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Birkenhead
Birkenhead () is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England. The town is on the Wirral Peninsula, along the west bank of the River Mersey, opposite Liverpool. It lies within the Historic counties of England, historic county boundaries of Cheshire, and became part of Merseyside in 1974. At the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 census, the built up area as defined by the Office for National Statistics had a population of 109,835. Birkenhead Priory and the Mersey Ferry were established in the 12th century. In the 19th century, Birkenhead expanded greatly as a consequence of the Industrial Revolution, leading to a shipbuilding firm which became Cammell Laird. A Great Float, seaport was established. As the town grew, Birkenhead Park and Hamilton Square were laid out. The first street tramway in Britain was built, followed by the Mersey Railway which connected Birkenhead and Liverpool through the world's first railway tunnel beneath a tidal estuary. In the sec ...
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Birkenhead (UK Parliament Constituency)
Birkenhead () is a Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, constituency in Merseyside represented in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2024 United Kingdom general election, 2024 by Alison McGovern of the Labour Party (UK), Labour Party. Profile The constituency of Birkenhead covers the town of Birkenhead, on the Wirral Peninsula, and the Birkenhead suburbs of Bidston, Claughton, Merseyside, Claughton, Oxton, Merseyside, Oxton, Prenton, Rock Ferry and Tranmere, Merseyside, Tranmere. It forms the relatively densely populated mid-east of four parliamentary constituencies within the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, itself a major contributor to (and the ex-Cheshire part of) the Metropolitan County of Merseyside envisaged in 1958 and created in 1974, considered as any other county (albeit with very limited powers and no elected councillors) for the enacted purposes of the Boundary Commission for England, Boundary Co ...
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Birkenhead Park
Birkenhead Park is a major public park located in the centre of Birkenhead, Merseyside, England. It was designed by Joseph Paxton and opened on 5 April 1847. Birkenhead park was designated a conservation area in 1977 and declared a Grade I National Register of Historic Parks and Gardens, listed landscape by English Heritage in 1995. In 2023 the park was placed on the Government of the United Kingdom, UK government's "tentative list" of applications for UNESCO World Heritage Site status. The park influenced the design of Central Park in New York and Sefton Park in Liverpool. The park contains many listed buildings. The Grand Entrance to Birkenhead Park, Grand Entrance was designed by Lewis Hornblower and is at the northeast corner; it consists of three arches flanked by lodges and is in Ionic order, Ionic style. The Swiss Bridge, a pedestrian span of stringer construction, is unique as being the only covered bridge of traditional wooden construction in the United Kingdom. The ...
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Great Float
The Great Float is a body of water on the Wirral Peninsula, England, formed from the natural tidal inlet, the Wallasey Pool. It is split into two large Dock (maritime), docks, East Float and West Float, both part of the Birkenhead Docks complex. The docks run approximately inland from the River Mersey, dividing the towns of Birkenhead and Wallasey. The Great Float consists of of water and more than of quays. History Unlike in Liverpool, where the docks were built along the coastline of the River Mersey, Birkenhead Docks were designed as an inland system by enclosing the tide, tidal inlet of Wallasey Pool. The construction of a cofferdam enabled land reclamation and excavations to take place. After the establishment of the Great Low Water Basin, Morpeth Dock and Egerton Dock, the Great Float was formed between 1851 and 1860 from most of what remained of Wallasey Pool. The plans for its construction were originally shown in 1844 in the ''Liverpool Standard'' newspaper. Designe ...
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Mersey Ferry
The Mersey Ferry is a ferry service operating on the River Mersey in northwest England, between Liverpool to the east and Birkenhead and Wallasey on the Wirral Peninsula to the west. Ferries have been used on this route since at least the 12th century and continue to be popular for both local people and visitors. The current fleet consists of two vessels. A third ferry, '' Royal Daffodil'' was in service until 2012. The current ferries originally came into service in the 1960s and were named ''Mountwood'' and ''Woodchurch''. Both ferries have been extensively refurbished and renamed '' Royal Iris of the Mersey'' and '' Snowdrop''. The ferries share the workload of cross-river ferrying, charter cruises and the Manchester Ship Canal cruise. The service is operated by Merseytravel, under the "Mersey Ferries" brand. History Medieval ferries In about 1150, the Benedictine Priory at Birkenhead was established. The monks used to charge a small fare to row passengers across the r ...
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Woodside, Merseyside
Woodside is an area of Birkenhead in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral in Merseyside, England. It is situated opposite Liverpool Pier Head across the River Mersey. History The monks of Birkenhead Priory had been granted a charter establishing ferry rights to Liverpool, which was confirmed by Edward III of England, Edward III in about 1330. These rights reverted to the Crown in 1536, upon the Dissolution of the Monasteries by Henry VIII of England, Henry VIII. There followed a period of private ownership by local landowners of the numerous ferry services on the Wirral bank of the River Mersey, including at Woodside. By the 18th century, an increase in stage coach traffic from Chester spurred the growth of the transportation of passengers and goods across the river. With the rapid development of Birkenhead from the 1820s, facilities at Woodside would eventually need expanding. By 1842, the ferry service had been taken over by the Birkenhead Commissioners. A stone pier with two s ...
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Birkenhead Priory
Birkenhead Priory is in Priory Street, Birkenhead, Merseyside, England. It is the oldest standing building on Merseyside. The site comprises the medieval remains of the priory itself, the priory chapter house, and the remains of St Marys church. All three are recorded in the National Heritage List for England, though at different grades. History The Priory was founded about 1150 by Hamon de Masci, 3rd Baron of Dunham Massey for the Benedictine Order. It was visited twice by Edward I due to its strategic importance, being close to the Irish Sea as well as the Welsh border. In 1318 the monks from Birkenhead Priory were granted ferry rights by Edward II of England, Edward II. This allowed them to build a house in what is now Water Street to store their corn. The house was also used by travellers for shelter if the weather was too bad for the ferry to cross the River Mersey. The medieval remains of the priory are designated Grade I Listed building#England and Wales, liste ...
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Hamilton Square
Hamilton Square is a town square in Birkenhead, Wirral, England. The Georgian square, which was designed by Edinburgh architect James Gillespie Graham, has the most Grade I listed buildings outside London (after Trafalgar Square). It is named after the family of the wife of Scottish shipbuilder William Laird. Hamilton Square was the first part of a major civic scheme to develop the town of Birkenhead in the early 19th century. But owing to several factors, including a depressed economy and the influx of working-class labourers needing lodgings, the square become the only part of the grand design to be completed. William Laird wanted to build an urban development similar in scale and style to New Town, Edinburgh. Hamilton Square would have had been at the centre of a planned borough that had wide, straight streets lined with late Georgian stone-clad terraced Townhouses, public buildings, and enclosed parks. History In 1801 Birkenhead was still a small, undeveloped village o ...
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Wirral Peninsula
The Wirral Peninsula (), known locally as the Wirral, is a peninsula in North West England. The roughly rectangular peninsula is about long and 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 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. Toponymy The name Wirral literally means " myrtle corner", from the Old English , a myrtle tree, and , 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 Form ...
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Birkenhead Town Hall
Birkenhead Town Hall is a civic building and former town hall in Birkenhead on the Wirral Peninsula in Merseyside, England. The building was the former administrative headquarters of the County Borough of Birkenhead, and more recently, council offices for the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral. Since the closure of the Wirral Museum in 2010, there is uncertainty over the future purpose of the Grade II* listed building. History When Hamilton Square was designed in the early 19th century, a plot of land was made available for the siting of a town hall between Hamilton Street and Chester Street. Designed by local architect Christopher Ellison, the building was constructed using Scottish granite and sandstone from the now filled-in local quarry at Storeton. It was officially opened in 1887. The building consisted of a council chamber, offices, with a concert hall and function rooms known as the Assembly Rooms. Birkenhead's magistrates' court chambers are located in a separate build ...
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Mersey Railway
The Mersey Railway was the passenger railway connecting the communities of Liverpool and Birkenhead, England. It is currently a part of the Merseyrail network. It was extended further into the Wirral Peninsula, which lies on the opposite bank of the River Mersey to Liverpool. Both sides of the river were connected via the Mersey Railway Tunnel. The railway opened in 1886 with four stations using steam locomotives hauling unheated wooden carriages; in the next six years the line was extended with the opening of three more stations. Using the first tunnel under the Mersey, the line is the world's oldest underground railway outside London. Because the steam locomotives created a polluted atmosphere in the tunnel despite the forced ventilation system, many passengers reverted back to using the river ferries making the railway bankrupt by 1900. Recovery came after the railway adopted electric traction in 1903. The Mersey Railway remained independent after the Railways Act 1921, rail ...
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Merseyside
Merseyside ( ) is a ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial and metropolitan county in North West England. It borders Lancashire to the north, Greater Manchester to the east, Cheshire to the south, the Wales, Welsh county of Flintshire across the Dee Estuary to the southwest, and the Irish Sea to the west. The largest settlement is the city of Liverpool. The county is highly urbanised, with an area of and a population of 1.42 million in 2007. After Liverpool (552,267), the largest settlements are Birkenhead (143,968), St Helens, Merseyside, St Helens (102,629), and Southport (94,421). For Local government in England, local government purposes the county comprises five metropolitan boroughs: Metropolitan Borough of Knowsley, Knowsley, Metropolitan Borough of St Helens, St Helens, Metropolitan Borough of Sefton, Sefton, Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Wirral, and Liverpool. The borough councils, together with that of Borough of Halton, Halton in Cheshire, collaborate through th ...
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