Prenton is a suburb of

Birkenhead Birkenhead (; cy, Penbedw) is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England; historically, it was part of Cheshire until 1974. The town is on the Wirral Peninsula, along the south bank of the River Mersey, opposite Liver ...

Merseyside Merseyside ( ) is a metropolitan county, metropolitan and ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North West England, with a population of List of ceremonial counties of England, 1.38 million. It encompasses both banks of the Merse ...

, England. Administratively, it is also a

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

Metropolitan Borough of Wirral The Metropolitan Borough of Wirral is a metropolitan borough of Merseyside, in North West England. It has a population of 321,238, and encompasses of the northern part of the Wirral Peninsula. Major settlements include Birkenhead, Wallasey, Be ...

. Before local government reorganisation on 1 April 1974, it was part of the

County Borough County borough is a term introduced in 1889 in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, to refer to a borough or a city independent of county council control, similar to the unitary authorities created since the 1990s. An equivalent ter ...

of Birkenhead, within the county of

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's county t ...

. Situated in the east of the

Wirral Peninsula Wirral (; ), 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 River Dee to the west (forming the boundary with Wales), the River Mersey to t ...

, the area is contiguous with Oxton to the north, Tranmere and

Rock Ferry Rock Ferry is an area of Birkenhead on the Wirral Peninsula, England. Administratively it is a ward of the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral. Before local government reorganisation on 1 April 1974, it was part of the county of Cheshire. At the 2 ...

to the east and Higher Bebington to the south east. The

M53 motorway The M53 is an motorway in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral and Cheshire on the Wirral Peninsula in England. It is also referred to as the Mid Wirral Motorway. It runs between the Kingsway Tunnel, at Wallasey in the north, and the A55 at C ...

marks the western boundary. At the 2001 census, the population of Prenton was 14,429. The population of the ward increased slightly to 14,488 in the 2011 census.

History

Prenton appears as ''Prestune'' in the

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 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manusc ...

of 1086, with the name ''Pren-''ton persisting despite the

Norman-French Norman or Norman French (, french: Normand, Guernésiais: , Jèrriais: ) is a Romance language which can be classified as one of the Oïl languages along with French, Picard and Walloon. The name "Norman French" is sometimes used to descri ...

accented spelling. Domesday records the presence of a water mill at Prenton, and this has been provisionally identified at Prenton Dell. The Domesday survey also describes Prenton as having a one-league square woodland - which is , if the

league League or The League may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Leagues'' (band), an American rock band * ''The League'', an American sitcom broadcast on FX and FXX about fantasy football Sports * Sports league * Rugby league, full contact footba ...

is taken in its old English measurement of . The size and importance of the wood may reflect the name of the settlement. ''Pren'' is

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...

(British) for the material 'wood' and in the name Prenton there is the

Saxon The Saxons ( la, Saxones, german: Sachsen, ang, Seaxan, osx, Sahson, nds, Sassen, nl, Saksen) were a group of Germanic * * * * peoples whose name was given in the early Middle Ages to a large country (Old Saxony, la, Saxonia) near the Nor ...

suffix ''tún'' for a settlement, which suggests a settlement in a wood. The Welsh/British name for Prenton would thus be ''Prentre'' which could easily have changed into Prenton following Anglian penetration of the area in the early seventh century. Note that

Landican Landican () is a hamlet on the Wirral Peninsula, in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England. The hamlet is on the outskirts of Birkenhead, near to Woodchurch and the M53 motorway. Historically part of the county of Cheshire, it i ...

(one mile distant from Prenton) retained its Welsh/British name even through Anglian and subsequent Norse occupation. Another explanation for the origins of the name is ''Praen'' is an Old English personal noun, with ''Praen-tún'' meaning "Praen's farm/settlement". The name has been variously spelt over time as ''Prenton'' (1260), ''Prempton'' (1620) and ''Printon'' (1642). Until significant residential development from the beginning of the twentieth century, Prenton remained a rural

hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...

centred around Prenton Hall, in the south west of the current suburban area. This was the seat of the former lords of the manor, a title which has passed through several families since the reign of

Edward III Edward III (13 November 1312 – 21 June 1377), also known as Edward of Windsor before his accession, was King of England and Lord of Ireland from January 1327 until his death in 1377. He is noted for his military success and for restoring r ...

. It was described as being "in a sheltered

dingle Dingle ( Irish: ''An Daingean'' or ''Daingean Uí Chúis'', meaning "fort of Ó Cúis") is a town in County Kerry, Ireland. The only town on the Dingle Peninsula, it sits on the Atlantic coast, about southwest of Tralee and northwest of Kill ...

, surrounded with trees of large growth". The former Prenton Hall was eventually abandoned and replaced by a large farmhouse of the same name in the seventeenth century. In August 1940, during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, a house maid working in Prenton became the first fatality of a

bombing raid Strategic bombing is a military strategy used in total war with the goal of defeating the enemy by destroying its morale, its economic ability to produce and transport materiel to the theatres of military operations, or both. It is a systematic ...

on the Merseyside area.

Civic history

Previously a township in Woodchurch parish,

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, which was an important assembly point in the Wirral ...

, Prenton was a

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 below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authority ...

from 1866 to 1 April 1933 when it was added to Birkenhead civil parish. The population was recorded at 81 in 1801, 99 in 1851 and 412 in 1901. By 1928 local government responsibility for Prenton changed from

Wirral Rural District Wirral Rural District was a rural district on the Wirral Peninsula in Cheshire, England from 1894 to 1933. It was created under the Local Government Act 1894 from the Sanitary district, Wirral Rural Sanitary District. From the beginning of th ...

to the

of Birkenhead. On 1 April 1974, local government reorganisation in England and Wales resulted in most of the Wirral Peninsula, including Prenton, transfer from

to the nascent county of Merseyside.

Geography

Prenton is situated on the eastern side of the Wirral Peninsula, about west of the

River Mersey The River Mersey () is 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 has formed part ...

Tranmere Oil Terminal Tranmere Oil Terminal is situated on the River Mersey, south of Birkenhead. It was opened on 8 June 1960 to handle vessels of up to 65,000 tons, at two berths (North and South). It is connected to the Stanlow Oil Refinery by a pipeline. Part o ...

. The area is approximately south-south-east of the

Irish Sea The Irish Sea or , gv, Y Keayn Yernagh, sco, Erse Sie, gd, Muir Èireann , Ulster-Scots: ''Airish Sea'', cy, Môr Iwerddon . is an extensive body of water that separates the islands of Ireland and Great Britain. It is linked to the Ce ...

Wallasey Wallasey () is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, in Merseyside, England; until 1974, it was part of the historic county of Cheshire. It is situated at the mouth of the River Mersey, at the north-eastern corner of the Wirral Pe ...

and about east-north-east of the

Dee Estuary The Dee Estuary ( cy, Aber Dyfrdwy) 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 ...

Thurstaston Thurstaston is a village on the Wirral Peninsula, Merseyside, England. It is part of the West Kirby and Thurstaston Ward of the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral and the parliamentary constituency of Wirral West. The village lies on the A540 roa ...

. Prenton is at an elevation of between above sea level; the highest point being near the junction of Pine Walks and Burrell Road, with the Halfway House crossroads at an elevation of above sea level. Prenton Brook merges with the

River Fender The Birket is a tributary of the River Mersey, on the Wirral, Merseyside. The watercourse starts as lowland field drainage south of Hoylake and flows along to the south of Meols. Arrowe Brook joins at Moreton, and the Fender joins at Leasowe. ...

, at Prenton, within the North Cheshire Trading Estate.

Governance

Prenton is within the parliamentary constituency of

. The current Member of Parliament is

Mick Whitley Michael Whitley (born 17 November 1951) is a British politician who has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Birkenhead since 2019. He is a member of the Labour Party. Early life and career Whitley was born in St Catherine's Hospital, ...

, a

Labour Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

representative. He has been the MP since 2019. At

local government Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of public administration within a particular sovereign state. This particular usage of the word government refers specifically to a level of administration that is both geographically-loca ...

level, the area is incorporated into the

Prenton Prenton is a suburb of Birkenhead, Merseyside, England. Administratively, it is also a ward of the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral. Before local government reorganisation on 1 April 1974, it was part of the County Borough of Birkenhead, within ...

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 The metropolitan counties are a type of county-level administrative division of England. There are six metropolitan counties, which each cover large urban areas, with populations between 1 and 3 million. They were created in 1974 and are each di ...

of Merseyside. It is represented on

Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council, or simply Wirral Council, is the local authority of the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral in Merseyside, England. It is a metropolitan district council, one of five in Merseyside and one of 36 in the metropolit ...

by three councillors. The most recent

local elections In many parts of the world, local elections take place to select office-holders in local government, such as mayors and councillors. Elections to positions within a city or town are often known as "municipal elections". Their form and conduct vary ...

took place on 6 May 2021.

Community

Housing is mostly private, and ranges from

terraced In agriculture, a terrace is a piece of sloped plane that has been cut into a series of successively receding flat surfaces or platforms, which resemble steps, for the purposes of more effective farming. This type of landscaping is therefore ...

properties nearer Birkenhead, to large detached

villa A villa is a type of house that was originally an ancient Roman upper class country house. Since its origins in the Roman villa, the idea and function of a villa have evolved considerably. After the fall of the Roman Republic, villas became s ...

s in the Mountwood

conservation area Protected areas or conservation areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognized natural, ecological or cultural values. There are several kinds of protected areas, which vary by level of protection depending on the ena ...

. The major roads were mostly laid out in the early part of the 20th century. Much of the housing is from the

Edwardian era The Edwardian era or Edwardian period of British history spanned the reign of King Edward VII, 1901 to 1910 and is sometimes extended to the start of the First World War. The death of Queen Victoria in January 1901 marked the end of the Victori ...

and the 1930s, though there are some late Victorian buildings and some modern property. The post-war housing development, the Mount Estate, is in the south east of Prenton near to the boundary with Higher Bebington. The main shopping area is on Woodchurch Road ( A552), which includes the

Sainsbury's J Sainsbury plc, trading as Sainsbury's, is the second largest chain of supermarkets in the United Kingdom, with a 14.6% share of UK supermarket sales. Founded in 1869 by John James Sainsbury with a shop in Drury Lane, London, the company wa ...

Aldi Aldi (stylised as ALDI) is the common company brand name of two German multinational family-owned discount supermarket chains operating over 10,000 stores in 20 countries. The chain was founded by brothers Karl and Theo Albrecht in 1946, when t ...

and

Home Bargains Home Bargains is a British variety store chain founded in 1976 by Tom Morris in Liverpool, England, as Home and Bargain. It is the trading name of TJ Morris Ltd. History The retailer was founded by owner Tom Morris in 1976 as a single store ...

supermarkets. However, there are many small shops in other locations such as The Dell housing estate or in nearby Oxton.

Prenton Golf Club Prenton Golf Club is a golf club to the south of Prenton, Merseyside Merseyside ( ) is a metropolitan and ceremonial county in North West England, with a population of 1.38 million. It encompasses both banks of the Mersey Estuary and co ...

is to the south of the suburb. Prenton Rugby Club is off Prenton Dell Road and runs three senior teams and a veterans/casual team.

Education

Prenton includes the all-girls' secondary Prenton High School for Girls and the mixed Prenton Primary School.

Landmarks

Prenton Hall is a former farmhouse, constructed from

sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates) ...

with

slate Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. It is the finest grained foliated metamorphic rock. ...

roofing. The hall is primarily divided into two parts and both are Grade II

listed buildings In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

. Sited on the junction of Woodchurch Road and Storeton Road is the 'Halfway House'

public house A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...

. It is believed to be so named as it was approximately halfway between Woodside ferry and the village of Woodchurch. The original inn, with a licence dating back to at least 1879 was replaced at the end of the nineteenth century with the current, much larger building. Several nearby brewery-owned houses, built at the same time and in the same architectural style, were demolished when Woodchurch Road was widened. The site of the pub is now thought of as Prenton but actually was in Oxton township. The Prenton War Memorial, near the junction where Prenton Lane and Osmaston Road converge, was constructed in 1919 and unveiled on 6 August 1920. It was rebuilt due to bomb damage sustained in the

May Blitz May Blitz was a Canadian-British hard rock power trio that was active in the early 1970s. The group was formed in 1969 by bassist Terry Poole and drummer Keith Baker, the rhythm section of the blues-rock trio Bakerloo, both of whom l ...

and is now inscribed with the names of soldiers who died in both World Wars. The structure has been restored and was given Grade II listed status in 2018.

Notable people

* Benjamin Dabbs, English footballer, lived in Prenton. *

Eric Nixon Eric Walter Nixon (born 4 October 1962) is an English former professional footballer who played as goalkeeper. His career spanned 22 years, thirteen of which were spent at Tranmere Rovers. He played for thirteen different clubs and made over 500 ...

, English footballer, worked in Prenton. * Louis Page, English footballer, died in Prenton. * Julie Paulding, English cyclist, born in Prenton.

References

Bibliography

External links

Prenton Golf Club

Prenton Lawn Tennis Club

Prenton Rugby Union
{{Populated Places in Wirral Borough Towns and villages in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral Birkenhead