East of Liverpool’s city centre, Norris Green is a residential suburb and ward bounded by a clear set of major roads. The A580 East Lancashire Road and a section of Walton Hall Avenue form the northern edge, while Queens Drive and Muirhead Avenue mark the southern boundary. To the east, Lowerhouse Lane and Dwerryhouse Lane define the limit, and Townsend Avenue closes the western side. Neighbouring districts include Walton to the west, Fazakerley to the north, Croxteth to the north-east and West Derby to the south.
History and Development
Before it became a suburb, the land was a farming estate historically part of Lancashire, stretching from Stone Bridge House in the north to Norris Green Farm in the south, near the junction of Hornspit Lane and Almonds Green. In the 1920s the sale boundary ran along the railway, Carr Lane, Dwerryhouse Lane and Hornspit Lane. Liverpool Council purchased the land for £65,000 from the estate of Leyland and Naylor, and development was announced in late 1925. The suburb took its name from the Liverpool-based Norris family. There is a local story that Lord Derby, then resident at nearby Knowsley Hall, donated the land to the city, though an equally persistent account holds that he simply did not own it to begin with. Housing on the main routes and outer edges of the estate is largely brick-built, while homes on minor residential roads were constructed in concrete – a material later deemed defective. Large-scale renovation followed in the early 1970s, and around 2000 the so-called “Boot Estate” of defective concrete houses was demolished, with new homes subsequently built on the cleared land.
Local Character and Landmarks
The population recorded at the 2001 Census was 17,784, falling to 15,047 by 2011. The local district centre is known to residents as “Broadway”, centred on Broadway and Broad Lane, though this shopping area technically falls within the neighbouring Clubmoor ward. The former North Liverpool Extension Line runs past this area and Broadway Bridge crosses it. Anyone approaching Norris Green from the north or west will notice the large former Cheshire Lines railway bridge on the former Loop Line, spanning the junction of Utting Avenue and Townsend Avenue. A 1930s art deco public library is another well-recognised local building. There are no pubs within the main residential area itself, though a small number operate close to the Broadway shops.