Freshfield is an area of Formby, in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton, Merseyside, England, situated at the northern end of the town. It has no local political distinction or representation and is included as part of the two council wards which make up Formby, nor is it any longer separated in a physical sense from the town. The area is often considered to be affluent with local celebrities, footballers, politicians and businessmen making it their home. Shireburn Road in Freshfield is the most expensive road in Merseyside, house prices on the exclusive road averaged £1,159,831 in 2009.
History
The name did not exist until Formby's second railway station, Freshfield, was built in 1854. The name was chosen, as the local landowner, Thomas Fresh, owned the adjacent model farm and fields. Fresh was Inspector of Nuisances in Liverpool and was one of the celebrated trio of pioneering officers appointed in 1847 by the Borough of Liverpool's Health of the Town Committee; the others being William Henry Duncan, the UK's first medical officer of health, and James Newlands, borough engineer. A process of reverse naming seems to have occurred with some people referring to the area of Formby around this station as "Freshfield". The title originally proposed was "Freshton".
Governance
Until 1974, Freshfield was part of the urban district of Formby within the administrative county of Lancashire. Since 1 April 1974, it has formed part of the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton, in Merseyside. From 1950 until 2010 Freshfield like the rest of Formby formed part of the constituency of Crosby, The MP for Crosby from 1997 until 2010 was Claire Curtis-Thomas, a member of the Labour Party, prior to her election the seat was generally considered to be a safe Conservative Party stronghold with Tory MPs elected at every election barring the 1981 Crosby by-election where Shirley Williams of the Social Democratic Party was elected to represent the constituency. As a result of the Crosby constituency being abolished for the 2010 general election, Freshfield like the rest of Formby is part of the newly created Sefton Central constituency represented by Bill Esterson, a member of the Labour Party. For elections to Sefton Council, Freshfield is divided between two electoral wards with three councillors each: Harington ward, whose councillors are Gillian Cuthbertson, Alf Doran, and Denise Dutton, all members of the Conservative Party, and Ravenmeols ward, whose councillors are Barry Griffiths, Anne Ibbs, David Mcivor, again all Conservative Party members.
