It is situated within Wirral Country Park. Wirral Country Park is a place of contrasts. Birds nest in the dense hedges or feed on the berries in winter, and you may see up to ten kinds of butterfly in summer. From the boulder-clay cliffs look out over the Dee Estuary across its 31,500 acres to the Welsh shore, 5 miles away, and on a clear day you can see the familiar outline of Moel Famau in the Clwydian Hills. The estuary's ever-changing light, broad vistas and westerly sunsets reflected in the mudflats and the sea are a constant delight. Ferries across the Mersey: Early history of Mersey ferries, E. Chambré Hardman Archive, archived from the original on 13 October 2007 , retrieved 15 April 2008 The River Dee". National Oceanography Centre. Archived from the original on 12 March 2008 . Retrieved 4 May 2008. A row of cottages in the historic village of Port Sunlight also featured on the 2014 series of BBC Two's The Great Interior Design Challenge. The village also played host to two episodes of BBC One's The Antiques Roadshow hosted by Fiona Bruce. [ citation needed] 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 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 the peninsula, suggesting a total population of 2,000–3,000. [3] [11]

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 500BC. Traders came from Gaul and the Mediterranean localities to seek minerals from North Wales and Cheshire. [4] There are remains of a small Iron Age fort at Burton, for which the town was named ( burh tún being Old English for "fort town"). [3] The Romans and Britons [ edit ] 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 the town also achieved borough status soon after the turn of the century. [3] The 20th century [ edit ] A weather station was maintained on the peninsula, at Bidston, between 1845 and 2002. [27] Human geography [ edit ] Scenes for the 2016 film Florence Foster Jenkins, starring Hugh Grant and Meryl Streep, were filmed around New Brighton. [ citation needed]Use the 'Planning applications' link to search for the most recent planning applications. Search for planning applications by week

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", [26] historian Stephen Roberts defines it as "the peninsula which is bounded by 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. [3] The 2017 ITV drama Safe House starring Jason Watkins and Sunetra Sarker filmed several scenes on the peninsula. [ citation needed]

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. [31] Wirral Council has identified over 130 public access points within its administrative area to beaches and to open water. [32] Among 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. [33] The visitor centre at RSPB Burton Mere Wetlands provides birdwatching facilities in the Dee Estuary nature reserve. [34] The Wirral features a temperate maritime climate ( Köppen: Cfb) with mild summers, cool winters and rainfall spread evenly throughout the year.

Olaf Stapledon, a writer, spent much of his life in West Kirby and Caldy, and many landscapes mentioned in his works can be identified.

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North-south Wales air route plan for Chester-Hawarden airport". BBC News. 8 March 2013 . Retrieved 22 November 2015. No, you will need to set up a separate account as the portal uses a different system to MyWirral. I have a Planning Portal account, can I use this to access this portal? a b c Kemble, Mike. "The Wirral Hundred/The Wirral Peninsula". Archived from the original on 28 September 2007 . Retrieved 12 August 2007. {{ cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL ( link) Local historian John Lamb has claimed that both Jules Verne and Robert Louis Stevenson based some of their major works on features on the Wirral Peninsula. [37] 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 (298ft), Poll Hill in Heswall (350ft, the highest point on the Wirral) and Burton (222ft). The less continuous eastern ridge consists of Bidston Hill (231ft), Prenton (259ft) and Storeton Hill (229ft). [11] The shallow Fender valley runs between these ridges.