It was originally called Crabtree Lane until a well-known city merchant leased the land to create houses for the wealthy.<\/p>\n
But as well as being a property developer the man who gave Liverpool\u2019s Falkner Square \u2013 and Falkner Street \u2013 its name was something of a local hero.<\/p>\n
\u201cEdward Falkner was the Sherriff of Lancashire, and a well-known soldier in Liverpool,\u201d says local historian Stephen Guy. \u201cThis was the time of the Napoleonic wars, and everyone was terrified that Bonaparte was going to land and invade England.<\/p>\n
\u201cEdward Falkner apparently mustered 1,000 men in a single hour for the defence of Liverpool in 1797 when a\u00a0French invasion threatened<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s an incredible story.\u201d<\/p>\n Stephen goes on: \u201cOf course, when the war ended in 1815, he was back into civilian life and he wanted this area to commemorate the war.\u00a0 He wanted to call it Wellington Square, but Wellington wasn\u2019t very popular in Liverpool \u2013 he went into politics \u2013 and so it ended up being named after Edward Falkner himself.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re talking about 1830-35, and that\u2019s how we have Falkner Square.\u201d<\/p>\n Stephen says it was a speculative development by Falkner as the city \u2018crept up the hill in Georgian times\u2019, adding: \u201cI understand it didn\u2019t really take off at first. It was an unpopular area and took a while to become fashionable with people starting to buy houses there. It was considered too far out of town, and it was called Falkner\u2019s Folly!<\/p>\n \u201cPeople of that time thought it was a crazy idea.<\/p>\n \u201cLiverpool was all centred and clustered around the Town Hall and the old castle site \u2013 the original seven streets. If you were going from town it was \u2013 is \u2013 a pretty steep climb, so you can imagine the carriages of the wealthy people (they were known as the carriage folk and it was like having a big car, it was a status symbol) struggling to go up the hill.<\/p>\n \u201cI can remember an old farmer in Rainhill about 40 years ago, telling me about going into Liverpool to market on a horse and cart, and slipping and sliding down the hill. So people were reluctant to move to Falkner Square.<\/p>\n \u201cBut as Liverpool prospered and living in town became more unhealthy with the epidemics of the 1840s when average life expectancy in the city was 19 (brought down because of the number of infant deaths), people wanted to move out, and more and more of the wealthy people chose to live in the new suburbs.\u201d<\/p>\n He adds: \u201cYou could call Falkner Square one of the first suburbs in Liverpool \u2013 Everton Brow as another one with great big mansions \u2013 and it was a salubrious area; if you were up the hill, with a fresh breeze, you were considered a lot healthier than down in the town where it was sheltered.<\/p>\n \u201cGradually it grew, and the square was one of the first open spaces, the first corporation park if you like, around 1835 when the development was pretty much completed.<\/p>\n \u201cIn the period we are talking about it became a very smart, fashionable place to live in \u2013 with merchants, and the business community.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd, I\u2019m assuming, Edward Falkner himself.\u201d<\/p>\n Read more of our features here.<\/a><\/p>\n Find out what\u2019s good up North on our new platform, The Northern Guide.<\/strong>\u00a0
\nFrom the best hotels, beauty spots, days out, food and more up North \u2013 visit\u00a0thenorthernguide.com<\/a>\u00a0and follow The Northern Guide on Instagram\u00a0HERE.<\/a><\/p>\n