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Birkenhead School was opened in Park Road North in 1860 and moved to its present site on Shrewsbury Road in Oxton in 1871. The Chapel was opened in 1883 and was central to the School’s development, while the Preparatory Department was established in 1889 and moved to Beresford Road in 1893. During 1899 the ground alongside Beresford Road was leveled to create the School’s playing field.
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In 1905 the Noctorum ground, approximately 2.3 hectares (5.5 acres) was rented and subsequently bought in 1910. Buildings on Bidston Road were acquired in 1920 for use as a science block and in 1921 the Lodge in Beresford Road was purchased for the use of the School.
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The Fender ground , 9.3 hectares, was acquired in 1922 and part was used by the newly formed Old Birkonian Football Club, prior to moving to an adjacent ground in 1926. Matches were played here until 1976, when the club merged with Birkenhead Park Rugby Club. As playing fields nearer the School were developed (see later) Fender Field was subsequently sold in 2000 and the proceeds used predominantly to provide scholarships for pupils at the School.
In 1931, "Junior School" was started in Overdale at the top of Beresford Road and in 1948 the L.C. McAllester Memorial Ground, 4.7 hectares, was presented to the School to be leveled and seeded and officially opened in 1952.
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A purpose built science block on Bidston Road was completed in 1958, which has since undergone continuous change and expansion to cope with the rapid technological advances in education.
In 1982 the Bushell Hall was opened for use by the main school and the Preparatory School moved into the vacated Shrewsbury Road buildings. These included the original “big school” dating back to 1871 and the recently closed boarding house which at its peak had catered for over forty boarders. The vacated Preparatory School building in Beresford Road was then adapted to provide an extensive Music School.
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By 1988, when what is now the Headmaster’s House on Shrewsbury Road was acquired, the School had ownership of all the properties in the block apart from the Holy Name church on Beresford Road. 1992 saw three major developments.
The Sports Hall was completed, the spacious main area allowing up to six cricket nets, but also easily adapted to cope with a range of other sports. In conjunction with Oxton Sports Club an all-weather pitch was completed on the McAllester Field site, used mainly for hockey and tennis, and the Preparatory Department’s purpose built Little School was opened in Kingsmead Road South. In 2001 a climbing wall was added to the Sports Hall, further indication of the continuing development of sporting activity within the School.
