"Mini History"
This Benedictine priory is reputed to be Merseyside's oldest building
and dates back to 1150 when it was founded by Hamo de Massey,
Third Baron of Dunham
Early in the 12th century, Benedictine monks from Chester earned a living by trading with the merchants in Liverpool and operating a ferry across the river at this narrow point. They built the Birkenhead Priory here so that they could avoid having to travel daily from Chester.
By the year 1330, it was recognized how important the monk's ferry was to trade between Liverpool and Chester that Edward III granted the Priors exclusive ferry rights. At this same time, the inhabitants of Chester were becoming increasingly alarmed that the forest was acting as shelter for outlaws and, by 1376, most of The Wirral had been de-forested by order of the Earl of Chester (son of Edward III).
The monks at Birkenhead Priory continued until 1536 when the Priory was closed by order of Henry VIII's bailiff, Randle Arrowsmith, and the monks returned to Chester.
The Priory has remained closed ever since and has, naturally, suffered from the ravages of both time and developers. Never-the-less much of it remains intact. It has undergone restoration work and is open to the public.
And, Courtesy of Geoffrey Place, Local Historian
Neston Ladies Walk
On the first Thursday of every June, Neston echoes to the sound of festival as the ladies of the local Female Friendly Society walk in procession through the town, drawing sightseers in their hundreds from the surrounding district.
Formed in 1814 as a means of mutual self help for women, it was the first female friendly society in the country. By paying regular subscriptions the members were able to establish and maintain a fund, from which they could claim assistance in times of financial difficulty, such as sickness and old age.
The colourful anniversary walk keeps the society in the public eye and mind. They are led by a band. This year it was a bagpipe band from Liverpool. The kilts added even more colour. Brightly dressed women and girls form the long procession which makes its way down the High Street to the Parish Church. In their hands they carry the same white staves that are carried at funerals, but instead of black crepe they are garlanded with flowers and ribbons.
Traditionally the flowers are gathered from the members own gardens. Red paeonies, which are at their best in the Neston area during the early part of June, have become such a feature of the occasion that they are known locally as Ladies Day flowers. Before the procession two stalwarts bear the society’s 7ft. square banner with its motif of clasped hands and text from St. Paul’s letter to the Galatians, “Bear Ye One Another’s Burdens”.
The Mayor in his robes and chain of office, members of the local clergy, and many other local dignitaries walk as the guests of the society.
Inside the church the scene is as colourful as that in the High Street, with flowers packed onto every ledge that will hold them. Before taking their seats the members of the society stand their staves in the umbrella holders at the end of the pews, transforming the aisles into avenues of flowers.
Within recent years, however, the society has assumed an additional importance, it is once more unique. All the other female friendly societies in the country have been disbanded, rendered obsolete by the welfare state. Only the ladies of Neston, conscious of their responsibilities as the guardians of a tradition, walk in the footsteps of the pioneers of 1814.
Bushell Fountain - Our Newsletter Logo
1865
1940
In 1861 some Neston residents attempted to raise funds to erect a public well in the town. Christopher Bushell offered to pay any deficiency, but nothing had happened. However, in 1865 Bushell put forward the money to sink a well in the market place - the area in front of the White Horse Inn at the Cross. Despite some opposition by a few residents who thought that the poor would cause a nuisance when fetching water, the wheel well was sunk.
In Liverpool, Bushell was honoured by a marble statue, now in the Victoria building of Liverpool University. His memorial in Neston is the Bushell Fountain at the Cross, erected in 1882 on the site of the public well sunk at his expense in 1865. The memorial fountain, designed by the local board’s surveyor, John Morris, was made by Shearer, Field and Company at the Dalbeattie Granite Works near Dumfries.
The fountain was not connected to Bushell’s well, but to the mains water supply which he, as chairman of the Neston local board in its early days, had done much to promote.
In 1882 gas came to Neston and the lamp over the newly constructed fountain was gas lit, until some time after 1928 when electricity was supplied to Neston.