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72-755: The Wirral Peninsula ( / ˈ w ɪr əl / ), known locally as the Wirral , is a peninsula in North West England . The roughly rectangular peninsula is about 15 miles (24 km) long and 7 miles (11 km) wide, and is bounded by the Dee Estuary to the west, the Mersey Estuary to the east, and Liverpool Bay to the north. Historically, the Wirral was wholly in Cheshire ; in the Domesday Book , its border with

144-461: A basin . This may create peninsulas, and occurred for example in the Keweenaw Peninsula . In the case of formation from meltwater, melting glaciers deposit sediment and form moraines , which act as dams for the meltwater. This may create bodies of water that surround the land, forming peninsulas. If deposition formed the peninsula, the peninsula was composed of sedimentary rock , which

216-432: A £4.5bn development around the docklands to be called Wirral Waters . The development is a mixture of industrial, office, residential and leisure facilities. Planning permission was granted in 2010 and work began on the site in 2011, with development work potentially lasting for 30 years. The Wirral can be defined both as a geographical peninsula and as a socio-cultural area. The current Metropolitan Borough of Wirral has

288-697: A benign environment. The opening of the Manchester Ship Canal in 1894, with its outfall at Eastham, led to further port-side and industrial development beside the Mersey at Ellesmere Port. In 1886, the Mersey Railway tunnel was opened, linking the Wirral and Liverpool. This led to the further rapid growth of suburbs in the Wirral, particularly in Wallasey, Hoylake and West Kirby, and later Bebington and Heswall. Wallasey's population grew to over 53,000 by 1901, and

360-642: A charter from Edward III. At this time, large areas of Wirral were owned by Chester Abbey. In 1278 the Abbey was granted the right to hold an annual three-day fair at Bromborough, but the fair declined after the Black Death in 1349. Another fair was established in 1299 at Burton . Meanwhile, Meols continued as an important port, and the eroded coastline there has provided what is described as "the largest collection of medieval domestic items to have come from any single site outside London" . A Subsidy Roll of 1545 shows that

432-479: A church built in 1858–59 and the separate tower of a former medieval church. Both the church and the tower are recorded in the National Heritage List for England as designated Grade II listed buildings . The church is an active Anglican parish church in the diocese of Chester , the archdeaconry of Chester and the deanery of Wallasey. The present building is believed to be the sixth church on

504-484: A mantle of glacial till , a legacy of the last ice age . Wind-blown sands cover the northern coastal margin. Low ground behind these sand are reclaimed tidal flat deposits which also extend into the heavily modified Birket which occupies a buried bedrock channel. This channel and others beneath the Dee and Mersey estuaries were formed in part by the southeasterly movement of Irish Sea Ice during successive ice ages. Low cliffs of

576-423: A new oil dock was built at Stanlow near Ellesmere Port, and in 1934 oil refining began there. A large chemical and oil refining complex still dominates the area. In 1929, the 3rd World Scout Jamboree was held at Arrowe Park and this celebrated the 21st Anniversary of the publication of Scouting for Boys . Thirty-five countries were represented by 30,000 Scouts , plus another 10,000 British Scouts who took

648-549: A parliament at Thingwall . The pseudo-historical Fragmentary Annals of Ireland appears to record the Hiberno-Scandinavian settlement of the Wirral peninsula in its account of the immigration of Ingimundr near Chester. This Irish source places this settlement in the aftermath of the Vikings' expulsion from Dublin in 902, and an unsuccessful attempt to settle on Anglesey soon afterwards. Following these setbacks, Ingimundr

720-462: A population of 312,293 (according to the 2001 census ), and covers an area of 60.35 sq mi (156.3 km), bounded by the Cheshire Plain , the Dee and the Mersey. The Irish Sea lies to its north west side. The peninsula is formed almost wholly from sedimentary bedrock of Triassic age, being sandstone , mudstones and siltstones . Strata exposed at or near the modern surface include

792-455: A small Iron Age fort at Burton , for which the town was named ( burh tūn being Old English for "fort town"). Around AD 70, the Romans founded Chester . Evidence of their occupation on the Wirral has been found, including the remains of a road near Mollington , Ledsham and Willaston . This road may have continued to the port at Meols, which may have been used as a base for attacking

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864-463: A trading port. Evidence of Celtic Christianity from the 5th or 6th centuries is shown in the originally circular shape of churchyards at Bromborough , Woodchurch and elsewhere, and also in the dedication of the parish church at Wallasey to a 4th-century bishop, Hilary of Poitiers . The Celtic names of Liscard and Landican (from Llandecwyn ) both suggest an ancient British origin. The name of Wallasey, meaning "Welsh (or foreigners') island",

936-478: Is a ring of six bells cast by John Taylor & Co in 1859. The churchwardens ' accounts begin in 1658 and the parish registers in 1574; both were saved in the fire of 1857. The organ was built in 1861 by Henry Willis to the design of W. T. Best, who was organist at that time, with two manuals . Around 1903 the instrument was entirely reconstructed as a three-manual organ of 39  stops and 15 couplers, designed by Dr James Lyon, who

1008-555: Is also seen as an east–west divide between the affluent and developing areas of the Wirral. Despite containing urban and industrial areas, the Wirral still has picturesque villages, sandy beaches, large areas of land owned by the National Trust , as well as views across the two estuaries and out into the Irish Sea. Wirral Council has identified over 130 public access points within its administrative area to beaches and to open water. Among

1080-450: Is evidence of British settlement. The Welsh name, both ancient and modern, for the Wirral is Cilgwri . In Welsh mythology , the ouzel (or blackbird ) of Cilgwri was one of the most ancient creatures in the world. The Anglo-Saxons under Æthelfrith , king of Northumbria , laid waste to Chester around 616. Æthelfrith withdrew, leaving the area west and south of the Mersey to become part of Mercia , and Anglo-Saxon settlers took over

1152-723: Is evidence of occupation through to the Bronze Age , around 1,000 BC, and funerary urns of the period have been found at West Kirby and Hilbre . Before the time of the Romans , the Wirral was inhabited by a Celtic tribe, the Cornovii . Artefacts discovered in Meols suggest it was an important port from at least 500 BC. Traders came from Gaul and the Mediterranean localities to seek minerals from North Wales and Cheshire. There are remains of

1224-653: Is stated to have settled near Chester with the consent of Æthelflæd , co-ruler of Mercia . The boundary of the Viking colony is believed to have passed south of Neston and Raby , and along Dibbinsdale . Evidence of Norse speech on the Wirral can still be seen from place name evidence – such as the common -by (meaning "village" in Scandinavian languages) – suffixes and names such as Tranmere , which comes from trani melr (" cranebird sandbank"). Viking Age sculpture corroborates this. Recent Y-DNA research has also revealed

1296-436: Is that there was no boiler or boilerhouse, the church was heated by stoves. Prayer Mats are Islamic, not Protestant; and the only effect of storing bacon in such an environment would be to turn it rancid. Because Wallasey had no fire service, a messenger had to be dispatched to Birkenhead , and by the time the fire brigade arrived the structure was beyond saving. The church was rebuilt as a separate building in 1858–59, leaving

1368-581: The Backford gap, and the town of Ellesmere Port began to develop. The excavation of the New Cut of the Dee, opened in 1737, to improve access to Chester, diverted the river's course to the Welsh side of the estuary and took trade away from the Wirral coastline. Although plans were made to overcome its gradual silting up, including one in 1857 to cut a ship canal from a point between Thurstaston and Heswall to run along

1440-573: The Blitz , parts of the Wirral, especially around the docks, suffered extensive bomb damage. There were 464 people killed in Birkenhead and 355 in Wallasey, and 80% of all houses in Birkenhead were either destroyed or badly damaged. During the Second World War, the Wirral held two RAF sites, RAF West Kirby (which was a camp, not an airfield) and RAF Hooton Park and a number of anti-aircraft sites to protect

1512-532: The Lady Lever Art Gallery at Port Sunlight and the Williamson Art Gallery in Birkenhead. The historical sites include Birkenhead Priory , Leasowe Lighthouse , Hadlow Road railway station and the buildings and ancient carvings on Bidston Hill . For reasons that are both social and geographical, accents on the east side of the Wirral tend to show a stronger Merseyside influence than those on

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1584-644: The Norsemen and the Scots , and thus historians consider it the birthplace of England. The battle site covered a large area of the Wirral. Egil's Saga , a story which tells of the battle, may have referred to the Wirral as Wen Heath, Vínheíþr in Icelandic . After invading England in 1066 and subduing Northumbria in 1069–1070, William the Conqueror invaded and ravaged Chester and its surrounding area, laying waste to much of

1656-513: The Old English wir , a myrtle tree, and heal , an angle, corner or slope. It is supposed that the land was once overgrown with bog myrtle, a plant no longer found in the area, but plentiful around Formby , to which the Wirral would once have had a similar habitat . The name was given to the Hundred of Wirral (or Wilaveston) around the 8th century. The earliest evidence of human occupation of

1728-505: The 13th century. It is in three stages with diagonal buttresses . On the north and east faces are blocked arches. The louvred bell openings have three lights and at the top is an embattled parapet with gargoyles . The roof is arch-braced in type. In the chancel is a two-bay organ loft to the north and a two-bay chapel arcade to the south. The wooden reredos has rich carving. The stalls are dated 1897 and are decorated with Arts and Crafts ornament and enamel plaques. There

1800-558: The 16th century. A peninsula is generally defined as a piece of land surrounded on most sides by water. A peninsula may be bordered by more than one body of water, and the body of water does not have to be an ocean or a sea. A piece of land on a very tight river bend or one between two rivers is sometimes said to form a peninsula, for example in the New Barbadoes Neck in New Jersey , United States. A peninsula may be connected to

1872-516: The 18th century the Wirral side of the Mersey had five ferry houses, at Seacombe , Woodside , the Rock , New Ferry and Eastham. Other communications were also improving. Turnpike roads linking Chester with Eastham, Woodside, and Neston were built after 1787. In 1793, work began on the Ellesmere Canal , connecting the Mersey with Chester and Shropshire through the fluvioglacial landform known as

1944-563: The Deathly Hallows – Part 1 during the scene where Harry and Hagrid escape on a flying motorcycle and pass through the tunnel. The scene was filmed while the tunnel was closed for repairs. The 2013 film Fast & Furious 6 tunnel chase scene was filmed in the Queensway Tunnel. The unused Birkenhead Dock branch of the Queensway Tunnel was filmed as a New York underpass in the 2014 movie Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit . In October 2017,

2016-555: The Dee Estuary nature reserve. Places of architectural interest include Hamilton Square , Rock Park and Port Sunlight . The view of the buildings on Liverpool's Pier Head when crossing on the Mersey Ferry is famous. Many villages of the Wirral such as Burton are also well preserved with their characteristic red sandstone buildings and walls. The old port of Parkgate also attracts many visitors. The arts are well represented by

2088-661: The Dee and Mersey estuaries, Irish Sea and... the route of the Shropshire Union Canal between Ellesmere Port and Chester". This definition extends the original hundred slightly further east, to the River Gowy. The Shropshire Union Canal joins the Mersey at Ellesmere Port and the Dee at Chester. This canal technically makes the peninsula an island. In the north of the peninsula, the River Fender , Arrowe Brook and Greasby Brook drain into The Birket , which itself flows into

2160-519: The Kinnerton Sandstone at Burton Point are part of a relict shoreline, the Dee estuary having silted up during the post-glacial period. The former coast can be traced from Blacon northwest to Burton Point and thence to Parkgate where spring tides still reach the historic coastline. A well developed glacial drainage channel , known as the Deva Spillway cuts across the base of the peninsula between

2232-575: The River Mersey via Wallasey Pool (Birkenhead Docks). Further south, the Clatter Brook and Dibbinsdale Brook drain into the Mersey at Bromborough Pool . Two approximately parallel sandstone ridges run down the length of the peninsula. The western ridge is made up of Grange and Caldy Hills at 256 feet in height, then Thurstaston Hill (298 ft), Poll Hill in Heswall (350 ft, the highest point on

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2304-514: The Wirral dates from the Mesolithic period, around 12,000 BC. Excavations at Greasby have uncovered flint tools, signs of stake holes and a hearth used by a hunter-gatherer community. Other evidence from about the same period has been found at Irby , Hoylake and New Brighton . Later Neolithic stone axes and pottery have been found in Oxton , Neston , and Meols . At Meols and New Brighton there

2376-418: The Wirral except the northern tip. Many of the Wirral's villages, such as Willaston, Eastham and Sutton , were established and named at this time. Towards the end of the 9th century, Vikings began raiding the area. They settled along the Dee side of the peninsula, and along the sea coast, giving their villages names such as Kirby , Greasby and Meols. They introduced their own local government system with

2448-508: The Wirral's Mersey coast for industrialisation. The 1820s saw the birth of the area's renowned shipbuilding tradition when William Laird opened his shipyard in Birkenhead , later expanded by his son John Laird . The Lairds were largely responsible for the early growth of Birkenhead, commissioning the architect James Gillespie Graham to lay it out as a new town modelled on Edinburgh . In 1847, Birkenhead's first docks and its municipal park ,

2520-449: The Wirral) and Burton (222 ft). The less continuous eastern ridge consists of Bidston Hill (231 ft), Prenton (259 ft) and Storeton Hill (229 ft). The shallow Fender valley runs between these ridges. The Wirral features a temperate maritime climate ( Köppen : Cfb ) with mild summers, cool winters and rainfall spread evenly throughout the year. A weather station

2592-506: The Wirral. James Atherton and William Rowson developed the resort of New Brighton , and new estates for the gentry were also built at Egremont , Oxton , Claughton and Rock Ferry. Arrowe Hall was built for the Shaw family in 1835. In the mid-19th century docks were established at Birkenhead and in the Wallasey Pool, and continuing development for a wide range of industry both there and along

2664-670: The Wirral. The Domesday survey of 1086 shows that the Wirral then was more densely populated than most of England, and the manor of Eastham , which covered most of the east of the peninsula from Bidston to the River Gowy , was the second largest in Cheshire. Of the 28 former lords of the Wirral manors listed, 12 bore Norse names. By 1086, most of the area was in the hands of Norman lords such as Robert of Rhuddlan , his cousin Hugh d'Avranches , and Hamo de Mascy . The survey shows 405 family heads living in

2736-753: The Wirral: notably, Ellesmere Port is often described as one of its "border towns". For regional economic planning, the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral is considered part of the Liverpool City Region . There are many towns and villages on the Wirral. Those administered by the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral are listed in List of towns and villages in Wirral (borough) . Those also on the Wirral but administered by Cheshire West and Chester include: The M53

2808-582: The areas of open land are Bidston Hill , Caldy Hill , Eastham Country Park , including the Victorian Pleasure Gardens, Hilbre Island , North Wirral Coastal Park , Thurstaston Common and Thor's Stone and the Wirral Way . Ness Botanical Gardens are part of the University of Liverpool and have won many awards. The visitor centre at RSPB Burton Mere Wetlands provides birdwatching facilities in

2880-464: The banks of the Mersey. The New Chester Road was opened in 1833. The Wirral's first railway was built in 1840, planned by George Stephenson and connecting Birkenhead with Chester . In 1852 Price's Patent Candle Company built a factory and model village at Bromborough. This was followed in 1888 by William Lever 's establishment of the much larger Sunlight soap factory and Port Sunlight garden village, designed to house its employees and provide them with

2952-490: The case of Florida , continental drift, marine sediment, and marine transgressions were all contributing factors to its shape. In the case of formation from glaciers (e.g., the Antarctic Peninsula or Cape Cod ), peninsulas can be created due to glacial erosion , meltwater or deposition . If erosion formed the peninsula, softer and harder rocks were present, and since the glacier only erodes softer rock, it formed

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3024-463: The docks of Birkenhead and Liverpool. After the Second World War , economic decline began in the older industries in the area which had started to become known as Merseyside. However, there continued to be industrial development along the Mersey between Birkenhead and Ellesmere Port, including the large Vauxhall Motors car factory on the site of RAF Hooton Park. Plans were announced in 2006 for

3096-522: The first in Britain and the inspiration for New York's Central Park , were opened, and the town expanded rapidly. Bolstered by migration from Ireland, Wales and rural Cheshire, Birkenhead's population of less than one thousand in 1801 rose to over 33,000 by 1851, and to 157,000 by 1901. The town became a borough in 1877, incorporating within it Oxton and Tranmere. The improved communications also allowed Liverpool merchants to buy up and develop large estates on

3168-509: The following (in stratigraphic order i.e. uppermost/youngest at top): A small outcrop of Carboniferous rocks occurs around Little Neston, being an extension of the Flintshire Coalfield across the Dee estuary. These Coal Measures rocks were formerly exploited by a small mining operation . The strata have a slight, generally easterly dip and are cut by numerous extensional faults most of which are aligned broadly north–south. For

3240-615: The forest laws was a chief forester who was appointed with a ceremonial horn , and the position soon became a hereditary responsibility of the Stanley family . However, after complaints from minor Wirral landowners about the wildness of the area and oppression by the Stanleys, Edward the Black Prince as Earl of Chester agreed to a charter confirming the disafforestation of the Wirral, shortly before his death from amoebic dysentery . The proclamation

3312-462: The genetic trail left by Scandinavians on the Wirral, specifically relatively high rates of the haplogroup R1a , associated in Britain with Scandinavian ancestry. Bromborough on the Wirral is also one of the possible sites of an epic battle in 937, the Battle of Brunanburh , which confirmed England as an Anglo-Saxon kingdom. This is the first battle where England united to fight the combined forces of

3384-450: The length of the Wirral to Chester, this and other schemes came to nothing, and the focus of general trade moved irrevocably to the much deeper Mersey. However, from the late 18th century there was coal mining near Neston, in tunnels stretching up to two miles (three kilometres) under the Dee, and a quay at Denhall was used for coal exports. The first steam ferry service across the Mersey started in 1817, and steam-powered ships soon opened up

3456-520: The mainland via an isthmus , for example, in the Isthmus of Corinth which connects to the Peloponnese peninsula. Peninsulas can be formed from continental drift , glacial erosion , glacial meltwater , glacial deposition , marine sediment , marine transgressions , volcanoes, divergent boundaries or river sedimentation. More than one factor may play into the formation of a peninsula. For example, in

3528-464: The most part the bedrock is poorly exposed being covered by superficial deposits of Quaternary age. Notable exposures of the Helsby Sandstone occur at Bidston Hill and at Red Rocks at the northwestern tip of the Wirral along with the tidal islands at Hilbre . Elsewhere Mercia Mudstone rocks outcrop prominently at Caldy Hill, Thurstaston Common and Heswall Dales. Much of the Wirral is covered by

3600-604: The north Wales coast. Storeton Quarry may also have been used by Romans for materials for sculpture. Remains of possible Roman roads have also been found at Greasby and at Bidston . By the end of the Roman period, pirates were a menace to traders in the Irish Sea , and soldiers may have been garrisoned at Meols to combat this threat. Although Roman rule ended with the departure of the last Roman troops in 410, later coins and other material found at Meols show that it continued to operate as

3672-694: The opportunity to camp in the vicinity. The rail tunnel under the Mersey was supplemented by a vehicle tunnel in 1934, the Queensway Tunnel . A third tunnel opened in 1971, the Kingsway Tunnel , connecting with the M53 motorway which now runs up the centre of the peninsula. These new roads contributed to the massive growth of commuting by car between Liverpool and the Wirral, and the development of new suburban estates around such villages as Moreton , Upton, Greasby, Pensby , and Bromborough. In 1940–1941, as part of

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3744-536: The parish of Bebington) and Liscard, and were the same size as small rural villages. The Wirral's proximity to the port of Chester influenced the history of the Dee side of the peninsula. From about the 14th century, Chester provided facilities for trade with Ireland, Spain, and Germany, and seagoing vessels would "lay to" in the Dee awaiting favourable winds and tides. As the Dee started to silt up, harbouring facilities developed at Shotwick, Burton, Neston, Parkgate , Dawpool , and "Hoyle Lake" or Hoylake . However, there

3816-556: The peninsula, suggesting a total population of 2,000–3,000. The Earls of Chester ruled the whole of the County Palatine , including the Wirral, almost as "a kingdom within a kingdom" for about 250 years. Between 1120 and 1123, Earl Ranulph le Meschin made several edicts that converted the Wirral into a hunting forest . This made the area subject to Forest Law which made the hunting of game, such as deer and boar , by unauthorised persons subject to harsh penalties. To enforce

3888-417: The population of the Wirral was no more than 4,000. The peninsula was divided into 15 parishes (Wallasey, Bidston, Upton , Woodchurch, West Kirby, Thurstaston , Heswall , Bebington , Bromborough, Eastham, Neston , Burton, Shotwick , Backford and Stoke ). Most parishes were subdivided into smaller townships, of which the largest in terms of population were Neston, Burton, Wallasey, Tranmere (then within

3960-560: The rest of the county was placed at "two arrow falls from Chester city walls". However, since the Local Government Act 1972 , only the southern third has been in Cheshire, with almost all the rest lying in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral , Merseyside . An area of saltmarsh and reclaimed land adjoining the south-west of the peninsula lies in the Welsh county of Flintshire . The name Wirral literally means " myrtle corner", from

4032-468: The sediment is deposited, forming a delta peninsula. Marine transgressions (changes in sea level) may form peninsulas, but also may affect existing peninsulas. For example, the water level may change, which causes a peninsula to become an island during high water levels. Similarly, wet weather causing higher water levels make peninsulas appear smaller, while dry weather make them appear larger. Sea level rise from global warming will permanently reduce

4104-458: The site. The first church is thought to have been built in Saxon times and was probably built of timber and of which there is no trace. Several stones have been found of a Norman structure on the site. It is thought that a new church was built between 1162 and 1182 by William de Waley. This was rebuilt and a tower added during the reigns of Edward I and Edward II . The next rebuilding

4176-406: The size of some peninsulas over time. Peninsulas are noted for their use as shelter for humans and Neanderthals . The landform is advantageous because it gives hunting access to both land and sea animals. They can also serve as markers of a nation's borders. St Hilary%27s Church, Wallasey St Hilary's Church is in the town of Wallasey, Wirral, Merseyside , England. It consists of

4248-412: The tower as a freestanding edifice. The architects of the present church were W. and J. Hay. The church is built in stone with a slate roof. Its plan consists of a nave with clerestory , north and south aisles under lean-to roofs, a crossing tower with transepts , and a chancel with a north vestry and a south chapel. The separate tower is built in stone and its lower parts date from

4320-473: The town also achieved borough status soon after the turn of the century. The dockland areas of Wallasey and Birkenhead continued to develop and prosper in the first half of the century, specialising in trade with Africa and the Far East. A host of other port-related industries then came into existence, such as flour milling, tanning, edible oil refining and the manufacture of paint and rubber-based products. In 1922

4392-488: The tunnel branch was used for the filming of the drama, Bulletproof , starring Noel Clarke and Ashley Walters . Scenes for the 2016 film Florence Foster Jenkins , starring Hugh Grant and Meryl Streep , were filmed around New Brighton. In television, sitcom Watching , produced by Granada Television between 1987 and 1993, was partly set and filmed at various Wirral locations, particularly Meols . More recently, Mike Bassett: Manager , starring Ricky Tomlinson

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4464-458: The two estuaries on either side of the Wirral and is interpreted as having played a major part in the deglaciation of the region in late-glacial/post-glacial times. Although it has been stated that "it is difficult to find any work in which there is a written description of the exact area defining the Wirral Peninsula", historian Stephen Roberts defines it as "the peninsula which is bounded by

4536-552: The volcano erupts near shallow water. Marine sediment may form peninsulas by the creation of limestone . A rift peninsula may form as a result of a divergent boundary in plate tectonics (e.g. the Arabian Peninsula ), while a convergent boundary may also form peninsulas (e.g. Gibraltar or the Indian subcontinent ). Peninsulas can also form due to sedimentation in rivers. When a river carrying sediment flows into an ocean,

4608-671: The west side. Neston once had a distinctive dialect derived from the migrant workers at the Denhall Colliery. The Wirral has hosted a variety of different films and television programmes. Chariots of Fire was filmed at various locations on the Wirral including the Oval Sports Centre, Bebington , the Woodside Ferry Terminal, and Bridge Cottage in Port Sunlight village, while the 1950 Ealing comedy The Magnet

4680-429: Was a follow-up to the film Mike Bassett: England Manager , and featured a fictional football club called Wirral County, a parody of Tranmere Rovers , who Bassett (Tomlinson) managed after being sacked from the England job. Peninsula The word peninsula derives from Latin paeninsula , from paene  'almost' and insula  'island'. The word entered English in

4752-437: Was created from a large deposit of glacial drift . The hill of drift becomes a peninsula if the hill formed near water but was still connected to the mainland, for example during the formation of Cape Cod about 23,000 years ago. In the case of formation from volcanoes, when a volcano erupts magma near water, it may form a peninsula (e.g., the Alaskan Peninsula ). Peninsulas formed from volcanoes are especially common when

4824-419: Was filmed in Wallasey and New Brighton. The 51st State was partly filmed around the docks in Birkenhead. Awaydays , based on a novel of the same name by Kevin Sampson , was filmed extensively on the Wirral. In 2012 the movie Blood , starring Paul Bettany and Stephen Graham was filmed on the Wirral. The Queensway Tunnel in Birkenhead is also featured in the Harry Potter film, Harry Potter and

4896-446: Was in the age of Henry VIII when the tower of 1530 was reconstructed. In 1757, the church was described as ruinous and it was rebuilt. This structure was accidentally burnt down in 1857, reputedly because the sexton over-stoked the heating boiler, and bacon being cured in the boilerhouse began to drip fat, causing the old prayer mats beneath them to catch fire. That is the version the Ministry Team want you to believe. The truth

4968-417: Was issued by his father Edward III on 20 July 1376. At the end of the 12th century, Birkenhead Priory stood on the west bank of the Mersey at a headland of birch trees, from which the town derives its name. The ruined priory is Merseyside's oldest surviving building and its Benedictine monks provided the first official Mersey ferry service around 1330, having been granted a passage to Liverpool by

5040-447: Was maintained on the peninsula, at Bidston , between 1845 and 2002. The major urban centres of the Wirral are to its east: these include Birkenhead and Wallasey . To the west and south, the Wirral is more rural. Two-thirds of the population of the Wirral live on one third of the land in Birkenhead and Wallasey, according to Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council. Other towns to the south and west of this area are usually considered part of

5112-402: Was not a gradual progression of development, and downstream anchorages such as that at Hoyle Lake (which replaced Meols) were in occasional use from medieval times, depending on the weather and state of the tide. The main port facilities were at Neston and Parkgate. At the same time, larger ships and economic growth in Lancashire stimulated the growth of Liverpool . The first wet dock in Britain

5184-506: Was opened in Liverpool in 1715, and the town's population grew from some 6,000 to 80,000 during the 18th century. The need to develop and protect the port led to a chain of lighthouses being built along the north Wirral coast. The commercial expansion of Liverpool, and the increase in stage coach traffic from Chester, also spurred the growth of ferries across the River Mersey . By the end of

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