Merseyside
Locator map for the English administrative region of Merseyside.
Metropolitan county of northwest England, created in 1974; in 1986, most of the functions of the former county council were transferred to metropolitan borough councils (The Wirral, Sefton, Liverpool, Knowsley, St Helens).
Area
650 sq km/251 sq mi
Towns and cities
Liverpool, Bootle, Birkenhead, St Helens, Wallasey, Southport
Physical
River Mersey
Features
Merseyside Innovation Centre (MIC), linked with Liverpool and John Moores Universities; Prescot Museum of clock- and watch-making; Speke Hall (Tudor), and Croxteth Hall and Country Park (a working country estate open to the public); Port Sunlight (a garden village for the Lever soap factory workers)
Industries
brewing, chemicals, electrical goods, glassmaking, metal-working, pharmaceutical products, tanning, vehicles
Population
(2001) 1,362,000
Famous people
the Beatles, William Ewart Gladstone, George Stubbs
History St Helens has a long industrial past: glassmaking here dates back more than 200 years, and coal has been mined since the 16th century; in 1757 the Sankey Canal was constructed to carry coal to Liverpool, Warrington, and also Northwich for the then growing salt industry. The chemical and copper industries left large areas of derelict land in St Helens, which have now cleared. Knowsley originally grew up around Knowsley Hall, the home of the Stanley family (Earls of Derby) since 1835. |
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