David Barton, a dedicated campaigner for Sefton's heritage, is urging the local authority to actively support property owners and private investors by fully embracing the borough's newly placed geographical district names. During his time as a councillor for Southport, Barton specifically requested clearer geographical labelling for all districts, aiming to make it easier for residents, businesses, and outside investors to identify specific neighborhoods.
New District Names Adopted Across Sefton
Several wards across the borough have recently taken on clearer, more practical names: Aintree and Maghull South (formerly Molyneux), Thornton and Hightown (formerly Manor), Lydiate and Maghull West (formerly Park), Formby East (formerly Ravenmeols), Formby West (formerly Harington), Maghull East (formerly Sudell), Great Crosby (formerly Victoria), Netherton North (formerly St Oswald), Netherton South and Orrell (formerly Netherton and Orrell), Waterloo (formerly Church), and Bootle West and Bootle East (formerly Linacre and Derby).
Barton's ultimate focus remains the restoration of Sefton, and he hopes to see Southport eventually adopt better geographically sited names in the future as well. He believes that having a clearer identity for each place helps people—especially those unfamiliar with the region—to locate sites and secure high-quality reconstruction and restoration of historic buildings.
Key Sites: Aintree Old Roan and Crosby Park House
The sites of the Aintree Old Roan and Crosby Park House are prime examples of places that could put Sefton on the map. Though both are currently earmarked for contemporary housing following turbulent demolitions, they could still offer massive benefits on economic, ecological, and environmental grounds. Barton stated, "The new place names can immensely benefit historic buildings and the construction of new 'Traditional Vernacular Architecture'. This is especially true where a building sits in an area previously named after a person, which can confuse anyone unfamiliar with local history."
Barton's 'Three Es' of Placemaking
Clearer names will contribute positively towards Barton's 'three Es' of placemaking: economy, ecology, and environment. He argues that if this proposal helps to conserve just one more building by making each part of the borough easier to identify, then it is a success and something worth pursuing with the Electoral Boundary Commission.
While Barton and his colleagues have reached out directly to the owners numerous times regarding alternative uses for these historic buildings, he hopes that someone may one day reverse the current decisions. "We could realistically reconstruct the previous superior structures, which have long been bastions of faith and community at its best," he said.
Historic and Economic Value
The Aintree Old Roan pub provided much happiness to patrons both local and afar for many milestone occasions, not least the Grand National, given its excellent positioning near the racecourse. Crosby Park House provided many noble and benevolent purposes for people beyond the Catholic community. Both places provide a vast, carbon-rich depository, host great ecological systems for wildlife, and hold a civic heritage that represents Sefton's greatest unique selling point. Even if reconstructed, they would drive interest in the local area and boost tourism economies, a fact fully backed by Historic England's own professional research studies.
