The quasi postal town of
From this date the postal town of
On April 1st 1999 the postal codes for the SOUTH WIRRAL
area were changed to Chester postcodes to enhance it's identity with Cheshire.
L65/L66 post-codes became CH65/CH66 and have the new POSTAL TOWN of ELLESMERE PORT, Cheshire.
L64 post-codes become CH64 and have the new POSTAL TOWN of NESTON, Cheshire
R.I.P. - SOUTH WIRRAL (1977-1999)
The History of the South Wirral area falls into two main areas, firstly Ellesmere Port and its surrounding villages near the banks of the river Mersey to the East, and secondly Neston, Parkgate and the surrounding villages near the banks of the river Dee to the West.
ELLESMERE
PORT and WHITBY are inextricably entwined, since one grew out of the other.
The village of Whitby dates back to Viking days 'Whitby' being a 'Norse' name, but was not
mentioned in the Doomsday Book, as, it was at the time included in the parish of Eastham.
The villages of Hooton, Great and Little Sutton were mentioned in the Doomsday Book.
The existence of today's Ellesmere
Port, which before the cutting of the Manchester Ship Canal lay on the south bank of the
River Mersey, must be attributed to a number of Shropshire businessmen who, under the
chairmanship of Lord Edward Clive, held meetings in August 1791 and September 1792. The
outcome resulted in an overall plan to construct a canal connecting the rivers Severn,
Mersey and Dee. On April 30th 1793 they won the consent of Parliament to construct a canal
from the River Severn at Shrewsbury to the River Mersey at Whitby (now part of Ellesmere
Port). 
The committee chose William Jessop, a civil engineer, to
act as consultant to the project.
When it came to choosing the general agent, the Midlands iron master John Wilkinson used
his influence to force through the appointment of Thomas Telford.
Telford carried out all the architectural and engineering business: the drawing up of
plans for the making of bridges, aqueducts, tunnels, locks, buildings, reservoirs, wharfs
and other works.
Under the direction of Telford and Jessop the canal was built, and at the point where the
canal joined the Mersey, the locks, basin and warehouses were built. The opening of the
canal from the Mersey to Chester took place on July 1st 1795. This was the birth of
Ellesmere Port.
The terminus and junction, popularly known as Whitby Wharf and Whitby Locks, consisted of
the locks, cottages, (for the accommodation of the lock-keepers, linesmen and a clerk.)
and an Inn for the accomodation of passengers using the canal and river packet boats.
The canal basin area into which the Ellesmere Port to Chester Canal connected via Whitby
Locks came to be known as Ellesmere Port (as it was the 'Port' of the Ellesmere Canal,
later to become part of the Shropshire Union Canal).
The town is indeed very honoured
to have such a celebrated man as Thomas Telford connected with its origin, he also gave
the town a complete scheme of locks, docks and warehouses, together with the maintenance
facilities required for its success. This miniature dockland was a joy to look at, like
the beautiful elliptical stone arches which carried the warehouses over the two arms
between the lower basin and dock. There are many features which pay testimony to the
genius of Telford.
After Telford's death in 1834, Thomas Cubbit, a famous builder of the time, took on and
finished his designs.
The first houses were built around the docks and the first main street was Dock Street.
Queen Street contained some shops but later houses in Station Road were converted to
retail premises as more shops were needed.
The above information was extracted from ' ELLESMERE PORT 1795-1960 ' by
T.W.Roberts.
(ISBN 0-473-03588-X.) with permission.
Available from Birkenhead Press Ltd, 14 Appin Road, BIRKENHEAD, CH41 9HH, UK.
Phone: +44 (0) 151 647 3333
CHILDER THORNTON and LITTLE SUTTON
CHILDER THORNTON retains little from
the past though its inn, the Half Way House was a stop on the stage coach service between
Chester and New Ferry in the 1770's. paul 
childer
The Church of St. Paul, is one of the most magnificent churches in Cheshire. It was built between 1858 and 1862, at a cost of £5,000 Built in the ornate Italian style the interior of the church reaches a height of 95 feet and notable features include round arches, an ornate dome in the Byzantine style about the crossing, a square green serpentine font and a cloister walk connecting the church with a private family entrance.
shell 
To the east of Ellesmere Port town centre are STANLOW and
INCE both now interwoven into the vast Shell Manufacturing Complex.
A Cistercian abbey was founded at Stanlow in 1178. Built on the lonely and marshy Stanlow
Point, the abbey has an eventful history spanning nearly 400 years, but violent storms in
1279 and 1287 caused great damage and two years later the building was devastated by fire.
Only a handful of monks remained at Stanlow until the Dissolution. The site of Stanlow
Abbey is between the Ship Canal and the Mersey and is now sadly inaccessible to the
public, but the surviving relics of the building, later incorporated into a farmyard, are
one doorway, part of a wall and four columns - all of the late 13th century. 
Ince is probably the
oldest settlement. It was built originally on the one inhabitable site in an area of
marshland and its name is derived from the ancient 'Ynys' or island. Remains of the late
Perpendicular manor house, once owned by the Abbots of Chester, survive near the church.
Parts of the fine refectory hall of 1399, with four large windows, can be seen near the
road and other fragments are incorporated into the walls of nearby barns and houses.
Despite its proximity to industry, Ince still retains its village square and atmosphere.
Part of the church is early English, the tower is Perpendicular and the chancel roof is of
the 17th century. The rest dates from 1854 and there is some late 19th century stained
glass by Kempe. The renovated village stocks, said to date from 1671, which I believe can
be seen in a nearby lane.
The origins of the name 'Hooton' comes
from the two old saxon words 'ho', meaning a heel or point of land stretching into the
plain or sea, the 'tun', a farm. The name appears in the Doomsday book as 'Hotone'. The
history of Hooton Village, Hooton Park and Hooton Hall can be traced back almost a
thousand years to the Norman Conquest. The Manor at Hooton dates from Norman times, when
the lands were granted to Adam de Aldithley, a follower of William the Conquerer, passing
through various families until 1310, when William de Stanley inherited it together with
the Master Forestership of Wirral.
For 500 years, it was the seat of the Earls of Stanley, senior line of the famous Earls of
Derby.
Towards the end of the fifteenth century, the Stanley's built a half timbered Manor House.
This was pulled down in the early part of eighteenth century and was replaced by a mansion
'Hooton Hall', built from local Storeton Stone, designed in the Italian Palladian style
for the fifth Baronet, Sir William Stanley, by the fashionable architect William Wyatt.
In the middle of the nineteenth century, with family finances strained, they sold the
estate to their Liverpool bankers.
Hooton Park was requisitioned during the First World War as a military hospital, and in
1917 an airfield was built to train pilots from Canada and the United States. In the
Second World War, Hooton again served in the war effort, remaining in use as a military
airfield up to the disbanding of the Royal Auxiliary Air Force in 1957.
In 1962 the airfield was transformed into the giant Vauxhall factory, now the main
European production line for their 'Astra' cars and vans, whose continuing success is
central to the economic well being of the area.
Burton, first documented in the Doomsday Book, dates back to before that
time. It was one of the first 500, or so, communities known about in Cheshire.
It was on the route taken by the early travellers from London to Birkenhead via Chester,
so, developed more than other communities. The sight of one of the very early hospitals,
built in the 13th or 14th century, St Andrew's of Denhall, was located between Burton and
the hamlet Ness. Only a few stones of it remain today on a site known as 'Chapel Field'.
In the years either side of 1300 AD the township of Burton was both prosperous and
important. It was the place where several major routes met. The main road from south
Lancashire to North Wales led via the public ferry across the Dee at Burton. 
Another road went to
Chester which at the time was the principal port of the region, and many of the ships
trading into the Dee anchored either off Burton Point or Denhall. In the years either side
of 1500 AD, as the River Dee silted up, the shipping trade reduced and finally ceased.
Neston took over as the main port and trading centre.
Now Burton has reverted to a sleepy residential village under the shadow of Burton Hill.
At one time the town of Neston was the
most important and populous place in South Wirral. Its prosperity resulted from the
silting up of the River Dee, which rendered the Port of Chester inaccessible to large
sea-going vessels. Thus, in the sixteenth century, collections were made in churches
throughout Cheshire for the building of a 'New Quay' at Neston, which when completed,
brought a considerable amount of trade to the area. The New Quay became the point of
embarkation for the regular service to Ireland, and Neston eventually became a coaching
station with a thrice weekly coach running direct to London via Chester. The number of
Inns in the area increased to accommodate travellers, who were sometimes delayed on their
journeys by inclement weather. This served to increase the income of the innkeepers: but,
by the beginning of the eighteenth century, the New Quay had been abandoned because of
further silting. Parkgate then became the point of embarkation.
Neston became a coal-producing area when a colliery was opened in 1765. Eventually further
silting up of the Dee saw the end of the packet ship trade at Parkgate, and Neston's
prosperity further declined. 
Since the 1960's there has been considerable residential
development, and light industry has come to the area.
Meanwhile, the nearby villages of Ness and Little Neston have also grown in size. The
latter is now really merged with Neston, but the former, whilst linked, still remains a
character of its own.
Since its inception on the borders of Neston Park, Parkgate has
experienced many changes of fortune. As silting on of the River Dee caused the New Quay at
Neston to become unusable, so the river traffic began to use Parkgate. The early part of
the eighteenth century saw its growth as the terminus of the passenger service to Ireland.
The shipping route was a popular one, which brought prosperity to the area. There were
daily sailings to both Bagillt and Flint on the Welsh coast. As with Neston the innkeepers
profited by the vagaries of the weather, which often delayed the time of embarkation.
Slowly though, the Dee continued to silt up, and Parkgate gradually ceased to be used as a
sea port. However, by the end of the eighteenth century, the area was firmly established
as a seaside resort which was popular with some of the leading members of society. Income
from this source slowly diminished so that, by the middle of of the nineteenth century,
Parkgate was struggling to survive as a fishing village Eventually its fortunes revived
when it became a residential area.
The motor car has given Parkgate a new lease of life. The possessor of many fine historic
buildings, built 'all on one side' so to speak, Parkgate became a conservation area in
1973, and now attracts many visitors each weekend.
(Reproduced with permission of the authors of ' Yesterdays Wirral ' Ian & Marilyn Boumphrey)
for a list of more of their books CLICK HERE.
Willaston is located halfway across the
peninsula with attractive cottages around a village green, a half-timbered Inn dating from
Charles 1, a windmill built in 1880, Willaston Hall ( with a splendid Elizabethan front ),
and a 19th century church built in the Gothic Revival style.
Now as part of the Wirral Way Country Park, the Hadlow Road Railway Station, the Ticket
Office, Platform and Waiting Room have been preserved as they were when the line was
closed in 1952.
