Brimstage () is a village in the centremost part 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 ...

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 approximately east of

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 south west of

Bebington Bebington () is a town and unparished area within the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, in Merseyside, England. Historically part of Cheshire, it lies south of Liverpool, close to the River Mersey on the eastern side of the Wirral Peninsula. Ne ...

. Administratively, it is within the Clatterbridge 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 is in the parliamentary constituency of

Wirral South Wirral South is a constituency in Merseyside, England represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament by Alison McGovern of the Labour Party since 2010. Constituency profile Wirral South covers the central part of the Wirral peninsu ...

. At the time of the 2001 census, Brimstage had a population of 100.

History

The name Brimstage likely means "Bruna's place or riverbank"; the

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 ...

word ''stæð'' meaning a river-bank, shore or landing place. Over time, the name has been spelt as ''Brunestathe'' (1260), ''Brimstache'' (1275), ''Brunstach'' (1326), ''Bronstathe'' (1348) and ''Brynstat'' (1387). In 1288, Sir Roger de Domville is said to have 'listened for the word ''Brunstath (an old name for Brimstage, which he held as lord) during proceedings at

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 Domvilles were a Cheshire family of some standing, owning land in Oxton, as well as Brimstage. The Domville family left the village when the Hulse family took residence, circa 1378. The population has been recorded as 127 in 1801, 126 in 1851, peaking at 181 in 1901 and reducing to 135 in 1951. There were two pubs in Brimstage, the 'Red Cat' and the 'Pig and Whistle'. The 'Red Cat' was knocked down and never rebuilt while the 'Pig and Whistle' is thought to have been the now named Rose Cottage adjacent to the Pig and Whistle field.

Geography

Brimstage is in the central part of the Wirral Peninsula, 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 ...

at Leasowe Lighthouse, 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 ...

at Gayton and about west-north-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 ...

Port Sunlight Port Sunlight is a model village and suburb in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside. It is located between Lower Bebington and New Ferry, on the Wirral Peninsula. Port Sunlight was built by Lever Brothers to accommodate workers in it ...

. The village is situated at an elevation of around above sea level.

Governance

Brimstage was formerly a

township A township is a kind of human settlement or administrative subdivision, with its meaning varying in different countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, that tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, Ca ...

in the parish of

Bromborough Bromborough is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, in Merseyside, England. Within the boundaries of the historic county of Cheshire, it is situated on the Wirral Peninsula, to the south east of Bebington and to the north of Easth ...

, of 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 ...

. It became a civil parish in 1866.

Historically History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...

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 ...

, it was part of the

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 ...

between 1894 and 1933, subsequently moving within the boundaries of a jurisdiction that would become the

Municipal Borough of Bebington Bebington was a local government district on the Wirral Peninsula, in Cheshire, England. It was the local authority for the towns of Bebington and Bromborough. New Ferry and Port Sunlight were also within its boundaries. The district also inclu ...

. Further changes occurred on 1 April 1974, when local government reorganisation resulted in most of Wirral, including Brimstage, transfer from Cheshire to the newly formed county of

. As of , Brimstage is within the Clatterbridge Ward of the

. The village is represented nationally through the parliamentary constituency of

Landmarks

Although the exact date of construction is unknown, Brimstage Hall is believed to have been built between the 12th century and 14th century, making it one of the oldest buildings on Merseyside. Originally the site was enclosed by a

moat A moat is a deep, broad ditch, either dry or filled with water, that is dug and surrounds a castle, fortification, building or town, historically to provide it with a preliminary line of defence. In some places moats evolved into more extensive ...

and high embankment. The building's first known occupants were Sir Hugh Hulse and his wife, who were granted the right to construct a private chapel in 1398. Further modifications were made in during the 16th century, with a north wing added in the 19th century. The building was designated Grade I

listed building 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 ...

in 1962.

Community

Brimstage is a rural community centred on a small

village green A village green is a commons, common open area within a village or other settlement. Historically, a village green was common pasture, grassland with a pond for watering cattle and other stock, often at the edge of a rural settlement, used for ...

, consisting of Brimstage Hall, numerous farms and a small number of dwellings. The hall's courtyard hosts a vibrant retail community. The Brimstage Maze site includes a 7 acre

maze A maze is a path or collection of paths, typically from an entrance to a goal. The word is used to refer both to branching tour puzzles through which the solver must find a route, and to simpler non-branching ("unicursal") patterns that lea ...

, several outdoor activities for children and an indoor soft play area. In 2006 the former dairy at Home farm was refurbished to become the home of Brimstage Brewery - Wirral's first commercial brewery since the closure of Birkenhead Brewery in the 1960s. Brimstage, along with the neighbouring villages of Raby and

Thornton Hough Thornton Hough () is a village on the Wirral Peninsula, in Merseyside, England, of pre-Conquest origins. The village grew during the ownership of Joseph Hirst into a small model village and was later acquired by William Lever, founder of Lever ...

, are within an Area of Special Landscape Value, a protective designation to preserve the character and appearance of the area. This is part of the Wirral Unitary Development Plan.

Transport

The village is on the A5137 Brimstage Road, to the west of junction 4 of 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 ...

. Bus services operating along Brimstage Road and Talbot Avenue to the west of the village, as of 2015:

References

Bibliography

External links

{{Populated Places in Wirral Borough Towns and villages in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral