| West Kirby | |
|---|---|
 Shops on The Crescent | |
  West Kirby Location withinMerseyside | |
| Population | 13,380 (Built up area, 2021)[1] |
| OS grid reference | SJ213869 |
| • London | 182 mi (293 km)[2] SE |
| Metropolitan borough | |
| Metropolitan county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | WIRRAL |
| Postcode district | CH48 |
| Dialling code | 0151 |
| ISO 3166 code | GB-WRL |
| Police | Merseyside |
| Fire | Merseyside |
| Ambulance | North West |
| UK Parliament | |
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West Kirby (/wɛstˈkɜːrbi/) is a coastal town in theMetropolitan Borough of Wirral,Merseyside, England. In the north west of theWirral Peninsula and at the mouth of theRiver Dee, the town is contiguous withHoylake. It lies within thehistoric county boundaries ofCheshire, and became part of Merseyside in 1974. The built up area had a population of 13,380 at the2021 census.
The name West Kirby is ofViking origin, originallyKirkjubyr, meaning 'village with a church'.[3][4] The form with the modifier "West" exists to distinguish it from the other town of the same name in Wirral: Kirkby-in-Walea (now the modern town ofWallasey). The earliest usage given of this form isWest Kyrkeby in Wirhale in 1285.[3]
The old village lay aroundSt. Bridget's Church, but the town today is centred onWest Kirby railway station, which is about 1 km away. The town has aVictorianpromenade, flanked by the West Kirby Marine Lake that permits boats to sail even at low tide. The original wall was built to create the lake in 1899 but suffered a catastrophic leak in 1985.[5] A new lake was constructed on the site which is wider than previously and allows better sporting opportunities. TheHoylake and West Kirby War Memorial is a notable local landmark, designed in 1922 by the British sculptorCharles Sargeant Jagger, who was responsible for a number of war memorials around the world, including theRoyal Artillery Memorial at Hyde Park Corner in London.
There is one main tier of local government covering West Kirby, atmetropolitan borough level:Wirral Council. The council is a member of theLiverpool City Region Combined Authority, which is led by the directly-electedMayor of the Liverpool City Region.
West Kirby was anancient parish in theWirral Hundred of Cheshire. It was subdivided into ninetownships:Caldy,Frankby,Grange,Greasby,[a] Hoose,Great Meols, Little Meols,Newton cum Larton, and a West Kirby township covering the area around the village itself.[7][8][9]
From the 17th century onwards, parishes were gradually given various civil functions under thepoor laws, in addition to their original ecclesiastical functions. In some cases, including West Kirby, the civil functions were exercised by each township separately rather than the parish as a whole. In 1866, the legal definition of 'parish' was changed to be the areas used for administering the poor laws, and so each of the townships also became acivil parish.[10]
The population of the West Kirby township was 148 in 1801, 435 in 1851, and 2,441 in 1891.[11]
Alocal government district was created in 1891, covering Great Meols, Hoose, Little Meols, West Kirby and part of Grange. There was a dispute about whether the district's name should be 'Hoylake and West Kirby' or 'West Kirby and Hoylake'; the county council chose the latter.[12][13]
Such districts were reconstituted asurban districts under theLocal Government Act 1894, at which point the civil parishes within the district were united into a single civil parish called Hoylake-cum-West Kirby.[14][15] Although the order creating the district in 1891 had put the name West Kirby first, the council took to calling the district Hoylake and West Kirby. To resolve the ambiguity, the government formally confirmed the district's name as being Hoylake and West Kirby in 1897.[16] The council chose to base itself in Hoylake, buildingHoylake Town Hall there in 1898.[17]
The urban district was enlarged in 1933 to take in the civil parishes of Caldy, Frankby, Grange,[b] and Greasby. The urban district then covered a very similar area to the ancient parish of West Kirby, but from its expansion the urban district was just called Hoylake.[19][20] Hoylake Urban District was abolished in 1974 under theLocal Government Act 1972. The area became part of theMetropolitan Borough of Wirral in the new county ofMerseyside.[21]
West Kirby lies at the north-western corner of theWirral Peninsula. West Kirby is on the eastern side of the mouth of theDee Estuary, oppositeNorth Wales and approximately 8 miles (13 km) west ofLiverpool.Hilbre Island is approximately 1 mile (1.6 km) offshore from West Kirby, at the mouth of the Dee Estuary.
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Secondary schools in the area areCalday Grange Grammar School onCaldy Hill,West Kirby Grammar School andHilbre High School, which includes the WestWirralWorks City Learning Centre and West Kirby Residential School.[22]
St Bridget's Church is West Kirby'sChurch of England parish church, and thechancel of the present church dates from around 1320.St Andrew's Church is West Kirby's second Church of England church, originally built as achapel of ease for St Bridget's, gaining its own parish in 1920.
St Agnes' Church is the localRoman Catholic church.[23] West Kirby also has aUnited Reformed church, which dates to 1890,[24] and aMethodist church dating from 1904.[25]
West Kirby Library is within West Kirby Concourse, and operated by theMetropolitan Borough of Wirral. The West Kirby Museum, founded in 1892,[26] is adjacent to St Bridget's Church.
The town itself containsAshton Park and a starting point of theWirral Way, which follows the trackbed of the formerBirkenhead Railway branch line fromHooton.[27] Sandlea Park lies in the centre of the town, a short walk from the railway station.Coronation Gardens is located between the southern end of the promenade between South Parade and Banks Road. There are various other small parks and bowling greens around the town. Another popular activity is to walk out to the islands ofLittle Eye, Middle Eye and Hilbre Island at low tide. The promenade, beach and the walk to thewar memorial allow an excellent panoramic view of part of theNorth Wales coastline.
Sailboarding, sailing andkayaking are all popular local sports. In October 1991 the World Windsurfing Production Speed Record was set by Dave White on the West Kirby Marine Lake at 42.16 knots.[28]
Water sports fans are warned to wear appropriate footwear while using the marine lake because of the presence ofweaver fish with sharp poisonous barbs. There is also anRNLI Lifeboat Station near West Kirby Sailing Club.[29]
TheRoyal Liverpool Golf Club, a links course between West Kirby and Hoylake, has hosted 11 British Open Golf championships in the past 121 years, most recently the2006 and2014 British Opens.
Tennis tournaments have been held in Ashton Park. Here, players includingJohn McEnroe,Boris Becker,Monica Seles andPete Sampras have played in competition.[30]
West Kirby FC is the town's senior football club, which plays in theWest Cheshire League and plays its matches at Marine Park, Greenbank Road. West Kirby Ladies FC was officially established in 2017 and also play their matches at Marine Park, as do West Kirby Ladies U18s who play in the Cheshire Women's and Youth League.[31][32] The town has one of the largest junior football clubs in the North West, with over 90 teams and 1,000 players at West Kirby United.[citation needed] The teams play at many venues across West Kirby, including Calday Grange Grammar School, Hilbre High School and Greenbank Road. There were initially two junior clubs in the town, West Kirby Panthers and West Kirby Wasps, until the two sections merged to create West Kirby United in July 2017. The junior clubs play in the Eastham League with a youth section who play as West Kirby United in the North West under-21 League.
West Kirby is also home to Hoylake Amateur Swimming Club who train at West Kirby Concourse.
The Marine Lake is a large man-made coastal lake. The structure is large enough to hold sailing events, such as the Wilson Trophy,sailboarding and water-related activities including canoeing, kayaking and power-boating.[33] In 2009, it was reported that the lake had undergone structural damage, most likely due to estuarine erosion. Since this report a £750K refurbishment has taken place to help restore the lake, and it is now back to holding water-sport activities.[34]
Local news and television programmes are provided byBBC North West andITV Granada; the local television stationLiverpool TV also broadcasts to the area. Television signals are received from theWinter Hill TV transmitter.[35] With its close proximity withNorth Wales,BBC Wales andITV Cymru Wales can also be received from theMoel-y-Parc TV transmitter.[36]
Local radio stations areBBC Radio Merseyside,Heart North West,Capital North West & Wales,Hits Radio Liverpool,Smooth North West,Greatest Hits Radio Liverpool & The North West,Radio Wirral, and Wirral Wave Radio, a community-based station.[37]
The area's local newspapers are theWirral Globe,[38] andLiverpool Echo.
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West Kirby railway station is the western terminus ofMerseyrail'sWirral line. It facilitates return services toBirkenhead Hamilton Square andLiverpool Central; a change atBidston provides a connection toWrexham andNorth Wales.[39]
Grange Road, the main thoroughfare of West Kirby, is part of theA540 road. The B5141, starting at the Dee Lane junction with Grange Road, joins West Kirby with Caldy via Banks Road, Sandy Lane and Caldy Road.
The town is well served by bus routes. There are frequent connections to Birkenhead and Liverpool, provided byArriva North West that run every 10–20 minutes.Stagecoach Merseyside also serve the town with connections along the coast on service 38. There is also a direct bus service between West Kirby to Chester, via Heswall and Neston, that runs hourly from Monday to Saturday.[40]
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