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Huyton ( ) is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Knowsley, Merseyside, England. Part of the Liverpool Built-up Area, it borders the Liverpool suburbs of Dovecot, Knotty Ash and Netherley.
Historically in Lancashire, Huyton was an ancient parish which in the mid-19th century contained Croxteth Park, Knowsley and Tarbock. It was part of the hundred of West Derby, an ancient subdivision of Lancashire covering the south-west of the county.
Both Huyton and Roby are mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086, Huyton being spelt Hitune.
Huyton hosted three wartime camps: an internment camp, a prisoner-of-war camp, and a base for American servicemen. The internment camp may have been one of the largest in the UK. Some internees were refugees from the , including such as Kurt Hager and a large number of artists attacked in Germany and elsewhere for their "degeneracy". Huyton internees included artists Martin Bloch, Hugo Dachinger, and Walter Nessler, dancer Kurt Jooss, musicians, sociologist Norbert Elias, anthropologist Eric Wolf and composer Hans Gál. More than 40 per cent of Huyton's internees were over 50 years old. The camp, first occupied in May 1940, was formed around several streets of new, empty council houses and flats and then made secure with barbed wire fencing. Twelve internees were allocated to each house, but overcrowding resulted in many sleeping in tents.
Initially, the camp was only meant to hold the internees until they could be shipped to the Isle of Man. However, largely in response to the torpedoing of the transport ship, Arandora Star (and the loss of 805 lives, including the Captain, 12 of his officers, 42 of his crew and 37 military guards), the deportations ended. Most of the internees were released before the camp closed in 1942. The camp was sited in and around what became known as the "Bluebell Estate" and many of the streets were given names of the great battles of WWII.
The prisoner of war camp closed in 1948. Some inmates "went native", stayed in Britain and married local women. Among those in the Huyton camp was Bert Trautmann, who later went on to be the 1950s goalkeeper for Manchester City. From 1944, American servicemen were temporarily stationed in Huyton.
In July 2008, an 18-year-old teenager Michael Causer was battered to death in a homophobic attack at a house in Huyton.
Founded in the 1990s, the gang has been involved in large-scale drug trafficking, blackmail, contract killing and violent crime. The gang rose to prominence by filling a power vacuum left by other notorious Liverpool criminals, such as Curtis Warren and Colin "Smigger" Smith, after their arrests and deaths.
Over three decades, the Huyton Firm became one of the most powerful and secretive UK crime organizations, with significant international connections.
After the Second World War, the district successfully fought off absorption into the Liverpool City Council boundaries. However, its application for borough status failed in 1952. Huyton Municipal Building was completed in 1963.
On 1 April 1974, Huyton-with-Roby became part of the new metropolitan borough of Knowsley.
By convention, Huyton-with-Roby contains Huyton Park, Roby, Longview, Huyton Quarry, Page Moss, Woolfall Heath, Bowring Park, Fincham, and Court Hey. Today this area is covered by six local government wards: Stockbridge, Page Moss, Roby, St. Gabriel's, St. Michael's, and Swanside. Stockbridge ward includes Longview (in Huyton) as well as Stockbridge Village (outside Huyton).
There are three surrounding motorway junctions (M57 J2, M62 J5 and J6) making Huyton very easily accessed via road.
Buses from Huyton bus station serve destinations as far afield as Liverpool, Kirkby, St. Helens, Warrington, Runcorn and Liverpool John Lennon Airport.
The area is host to Huyton Library (Civic Way) and before 2014 was also served by Page Moss Library (Stockbridge Lane). There is also a contemporary art gallery at Huyton Library.
There are eight public parks: Court Hey Park, Bowring Park (the oldest public park in Knowsley, opened in 1907), Huyton Lane Wetland, Jubilee Park (Twig Lane/Dinas Lane), McGoldrick Park (Rydal Road), Sawpit Park (Hall Lane/Sawpit Lane), Stadt Moers Park (covers more than of land between Whiston and Huyton) and St. John's Millennium Green (Manor Farm Road). There are also nine children's playgrounds.
Huyton has a King George's Field in memorial to King George V. It also has one of the biggest dogs' homes in Merseyside, Dogs' Trust, located on Whiston Lane.
Huyton has many public houses including The Huyton Park Hotel, The Stanley Arms (named after Frederick Stanley, 16th Earl of Derby), The Crofters, Seel Arms, Queens Arms, Oak Tree, The Old Bank, Longview Social Club and The Swan. The former Wheatsheaf/Rose And Crown reopened as The Barker's Brewery on 23 January 2011, as part of the Wetherspoon chain of pubs. Several former landmark pubs have been demolished for new projects since the late 1990s: The Dovecot, Bluebell Inn, Farmers Arms, Hillside, Eagle and Child, The Quarry Inn and The Quiet Man.
In January 2012, the Longview Social Club was destroyed by a fire on the premises.
In the early hours of 16 April 2015, four supermarkets at Longview Shops were destroyed by fire and later demolished due to extensive damage. The fire started at a One Stop and spread across another three businesses. Merseyside Police later revealed the blaze was caused by an attempted burglary.
Huyton-with-Roby has two 18-hole : Huyton & Prescot Golf Club (founded in 1905) and Bowring Golf Club (according to a sign at the course, the oldest municipal golf course in England).
Huyton has its own cricket club, located off Huyton Lane which was founded in the mid-1860s by the Stone family and the town has produced at least one first class cricketer: Reginald Moss.
Huyton also had a professional rugby league club from 1968 to 1985. It was formed from Liverpool Stanley (1934–1951) and Liverpool City (1951–1968). Huyton RLFC struggled in the second division of the Rugby Football League until 1985 when they were replaced by Runcorn Highfield. This club, later renamed Highfield RLFC, struggled on near the bottom of the pro game: in 1995–1996 they gained just one point all season and changed their name to Prescot Panthers, before folding at the end of the 1997 season. (Huytonians still interested in supporting pro rugby league have the choice of either St. Helens or Widnes Vikings, both of whom are away from Huyton).
In football, the town has produced the England midfield internationals Peter Reid (Everton) and Steven Gerrard (Liverpool). Other footballers include Craig Hignett, Tony Hibbert, David Nugent, Lee Molyneux, Leon Osman, John Relish, Greg Tansey, Lee Trundle, Callum McManaman and Cole Stockton. On 28 March 2007, two of Huyton's most prominent footballers starred for England in a 3–0 away win in Andorra. Goals came from Steven Gerrard (2) and David Nugent. Both players were educated at Cardinal Heenan High School.
Huyton has many amateur football teams at both junior and senior level, but only one FA Charter Standard Club, Paramount Community Football Club.
Despite producing so many pro footballers, Huyton has never been able to sustain a semi-pro club for long. Nearby Kirkby Town changed their name to Knowsley United in 1988 and moved to Alt Park, the former home of Huyton Rugby league Club. In United's first five seasons they were successful. In 1988–89 they finished runners-up in the North West Counties Football League. The following season they were champions and won promotion to the Northern Premier League Division One. They were accordingly promoted to the Premier Division. The following season they reached the first round proper of the FA Cup, only to be beaten by Carlisle United at home. The momentum did not last and Knowsley United ceased to be a senior semi-pro side in 1998.
Huytonians wishing to support a local semi-pro outfit have Prescot Cables located at Valerie Park in the Northern Premier League (Premier Division) less than away.
Huyton is also home to 99.8FM KCC Live, a radio station based at Knowsley Community College in Stockbridge Village. Founded in December 2003, it can be found on the 99.8 FM radio frequency.
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