Thurstaston is a village on 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 ...
,
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. It is part of the
West Kirby and Thurstaston Ward 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 ...
and the parliamentary constituency of
Wirral West
Wirral West is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament by Margaret Greenwood of the Labour Party since 2015.
Constituency profile
The constituency is one of four covering the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral. It ...
. The village lies on the
A540 road between
Heswall
Heswall is a town on the Wirral, Merseyside, England. At the 2001 Census, the population was 16,012, including the nearby villages of Barnston and Gayton.
Before local government reorganisation on 1 April 1974 it was part of the administr ...
and
Caldy
Caldy is a small, affluent village on the Wirral Peninsula, England, south-east of West Kirby. It is part of the West Kirby & Thurstaston Ward of the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral and is in the parliamentary constituency of Wirral West. At the ...
, although it extends some distance down Station Road to the
Wirral Way
The Wirral Country Park is a country park on the Wirral Peninsula, England, lying both in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral in the county of Merseyside and in the borough of Cheshire West & Chester in the county of Cheshire. It was the first ...
and the
River Dee estuary.
At the time of the
2001 census, the village itself had only 160 inhabitants,
although the national census included Caldy and parts of
Irby Irby may refer to:
* Irby (surname), a list of people
* Irby, Merseyside, England, a village
* Irby, Virginia, United States, an unincorporated community
* Irby, Washington, United States, an unincorporated community
* Irby in the Marsh, Lincol ...
, bringing the total population to 15,548.
History
Thurstaston means "village of a man called Thorsteinn/Þorsteinn", from the
Old Norse
Old Norse, Old Nordic, or Old Scandinavian, is a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and t ...
personal name ''Thorsteinn''/''Þorsteinn'' and
Old English
Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain, Anglo ...
''tún'' "farm, village".
A record of the name as ''Torstestiune'' in 1048 proves this origin. The village was mentioned 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 as ''Turstanetone''.
Historically and popularly, the name was wrongly thought to refer to "Thor's Stone", a
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) ...
outcrop on
Thurstaston Common
Thurstaston Common is an area of almost of parklands, wood and heath between Frankby and Thurstaston, on the Wirral Peninsula in North West England. The common is jointly owned by the National Trust and the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral. Royd ...
.
A
Viking
Vikings ; non, víkingr is the modern name given to seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway and Sweden),
who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded and se ...
settlement called ''Straumby'' once existed in Tinker's Dale, near the modern-day Thurstaston Visitor Centre.
The village is centred on the
church of St Bartholomew, and
Thurstaston Hall
Thurstaston Hall is a country house in the village of Thurstaston, Wirral, Merseyside, England. The house is built in stone and brick, it is in two storeys, and it has a U-shaped plan. The oldest part, the west wing, was built in the 14th&nbs ...
, of which parts date from 1350, although most of the current building dates from between 1680 and 1835. A ghostly "white lady" is said to haunt the Hall.
The earliest mention of a Church occurs around 1125 but other evidence suggests that one may have existed in Saxon times. The Norman church endured for many hundreds of years but was eventually taken down in 1820 and a second edifice, a plain stone building, was completed in 1824. In 1871, the executors of Joseph Hegan of Dawpool set apart £4,500 for a new church to be erected in his memory. This was designed in late-13th-century mid-gothic style by
John Loughborough Pearson
John Loughborough Pearson (5 July 1817 – 11 December 1897) was a British Gothic Revival architect renowned for his work on churches and cathedrals. Pearson revived and practised largely the art of vaulting, and acquired in it a proficiency ...
, also the architect of
Truro Cathedral
The Cathedral of the Blessed Virgin Mary is a Church of England cathedral in the city of Truro, Cornwall. It was built between 1880 and 1910 to a Gothic Revival design by John Loughborough Pearson on the site of the parish church of St Mary. It i ...
, and was built entirely of local sandstone. It was consecrated in 1886. Although nothing remains of the earlier Norman church, the tower of the second one still stands in the churchyard and the sandstone of the building was used to construct a wall enclosing the new churchyard.
In 1882 the Liverpool shipowner
Thomas Ismay
Thomas Henry Ismay (7 January 1837 – 23 November 1899) was the founder of the Oceanic Steam Navigation Company, more commonly known as the White Star Line. His son Joseph Bruce Ismay was managing director of the ''White Star Line''; and, in ...
, founder of
White Star Line
The White Star Line was a British shipping company. Founded out of the remains of a defunct packet company, it gradually rose up to become one of the most prominent shipping lines in the world, providing passenger and cargo services between t ...
, built his mansion '
Dawpool' at Thurstaston; Ismay is said to have used his influence to ensure that the West Kirby–Hooton railway be routed a mile away along the Dee Estuary, rather than closer to the village. He was also successful in moving the main Heswall to West Kirby road, which came too close to the doorstep of his mansion, via a cutting through Thurstaston Hill.
Ismay is buried in the nearby St Bartholomew's churchyard. The solidly built 'Dawpool', designed by
Richard Norman Shaw
Richard Norman Shaw RA (7 May 1831 – 17 November 1912), also known as Norman Shaw, was a British architect who worked from the 1870s to the 1900s, known for his country houses and for commercial buildings. He is considered to be among the g ...
, was demolished by explosives in 1927.
Still standing in the village is the original building of Dawpool Primary School, now a private house.
Thurstaston railway station
Thurstaston railway station was a station on the single track Hooton to West Kirby branch of the Birkenhead Railway, on the Wirral Peninsula, England. The station served the village of Thurstaston situated to the north east.
History
The Bir ...
, on the
Chester and Birkenhead Railway
Chester is a cathedral city and the county town of Cheshire, England. It is located on the River Dee, close to the English–Welsh border. With a population of 79,645 in 2011,"2011 Census results: People and Population Profile: Chester Loca ...
branch line from to opened in 1886. During
World War II
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 ...
the station was used to unload munitions to service the anti-aircraft guns that had been installed nearby on
Lever Brothers
Lever Brothers was a British manufacturing company founded in 1885 by two brothers: William Hesketh Lever, 1st Viscount Leverhulme (1851–1925), and James Darcy Lever (1854–1916). They invested in and successfully promoted a new soap-making p ...
camp site. Passenger services had ended in 1954, although freight transportation on the line continued until complete closure in 1962. The route is now a public footpath known as the
Wirral Way
The Wirral Country Park is a country park on the Wirral Peninsula, England, lying both in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral in the county of Merseyside and in the borough of Cheshire West & Chester in the county of Cheshire. It was the first ...
, officially opening in 1973.
Civic history
Thurstaston, including the hamlet of Dawpool, was a
parish
A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or m ...
within 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, which was an important assembly point in the Wirral ...
, in 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 ...
. It became 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 ...
in 1866. The population was 112 in 1801, 98 in 1851, 141 in 1901 and 151 in 1951.
From 1894 Thurstaston was part of
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 ...
, then
Wirral Urban District
Wirral Urban District was an Urban district (Great Britain and Ireland), urban district in Cheshire, England from 1933 to 1974. It was created from part of the disbanded Wirral Rural District and covered an area in the south-west of the Wirral P ...
from 1933. On 1 April 1974,
local government reorganisation in England and Wales resulted in most of Wirral, including Thurstaston, transfer from the county of Cheshire to Merseyside.
Geography
![Thurstaston_Hill](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9c/Thurstaston_Hill.jpg)
Thurstaston is notable for the large areas of parkland and heathland.
Thurstaston Common
Thurstaston Common is an area of almost of parklands, wood and heath between Frankby and Thurstaston, on the Wirral Peninsula in North West England. The common is jointly owned by the National Trust and the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral. Royd ...
is a
Site of Special Scientific Interest
A Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Great Britain or an Area of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI) in the Isle of Man and Northern Ireland is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom and Isle of ...
(SSSI) and a local
nature reserve
A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, or features of geological or ...
. Nearby is Thurstaston Hill, a
Triassic
The Triassic ( ) is a geologic period and system which spans 50.6 million years from the end of the Permian Period 251.902 million years ago ( Mya), to the beginning of the Jurassic Period 201.36 Mya. The Triassic is the first and shortest period ...
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) ...
ridge and one of the highest points on the Wirral. On the eastern side of the hill is Thorstone Rock, a large sandstone mound which was reputed, in early times, to have been thrown by the Norse god
Thor
Thor (; from non, Þórr ) is a prominent god in Germanic paganism. In Norse mythology, he is a hammer-wielding æsir, god associated with lightning, thunder, storms, sacred trees and groves in Germanic paganism and mythology, sacred groves ...
. The offices and a visitor centre of
Wirral Country Park
The Wirral Country Park is a country park on the Wirral Peninsula, England, lying both in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral in the county of Merseyside and in the borough of Cheshire West & Chester in the county of Cheshire. It was the first de ...
are near the site of
Thurstaston railway station
Thurstaston railway station was a station on the single track Hooton to West Kirby branch of the Birkenhead Railway, on the Wirral Peninsula, England. The station served the village of Thurstaston situated to the north east.
History
The Bir ...
. The former trackbed of part of the
Birkenhead Railway
The Birkenhead Railway was a railway company in North West England. It was incorporated as the Birkenhead, Lancashire and Cheshire Junction Railway (BL&CJR) in 1846 to build a line connecting the port of Birkenhead and the city of Chester with ...
has been converted into a public footpath – the 'Wirral Way'. The visitor centre contains displays relevant to the local
ecology
Ecology () is the study of the relationships between living organisms, including humans, and their physical environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community, ecosystem, and biosphere level. Ecology overlaps wi ...
.
Governance
Thustaston is part of the parliamentary constituency of
Wirral West
Wirral West is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament by Margaret Greenwood of the Labour Party since 2015.
Constituency profile
The constituency is one of four covering the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral. It ...
. The current Member of Parliament is
Margaret Greenwood
Margaret Greenwood (born 14 March 1959) is a British politician who has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Wirral West since 2015. She is a member of the Labour Party.
Biography
A former teacher and community activist, Greenwood late ...
, 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, who has been the MP since 2015.
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 village is within the
West Kirby and Thurstaston 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 ...
, 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. Thurstaston 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.
Transport
Road
To the east of the village is the
A540 road, which runs from
Hoylake
Hoylake is a coast, seaside town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England. It is at the north west of the Wirral Peninsula, near West Kirby and where the River Dee, Wales, River Dee meets the Irish Sea. Historic counties of En ...
to
Chester
Chester is a cathedral city and the county town of Cheshire, England. It is located on the River Dee, close to the English–Welsh border. With a population of 79,645 in 2011,"2011 Census results: People and Population Profile: Chester Loca ...
. The section between
Caldy
Caldy is a small, affluent village on the Wirral Peninsula, England, south-east of West Kirby. It is part of the West Kirby & Thurstaston Ward of the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral and is in the parliamentary constituency of Wirral West. At the ...
and
Heswall
Heswall is a town on the Wirral, Merseyside, England. At the 2001 Census, the population was 16,012, including the nearby villages of Barnston and Gayton.
Before local government reorganisation on 1 April 1974 it was part of the administr ...
is named Telegraph Road. It intersects at a roundabout with Thurstaston Road, which heads north-easterly towards
Irby Irby may refer to:
* Irby (surname), a list of people
* Irby, Merseyside, England, a village
* Irby, Virginia, United States, an unincorporated community
* Irby, Washington, United States, an unincorporated community
* Irby in the Marsh, Lincol ...
.
Rail
Since the closure of the Chester and Birkenhead Railway branch line in 1962,
West Kirby railway station
West Kirby railway station serves the town of West Kirby in Merseyside, England. The station is the terminus of the West Kirby branch line, which is one of the two branches of the Wirral Line, part of the Merseyrail network,. There is a centra ...
on the
Wirral line
The Wirral line is one of two commuter rail routes operated by Merseyrail and centred on Merseyside, England, the other being the Northern line.
The Wirral line connects Liverpool to the Wirral Peninsula via the Mersey Railway Tunnel, with ...
of the
Merseyrail
Merseyrail is a commuter rail network serving the Liverpool City Region and adjacent areas of Cheshire and Lancashire. Merseyrail operates 66 railway stations across two lines – the Northern Line and Wirral Line, which are dedicated electri ...
network and
Heswall railway station
Heswall railway station is a railway station on the eastern edge of the town of Heswall on the Wirral Peninsula in England. It is on the Borderlands Line. The station and all trains serving it are operated by Transport for Wales. In 2008 the s ...
on the
Borderlands line are the nearest stations to the village.
See also
*
Listed buildings in Thurstaston
References
Bibliography
*
*
*
External links
Irby Thurstaston & Pensby Amenity SocietySt Bartholomew's Church
{{Populated Places in Wirral Borough
Towns and villages in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral
Beaches of Merseyside