Kirkby
Sitting in the borough of Knowsley on Merseyside, the historic town of Kirkby was originally referred to as Cherchebi in it's formative years around the time of the Norman Conquest. Mentioned in the Doomsday Book, the town still retains remnants of it's Norman past, with one of Kirkby's churches being established at around this time, and a watchtower from the period still to be seen here.
More recently Kirkby was a target for German bombers during World War 2 being, as it was, a site for ordinance manufacture, and the town was substantially redeveloped after the war due to the widespread damage.
Kirkby has been in the news for the wrong reasons in recent years: this is where toddler James Bulger, who was abducted and murdered by two local boys, was raised, and the town was singled out for tabloid attack even though the boys themselves weren't from Kirkby.
