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#everysinglestreet [27/02/21] Dingle: Part 2 – The Ancient Chapel of Toxteth and the Holy Land

Graham Holland     

The Gaumont Cinema on the corner of Park Road and Dingle Lane is a sight for sore eyes. It was built in 1937 and closed in 1966. It seated 1,503 patrons and originally had a Wurlitzer organ in the orchestra pit. From 1966 to 1998 it was a Top Rank bingo club. When it closed the organ was moved to the Theatre Organ Heritage Centre in Eccles.

Fun fact: The right to host the telecoms masts was sold in 2013 on a 40 year lease, and the right to host an advertising hoarding was sold the same year on a 125 year lease!

Across the road from the Gaumont is The Ancient Chapel of Toxteth, founded in 1618 as Toxteth Unitarian Chapel. In 1611 a group of Puritan farmers built a school (now the chapel’s meeting room) and appointed Richard Mather as its master, aged 15! Mather went off to Oxford University but was asked to return in 1618 on completion of the church when he preached his first sermon. Since then the church has been enlarged and partly rebuilt, with a porch added in 1841. A box pew from 1650 still survives inside.

The building that houses Rambo’s Car Showroom & Hand Car Wash was built on the site of Dingle Railway Station. This was the southern terminus station for the Liverpool Overhead Railway when it was extended from Herculaneum Dock. This was the only section of the Overhead Railway that ran underground, with the station platform below street level at the end of a 3/4 mile tunnel.

There was drama in 2011 when part of the station tunnel roof collapsed, forcing families in three of the streets above to leave their homes. There was lots of fuss about who was actually responsible for fixing the problem and compensating the homeowners. If you want to see some photos from down the year the Liverpool Echo did a feature last year. https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpool-news/gallery/amazing-pictures-taken-down-years-18036493

At the end of South Hill Grove there are six houses – four facing the street entrance and two opposite. They each have their own path from the end of the road in what looks like could be the entrance to a labyrinth! The path to Number 5 actually loops round the front garden of Number 6. I’ve done a satellite screenshot with arrows!

I passed another of the cylindrical ventilation towers for the Merseyrail line (originally the Cheshire Line Railway). 

The area between Beloe Street Park Hill Road and Cockburn Street was previously streets of terraced houses. I don’t know why they were knocked down (substandard housing? Blitz?) but the ‘stubs’ of some of them still exist – Monroe Close/Street, Barclay Street, Whalley Street. Other areas have had new houses built, but this section has remained green. It now hosts the Park Hill Community Allotment Association.

The wasteland in a gap between two properties on Mill Lane was transformed in 2013 into a memorial garden by Liverpool Housing Trust, based on designs by pupils at Matthew Arnold primary school. 

There are four streets named after Old Testament prophets – David Street, Jacob Street, Isaac Street, and Moses Street, dissected half way down by Grace Street. These are known as the Holy Land. Quiet appropriately there’s a church on David Street. The Gospel Hall is still an active church, although the church hall next door has been converted into apartments. 

There’s a house half way down David Street with a large shuttered entrance. I don’t know if this was originally an urban garage or a diary. 

On my mum’s side of the family her paternal grandfather owned a bakery on Park Road – Shimmin’s. I don’t know what the exact location was (I guess I could find it if I dug through the city archives) but I like to think it was the same shop unit where Sayers bakers is today, opposite the enormous Tesco Extra.

Stats

  • Saturday 27th February 2021
  • 34 streets
    Alexander Way, Barclay Street, Beloe Street, Bosnia Street, Bowring Street, Chillingham Street, David Street, Dingle Brow, Dingle Lane, Dingle Mount, Elleray Drive, Emerald Street, Eridge Street, Grace Street, Gredington Street, Hindlip Street, Isaac Street, Jacob Street, Kedleston Street, Kelby Close, Kinnaird Street, Kirkburn Close, Lockington Close, Longford Street, Loxdale Close, Monkswell Street, Monro Close, Moses Street, Park Hill Road, Ruby Street, South View, Stopford Street, Sundridge Street, Whalley Street.
  • Total: 2,757 (48.78%)
  • Remaining: 2,895

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All of the photos from this run are in a publically viewable Facebook album.

To view them click here.

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