Welcome To Wirral

The original octagonal tower was built with an entrance door five and a half feet above ground level. This would have given security and protection against flooding from the high tides, and also the ground floor would have served as a stable. The walls were built three feet in width, and a later owner, possibly William the 6th Earl of Derby constructed four turrets onto the original tower.

The Stanley family (the Earls of Derby), seem to have given up the building within a century of its construction, and it rapidly deteriorated to a ruin. Once known as The New Hall it soon became known as Mockbeggar Hall, a name commonly given to old ruined manorial halls. A chart of North Wirral, the Grenville Collins Pilot of 16SO shows the castles name as Mockbeggar Hall, and the foreshore as Mockbeggar Wharf, a name still used on today's Ordinance Survey Maps.

The castle passed through several families until bought in 1802 by Mrs Boode. Her daughter Mary Anne married Colonel Edward Cust in 1821 and the castle remained in the Cust family until 1895. Edward Cust, the 6th son of Lord Brownlow, tried initially to run the castle as a hotel, unsuccessful he then took up residence in 1843 and made many additions to the building.

In 1911 it was bought by the Trustees of the Railway Convalescent Homes, who ran the place until 1970. It was later bought in 1974 by the Wallasey Corporation who did little with it, Wirral Borough Council eventually reselling it in 1980 to Ken Harding who opened it again as a hotel.

Sir Edward Cust made many additions to the castle. In 1836 when the Star Chamber of the Court of Westminster was being demolished (so called because the ceiling was decorated with stars), he saved the oak paneling and used them to line the ground floor dining room. He used this room as a library but it became known as The Star Chamber. Some of the oak used for paneling came from the old submerged forest at Leasowe and Meols.

Sir Edward was known as a bit of a joker and he placed an oak seat at the bottom of the castle garden overlooking the sea. He named the seat 'Canute's Chair' and had carved on the back, "sea come not hither nor wet the sole of my foot". There are some people, however, who believe that King Canute actually visited Leasowe in 1016 AD. There are no traces of the chair today.

Not far from the chair were the "Mermaid Stones". These three boulders are thought to have been deposited by the glaciers from the last lce Age. They are associated with the legend of the Mermaid of the Black Rock, who is supposed to have sat upon the stones.

Fort Perch Rock

Fort Perch Rock has stood on a natural outcrop of sandstone on New Brighton beach for over 150 years yet many people know very little about this coastal defence battery. New Brighton has only existed as a town since 1830 when James Atherton first laid out the resort that he hoped would rival its southern namesake.

Before the construction of New Brighton, the area was just a desolate piece of rocky and sandy foreshore leading up to fields belonging to the village of Liscard. However, close to this coastline was the Rock Channel through which all ships had to pass to enter the Port of Liverpool. In times of war this was the ideal place to erect temporary forts and batteries of cannon to protect Liverpool. Throughout the 18th century whenever England was at war batteries of cannon would be brought to the area and located on the Red Noses and on a site where Victoria Road now stands.

During the Napoleonic wars, Liverpool merchants began to lobby for more permanent defences to guard Liverpool from attack. However, after the defeat of Napoleon's fleet at Trafalgar in 1805 fears subsided and nothing was done. It was not until the 1820s that the first plans for a fort were drawn up. Captain Kitson came up with plans to build a sandstone fort below the high tide level on the rocky outcrop known as the Perch Rock. The name Perch Rock came from a wooden perch built in the 1690s to warn passing ships of the danger of the sandstone rocks in their proximity.

Work on the Fort was started early in 1826 and on 31st March that year the foundation stone was laid. The Fort was built of sandstone, the foundations were of local stone quarried at the Captain's Pit and on a site we now know as the Tower Grounds. The rest of the stone came from Runcorn and was brought down the river on barges. Fort Perch Rock opened on 30th April 1830 and had cost £26,965 Os. 8d. to build. The Fort was armed with sixteen 32lb. cannon which fired out to sea and two 18lb. cannon which could be used to defend the Fort from attack from the land. These cannons fired round balls of iron and used gunpowder. To store the gunpowder and ball a magazine was located in the Fort. There was also accommodation for 100 men in time of war. Throughout the 19th century the guns were continually improved in 1861, 68lb. cannon with a range of 3170 yards were installed mounted on granite sets which can still be seen inside the Fort today.

By the 1890s the Forts muzzle loading cannon were obsolete and were due for replacement. Before more modern longer ranging guns could be installed the Fort had to be remodeled. This work took place between 1894 and 1899 and included the filling in of the parade ground the installation of three mounted 6 inch guns and an observation and firing post constructed on the east tower. A large electric light was also fitted which could beam out across the estuary. The walls facing out to sea were lowered by 15 ft. giving the Fort the appearance it has today.

In all of its military history Fort Perch Rock was never called upon to fire a shot in anger but a few incidents did occur. At the beginning of the First World War a Norwegian vessel which had been at sea when hostilities started did not identify itself when asked to do so by the Fort. A warning shot was fired across its bow, the shot landed on Formby beach. The ship was eventually identified as not hostile, the Captain did not know that a war had started and thought that the fort was merely practicing. The shot that landed on the beach at Formby was returned to the Fort and put on display with the inscription 'A Present From New Brighton.'

The Commander of the Fort in World War II, Colonel C.J. Cocks claimed to have fired the first British shot of the War from Fort Perch Rock. A small fishing smack under sail in the Rock Channel could not be identified fifteen minutes after the War had started. A shot was fired at the boat causing panic to its crew. Luckily it was identified as friendly in time and allowed to sail into the estuary.

A common occurrence when the guns were fired at Fort Perch Rock was for the windows in shops in Victoria Road to shatter. This was because Victoria Road is on the same rock strata as the Fort and vibrations carried through.

The Second World War proved the end for coastal defence batteries as air power had taken over from sea power. ln 1957 the War Department put the Fort up for sale. It was bought by local business man T. Mann and T. Kershaw for F4,000 which is less than it cost to build in 1830. The Fort is currently owned by Norman Kingham and is open to the public throughout the summer and at weekends- It is well worth a visit and includes interesting artifacts such as a four seater toilet!

More information can be gained by reading Ken McCarron's book 'Fort Perch Rock and the Defence of the Mersey.'