Merseyside ( ) is a

metropolitan Metropolitan may refer to: * Metropolitan area, a region consisting of a densely populated urban core and its less-populated surrounding territories * Metropolitan borough, a form of local government district in England * Metropolitan county, a typ ...

and

ceremonial county The counties and areas for the purposes of the lieutenancies, also referred to as the lieutenancy areas of England and informally known as ceremonial counties, are areas of England to which lords-lieutenant are appointed. Legally, the areas i ...

North West England North West England is one of nine official regions of England and consists of the ceremonial counties of England, administrative counties of Cheshire, Cumbria, Greater Manchester, Lancashire and Merseyside. The North West had a population of ...

, with a population of 1.38 million. It encompasses both banks of the Mersey Estuary and comprises five

metropolitan borough A metropolitan borough (or metropolitan district) is a type of local government district in England. Created in 1974 by the Local Government Act 1972, metropolitan boroughs are defined in English law as metropolitan districts within metropolitan ...

s: Knowsley, St Helens, Sefton, Wirral and the city of Liverpool. Merseyside, which was created on 1 April 1974 as a result of the

Local Government Act 1972 The Local Government Act 1972 (c. 70) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed local government in England and Wales on 1 April 1974. It was one of the most significant Acts of Parliament to be passed by the Heath Gov ...

, takes its name from the River Mersey and sits within the historic counties of Lancashire and

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 ...

. Merseyside spans of land. It borders the ceremonial counties of Lancashire (to the north-east), Greater Manchester (to the east),

(to the south and south-east) and the Irish Sea to the west. North Wales is across the Dee Estuary. There is a mix of high density urban areas, suburbs, semi-rural and rural locations in Merseyside, but overwhelmingly the land use is urban. It has a focused central business district, formed by Liverpool City Centre, but Merseyside is also a polycentric county with five metropolitan districts, each of which has at least one major town centre and outlying suburbs. The

Liverpool Urban Area The Liverpool Built-up Area (previously Liverpool Urban Area in 2001 and prior) is a term used by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) to denote the urban area around Liverpool in England, to the east of the River Mersey. The contiguous bu ...

is the fifth most populous conurbation in England and dominates the geographic centre of the county, while the

Birkenhead Urban Area The Birkenhead Built-up area is an urban area in England, which covers the towns of Birkenhead, Wallasey, Bebington and Ellesmere Port in both Merseyside and Cheshire. It is defined for certain statistical purposes by NOMIS (National Online Manpow ...

dominates the Wirral Peninsula in the south. In the 12 years following 1974, the county had a two-tier system of local government; district councils shared power with the

Merseyside County Council Merseyside County Council (MCC) was, from 1974 to 1986, the upper-tier administrative body for Merseyside, a metropolitan county in North West England. MCC existed for a total of twelve years. It was established on 1 April 1974 by the Local ...

. The county council was abolished in 1986 and so its districts (the metropolitan boroughs) are now effectively unitary authority areas. However, the metropolitan county continues to exist in law and as a geographic frame of reference, Retrieved on 6 March 2008.
• Retrieved on 6 March 2008.
• Retrieved on 7 July 2008. and several county-wide services are co-ordinated by authorities and joint-boards, such as Merseytravel (for public transport),

Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service is the statute, statutory Fire service in the UK, fire and rescue service covering the county of Merseyside in north-west England and is the statutory Fire and Rescue Authority responsible for all 999 fire br ...

and the

Merseyside Police Merseyside Police is the territorial police force responsible for policing Merseyside in North West England. The service area is 647 square kilometres with a population of around 1.5 million. As of September 2017 the service has 3,484 police of ...

(for law-enforcement); as a

, Merseyside has a

Lord Lieutenant A lord-lieutenant ( ) is the British monarch's personal representative in each lieutenancy area of the United Kingdom. Historically, each lieutenant was responsible for organising the county's militia. In 1871, the lieutenant's responsibility ...

and a High Sheriff. As the Lancashire county palatine boundaries remain the same as the historic boundaries, the High Sheriff of Merseyside, along with those of Lancashire and Greater Manchester are appointed "within the Duchy and County Palatine of Lancaster". The boroughs of Merseyside are joined by the neighbouring borough of Halton in Cheshire to form the Liverpool City Region, which is a local enterprise partnership and combined authority area. Merseyside is an

amalgamation Amalgamation is the process of combining or uniting multiple entities into one form. Amalgamation, amalgam, and other derivatives may refer to: Mathematics and science * Amalgam (chemistry), the combination of mercury with another metal **Pan am ...

of 22 former local government districts from the former administrative counties of Lancashire,

and six autonomous county boroughs centred on Birkenhead, Bootle, Liverpool, Southport, St Helens and

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 ...

History

Merseyside was designated as a "Special Review" area in the Local Government Act 1958, and the Local Government Commission for England started a review of this area in 1962, based around the core county boroughs of Liverpool, Bootle, Birkenhead and

. Further areas, including Widnes and Runcorn, were added to the Special Review Area by Order in 1965. Draft proposals were published in 1965, but the commission never completed its final proposals as it was abolished in 1966. Instead, a Royal Commission was set up to review English local government entirely, and its report (known as the Redcliffe-Maud Report) proposed a much wider Merseyside metropolitan area covering southwest Lancashire and northwest Cheshire, extending as far south as

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 ...

and as far north as the

River Ribble The River Ribble runs through North Yorkshire and Lancashire in Northern England. It starts close to the Ribblehead Viaduct in North Yorkshire, and is one of the few that start in the Yorkshire Dales and flow westwards towards the Irish Sea (t ...

. This would have included four districts: Southport/ Crosby, Liverpool/ Bootle, St Helens/ Widnes and Wirral/

. In 1970 the Merseyside Passenger Transport Executive (which operates today under the '' Merseytravel'' brand) was set up, covering Liverpool, Sefton, Wirral and Knowsley, but excluding Southport and St Helens. The Redcliffe-Maud Report was rejected by the incoming

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

government, but the concept of a two-tier metropolitan area based on the Mersey area was retained. A White Paper was published in 1971. The Local Government Bill presented to Parliament involved a substantial trimming from the White Paper, excluding the northern and southern fringes of the area, excluding Chester, Ellesmere Port (and, unusually, including Southport, whose council had requested to be included). Further alterations took place in Parliament, with Skelmersdale being removed from the area, and a proposed district including St Helens and Huyton being subdivided into what are now the metropolitan boroughs of St Helens and Knowsley. Merseyside was created on 1 April 1974 from areas previously part of the administrative counties of Lancashire and

, along with the county boroughs of Birkenhead, Wallasey, Liverpool, Bootle, and St Helens. Following the creation of Merseyside, Merseytravel expanded to take in St Helens and Southport. Between 1974 and 1986 the county had a two-tier system of local government with the five boroughs sharing power with the

. However, in 1986 the government of Margaret Thatcher abolished the county council along with all other metropolitan county councils, and so its boroughs are now effectively unitary authorities.

Geography

Merseyside is divided into two parts by the Mersey Estuary; the Wirral is located on the west side of the estuary, upon the Wirral Peninsula and the rest of the county is located on the east side of the estuary. The eastern part of Merseyside borders onto Lancashire to the north, Greater Manchester to the east, with both parts of the county bordering

to the south. The territory comprising the county of Merseyside previously formed part of the administrative counties of Lancashire (east of the River Mersey) and Cheshire (west of the River Mersey). The two parts are linked by the two Mersey Tunnels, the Wirral Line of Merseyrail, and the Mersey Ferry.

Green belt

Merseyside contains green belt interspersed throughout the county, surrounding the Liverpool urban area, as well as across the Mersey in the Wirral area, with further pockets extending towards and surrounding Southport, as part of the western edge of the North West Green Belt. It was first drawn up from the 1950s. All the county's districts contain some portion of belt.

Identity

Ipsos MORI polls in the boroughs of Sefton and Wirral in the 2000s showed that in general, residents of these boroughs identified slightly more strongly to Merseyside than to Lancashire or Cheshire respectively, but their affinity to Merseyside was more likely to be "fairly strong" than "very strong".

Local government

Arms of the Merseyside Metropolitan County Council

Metropolitan boroughs

Merseyside comprises the

s of Liverpool, Knowsley, Sefton, St Helens and Wirral.

County-level functions

Following the abolition of the county council some local services are run by joint-boards of the five metropolitan boroughs; these include the: *

* Merseyside Fire & Rescue Service * Merseytravel (who are also responsible for the Merseyrail network) *

Merseyside Waste Disposal Authority The Merseyside Recycling and Waste Authority (MRWA) (formerly Merseyside Waste Disposal Authority (MWDA)) is a statutory waste disposal authority that manages the municipal solid waste produced in Merseyside, England. MWDA was established in 19 ...

*Merseyside Pension Scheme, administered by Wirral Borough Council, with offices in Liverpool

Liverpool City Region

The Liverpool City Region Combined Authority, which includes the five boroughs and the Borough of Halton headed by a mayor, Steve Rotheram, elected in May 2017.

Economy

This is a chart of the trend of regional gross value added of Merseyside at current basic price
published
(pp. 240–253) by ''Office for National Statistics'' with figures in millions of British Pounds Sterling.

Transport

Transport in Merseyside consists of travel by roads, rail, air and water. Motorways serving Merseyside include M53 motorway in Wirral,

M57 motorway The M57 motorway, also known as the Liverpool Outer Ring Road, is a road in England. Designed as a Ring road for Liverpool, it is long between Tarbock Green and Switch lsland, and links various towns east of the city, as well as the M62 and ...

M58 motorway The M58 is a motorway passing through Merseyside and Lancashire, terminating in Greater Manchester. It is 12 miles (19.3 km) long and provides a link between the M6 motorway and the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton and hence on, via the A5 ...

and M62 motorway. Rail travel is provided by Merseyrail, Network Rail and Wirral Tramway (since 1995) with major stations at Liverpool Lime Street, Liverpool Central, Liverpool James Street and Birkenhead Hamilton Square. * Borderlands line connects Wirral to Wales. * City Line (Merseyrail) ** Liverpool–Wigan line (and onward to

Preston Preston is a place name, surname and given name that may refer to: Places England *Preston, Lancashire, an urban settlement **The City of Preston, Lancashire, a borough and non-metropolitan district which contains the settlement **County Boro ...

via the West Coast Main Line) **

Liverpool–Manchester lines There once were four direct railway routes between Liverpool and Manchester in the North West of England; only two remain, the two centre routes of the four. The most northerly and the most southerly of the four routes are no longer direct li ...

(Middle and Southern Routes, including the branch to Warrington Bank Quay) ** Crewe–Liverpool line (and onward to

Birmingham New Street Birmingham New Street is the largest and busiest of the Birmingham station group, three main railway stations in Birmingham city centre, England, and a central hub of the Rail transport in the United Kingdom, British railway system. It is a ma ...

via the West Coast Main Line) ''Merseyrail commuter lines'' * Northern line (Merseyrail) * Wirral line Aviation and air travel is provided by Liverpool John Lennon Airport, the oldest provincial airport in the United Kingdom. Major cycling routes on the National Cycle Network (such as

National Cycle Route 56 National Cycle Network (NCN) Route 56 is a Sustrans National Route that runs from Chester to Liverpool. The route utilises country lanes, a former railway trackbed, a coastal path and a seaside promenade. Route Chester to Hooton The route begi ...

and

National Cycle Route 62 National Cycle Network (NCN) Route 62 is a Sustrans National Route that runs from Fleetwood to Selby. As of 2018 the route has a missing section between Preston and Southport but is otherwise open and signed. History Much of route 62 was cr ...

) pass through the region too such as New Brighton and 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 ...

. Major bus companies are Stagecoach Merseyside and Arriva North West. Liverpool One bus station serves as a terminus for national coach travel.

Maritime

Liverpool Cruise Terminal The Liverpool Cruise Terminal is a 350-metre-long (1,150 ft) floating structure situated on the River Mersey enabling large cruise ships to visit without entering the enclosed dock system or berthing mid-river and tendering passengers asho ...

provides long-distance passenger cruises,

Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines is a UK-based, Norwegian-owned cruise shipping line with four cruise ships. The company is owned by Bonheur and Ganger Rolf and is headquartered in Ipswich, Suffolk, in the United Kingdom. The company is part of the F ...

and

Cruise & Maritime Voyages Cruise & Maritime Voyages (CMV) was a British passenger shipping company headquartered in Purfleet, Essex, United Kingdom. The company ceased operations in 2020 and entered administration. History Cruise & Maritime Voyages was formed in 2009, b ...

using the terminal to depart to Iceland, France, Spain and Norway.

Ferries

Prince's Landing Stage, Pier Head, Liverpool serves Isle of Man Steam Packet Company summer service to the Isle of Man (and Mersey Ferries).

Twelve Quays Twelve Quays is a ferry terminal and business park which is located between East Float and the River Mersey at Birkenhead, in England. Twelve Quays separates Woodside from Seacombe. History Twelve Quays is named from the quaysides which ser ...

, Birkenhead ferry port serves winter Isle of Man ferry service and

Stena Line Stena Line is a Swedish shipping line company and one of the largest ferry operators in the world. It services Denmark, Germany, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Latvia, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland and Sweden. Stena Line is a major unit of Ste ...

to Belfast, Northern Ireland.

Commercial

The Port of Liverpool handles most commercial shipping, but several other ports on the Wirral peninsula, such as Great Float and

Queen Elizabeth II Dock Queen Elizabeth II Dock is a dock situated on the River Mersey at Eastham, in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England. Construction of the dock began in 1949, adjacent to the entrance of the Manchester Ship Canal at Eastham L ...

, operate too.

River and Canal

The Mersey Ferry has operated since the 1200s, currently between Seacombe, Woodside and Liverpool Pier Head. Leeds and Liverpool Canal and

Manchester Ship Canal The Manchester Ship Canal is a inland waterway in the North West of England linking Manchester to the Irish Sea. Starting at the Mersey Estuary at Eastham, near Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, it generally follows the original routes of the river ...

are the main canal systems.

Sport

Merseyside is host to several football league football clubs including Liverpool F.C.,

Everton F.C. Everton Football Club () is an English professional association football club based in Liverpool that competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The club was a founder member of the Football League in 1888 and has compe ...

, Tranmere Rovers F.C. and

Southport F.C. Southport Football Club is an association football club based in Southport, Merseyside. They play their home matches at Haig Avenue, which has a capacity of 5,414. They are known by their nickname "the Sandgrounders". The club's main ...

Golf courses include Royal Liverpool Golf Club, Royal Birkdale Golf Club and

Southport and Ainsdale Golf Club Southport and Ainsdale Golf Club is an 18-hole championship golf course in North West England, situated near the Merseyside (formerly Lancashire) towns of Southport and Ainsdale, north of Liverpool. The course is near the coast of the Irish Sea, s ...

. Cricket clubs include the historic

Aigburth Cricket Ground, Liverpool __NOTOC__ Aigburth Cricket Ground in Liverpool, England, is the home of Liverpool Cricket Club. The club was founded in 1807 and is the oldest amateur sports club in Merseyside. The ground hosted its maiden first-class cricket match in 1881, a fi ...

Aintree Motor Racing Circuit Aintree Motor Racing Circuit is a motor racing circuit in the village of Aintree, Metropolitan Borough of Sefton, Merseyside, England. The circuit is located within the Aintree Racecourse and used the same grandstands as horse racing. It was b ...

hosted the British Grand Prix.

Aintree Racecourse Aintree Racecourse is a horse racing, racecourse in Aintree, Metropolitan Borough of Sefton, Merseyside, England, bordering the city of Liverpool. The racecourse is the venue for the Grand National steeplechase (horse racing), steeplechase, whi ...

hosts the Grand National and there is also

Haydock Park Racecourse Haydock Park Racecourse is a racecourse in Merseyside, North West England. Within the boundaries of the historic county of Lancashire, the racecourse is set in an area of parkland bounded by the towns of Haydock to the west, Ashton-in-Makerfield ...

Totally Wicked Stadium Totally Wicked Stadium is a rugby league stadium in the Peasley Cross area of St. Helens. Known as Langtree Park until 2017, it has a capacity of over 18,000 and is the home ground of St Helens R.F.C. The stadium was granted full planning per ...

hosts Rugby League and Hoylake hosts sailing (such as

Southport 24 Hour Race The West Lancashire Yacht Club 24 Hour Race, has always been more commonly known as the Southport 24 Hour Race. The race is a national endurance race for classic sailing dinghies (Enterprise, GP14, Lark and Firefly) held in Southport, Mersey ...

) and is Britain's premier location for sand yachting. A ski slope facility is found at

The Oval (Wirral) The Oval (sometimes referred to as the ''Bebington Oval'' and ''Port Sunlight'') is a Municipal athletics stadium in Bebington, Merseyside and leisure centre with outdoor ski slope. The venue has played host to Tranmere Rovers F.C. reserve and ...

Places of interest

Liverpool

Albert Dock Albert Dock may refer to: *Albert Dock, Hull, in Kingston upon Hull, England *Royal Albert Dock, Liverpool, a dock and warehouse system in Liverpool, England *Royal Albert Dock, London The Royal Albert Dock is one of three docks in the Royal ...

* Anfield ( Liverpool F.C. Stadium) * The Beatles Story Museum Liverpool at

* The Cavern Club * Croxteth Hall *

Gambier Terrace Gambier Terrace (Liverpool, England) is a street of 19th-century houses overlooking St. James's Mount and Gardens and Liverpool Cathedral. It is generally reckoned to be in Canning, although it falls within the Rodney Street conservation area, ...

* Goodison Park (

Stadium) * HM Customs & Excise National Museum * International Slavery Museum * Liverpool Cathedral (

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...

) * Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral ( Roman Catholic) *

Merseyside Maritime Museum The Merseyside Maritime Museum is a museum based in the city of Liverpool, Merseyside, England. It is part of National Museums Liverpool and an Anchor Point of ERIH, The European Route of Industrial Heritage. It opened for a trial season in 198 ...

* Mersey Tunnels – Queensway and Kingsway * Museum of Liverpool Life * Pier Head * Speke Hall – National Trust * St George's Hall * Tate Liverpool, a branch of the Tate Gallery * Walker Art Gallery *

World Museum Liverpool World Museum is a large museum in Liverpool, England which has extensive collections covering archaeology, ethnology and the natural and physical sciences. Special attractions include the Natural History Centre and a planetarium. Entry to the ...

Knowsley

* Knowsley Hall *

Knowsley Safari Park Knowsley Safari is a safari park and tourist attraction near Prescot, England. It is a member of the British and Irish Association of Zoos and Aquariums (BIAZA) and the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria (EAZA). It contributes to conservat ...

St Helens

The Dream A dream is an experience during sleep. Dream, The Dream, Dreams, etc. may also refer to: Art Paintings * ''Le Rêve'' (Detaille), an 1888 painting by Édouard Detaille * ''Le Rêve'' (Picasso) (''The Dream'' in French), 1932 oil painting by ...

* Langtree Park ( St Helens Stadium) *

North West Museum of Road Transport The North West Museum of Road Transport (formerly St. Helens Transport Museum or St. Helens Bus Museum) is located at the old St. Helens Corporation Transport bus depot in Hall Street, St. Helens, Merseyside, St Helens, Merseyside, England. Th ...

* World of Glass

Sefton

Crosby Beach Crosby Beach is part of the Merseyside coastline north of Liverpool in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton, England, stretching about North-West from the Seaforth Dock in the Port of Liverpool, through Waterloo, Merseyside, Waterloo, where it se ...

* Formby * Haig Avenue * Hugh Baird College * Lord Street, Southport *

Meols Hall Meols Hall is a historical manor house in Churchtown, Merseyside, dating from the 12th century with a 16th-century tithe barn restored for wedding receptions and ceremonies. History Meols Hall dates back to the late 12th century when the mano ...

* Pleasureland Southport * Royal Birkdale Golf Club * Southport Pier

Wirral

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 poi ...

and

Bidston Windmill Bidston Windmill is situated on Bidston Hill, near Birkenhead, on the Wirral Peninsula, England. History It is believed that there has been a windmill A windmill is a structure that converts wind power into rotational energy using vanes cal ...

* Birkenhead Park * Birkenhead Priory * Hamilton Square * Hilbre Island *

Lady Lever Art Gallery The Lady Lever Art Gallery is a museum founded and built by the industrialist and philanthropist William Lever, 1st Viscount Leverhulme and opened in 1922. The Lady Lever Art Gallery is set in the garden village of Port Sunlight, on the Wirral ...

* Leasowe Castle and

Leasowe Lighthouse Leasowe Lighthouse is a historic lighthouse in Leasowe on the Wirral Peninsula in Merseyside, England. The lighthouse was built in 1763 by The Mersey Docks and Harbour Company to guide shipping safely to the Port of Liverpool and is the oldest l ...

North Wirral Coastal Park The North Wirral Coastal Park, on the Wirral Peninsula, England is a coastal park including public open space, common land, natural foreshore and sand-dunes. The park lies between Dove Point in Meols, and the Kings Parade in New Brighton, and ...

* Port Sunlight *

Prenton Park Prenton Park is a large outdoor seated association football stadium in Birkenhead, England. It is the home ground of Tranmere Rovers, as well as Liverpool's women and reserves teams. The ground has had several rebuilds, with the most recent o ...

( Tranmere Rovers F.C. Stadium) * Royal Liverpool Golf Club * Williamson Art Gallery and Museum * Wirral Country Park

Notes

References

External links

*
Merseytravel website

Merseyside.com local guide, A-Z, street index

Merseyside Today - regional guide

Mersey Reporter History - Merseyside History

Merseyside Businesses online

Mersey Life - Community
{{Coord, 53, 25, N, 3, 00, W, region:GB_type:adm1st_source:kolossus-zhwiki, display=title Metropolitan counties North West England NUTS 2 statistical regions of the United Kingdom Counties of England established in 1974