The town has Viking roots in common with the other -bysuffixed settlements of Formby to the north and Kirkby to the east. Crosby was known as Krossabyr[2]
in Old Norse, meaning "village with the cross".[3]
The settlement was recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Crosebi, and by the year 1212 had become Crosseby.[3] Local people are known as Crosbeians and were referred to as such in the local press but the term is little used today.
For elections to Sefton Council Crosby is covered by a range of council wards as detailed above: the Victoria ward, covers Great Crosby and North Waterloo, and is represented by three councillors. They are now all Labour Party councillors Michael Roche, Leslie Byrom CBE FRCIS, and Jan Grace.
Great Crosby – The main area which gave the town and the old municipal borough its name, despite the confusion that exists, Great Crosby is not the actual town itself but is the largest area of it which was an urban district in its own right which merged with Waterloo with Seaforth urban district to form the Municipal Borough of Crosby and defined the town of Crosby in its present borders.
Blundellsands – An area to the north west of Great Crosby. It abuts the northern section of Crosby Beach, the location of Antony Gormley's Another Place.
Waterloo – An area situated southwest of Great Crosby, originally known as Crosby Seabank. It includes Crosby Civic Hall and Library, and the Plaza Community Cinema. It abuts the southern section of Crosby Beach, the location of Antony Gormley's Another Place.
Brighton-le-Sands – An area situated between Blundellsands to the north, Waterloo to the south and Great Crosby to the east.
Thornton – A village situated to the northeast of Great Crosby.
At the 2001 UK census, Crosby had a population of 51,789. The 2001 population density was 12,502 inhabitants per square mile (4,827/km2), with a 100 to 89.2 female-to-male ratio.[7] Of those over 16 years old, 31.2% were single (never married), 43.2% married and 8.2% divorced.[8] The proportion of divorced people was above that of Sefton and England (both 6.6%), and the incidences of those who were single and married differed significantly from the national and Sefton averages (Sefton: 43.1% single, 35.5% married; England: 44.3% single, 34.7% married).[9] Sefton's 21,250 households included 32.7% one-person, 35.7% married couples living together, 6.6% were co-habiting couples, and 11.3% single parents with their children.[10] Of those aged 16–74, 28.1% had no academic qualifications, similar to 28.9% in all of England and slightly lower than the 31.0% for the Sefton borough.[11][12]
Crosby Beach is home to Antony Gormley's art installation Another Place. The sea views were described in the 19th century by a First Lord of the Admiralty as second only to the Bay of Naples.[13] Crosby's environs include several miles of beach, a marina, a number of parks and a large area of woodland known as Ince Woods. Crosby is home to a now closed Carnegie Library built with donations from the American steel magnate Andrew Carnegie. Distinctive buildings in Crosby Village include the art nouveau-inspired Crown Buildings and ten pubs – The Crows Nest, The Birkey, The George, Blues Bar, Frankies, Stamps, Corkscrew, Hampsons and Suburb 24.
Local news and television programmes are provided by BBC North West and ITV Granada. The local television station TalkLiverpool also broadcasts to the area. Television signals are received from the Winter Hill TV transmitter. [16]
Crosby is also home to Crosby Swimming Club, a member of the Amateur Swimming Association (ASA). Who are also in m and d division one and headed by head coach Lee Martin and supported by many other experienced coaches such as Nigel Forshaw, Damien Lyons and Ben Gilbertson
The Northern Club, a multi-sport club featuring cricket, hockey, crown green bowls, squash, racketball and snooker, is situated in the Moor Park area of Crosby. Near Thornton.
Crosby Marina is the home of Crosby Sailing Club and is open to all dinghy sailors of any ability or experience. The marina is also a venue for the Crosby Scout and Guide Marina Club, who offer dinghy and kayak sailing to local youngsters.
