Located just four miles from Liverpool city centre and five minutes from the M62 motorway, Childwall Abbey Hotel is within easy reach of the many attractions of Liverpool. The Childwall Abbey constructed in the 15th Century, is the oldest part of the village.
However, the tradition that Childwall was the location of an abbey may have begun when Childwall Hall was extended in an ecclesiastical style. This can also be said of the church like Childwall Priory. The title of Childwall Abbey was first applied, not to the hotel as it is today, but to Childwall Hall, built in 1780 by Bamber Gascoyne.
In design, the hall was reminiscent of an ecclesiastical institution, and the inn and hearse house were built in the same tradition. As the years went by, the correct name Childwall Hall increased in popular use.
On every side breathes the spirit of old romance, and once the spectator knows the great and stirring history of the land of Childwall, the Abbey becomes invested with a new charm than even its exquisite beauty could not give.
The Inn has always been a favourite stopping place of distinguished actors who have been staying in Liverpool, and many have scratched their names on the old windows of the beautiful room which faces the church.
Among the many well-known theatrical names to be found are those of Henry Irving, Ellen Terry, E.J. Willard, Ruth Vincent and J.M. Barrie.
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Thereupon, as there were plenty of Gothic touches to the old inn, the name was transferred to it. It has remained ever so since. It does not need to be an antiquary to conjure before one's eyes pictures of long-vanished monks, Lords and Knights who have been sheltered within the Abbey walls.
Irving was fond of smoking a cigar in the old room facing the garden and Ellen Terry was never so happy as when she was roaming through the beautiful old gardens with its bowling green, on which, if tradition is to be believed, bowls have been played long before the days of Drake and Raleigh. Part of the building is said to be a renovated chapel, probably that of St Thomas the Martyr which was known as far back as 1484.
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The original inn, not then named as at present, was apparently early 17th Century, but a portion of original wall still remains and the building is certainly redolent of medieval days. Irving was greatly interested in the many quaint epitaphs which are to be found in the Churchyard, especially this curious epitaph - "Sacred to the memory of John Jones, who departed this life in his 95th year, June 1st, 1517. My sledge and hammer both decline, my bellows they have lost their wind, my fire is extinct, my forge decayed, and the dust in my vice is laid. My coals are spent, my iron is gone, my nails are driven, my work is done".
Irving was deeply interested in the beautiful old furniture of the Inn, especially the old panels taken from the original Church and the wonderful collection of autographs presented to Mrs Rimmer, the former pro-priestess of the Childwall Abbey Inn, by late friends of the Marquess of Salisbury. " Of course, the Childwall Abbey Pub is still open for a drink, splendid food or perhaps to stay the night. Throughout the ages, past custodians have not been entirely kind to the interior of the property. The ground floor has been almost completely changed and remodelled. Some say for the better to make it more ‘open plan’, some say for the worse as we have lost the sweeping staircase and the smaller individual rooms. We have attempted to provide a ‘then and now’ photo opportunity to determine what was the ‘past and present’ views of the pub to give some indication of it’s grand entrance and smaller rooms.
On the left, we see the bar area from walking in from the Score Lane entrance. Originally this was the hallway to Childwall Abbey and the image on the right shows the original view with the sweeping staircase.
The original left hand side room was the 'smoking room'. This has now been fully opened up to join the larger open plan layout of the current pub.
The side/rear function room. Largely unchanged apart from access to the kitchen quarters.
To the right hand side of the building is what was called the breakfast room, again this now open plan as per the rest of the layout.
When the lovely managers Dave & Sarah were at the Childwall Abbey, they allowed me upstairs and to explore the buildings 'hidden' parts. I was allowed access on the top floor in to the older parts of the building as well as taking a glimpse in to the attic stairs. These can only be the most original parts of the building, completely untouched!
So what IS the history of the Childwall Abbey. Well let us consider the evidence first of all. If we look at the earliest map available that provides enough scale to go to individual buildings, then a ‘building’ (unnamed) is listed on the footprint of the Childwall Abbey shown on the 1786 Yates and Perry map. It is safe to say that this is the Childwall Abbey considering the 1820’s painting that is in the possession of Alex Finlason shows the well-established building in the 1820’s.
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We know the history of All Saints Church, but we must not get excited and think that the Childwall Abbey pub has any personal connection to the building (or tunnels!). The Domesday book write up for Childwall states: “There was a priest, having half a carucate of land in frank almoign.” So we know for sure that he must have been attached to some sort of church or building. If the earliest reference to All Saints is 14th Century (the chancel), was there a building on the Church site or perhaps there was a Chapel on the site of the Childwall Abbey. But let us consider the facts.
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We can trace a building back to 1615 as this land was granted via indenture by William Earl of Derby to William Wainwright. But there is no records of there being an ‘inn’ or ‘pub’ at this time.
It is mentioned that by 1621, the building was rebuilt into a more substantial house and that if we look at the Childwall Abbey in this day and age, traces of that can still be found.​​
Wainwright was, in 1661, ordered to make a gate at the bottom of his house across the road, which was the gate at the end of Score Lane. His wife kept her ‘inn’ until 1682 and then we hear of Joseph Longworth taking over the lease from Isaac Legay. He continued to be the ‘licensee for the rest of the 17th century.’
The survey completed of Childwall in 1701, Longworth’s ‘inn’ is still listed as Wainwrights. So was the Childwall Abbey originally called ‘Wainwrights’? Following on from this, the inn was being run by Ellinor Abbot who was the daughter of Little Woolton’s innkeeper, Henry Halewood.
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Abbot may have been there long enough for the building to be name after her. Could this be the time that Wainwrights was changed to Abbot’s? A further review of history from the mid 1700’s, and the building was being run by Thomas Pigot. At this time, the bowling green was well established and was used by the entire village and not just the patrons of the pub.
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Various people took over the running of the ‘Abbot’ or ‘Abbey from this time onwards, names include Robert Johnson in 1758, Francis Huxley in 1770, John Bibby and he was replaced in 1783 by Thomas Senar. A further ten years went by where William and Ellen Jackson became occupants. After his death, his son took over, and by 1831, the building was again in new hands. Robert Rimmer took over. He passed away in 1839, and then it the running of the building passed over to his son.
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We then fast forward to 1913 where David Robinson takes over the building but only lasted a year till his death. Again, the building is passed through many hands again, names including William Wilson, Marion Hastie and Frank John Brindley.
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In 1939, the Liverpool licencing court received an application from Higson’s brewery who were proposing to build a new hotel at the Fiveways but war stopped this from happening straight away, and while it was built a few years later, both pubs have run separate from each other serving both sides of Childwall to the present day.
So, are there any tunnels in the pub? Well, I’ve been down and taken a brief look when Dave and Sarah Lee were at the helm. And I can confirm that on a brief review, I found nothing. However, I do need to go back at some point with the new custodian’s and really have a good look about in each section. However, I’ve never come across any information on tunnels in any write up’s on either the Childwall Abbey or All Saints Church. Considering the Church ‘floor’ is much lower than the Childwall Abbey cellar system, it would be more of a ‘flight of stairs’ than a simple tunnel system.
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​If there was a tunnel to the Church, then no evidence remains from the post 1906 Church extension and while the side-by-side Church and Pub is usually linked in some way, I can find no evidence that this has occurred from the past.
The last part of the history question is whether the Abbey was ever a Chapel. I can find no evidence to suggest it was. The building may have had various extensions to it over time, and possibly been rebuilt or added on to, but the main central part of the building, in my opinion is the earliest part, whereas the side wing is a later extension. Originally the Childwall Abbey was more or less an ‘L’ shape until the side extension and more of the rear extension too, although these additions have been lost in history as to when they exactly took place.
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The classic view of the ‘monks’ steps’ is another item to look at. This was taken from the 1910 Ye Olde Childwall and that the writer states that ‘I have come to the conclusion that it is a renovated Chapel, probably the Chapel of St Thomas the Martyr. However, what evidence was provided for this or where did the assumption come from?
The drawing of the monks taking their ale out of the cellar is a good image. It thickens up the thought that this was the monks in the cellar of the Abbey when it was a Chapel. In a strange co-incidence, these steps are real. They appear in the central part of the cellar system and there about 8 steps in total that stop. Originally these steps would have come out underneath the grand staircase that you can see below. However, in the reorganisation of the building in the 1960’s, these steps were covered over, and the newer cellar steps were added to gain access to the back part of the cellar system.
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Again, I find no evidence at all that these steps were ever used by the monks or that monks ever used the Childwall Abbey. Perhaps lost in time, the Abbey really was built on part of an old Chapel and some of the walls remain to this day, and that the monks steps and the monks walk at the back through the gardens were true, but perhaps only after a jar or three at the bar!
THE HISTORY OF CHILDWALL
