Noctorum is a suburb of

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 co ...

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 ...

, England. Administratively it is within the

Metropolitan Borough of Wirral The Metropolitan Borough of Wirral is a metropolitan borough of Merseyside, in North West England. It has a population of (), and encompasses of the northern part of the Wirral Peninsula. Major settlements include Birkenhead, Wallasey, Bebingt ...

as part of Claughton Ward. Noctorum is in the north east of the

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 Liverpo ...

, bounded by the Beechwood estate to the north, Claughton and Oxton to the east and south east, and the River Fender and

M53 motorway The M53 is an motorway in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside and the Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough of Cheshire West and Chester, Cheshire on the Wirral Peninsula in England. It is also referred to as the Mid Wirral ...

to the west. Due to a redefining of

post town A post town is a required part of all postal addresses in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland, Ireland, and a basic unit of the postal delivery system.Royal Mail, ''Address Management Guide'', (2004) Including the correct post town in t ...

s by the Royal Mail in 2003, Noctorum is identified as being within Prenton (which is in fact a geographically separate suburb of Birkenhead), yet this was only a postal change and Noctorum itself still remains a part of Birkenhead. At the 2001 census the population of Noctorum was 4,990. For the 2011 census no population figures specific to Noctorum were available. However the total population of Claughton Ward, which includes Noctorum, was 14,705.

History

The name Noctorum has been suggested

Old Irish Old Irish, also called Old Gaelic (, Ogham, Ogham script: ᚌᚑᚔᚇᚓᚂᚉ; ; ; or ), is the oldest form of the Goidelic languages, Goidelic/Gaelic language for which there are extensive written texts. It was used from 600 to 900. The ...

in origin, originally ''Cnocc Tírim'', meaning "Dry Hill". This may be in reference to

Bidston Hill Bidston Hill is of heathland and woodland containing historic buildings and ancient rock carvings, on the Wirral Peninsula, near the Birkenhead suburb of Bidston, in Merseyside, England. With a peak of , Bidston Hill is one of the highest poin ...

, of which Noctorum is situated on its western slope. The name may long pre-date the Norse-Irish settlement in the early 10th century and go back to a

Hibernia () is the Classical Latin name for Ireland. The name ''Hibernia'' was taken from Greek geographical accounts. During his exploration of northwest Europe (), Pytheas of Massalia called the island ''Iérnē'' (written ). In his book ''Geogr ...

n settlement of the west coast in the

Sub-Roman The fall of the Western Roman Empire, also called the fall of the Roman Empire or the fall of Rome, was the loss of central political control in the Western Roman Empire, a process in which the Empire failed to enforce its rule, and its vast ...

period (early 5th century). Noctorum appears as ''Chenoterie'' (Norman French) in

Domesday Book Domesday Book ( ; the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book") is a manuscript record of the Great Survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 at the behest of William the Conqueror. The manuscript was originally known by ...

. "Chêne" (French for oak) ''may'' be used here as in the Wirral hamlet of Landican (Old Welsh/Brythonic) called ''Landechene'', the Oak Enclosure in the Norman French of Domesday Book. Noctorum was a

township A township is a form of human settlement or administrative subdivision. Its exact definition varies among countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, this tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, Canad ...

of the

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...

of Woodchurch, in the

Wirral Hundred The Hundred of Wirral is the ancient administrative area for the Wirral Peninsula. Its name is believed to have originated from the ''Hundred of Wilaveston'', the historic name for Willaston, Cheshire West, Willaston, which was an important asse ...

, in 1866 Noctorum became a separate

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

, on 1 April 1933 the parish was abolished and merged with Birkenhead St Mary. The same year Noctorum was subsumed into the County Borough of Birkenhead, within the county of

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Merseyside to the north-west, Greater Manchester to the north-east, Derbyshire to the east, Staffordshire to the south-east, and Shrop ...

. On 1 April 1974, local government reorganisation in England and Wales resulted in most of the Wirral Peninsula, including Noctorum, transfer from the county of Cheshire to the nascent county of Merseyside. The population was recorded at 17 in 1801, 32 in 1851, 212 in 1901 and 473 in 1931.

Geography

Noctorum is in the northern part of the Wirral Peninsula, approximately south-south-east of the

Irish Sea The Irish Sea is a body of water that separates the islands of Ireland and Great Britain. It is linked to the Celtic Sea in the south by St George's Channel and to the Inner Seas off the West Coast of Scotland in the north by the North Ch ...

Leasowe Leasowe () is a village in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England. Located on the north coast of the Wirral Peninsula, it is approximately to the west of Wallasey. Historically within Cheshire, Leasowe was part of the old Cou ...

, east-north-east of the

Dee Estuary The Dee Estuary () is a large estuary by means of which the River Dee flows into Liverpool Bay. The estuary starts near Shotton after a five-mile (8 km) 'canalised' section and the river soon swells to be several miles wide forming t ...

Caldy Caldy (historically spelt Calday) is a small, affluent village on the Wirral Peninsula, Merseyside, England, south-east of West Kirby. It is part of the West Kirby & Thurstaston Ward (country subdivision), Ward of the Metropolitan Borough of Wi ...

and west of the

River Mersey The River Mersey () is a major river in North West England. Its name derives from Old English and means "boundary river", possibly referring to its having been a border between the ancient kingdoms of Mercia and Northumbria. For centuries it h ...

at Tranmere. Noctorum is situated on the western side of the

Bidston Bidston is a village and civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral in Merseyside, England. Administratively, it is a ward of the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral. Before local government reorganisation on 1 April 1974, it was part of th ...

to Storeton ridge, with the area at an elevation of between above sea level.

Governance

Noctorum is within the parliamentary constituency of

. The current Member of Parliament is

Mick Whitley Michael Whitley (born 17 November 1951) is a British Labour Party (UK), Labour Party politician and trade unionist who served as Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) for Birkenhead (UK Parliament constituency), Birkenhe ...

, a Labour representative. He has been the MP since 2019. At

local government Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of governance or public administration within a particular sovereign state. Local governments typically constitute a subdivision of a higher-level political or administrative unit, such a ...

level, Noctorum is incorporated into the Claughton

Ward Ward may refer to: Division or unit * Hospital ward, a hospital division, floor, or room set aside for a particular class or group of patients, for example the psychiatric ward * Prison ward, a division of a penal institution such as a pris ...

of the

, in the

metropolitan county Metropolitan counties are a Subdivisions of England, subdivision of England which were originally used for Local government in England, local government. There are six metropolitan counties: Greater Manchester, Merseyside, South Yorkshire, Tyn ...

of Merseyside. It is represented on

Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council Wirral Council, or Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council, is the local authority of the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral in Merseyside, England. It is a metropolitan district council with borough status, thus providing the majority of local governm ...

by three councillors. The most recent

local elections Local may refer to: Geography and transportation * Local (train), a train serving local traffic demand * Local, Missouri, a community in the United States Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Local'' (comics), a limited series comic book by Bria ...

took place on 6 May 2021.

Landmarks

Noctorum Lane is the site of the Grade II

listed buildings In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, H ...

Mere Hall and Rathmore. Both large houses were designed by Edmund Kirby and built in the 1880s.

Community

Ridgeway High School and the Discovery City Learning Centre (containing Ridgeway Library) is situated within this suburb. There is also a large

council estate Public housing in the United Kingdom, also known as council housing or social housing, provided the majority of rented accommodation until 2011, when the number of households in private rental housing surpassed the number in social housing. D ...

located here.

Transport

Upton railway station Upton railway station serves the village of Upton, Merseyside, Upton and the Noctorum area of Birkenhead, on the Wirral Peninsula, England. The station is situated on the Borderlands line. Transport for Wales Rail, Transport for Wales operates ...

is the nearest station to Noctorum. It is located on the Borderlands line between

and

Wrexham Wrexham ( ; ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in the North East Wales, north-east of Wales. It lies between the Cambrian Mountains, Welsh mountains and the lower River Dee, Wales, Dee Valley, near the England–Wales border, borde ...

References

Bibliography

External links

{{Populated Places in Wirral Borough Towns and villages in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral Former civil parishes in Merseyside Birkenhead