Prenton

infobox UK place
country= England
official_name= Prenton
latitude= 53.3721
longitude= -3.0385
population= 14,429 (2001 Census)
metropolitan_borough= Wirral
metropolitan_county= Merseyside
region= North West England
constituency_westminster= Birkenhead
post_town= PRENTON
postcode_district= CH43
postcode_area= CH
dial_code= 0151
os_grid_reference= SJ310866
map_type= Merseyside

Prenton is a suburb of Birkenhead on the Wirral Peninsula, Merseyside, England. Administratively, it is also a ward of the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral. Before local government reorganisation on 1 April 1974, it was part of the county of Cheshire. At the 2001 Census, the population of Prenton was 14,429, consisting of 6,787 males and 7,642 females.citeweb|url=http://neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/LeadKeyFigures.do?a=7&b=5941376&c=prenton&d=14&e=16&g=361589&i=1001x1003x1004&m=0&enc=1|title=2001 Census: Prenton|work=Office for National Statistics|accessdate=2 July|accessyear=2007]

History

Prenton appears as "Prestune" in the "Domesday Book" of 1086, with the name "Pren-" ton persisting despite the Norman-French accented spelling. "Domesday" describes Prenton as having a one-league square woodland - which is nine square miles, if the 'League' is taken in its Old English measurement of x3 miles. The size and importance of the wood may reflect the name of the settlement. "Pren" is Welsh (British) for the material 'wood' and in the name Prenton there is the Saxon suffix "tún" for a settlement, which suggests a settlement in a wood. The Welsh/British name for Prenton would thus be "Prentre" which could easily have changed into Prenton following Anglian penetration of the area in the early seventh century. Note that Landican (one mile distant from Prenton) retained its Welsh/British name even through Anglian and subsequent Norse occupation. "Domesday" also records the presence of a water mill at Prenton, and this has been provisionally identified at Prenton Dell.

Previously a township in Woodchurch Parish, Wirral Hundred, Prenton was added to Birkenhead civil parish in 1933. The population was 81 in 1801, 99 in 1851 and 412 in 1901. [citeweb|url=http://www.ukbmd.org.uk/genuki/chs/prenton.html|work=GENUKI UK & Ireland Genealogy|title=Cheshire Towns & Parishes: Prenton|accessdate=2 July|accessyear=2007]

In August 1940, during the Second World War, a house maid working in Prenton became the first fatality of a bombing raid on Merseyside area. [citeweb|url=http://www.mersey-gateway.org/server.php?show=ConWebDoc.1201|title=Port Cities: Liverpool 'Blitz' timeline|work=E. Chambré Hardman Archive|accessdate=17 March|accessyear=2008] citebook|title=Birkenhead at War: 1939-45|first=Ian|last=Boumphrey|date=2001|isbn=1-899241-16-7]

Community

Housing is mostly private, and ranges from terraced properties nearer Birkenhead, to large detached villas in the Mountwood conservation area. The major roads were mostly laid out in the early part of the 20th century. Much of the housing is from the Edwardian era and the 1930s, though there are some late Victorian buildings and some modern property.

The main shopping area is on Woodchurch Road (A552), which includes the Sainsbury's, Aldi, Home Bargains and Rightway supermarkets. However there are many small shops in other locations such as The Dell housing estate or in nearby Oxton. Sited on the junction of Woodchurch Road and Storeton Road is the 'Halfway House' public house, dating back to at least 1879citebook|title=Yesterday's Wirral (No.7)|first=Ian & Marilyn|last=Boumphrey|date=1992|isbn=0-9507255-7-9] when the area was a rural hamlet.

Prenton's main claim to fame is Prenton Park, which is the ground of Tranmere Rovers Football Club. Although being named after the area, the ground is actually situated in Tranmere.

Education

Prenton includes the all-girls' secondary Prenton High School for Girls.

References

External links

* [http://www.20thcenturyimages.co.uk/trolleyed/4/22/1686/index.htm Halfway House pub: photo (1960)]
* [http://www.prentongolfclub.co.uk Prenton Golf Club]
* [http://www.prentonltc.org.uk/ Prenton Lawn Tennis Club]
* [http://www.prentonrufc.co.uk Prenton Rugby Union Football Club]
* [http://www.tranmererovers.premiumtv.co.uk/page/Home Tranmere Rovers FC: official website]