Gayton, Merseyside

Gayton
Village
The converted windmill seen from the junction of Old Mill Close and the A540 Telegraph Road
Gayton Location within Merseyside
Population	3,110 (2001 Census) [1]
OS grid reference	SJ267808
•  London	177 mi (285 km) [2]   SE
Metropolitan borough	Wirral
Metropolitan county	Merseyside
Region	North West
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	WIRRAL
Postcode district	CH60
Dialling code	0151
ISO 3166  code	GB-WRL
Police	Merseyside
Fire	Merseyside
Ambulance	North West
UK Parliament	Wirral South
List of places UK England Merseyside 53°19′08″N3°06′04″W / 53.319°N 3.101°W / 53.319; -3.101

Gayton is a village in the Wirral district, in Merseyside, England, located between Heswall and Parkgate. At the 2001 Census, the population of Gayton stood at 3,110. ^[1]

History

The name is of Viking origin, deriving from the Old Norse Geit-tún, meaning 'goat farmstead'. ^[3] Gayton was formerly a township in the parish of Heswall, ^[4] in the Wirral Hundred, in 1866 Gayton became a separate civil parish. ^[5] The hamlets of Dawstone and Oldfield are also included as part of Gayton. The parish population was 100 in 1801, 144 in 1851, 180 in 1901 and 832 in 1951. ^[6] Before local government reorganisation on 1 April 1974, it was part of Wirral Urban District in the county of Cheshire. On 1 April 1974 the parish was abolished. ^[7]

William of Orange stayed at Gayton Hall in 1689 en route to the Battle of the Boyne in Ireland, and knighted his host, Sir William Glegg. ^[8]

Gayton Windmill, built of red sandstone and Wirral's oldest tower mill, ^[9] ceased operation in 1875. It has since been converted into a private residence. ^[10]

Geography

Gayton is on the western side of the Wirral Peninsula, and is situated at the eastern side of the Dee Estuary. The village is approximately 10 km (6.2 mi) south-south-east of the Irish Sea at Hoylake and about 8 km (5.0 mi) west-south-west of the River Mersey at Port Sunlight. The village is situated at an elevation of between 3–70 m (10–230 ft) above sea level. ^[11]

Transport

Rail

The nearest railway station to Gayton is Heswall.

Bus

Services operating in the Gayton area, as of January 2015:

Number	Route	Operator	Days of operation
77	Heswall–Woodside	Avon Buses	Monday–Saturday
85	Clatterbridge Hospital–Heswall	Avon Buses	Monday–Saturday
113	Heswall–New Ferry	A2B Travel	Monday–Saturday evenings
174	Lower Village–Heswall	A2B Travel	Monday–Saturday
472	Barnston–Liverpool	Arriva North West & Stagecoach	Monday–Friday peak times
X22	Heswall–Chester	Al's Coaches	Monday–Saturday

See also

• Gayton Hall, Wirral

References

1. Wirral 2001 Census: Gayton, Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, retrieved 4 January 2008^{[ permanent dead link ‍]}
2. "Coordinate Distance Calculator". boulter.com. Retrieved 6 March 2016.
3. Sulley, Philip (1889), The Hundred Of Wirral
4. "History of Gayton, in Wirral and Cheshire". A Vision of Britain through Time . Retrieved 27 September 2024.
5. "Relationships and changes Gayton CP/Tn through time". A Vision of Britain through Time. Retrieved 27 September 2024.
6. Cheshire Towns & Parishes: Gayton, GENUKI UK & Ireland Genealogy, retrieved 10 April 2007
7. "Wirral Registration District". UKBMD. Retrieved 27 September 2024.
8. Coward, Thomas Alfred (1903). "X: Western Wirral". Picturesque Cheshire. London & Manchester: Sherratt and Hughes.
9. Young, Derek & Marian, Pictures From The Past: Book 3, p. 64
10. History of Heswall, heswall.com, archived from the original on 25 August 2007, retrieved 6 September 2007
11. "SRTM & Ordnance Survey Elevation Data in PHP". Archived from the original on 27 June 2013. Retrieved 3 November 2016.

Bibliography

• Mortimer, William Williams (1847). The History of the Hundred of Wirral. London: Whittaker & Co. pp235-236.

External links

• Photo: Gayton Windmill
• Merseytravel