The 1086 Domesday survey records the settlement of West Derby, entered under the hundred of [West] Derby in Cheshire.

Other Settlements in [West] Derby

The Meaning of the Name

The name West Derby is of Scandinavian origin. Its final element derives from the Old Norse word bý, a farmstead or village. The first element is most likely a personal name or an early descriptive term, now difficult to recover with certainty. Taken together the name probably meant something close to ‘a farmstead’.

Names of this type are a fingerprint of Scandinavian settlement: they cluster across the old Danelaw, where Norse-speaking settlers renamed or founded villages from the late 9th century onward.

Remarkably, the name has changed little since 1086, when the Domesday scribes wrote it as West Derby.

Listed Buildings Near West Derby

Historic England records 34 listed buildings within about a mile of West Derby. Listing protects structures of special architectural or historic interest, graded I (exceptional), II* (particularly important) and II.

Grade II*

Church of St Christopher - 0.97 km
Church of St Mary - 1.13 km
Monument in West Derby Village - 1.19 km
The Old Court House - 1.21 km

Grade II

Stable Block in Norris Green Park - 0.81 km
Aintree Lodge to Croxteth Hall - 0.85 km
Lodge to West Derby Cemetery - 0.9 km
Entrance to West Derby Cemetery - 0.91 km
Northfield and Office to West Derby Cemetery - 0.93 km
97-103, Almonds Green - 0.96 km
Bridge Over Path to Croxteth Hall - 1.05 km
Margaret Beavan Special School - 1.06 km
Boundary Wall, Gate Piers and Letter Box at Margaret Beavan Special School - 1.07 km
West Derby Church of England Primary School - 1.12 km
Entrance Lodge at Margaret Beavan Special School - 1.13 km
The Hunting Lodge - 1.17 km
10, West Derby Village - 1.17 km
Village pound and stocks - 1.17 km
11 - 13 West Derby Village - 1.18 km
2 to 6 West Derby Village - 1.19 km
Lodge to Croxteth Hall with railings and gateway to the northwest of the lodge - 1.2 km
Lowlands (West Derby Community Association) and attached boundary walls and gate piers - 1.2 km
Street lamp and fountain in front of Croxteth Park entrance - 1.21 km
Hare and Hounds - 1.21 km

…and 10 more listed structures in the area.

Scheduled Monuments Near West Derby

Scheduled monuments are nationally important archaeological sites given legal protection. 1 lies within roughly a mile of West Derby:

West Derby motte and bailey castle - 1.01 km

West Derby Today

Today West Derby lies within the administrative area of Liverpool, and the settlement recorded a population of 14,382 at recent figures. Nine and a half centuries separate that figure from the small rural community the Domesday survey recorded here in 1086.

Read more about modern West Derby on Wikipedia .