Landican

Landican (ˈlændɪkən) is a hamlet and former civil parish, now in the unparished area of Birkenhead, in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England. The hamlet is on the Wirral Peninsula, on the outskirts of Birkenhead, near to Woodchurch and the M53 motorway. Historically part of the county of Cheshire, it is within the local government ward of Pensby and Thingwall and the parliamentary constituency of Wirral West. Landican consists of a small group of cottages and farm buildings as well as a cemetery and crematorium. At the 2001 census the community had a population of only 20. The name possibly derives from Llan diacon, meaning "church of the deacon", with the llan- prefix being of Welsh origin. However, it does not have a parish church and probably refers to Woodchurch. Alternatively, the name could refer to the "church of St. Tecan/Tegan", an obscure Welsh saint. Landican has been variously spelt over time, including: Landechene (1086), Landekan (1240), Lankekan (1347) and Lancan (1539). The settlement of Landechene was recorded in the Domesday Book under the ownership of William Malbank and consisting of 21 households (nine villagers, seven smallholders, one priest and four Frenchmen). The hamlet was a township in Woodchurch Parish of the Wirral Hundred, which became a civil parish in 1866. From 1894 Landican was administered as part of Wirral Rural District before being absorbed into the County Borough of Birkenhead in 1928. The civil parish was abolished on 1 April 1933 and merged with Birkenhead St Mary. The population was recorded at 45 in 1801, 57 in 1851, 71 in 1901 and 66 in 1931. On the 19th of October 1944, a United States Air Force B-24 Liberator bomber from the 703rd Bomb Squadron, 445th Bomb Group based at RAF Tibenham, was on a familiarisation flight when it exploded in mid-air. The bomber crashed near the hamlet with the loss of all 24 people on board. In 1996 a large stone memorial to those who died was erected at the nearby North Cheshire Trading Estate in Prenton.