2021
.
- ^
"Daniel Craig: The spy who loves Hoylake"
. Liverpool Echo. 20 October 2008
. Retrieved
30 July
2020
.
- ^
"Helen Forrester"
. Fantastic Fiction
. Retrieved
29 August
2007
.
- ^
"Julian Lennon Biography"
. lennon.net. Archived from
the original
on 9 May 2007
. Retrieved
1 May
2007
.
- ^
Morecambe, Gary; Sterling, Martin (2001).
Morecambe & Wise - Behind The Sunshine
. Robson Books. p. 19.
ISBN
1-86105-462-9
.
Further reading
[
edit
]
External links
[
edit
]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to
Hoylake
.
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