Toxteth is located to the south of Liverpool city centre, bordered by Aigburth, Canning, Dingle, and Edge Hill.

Toxteth was then developed during this time and into the 19th century, mainly as a residential area to accommodate the increasing working-class community centred on Liverpool following the Industrial Revolution.

Although attempts have been made to regenerate the area and improve living standards, significant problems with unemployment and crime remain into the 21st century.

The district quickly became home to the wealthy merchants of Liverpool, alongside a much larger poor population in modest Victorian terraces.

Sefton Park has a large glass Palm House,[3] which contains a statue of William Rathbone V unveiled in 1887, and originally had many other features including an aviary and an open-air theatre.

Over the years, various leases and grants were made and the park was owned by Adam, son of William de Liverpool, in 1338.

In 1383 a grant was made to William Bolton and Robert Baxter, in 1394 the lease was resigned and handed over to Richard de Molyneux.

Along the river are two creeks; the one near the middle is known as Knot's Hole, and another further south, called Dickinson's Dingle, received a brook which ran past the east end of St Michael's Church, Aigburth.

[9] Smithdown, referred to as Esmedune in the Domesday Book, and variously as Smededon, Smeddon, Smethesdune, Smethedon, Smethdon, Smethden,[4] has been merged into Toxteth Park since the granting of the Liverpool Charter in 1207.

On 30 August 1940, the Demi Brigade departed Liverpool for operations against Vichy forces that would include the abortive Battle of Dakar and the storming of Libreville.

After the end of World War II, Toxteth became a popular destination for Commonwealth immigrants who arrived in Liverpool from the West Indies and the Indian subcontinent.

Immigration to Toxteth has taken place from the 19th century with the arrival of African and Chinese sailors and thousands of Irish Catholic and Welsh migrants, to the present day, most recently from the Caribbean, Yemen and Somalia with relatively few from the Indian sub-continent.

The economic decline of Britain during the 1970s and early 1980s hit Toxteth and most of the rest of Liverpool particularly hard, leaving it with some of the highest unemployment rates in the country.

July 1981 saw riots in which dozens of young males clashed with police, resulting in numerous injuries on both sides as well as extensive damage to properties and vehicles.

Poverty, unemployment, racial tension, racism and hostility towards the police were largely blamed for the disturbances, which were among the worst scenes of unrest seen during peacetime in Britain.

Hundreds of people were injured, one man was killed by a police Land Rover, and numerous buildings and vehicles were damaged.

A notable tragedy occurred on 30 October 1991, when two children (nine-year-old Daniel Davies and 12-year-old Adele Thompson) were fatally injured by a speeding sportscar driven by 18-year-old joyrider Christopher Lewin in Granby Street.

Despite the efforts of community groups and other services to help train young people for jobs, youth unemployment in the area was reported to be above 50%.

[14] In April 1994, The Independent newspaper highlighted that Toxteth was still one of the most deprived areas in Britain, with unemployment in some districts exceeding 40%, and theft, drug abuse and violent crime abundant.

Vehicles and wheelie bins were set alight in the district, as well as in nearby Dingle and Wavertree, and a number of shops were looted.

Just like in 1991, once again at a time when unemployment and social unrest were high as a result of a recession, various districts of London were even more affected by this wave of national rioting than Liverpool.

However, there had already been some significant improvements by this stage, including the rebuilding of the Rialto complex (which was destroyed in the 1981 riot)[19] as a mix of retail, residential and commercial properties.

[20] Housing in Toxteth tends to be in terraces but there is a growing number of flats available as larger Victorian properties are broken up into separate dwellings.

[27] Council survey data published in 2005 showed the Welsh Streets were broadly popular with residents and in better than average condition, but were condemned for demolition because of a perceived 'over-supply' of 'obsolete' terraced houses in Liverpool.

Toxteth has two parks within its borders: The local railway station is Brunswick, located on Sefton Street in the south-western extremity of the district.

The station is on the Northern Line of the Merseyrail network with trains departing to Southport via Liverpool city centre and to Hunts Cross.