Archaeological evidence of
Bronze Age settlement indicates that Kirkby was founded around 870 AD.
Historically, it has been part of
Lancashire. The name Kirkby derives from
Old Norse kirkja("church") and býr("village, farm"). Settlers from
Norway arrived via Ireland around 900. The first direct evidence of a settlement dates from 1086 and the
Domesday Book, with a reference to "Cherchebi" (population 70). Ownership of present-day Kirkby (established as the
West Derby hundred in the 11th century) passed through a number of hands until 1596, when the Molyneux family purchased the
hundred. After a brief loss of patronage in 1737 (when the head of the family took
holy orders), in 1771,
Charles Molyneux became the 1st Earl of Sefton and regained the land. Although it remained largely farmland until the mid-20th century, transport links to the region began in 1848 with the building of the
Liverpool and Bury Railway through Kirkby. The
East Lancashire Road (the A580) added a road connection in 1935, and industrial development was considered before the
Second World War.
ROF Kirkby, a
Royal Ordnance Factory, was established in 1939 and completed in 1941. At its peak, the factory employed over 20,000 workers. Liverpool had
received much damage by the end of the war, and much of the remaining housing stock were
slums. The
Liverpool Corporation began a policy of buying land in surrounding areas and moving industry (and people) to newly developed "overspill" estates. This process culminated with the purchase of of land, including Kirkby, from the
Earl of Sefton in 1947 for £375,000 (£ adjusted for inflation). Kirkby became
Merseyside's largest over-spill estates. A 1949 Liverpool proposal to have Kirkby designated a
new town was rejected. Large-scale development began in February 1950 with the construction of the Southdene neighbourhood; the first houses were finished in 1952, the 5,000th in 1956, and the 10,000th in 1961. A population of 3,000 in 1951 grew to over 52,000 by 1961. The
Kirkby Urban District was created in 1958. Its population grew between the 1950s and the 1970s due to over-spill housing for
Liverpool. Growth caused a number of problems, including a lack of local amenities. Although occupation of Southdene's
council estates had begun in 1952, its first shops were not completed until 1955 and its first
pub did not open until 1959. The people who were being moved into Kirkby during this period came from Liverpool's poorest areas. Kirkby Industrial Estate expanded to become one of England's largest; at its peak in 1971, the estate employed over 26,000 people. Kirkby became an
Urban District in 1958. This status was later abolished, and on 1 April 1974 Kirkby was combined with
Huyton with Roby and
Prescot Urban District and parts of
Whiston and
West Lancashire Rural Districts to form the
Metropolitan Borough of Knowsley. ==Government==