Merseyside is a metropolitan and ceremonial county in North West England, built around the Mersey estuary. It covers 252 square miles (652 km2) and held an estimated 1,423,700 residents in 2021, making it one of the most densely settled counties in the country.
Liverpool is the largest city and the county’s centre. Four other metropolitan boroughs make up the rest: Knowsley, Sefton, St Helens and Wirral. The county has no county council; the boroughs run local services and work together through the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority.
| Country | England, United Kingdom |
|---|---|
| Region | North West England |
| Area | 252 sq mi (652 km2) |
| Population (2021) | 1,423,718 (ONS estimate) |
| Population (2011 census) | 1,380,770 |
| Density | 2,184 people per km2 |
| Boroughs | Liverpool, Knowsley, Sefton, St Helens, Wirral |
| Created | 1 April 1974 |
| Combined authority | Liverpool City Region (the five boroughs plus Halton) |
| Postcode areas | L, CH, WA, PR |
Towns and Villages in Merseyside
The GeoNames gazetteer records 222 named settlements and districts across the five boroughs. Because the county is largely continuous urban area, the list is grouped by borough rather than run as a single alphabet.
Liverpool
- Aigburth
- Allerton
- Belle Vale
- Broad Green
- Calderstones
- Childwall
- Clubmoor
- Craven Wood
- Cressington Park
- Croxteth
- Dam Wood
- Deysbrook
- Dingle
- Elm Park
- Fazakerley
- Fulwood Park
- Garston
- Gateacre
- Gillmoss
- Grassendale
- Grassendale Park
- Hartley's Village
- Hunts Cross
- Kensington
- Kirkdale
- Knotty Ash
- Liverpool
- Mill Yard
- Mossley Hill
- Netherley
- Norris Green
- Oak Hill Park
- Oglet
- Old Swan
- Orrell Park
- Otterspool
- Princes Park
- Sandfield Park
- Sandhills
- Sefton Park
- Speke
- St Michael's Hamlet
- Stanley
- Stoneycroft
- Tillerman Court
- Toxteth
- Tuebrook
- Vauxhall
- Victoria Park
- Walton
- Warbreck Park
- Wavertree
- West Derby
- Woodlands
- Woolton
Knowsley
- Copple House
- Court Hey
- Cronton
- Dovecot
- Fincham
- Halewood
- Horn Smithies
- Huyton
- Huyton Farm
- Huyton Park
- Huyton Quarry
- Huyton with Roby
- Ivy Row
- Kirkby
- Kirkby Park
- Knowsley
- Longview
- Lyme Grove
- Northwood
- Page Moss
- Prescot
- Roby
- Southdene
- Stockbridge Village
- Swanside
- Tarbock Green
- Tower Hill
- Westvale
- Whiston
- Windy Arbor
- Woolfall Heath
Sefton
- Ainsdale
- Aintree
- Birkdale
- Blowick
- Blundellsands
- Bootle
- Churchtown
- Crossens
- Formby
- Freshfield
- Great Crosby
- Hightown
- Homer Green
- Ince Blundell
- Litherland
- Little Altcar
- Little Crosby
- Lunt
- Lydiate
- Maghull
- Melling
- Melling Mount
- Moor Park
- Netherton
- Seaforth
- Sefton
- Southport
- Thornton
- Waddicar
- Waterloo
St Helens
- Ashton's Green
- Billinge
- Bold Heath
- Broad Oak
- Brooklands
- Brown Edge
- Carr Mill
- Clinkham Wood
- Clock Face
- Cowley Hill
- Crank
- Denton's Green
- Derbyshire Hill
- Earlestown
- Eccleston
- Eccleston Lane Ends
- Eccleston Park
- Finger Post
- Gerard's Bridge
- Gillar's Green
- Grange Park
- Green Bank
- Green Leach
- Haresfinch
- Haydock
- Holt
- Kings Moss
- Laffak
- Lea Green
- Marshall's Cross
- Moss Bank
- Moss Nook
- New Boston
- Newton-le-Willows
- Newtown
- Nutgrove
- Old Boston
- Park Hill
- Parr Stocks
- Peasley Cross
- Pewfall
- Pocket Nook
- Portico
- Rainford
- Rainhill
- Ravenhead
- St Helens
- Stanley Bank
- Sutton Heath
- Sutton Leach
- Thatto Heath
- Toll Bar
- Vulcan Village
- Wargrave
- West Park
- Windlehurst
Wirral
- Arrowe Hill
- Barnston
- Bebington
- Beechwood
- Bidston
- Birkenhead
- Brimstage
- Bromborough
- Bromborough Pool
- Brookhurst
- Caldy
- Dacre Hill
- Devonshire Park
- Eastham
- Egerton Park
- Frankby
- Grange
- Greasby
- Great Meols
- Heswall
- Higher Bebington
- Hoylake
- Irby Hill
- Leasowe
- Liscard
- Lower Bebington
- Lower Village
- Moreton
- New Brighton
- New Ferry
- Noctorum
- Pensby
- Poll Hill
- Port Sunlight
- Poulton
- Prenton
- Raby Mere
- Rock Ferry
- Rock Park
- Saughall Massie
- Seacombe
- Storeton
- Thingwall
- Thornton Hough
- Thurstaston
- Upton
- Wallasey
- West Kirby
- Woodchurch
- Woodhey
Geography
The Mersey estuary divides the county. Liverpool, Sefton and Knowsley sit on the north and east bank; the Wirral peninsula lies to the south-west, between the Mersey and the Dee. St Helens is inland to the east, on the Lancashire coalfield.
The Sefton coast north of Liverpool carries one of the largest dune systems in Britain, running from Crosby through Formby and Ainsdale to Southport. The dunes and pinewoods hold red squirrels and natterjack toads, and much of the strip is a national nature reserve.
Inland the ground is low and gently rolling. Bidston Hill on the Wirral and Billinge Hill above St Helens are the main high points, neither above 180 metres. The Leeds and Liverpool Canal and the Sankey Canal cross the county.
Neighbours are Lancashire to the north, Greater Manchester to the east and Cheshire to the south. Flintshire in Wales lies across the Dee estuary.
Demographics
The 2011 census counted 1,380,770 residents across the five boroughs. ONS estimated 1,423,718 by mid-2021. Liverpool accounts for about a third of the total.
At the 2021 census the largest built-up areas after Liverpool were Birkenhead (109,848), St Helens (107,677), Southport (94,421) and Bootle (53,718). Wallasey, Bebington, Huyton and Kirkby each hold tens of thousands more.
Merseyside lost population heavily in the second half of the twentieth century as docks closed and overspill estates were built outside the county. Liverpool fell from about 850,000 in 1931 to under 440,000 by 2001, and has grown again since.
The county has long-established Irish, Welsh, Chinese and Somali communities. Liverpool’s Chinatown, dating from the 1850s, is among the oldest in Europe.
Economy and Local Life
The port still matters. The Port of Liverpool handles containers, grain and bulk cargo, and the deep-water Liverpool2 terminal opened in 2016 to take the largest container ships on the transatlantic run.
Manufacturing is concentrated at a handful of large sites. Jaguar Land Rover builds cars at Halewood in Knowsley. Pilkington has made glass at St Helens since 1826 and invented the float glass process there in 1952. Unilever still produces at Port Sunlight, the model village built for its soap works from 1888.
Life sciences cluster at Speke, with vaccine and pharmaceutical plants, alongside the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine in the city. Three universities and a large further education sector make education one of the biggest employers.
Visitors come for the waterfront, the Beatles and sport. Aintree stages the Grand National each April, Royal Birkdale at Southport hosts the Open Championship, and Anfield and Goodison Park draw crowds through the season.
History
Liverpool was chartered by King John in 1207 as a base for crossings to Ireland and stayed a small port for five centuries. Its growth came with Atlantic trade in the eighteenth century, including a dominant share of the British slave trade, and then with cotton, emigration and shipping.
The world’s first scheduled passenger railway opened between Liverpool and Manchester in 1830, after locomotive trials at Rainhill the previous year. The docks system stretched more than seven miles along the Mersey by 1900.
Famine migration from Ireland after 1845 reshaped the city’s population. In the Second World War the port made Merseyside a primary target; the May Blitz of 1941 killed around 4,000 people, with Bootle among the worst-hit towns in Britain by proportion of housing destroyed.
The county itself is recent. Merseyside was created on 1 April 1974 from parts of Lancashire and Cheshire. Its county council was abolished in 1986, and the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority, with a directly elected mayor, took on strategic transport and economic powers from 2017.
Getting There
The M62 runs east to Manchester and Leeds, the M57 and M58 ring the north and east, and the M53 runs down the Wirral to Chester. The A580 East Lancashire Road, opened in 1934, was the first purpose-built intercity road in Britain.
Two road tunnels cross the Mersey: Queensway from Liverpool to Birkenhead, opened in 1934, and Kingsway to Wallasey, opened in 1971. Merseyrail’s electrified Northern and Wirral lines run through underground loops beneath the city centre. Liverpool Lime Street has direct trains to London, Manchester, Birmingham and Scotland.
Liverpool John Lennon Airport at Speke serves European and domestic routes. Ferries sail from Liverpool to Dublin, Belfast and Douglas, and the Mersey Ferries still cross to Seacombe and Woodside.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which boroughs make up Merseyside?
Five: Liverpool, Knowsley, Sefton, St Helens and Wirral. Halton in Cheshire joins them in the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority but is not part of the county.
What is the largest town in Merseyside after Liverpool?
Birkenhead, with 109,848 people in its built-up area at the 2021 census, just ahead of St Helens (107,677) and Southport (94,421).
How many towns and villages are there in Merseyside?
The GeoNames gazetteer lists 222 named settlements and urban districts across the five boroughs.
Is Merseyside in Lancashire?
No. Most of it was historically in Lancashire, and the Wirral in Cheshire, but Merseyside has been a separate county since 1974.
Which postcode areas cover Merseyside?
L for Liverpool, Knowsley and most of Sefton, CH for the Wirral, WA for St Helens and PR for Southport.
Does Merseyside have a county council?
No. Merseyside County Council was abolished in 1986. The five boroughs run services, with the combined authority handling transport and economic development.