Wirral Leasing

Did You Know?

Wirral has the longest Promenade in Britain. New Brighton Promenade is just over 2 miles (3.5km) long.

Despite it's small size the peninsula boasts no less than 1,900 listed buildings, 215 churches, 50 towns and villages, 25 conservation areas, 9 scheduled ancient monument sites, 8 sites of special scientific interest, 10 lighthouses, 5 nature reserves, 4 windmills, 4 historic parks, 2 watermills, one castle and one fort.

The Mersey Ferries were the first boats in the world to be installed with fog radar navigation systems. That was back in 1947.

The indiginous people of the Wirral Peninsula were the Celtic, Cornovii Tribe who lived in the modern day counties of Cheshire, Staffordshire, Shropshire and Clywd. The oldest known reference to the tribe was mentioned in an historical record written by Roman philosopher Ptolomy in the 2nd century A.D.

The first shot of WW1 was fired from the Wirral. It was shot from one of the guns on Fort Perch Rock as a warning across the bow of a Norwegian vessel just 30 minutes after war had been declared.

Wirral is said to be the ‘Birthplace of England’ and was the site of the bloodiest battle ever fought in Britain, the Battle of Brunanburh.

The legend of Canute holding back the sea was said to have taken place at Moreton in Wirral. A Canute Chair was present there up until the 1950s.

Wirral had the first commercial hovercraft service in Great Britain which operated from Moreton in 1962.Thomas Henry Ismay the founder of the White Star Line which built the Titanic, lived and died on there.

The peninsula's Leasowe Lighthouse, built in 1763, is the oldest brick built lighthouse in the U.K. The lighthouse was also the first in the country to have a female lighthouse keeper, when Mrs Mary Elisabeth Williams began her service as keeper in 1908.

The Wirral seaside resort was also the site of other record breakers during it's heyday of the 19th century. Classified as one of the most elegant seaside resort of the Regency period the town could boast the highest tower in Britain, the largest theatre stage in the world, the largest open air swimming pool in Europe, Britain's first amusements arcade and was the smallest town in the country to have a league football club.

Birkenhead Park was the first municipal park open to the public in the United Kingdom. The park was so much of a success that Central Park in New York was based upon its design.

Hilbre Island situated one mile off the Wirral coast at West Kirby covers an area of just 11.6 acres and is the United Kingdom's smallest, inhabited island.