Fazakerley


Fazakerley is a suburb of north Liverpool, in Merseyside, England. It is part of the Liverpool Walton parliamentary constituency. At the 2011 Census, it had a population of 16,786.

Description

Fazakerley is in north Liverpool; neighbouring districts include Croxteth, Gillmoss, Aintree and Kirkby. It includes Fazakerley railway station, Altcourse Prison and Aintree University Hospital.

History

Fazakerley takes its name from Anglo-Saxon root words—all descriptive words pertaining to land; *Fæs-æcer-lēah. This can be broken down to fæs, æcer and lēah, meaning a wood or clearing.
In 1321, Fazakerley was described as follows: "the country is extremely flat and treeless, with nothing to recommend it to the passer-by, for it seems to be a district of straight lines, devoid of any beauty." It had an area of ; it was separated from Walton by a brook and from West Derby partly by Sugar Brook up to Stone bridge.
Fazakerley was formerly a township in the parish of Walton-on-the-Hill; in 1866, Fazakerley became a separate civil parish and the parish was abolished and merged with Liverpool on 1 April 1922. In 1921, the parish had a population of 6,055.
The suburb was once home to a Royal Ordnance Factories plant at ROF Fazakerley, which manufactured weapons such as the Lee–Enfield rifle, Sten and Sterling submachine guns both during and after World War II.

Transport

is a stop on the branch of the Northern Line on the Merseyrail network. It is generally served by four trains per hour between and Headbolt Lane; in late evenings and on Sundays, services are reduced to two trains per hour in each direction.

In popular culture

The 1983 Yorkshire Television drama One Summer was partially set in Fazakerley.

Notable residents