Claughton ( ) is a village and suburb of

Birkenhead Birkenhead () is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England. The town is on the Wirral Peninsula, along the west bank of the River Mersey, opposite Liverpool. It lies within the Historic counties of England, historic co ...

, on the

Wirral Peninsula The Wirral Peninsula (), 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 Dee Estuary to the west, the Mersey Estuary to the east, and Liverpo ...

Merseyside Merseyside ( ) is a ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial and metropolitan county in North West England. It borders Lancashire to the north, Greater Manchester to the east, Cheshire to the south, the Wales, Welsh county of Flintshire across ...

, England. It is situated approximately to the west of Birkenhead town centre, adjacent to

Birkenhead Park Birkenhead Park is a major public park located in the centre of Birkenhead, Merseyside, England. It was designed by Joseph Paxton and opened on 5 April 1847. Birkenhead park was designated a conservation area in 1977 and declared a Grade I N ...

. Administratively, Claughton is a 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 (), and encompasses of the northern part of the Wirral Peninsula. Major settlements include Birkenhead, Wallasey, Bebingt ...

. Before local government reorganisation on 1 April 1974, it was part of the County Borough of Birkenhead, within the county of

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Merseyside to the north-west, Greater Manchester to the north-east, Derbyshire to the east, Staffordshire to the south-east, and Shrop ...

. At the 2001 census, the population of Claughton was 13,723. For the 2011 census the total population of Claughton Ward, which also included Noctorum, was 14,705.

History

The name is of

Viking Vikings were 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 settled throughout parts of Europe.Roesdahl, pp. 9� ...

origin, deriving from the

Old Norse Old Norse, also referred to as Old Nordic or Old Scandinavian, was 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 ...

''Klakkr-tun'', meaning "hamlet on a hillock". Claughton Manor House was built in about 1850 by local benefactor Sir William Jackson, with its gardens designed by

Sir Joseph Paxton Sir Joseph Paxton (3 August 1803 – 8 June 1865) was an English gardener, architect, engineer and Liberal Party (UK), Liberal Member of Parliament. He is best known for designing the Crystal Palace, which was built in Hyde Park, London, Hyde ...

. It occupied a site between Egerton Road and Manor Hill until it was pulled down in the 1930s. Recalling his childhood in Claughton in the 1860s, the artist Harry B. Neilson wrote: The Birkenhead Institute was founded in 1889 by a local philanthropist, George Atkin, who established the school as a commercial company with shareholders and directors. Originally situated in Whetstone Lane, Birkenhead, it was relocated in the 1970s to premises on Tollemache Road in Claughton. The school closed in 1994 and was subsequently demolished.

Wilfred Owen Wilfred Edward Salter Owen Military Cross, MC (18 March 1893 – 4 November 1918) was an English poet and soldier. He was one of the leading poets of the First World War. His war poetry on the horrors of Trench warfare, trenches and Chemi ...

, the

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

poet, attended the school at its original location. A residential road has been named after him on the Tollemache Road site.

Administrative history

Claughton with Grange was historically a

township A township is a form of human settlement or administrative subdivision. Its exact definition varies among countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, this tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, Canad ...

in the

ancient 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. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

of Bidston, which formed part of the Wirral Hundred of

. The township was administratively absorbed into Birkenhead in 1843 when it was added to the improvement commissioners' district which covered the town. After 1843 the township therefore had only limited administrative uses, primarily being used as an area for electing poor law guardians. All such townships were declared to be

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. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

es in 1866, but with no change in their functions. The Birkenhead improvement commissioners' district was enlarged and incorporated to become a

municipal borough A municipal borough was a type of local government Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of governance or public administration within a particular sovereign state. Local governments typically constitute a subdivision of ...

in 1877. All the civil parishes in the borough were united into a single parish in 1898. The population of the township was recorded at 67 in 1801, 714 in 1851 and 733 in 1898. On 1 April 1974, local government reorganisation in England and Wales resulted in most of the Wirral Peninsula, including Claughton, transfer from

to the new county of Merseyside.

Geography

Claughton is in the north-eastern part of the Wirral Peninsula, approximately south-south-east of the

Irish Sea The Irish Sea is a body of water that separates the islands of Ireland and Great Britain. It is linked to the Celtic Sea in the south by St George's Channel and to the Inner Seas off the West Coast of Scotland in the north by the North Ch ...

Wallasey Wallasey () is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England. It is at the mouth of the River Mersey, on the north-eastern corner of the Wirral Peninsula. It lies within the Historic counties of England, historic county bou ...

, east-north-east of the Dee Estuary at

Caldy Caldy (historically spelt Calday) is a small, affluent village on the Wirral Peninsula, Merseyside, England, south-east of West Kirby. It is part of the West Kirby & Thurstaston Ward (country subdivision), Ward of the Metropolitan Borough of Wi ...

and west of the

River Mersey The River Mersey () is a major river 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 h ...

at Woodside. Claughton is situated on the eastern side of Bidston Hill, with the shops and college on the A5027 road at an elevation of above sea level.

Governance

Claughton is within the parliamentary constituency of

. The current Member of Parliament is

Mick Whitley Michael Whitley (born 17 November 1951) is a British Labour Party (UK), Labour Party politician and trade unionist who served as Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) for Birkenhead (UK Parliament constituency), Birkenhe ...

, a Labour representative. He has been the MP since 2019. At

local government Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of governance or public administration within a particular sovereign state. Local governments typically constitute a subdivision of a higher-level political or administrative unit, such a ...

level, the area is incorporated into the Claughton Ward of the

, in the

metropolitan county Metropolitan counties are a Subdivisions of England, subdivision of England which were originally used for Local government in England, local government. There are six metropolitan counties: Greater Manchester, Merseyside, South Yorkshire, Tyn ...

of Merseyside. It is represented on Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council by three councillors. The most recent local elections took place on 6 May 2021.

Economy

The village has a large number of shops, as well as cafes, bakery, florist, post office, and local pubs such as the 'Claughton Hotel', the 'Heather Brow' and 'Houlihan's Variety Club'.

Education

Claughton is the location of Birkenhead Sixth Form College, which was established by the local education authority in 1988.

Transport

Claughton Village lies on the A5027 road, which continues on westbound to Saughall Massie and joins the A553 road towards Birkenhead. Birkenhead Park railway station is located approximately to the east of Claughton. This station is on the Wirral Line of the

Merseyrail Merseyrail is a commuter rail network which serves Merseyside and adjacent areas of Cheshire and Lancashire in the North West England, North West of England. Merseyrail serves 69 Railway station, stations, 67 of which it manages, across two lin ...

network.

Notable people

The artist Harry B. Neilson grew up in Claughton, living in a house in Forest Road called Airliewood which his father had built in 1863. War artist Edgar Downs was born in Claughton in 1876, as was

Cecil Arthur Lewis Cecil Arthur Lewis (29 March 1898 – 27 January 1997) was a British fighter ace who flew with No. 56 Squadron RAF in the First World War, and was credited with destroying eight enemy aircraft. He went on to be a founding executive of the B ...

, the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

fighter ace and BBC executive, in 1898.

Others

* Charles Alford, church minister, incumbent at Christ Church, Claughton * John Blakeney, priest, curate of Christ Church, Claughton * Gruffydd Evans, Baron Evans of Claughton, politician, educated in Birkenhead and lived in Claughton * Cecil Holden, cricketer, died in Claughton *

Stephen Ladyman Stephen John Ladyman (born 6 November 1952) is a British Labour Party politician who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for South Thanet from 1997 until 2010. He served as a minister in the government of Tony Blair between 2003 and 2007, latte ...

, Labour politician, educated in Claughton * Charles Reed, architect, died in Claughton * John Taylor, church minister, vicar of Christ Church, Claughton * William Taylor, church minister, curate in Claughton * Harry Verelst, cricketer, born in Claughton * Frederick Smeeton Williams, church minister, worked in Claughton * Arthur Willmer, cricketer, born in Claughton * Charles Verelst, architect, from Claughton

References

Bibliography

External links

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