Forums Forums Wirral History : Chasing the Past History Information Request Whetstone Lane

Indeed, and as noted previously sword carrying soldiers, engaged in conflict within the locality, would perhaps of made use of this stone to add an edge to their weapons. Possibly giving rise to an association between Whetstone Lane and the Civil War, after all such a connection is not that outlandish, as evidenced by the tradition linked to Whetstone in Middlesex.

As to Holt Hill it was something of a distraction in relation to the discussion, interesting though as important questions have placed under the microscope the claim its name derives from an Anglo-Saxon term for 'wood'.

Another look at the etomology Whetstone, supporting the theory of the old English word 'hwet-stan'. See Ancestry freepages - origins.

So what kind of stone would this have been?. The underlying rock is 'Triassic sandstone and conglomerate, interbedded' according to the BGS geology data overlay for Google Earth - basically the red sandstone that we all know.
So, why have a quarry at the bottom of the hill if any old piece of plentiful red sandstone would do - unless this quarry or one nearby had something a bit special 'interbedded' in it? We already know that it is quite common to find yellow sandstone locally, but I seem to remember seeing that Storeton has red sandstone as well as a layer of harder, creamier coloured stone in its quarry. And by looking at the houses and walls in Whetstone Lane (albeit of far later construction) both red, yellow and cream seem to be used - the latter weathering the best - all of which must have been quarried locally.

Wirral does have granite as well in the form of boulders that were swept down with the ice flow from Scotland.

Some of its natural sandstone is exceptionally hard, it was famous enough to be used to clad the Empire State Building.

That's all a bit erratic, wouldn't you say?!

I think there's quite a large granite one in Wallasey's Central Park, just by the walled gardens.

Following on from Norton’s post, my knowledge of geology is practically nil, so this suggestion may be ridiculous. Is it not possible that there was an outcrop of granite or other hard stone amongst all the sandstone, which was exposed due to erosion or quarrying? As an example, I’m thinking of the Grannie Rock on Wallasey Breck. I was told many years ago that the name was a corruption of ‘the granite rock’ so called because it was …granite. But this is at the top of the Wallasey sandstone ridge.

Even today the rock is very impressive, despite continuing erosion (and attacks by the local graffiti vandals). Perhaps there was a similar outcrop around the Whetstone Lane area which disappeared during the rapid expansion of Birkenhead.

Not ridiculous at all Nightwalker, I assume if granite can find its way to Wales then small pockets could find its way here. My knowledge of geology is not practically nil, it is nil.

So is mine!! To be honest, I only cut and pasted the big words, but not trying to show off.
I like the idea that the Ice Age brought them here, the same way as pebbles on the beach. Pebbles start as rocks and get rubbed together, so getting smaller and smoother. So that won't happen to a big lump on granite that's landed on a hill, or to one that's got stuck in a valley - will it?
Maps are great for showing us where the quarries were, but not what was in them. If it was for sandstone, you could dig a quarry almost anywhere on this side of the Wirral to get some. It's the type of material and its quality that is important, which is why the likes of Storeton exsisted until the best stone was exhausted.

Sorry if this is going off topic a bit but, there is a possibility that Grannie or "Granny's" Rock was left isolated in the quarry at Wallasey Breck simply because it had originally acted as some kind of crane base or pulley system for lifting the surrounding stone blocks.

I don't think that Granny's Rock is made of anything other than sandstone. I always heard it was called Granny's Rock because the shape of the rock had a seat like appearance on one side and looked like an old person's chair.

Off topic also but info on Granny Rock here

The Breck is a large feature of Wallasey village which cannot be passed by unnoticed. The Breck rises to around 180 feet at its peak as was a large open common for the people of the township.

In 1845 Sir John Tobin of Liscard Hall purchased the land and worked the rocks as a quarry.
The largest and most sheer rock face is known
locally as Grannie Rock.

The Breck was an old playground for the older people of Wallasey and many people would climb or attempt to
climb the rock face.

In recent years this has stopped as many of the foot holes and grips have eroded which is the only method of
being able to climb up the face.

The top ground of the Breck is a relatively flat area which had been used as a bed for the large crane
to sit on whilst it lifted materials from inside the quarry. This part of the rock face was much more
difficult to climb and has resulted in several injury's and reported deaths.

In Noel E Smiths book
"Sand Stone & Mortar" he mentions that a young boy in 1927 attempted to jump from the top and
parachute down using an umbrella. Needless to say the poor lad did not survive.

At the moment I'm thinking of whetstone as being West Town at the start of Birkenhead.
We have now a Northend and Southend of Birkenhead (where did those names originate)


In Street Name of Wirral by Steve Horton there is no mention of Whetstone Lane or Holt hill.
There is "Wetsone Lane and Holm Hill are named after Wetstone House, that later became Holm Hill. In the early 20th century it was the home of James Bibby, an oil cake manufacturer."


Extracts from a book by John Nichols - 1807, covering the Guthlaxton Hundred:-
The name Whetstone is probably a corruption of West-Town (abbreviated Weston). “Within the Deanery of Guthlaxton, in the ecclesiastical division of the county”, described as situated “but a little distance west from the turnpike road leading from Leicester to Northampton”.



Millstone grit
Local stone of the Calder Valley which is predominantly a coarse sandstone. It is a sedimentary rock composed of coarse grains of sand. It is quarried for use as building material. The name comes from the fact that it was used for millstones to grind flour and for whetstones to sharpen blades.



At the height of the Civil War, Colonel Sir Thomas Tyldsley arrived in Birkenhead with a troop of Cavaliers and proceeded to find his cannons across the river at the Roundheads who, at that time, held Liverpool’s 13th century castle. The castle survived this particular bombardment only to be replaced by church in 1743 and later by the Queen Victoria Monument in 1897. Castle Street is the only trace that Liverpool now has of its ancient castle.
If the cannon could reach Liverpool, I should think from the top of Holt Hill they'd have been able to reach the Priory

There's no problem a cannon reaching Liverpool from here but was unlikely to hit anything with any consistency, hence the reason the castle survived, the mortar was more of an effective weapon but couldn't reach Liverpool from here.

Wirral's bedrock is Sedimentary, not Igneous, so no Granites

Open the Geology Of Britain viewer here

http://www.bgs.ac.uk/discoveringGeology/geologyOfBritain/viewer.html

But large boulders of granite were brought here by glaciers.

Well we would need to know of examples, locations on the Wirral, as that would be interesting to note.

Such as occur in the Glacial deposits at Thurstaton

http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/434596

Not sure though if they are granites diorites, metamorphic, etc

Seems one study of samples from erratics at that location showed Diopside a mineral associated with Metamorphism, so in that specific case not a Granite

http://www.mindat.org/min-1294.html

There have been claims of Criffel Granite erratics on the Wirral, though would be good to know where. This is an example of one such in Lancashire:

http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/1849218

Note though that Sandstone, with it's quartz rich content makes sa very practical Whetstone

Barnston (the Barn Stone) and Willaston (the Wirral Stone) are two that spring to mind, I'm fairly sure Bidston was listed somewhere.

At Thurstaston you can see granite pebbles and rocks falling out the cliff face.

And at Parkgate you can see granite pebbles in the sandstone blocks along the promenade.