Kirkby
Kirkby ( ) is the largest town in the Metropolitan Borough of Knowsley, Merseyside, England and the 9th biggest settlement in Merseyside. The town, historically in Lancashire, has a size of is north of Huyton and north-east of Liverpool. The population in 2016 was 41,495. Evidence of Bronze Age activity has been noted though the first direct evidence of a settlement dates to 1086 via the Doomsday Book. The town was mainly farmland until the mid-20th century due to building of ROF Kirkby, the largest Royal Ordanance Factory filling munitions. In recent times, Kirkby has been known for; its links  to Liverpool F.C. as the town is the home to its training grounds, and its recent regeneration efforts by Knowsley Council. History. It is believed that Kirkby was founded around 870 AD, due to archaeological evidence of Bronze Age settlement. Historically, it has been part of Lancashire. Kirk-by derives from the Old Norse "kirkja" and "byr" (believed to be of Danish origin), meaning "church" and "settlement" or "village". Settlers arrived via Ireland around 900. The first direct evidence of a settlement dates from 1086 and the Domesday Book, with a reference to "Cherchebi" (population 70). Ownership of present-day  Kirkby (established as the West Derby hundred in the 11th century) passed through a number of hands until 1596, when the Molyneux family purchased the hundred. After a brief loss of patronage in 1737 (when the head of the family took holy orders), in 1771 the Molyneux family were made Earls of Sefton and regained their lands. Although it remained largely farmland until the mid-20th century, transport links to the region began in 1848 with the building of the Liverpool and Bury Railway through Kirkby. The East Lancashire Road (the A580) added a road connection in 1935, and industrial development  was considered before the Second World War. ROF Kirkby, a Royal Ordnance Factory, was established in 1939 and completed in 1941. At its peak, the factory employed over 20,000 workers. Liverpool had received much damage by the end of the war, and much of its remaining housing stock were slums. The Liverpool Corporation began a policy of buying land in surrounding areas and moving industry (and people) to newly-developed "over-spill" estates. This process culminated with the purchase of of land, including Kirkby, from the Earl of Sefton in 1947 for £375,000 (£ adjusted for inflation). Kirkby became  Merseyside's largest over-spill estates. A 1949 Liverpool proposal to have Kirkby designated a new town was rejected. Large-scale development began in February 1950 with the construction of the Southdene neighbourhood; the first houses were finished in 1952, the 5,000th in 1956, and the 10,000th in 1961. A population of 3,000 in 1951 grew to over 52,000 by 1961. The Kirkby Urban District was created in 1958. Its population grew between the 1950s and the 1970s due to over-spill housing for Liverpool. Growth caused a number of problems, including a lack of local amenities. Although occupation of  Southdene's council estates had begun in 1952, its first shops were not completed until 1955 and its first pub did not open until 1959. The people who were being moved into Kirkby during this period came from Liverpool's poorest areas. Kirkby Industrial Estate expanded to become one of England's largest; at its peak in 1971, the estate employed over 26,000 people. Kirkby became an Urban District in 1958. This status was later abolished, and on 1 April 1974 Kirkby was combined with Huyton with Roby and Prescot Urban Districta and parts of Whiston and West Lancashire Rural  Districts to form the Metropolitan Borough of Knowsley. Government. Kirkby has been represented in Parliament by George Howarth since 1986. First as part of the Knowsley North constituency, then as part of the Knowsley North and Sefton East constituency, and as part of the Knowsley constituency since 2010. Howarth holds a 42,214-vote majority, making his seat the second safest Labour Party seat. He was preceded by Robert Kilroy-Silk (Labour, 1974–1986), Harold Soref (Conservative, 1970–1974) and Harold Wilson (Labour, 1950–1970). Kirkby is divided into four districts: Southdene, Westvale, Northwood and Tower Hill. Its electoral wards, which do not coincide  with the districts, are Cherryfield, Kirkby Central, Northwood, Park, Shevington and Whitefield. Kirkby's 18 local councillors belong to the Labour Party, and often run unopposed. Geography. Kirkby is north-east of Liverpool, in Merseyside in North West England. It is north-west of London and north-west of Huyton, the borough administrative headquarters. The River Alt flows through the town's extreme south-west, with the Kirkby Brook tributary passing through its centre. Climate. Due to its position near England's north-west coast, Kirkby has a temperate maritime climate; its Köppen climate classification is Cfb. Its mean annual  temperature of is similar to that throughout the Mersey basin and slightly cooler than the English average. The annual average sunshine duration, 1394.6 hours, is slightly higher than the UK average of 1339.7. January is the coldest month, with an average mean temperature of ; July is the hottest, at . Rainfall, , is slightly lower than the England average of and much lower than the UK average of . October is the wettest month, with an average rainfall of ; April is the driest, with of rain. The nearest Met Office weather station is at Manchester Airport. Demographics. Kirkby's population was 42,744 in  the 2011 census. This was just over a quarter of the total population of the borough of Knowsley and was down from its peak of 52,207 in the 1961 census, largely due to a falling birth rate and the slow decline of the industrial estate. Housing demand has increased, however, with significant developments built across the town. Part of the demand may be attributed to a need for replacement housing stock due to the demolition of high-rise flats and maisonettes, built during the 1960s and now in disrepair. According to British government statistics, the borough of Knowsley (including Kirkby ) had a population of 145,900 in the 2011 census and a gender balance of 52.6 percent female to 47.4 percent male. This is down from 150,459 in the 2001 census. The borough has a white population of 98.42 percent, compared with the national average of 90.9 percent. Other ethnic groups are multiracial (0.83 percent), Chinese (0.24 percent), other Asian (0.23 percent) and Black (0.22 percent). A large proportion of the population is of Irish Catholic descent as a result of immigration into Liverpool. The borough is mostly Christian (85.63 percent), compared to the national average of 71.74 percent. The next -largest group (5.84 percent) describe themselves as non-religious, significantly lower than the national average of 14.59 percent. Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists and Jews are 0.17, 0.11, 0.07 and 0.03 percent of the population. Population changes. Kirkby's population was on a gradual downward trend from 1861 to 1931 before it rose when the Liverpool Corporation began to develop the region. Its annual growth rate from 1951 to 1961 was over 30 percent, making it England's fastest-growing town by far. Kirkby's population peaked in 1971 at 59,917, before declining. The town's population has again begun to increase . Economy. Kirkby Industrial Estate, formerly ROF Kirkby, is still a large employer. The town's industrial heritage, however, has largely faded away as service industries replace factories. Major employers include QVC and Barclaycard, and several call centre companies are based in Kirkby. Regeneration. Kirkby has seen regeneration efforts. The Kirkby Sports Centre, one of the region's main velodromes and athletic centres, was replaced in 2007 by a leisure facility without a track. Several new stores have opened. The regeneration began in December 2006, when a proposal was made by Tesco and Everton F.C. for redevelopment of the town centre  which included a 50,000-seat football stadium and retail outlets. Kirkby Market was redeveloped, and reopened on 26 April 2014. In 2015, the town centre owned by Tesco was bought by St. Modwen Properties for £35.8 million. St Modwen announced their plans for the regeneration of the town centre, including a cinema, a supermarket, parking, and leisure development. This led to reports that two supermarkets were competing to build a store; it was rumoured that one of the stores was ASDA. A public hearing was held for local businesses, shopkeepers and residents in October 2016. St, Modwen submitted a  revised application for the town-centre scheme to include food-store anchor Morrisons, who submitted the winning bid. Tesco plans. Reports suggested that local support for the Tesco/Everton F.C. scheme appeared to be tempered by concern about the stadium's effect on residents. In 2012, the Knowsley council decided to invest £5 million to replace the multi-purpose Kirkby Civic Suite with the Kirkby Centre. The centre would include a library, a gallery and a local-history archive. St. Modwen plans. After the collapse of Tesco's plans for Kirkby Town Centre, regeneration halted until St. Modwen Properties  acquired the town centre in October 2015. St. Modwen planned a multi-million-pound retail-led regeneration in partnership with Knowsley Metropolitan Borough Council. They planned to develop and expand the retail centre, complementing Tesco's existing offer and providing housing on a 65-acre site the town centre. Refurbishment began in June 2016, and was planned to take eight weeks. In October, St. Modwen announced 24 November as the date for Kirkby's Christmas lights switch-on. Costa Coffee agreed in February 2017 to open a store in the town centre. In September, St. Modwen confirmed that Morrisons would  open a 45,000-square-foot supermarket in the town centre. The following month, St. Modwen held an information event with the community about their proposed plans. According to the company, work would begin in 2018 and end in 2019. The planning application was granted in November 2019. In June 2018, St. Modwen reported that Home Bargains and fast food restaurant KFC would open in the town centre. Council intervention. When the promised development was delayed, Knowsley council leader Graham Morgan said: "Despite our best efforts, the redevelopment of the town centre still hasn't happened and it's quite clear  that we need to find a different model. The people of Kirkby deserve more than this. We have worked closely to encourage St. Modwen to push on with their plans but, despite major names already being signed up, they remain extremely cautious and have still not confirmed a start date. We have waited too long and it's time to move on." The council’s cabinet endorsed a plan for the council to purchase St. Modwen’s holdings in Kirkby Town Centre, including the shopping centre and the Knowsley College site on Cherryfield Drive. The college plans to move to  the town centre. Transport. The M57 motorway runs adjacent to Kirkby, and the M58 motorway connects just north of the town. Other major routes include East Lancashire Road and the A506. Kirkby railway station serves the town on the northern line and on the Kirkby branch line. Stagecoach Merseyside connects Kirkby with most of Merseyside and Greater Manchester. Education. Primary secular, Church of England, and Roman Catholic education is available. At the secondary level, secular and Roman Catholic education is available. Educational services are provided or monitored by the Knowsley local education authority. Kirkby has 11 primary schools; Northwood Community  Primary School is the newest and largest. Kirkby High School and All Saints Catholic High School were formed after the town's three secondary schools closed. Ruffwood and Brookfield, due to merge in September 2009, merged a year early when Ruffwood was designated a failing school in an Ofsted report. After the shake-up, All Saints Catholic High School and the Kirkby Sports College Center for Learning emerged. On 1 September 2013, Kirkby Sports College became an academy and was relaunched as Kirkby High School. Higher education is provided by Knowsley Community College, with its main campus in Kirkby Town  Centre. The college has an annual intake of over 12,000. Houses of worship. St Chad's Church, built during the 19th century on the site of a church noted in the Domesday Book, has graves of soldiers of both world wars. Other churches are St Michael's and All Angels Roman Catholic Church; St Mark's, St Andrews and St Martin's Churches (Church of England), St Mary, Mother of God and St Joseph's Roman Catholic Churches, Kirkby Baptist Church, St Peter & Paul RC Church, Northwood Chapel, Lifegate Church and the Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses. Sports and  recreation. Kirkby is home to the training ground and youth academy of Liverpool F.C., built on the site of Kirkby Town's ground on Simonswood Lane. In 2018, Liverpool F.C. announced plans to move its full training ground to the youth academy; the move was completedduring the international break in November 2020. The most popular football teams are Liverpool and Everton; Kirkby Town, later renamed Knowsley United, was dissolved in 1997. Services. Law enforcement is provided by Merseyside Police, whose basic command unit in the borough of Knowsley has a Kirkby station on St Chad's Drive. Public transport is  co-ordinated by Merseytravel. Fire and rescue services are provided by the Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service, which has a Kirkby station on Webster Drive. Waste management is co-ordinated by the Merseyside Recycling and Waste Authority. Kirkby's distribution network operator for electricity is United Utilities; there are no power stations in the town. United Utilities also manages Kirkby's drinking and wastewater. SUEZ Recycling & Recovery UK process Merseyside and Halton's waste at a rail loading transfer station in Kirkby. The waste is transported from Kirkby to Wilton in Teesside where it is used to generate electricity. Power  generated at Wilton is sufficient to power every home in Knowsley. Kirkby is served by the Knowsley PCT, and Aintree University Hospital is the nearest hospital. The town has nine GP surgeries and four dental practices. Ambulance service is provided by the North West Ambulance Service, with a station in Kirkby. BT Group's Simonswood exchange provides local telephone and ADSL Internet service to the area, with a number of other companies offering services through local-loop unbundling. Virgin Media services are also available to the town, providing television, telephone and cable Internet access. Media. The main local newspaper is  the "Liverpool Echo". The "Kirkby Extra" and the "Knowsley Challenge" are free local newspapers. The local BBC radio station is Radio Merseyside, and the ITV franchisee is ITV Granada. Filmography. Kirkby and Seaforth were the bases for the fictional Newtown of the 1960s BBC TV series, "Z-Cars". "Behind the Rent Strike" is a 1974 documentary by Nick Broomfield documenting a 14-month rent strike in Kirkby by 3,000 social housing tenants protesting poor housing and rent increases triggered by the Housing Finance Act of 1972. The 1985 film "Letter to Brezhnev" was shot in Liverpool, with scenes filmed in  Kirkby. The film starred Margi Clarke, who was born in the town.