Aigburth is a suburb of Liverpool, Merseyside, England. Located to the south of the city, it is bordered by Dingle, Toxteth, Sefton Park, Mossley Hill, Garston and Grassendale.
Etymology
The name Aigburth comes from Old Norse eik and berg, meaning oak-tree hill. The name can be interpreted as "hill where oak trees grow" and is a hybrid place-name: the first part of the name is from Old Norse eik meaning "oak tree" (which is found in Eikton in Cumbria and Eakring in Nottinghamshire) and Old English beorg or berg meaning hill but as there is no real hill in Aigburth the sense here is more likely to be rising ground. Beorg or berg is more usually rendered -borough (as in Barlborough in Derbyshire) or more rarely as -barrow (as in Backbarrow in Cumbria). [1] The name was also recorded as Eikberei in an undated record.
A possible other meaning of Aigburth is Aiges' Berth, meaning the place where the Viking Aiges berthed his long boat. This is plausible because Aigburth is right on the Merseyside river mouth and not on a hill. The nearby hill has a Viking name Toxteth, which means the camp of Toces.
The spelling Aigburgh (or, more rarely, Aighburgh) is sometimes found in old publications and historical documents (for example, S. Lewis, A Topographical Dictionary of England (1848)),[2] as well as in modern references to former residents[3] [4] and is occasionally seen as an alternative (if incorrect) spelling today.
History
Historically a part of Lancashire, the area was previously part of the West Allerton parliamentary district and, as such returned (now Lord) David Alton for many years. It is now part of the Liverpool Riverside constituency and returned Louise Ellman as MP in the 2005 and 2010 general elections.
Description
Aigburth is mainly residential and covers an area following Aigburth Road (A561) and the areas either side of it until it reaches Garston. The suburb is to the south of Sefton Park and adjoins Otterspool Park, which leads to Otterspool Promenade on the Mersey. Housing in the district is mostly a mixture of terraced and semi detached homes, with large detached houses (mostly converted into flats or hotels) in Aigburth Drive overlooking Sefton Park and modern estates containing detached and semi detached houses in the Riverside Drive area. Lark Lane (between Aigburth Road and Sefton Park) is a lively place with many independent shops, restaurants and bars. The Guardian published an article about Aigburth in 2007 in its 'Let's move to ...' series.[5]