Is Wirral A County, Town or City?

I’m answering the question “is Wirral a county, town or city?” because it came up in a conversation recently and I realised there is some uncertainty around the topic.

Is Wirral a county, town or City? Wirral is neither a county, city nor a town. It is a metropolitan borough of Merseyside with parts of South Wirral being part of the county of Cheshire. Wirral has towns within it such as Hoylake, West Kirby and New Brighton but the closest city is Liverpool which has two cathedrals (which makes it a city). Chester is also a nearby city due to having it’s own cathedral.

What Does a Metropolitan Borough Mean?

The word metropolitan basically means an area is large and busy and a borough is a way for the government to break down areas within the UK for administrative purposes. A metropolitan borough as in “Wirral is a metropolitan borough” simply means that Wirral is a built-up area administered by the local government, in this instance two-thirds are governed by Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council (known is Wirral Council ( with the remaining third administered by the Cheshire West and Chester Council.

Is Wirral A County?

No, as explained in the paragraph above Wirral is governed by two different local councils as the Wirral itself is divided into two counties, namely Merseyside and Cheshire.

Is Wirral an Island?

Technically speaking yes because it is fed by the Leeds canal but Wirral is a peninsular meaning a piece of land connected to the mainland. We’re talking technical aesthetics here of course.

Does This Mean The Postcodes For Wirral Differ?

No, you would think this would be the case however all of the postcodes begin with “CH” and have done since 1999 when Royal Mail decided to switch the older “L” postcodes to a Cheshire-based new electronic and more efficient sorting office for efficiency.

This actually caused a bit of a stink around the time with some people believing this was done out of snobbery and a snub to Liverpool who tend to call the people of Wirral “plastic Scousers” meaning the people of Wirral are not real “Scousers”.

If you live in Wirral and would like to check your postcode you can use the website Check My Postcode here or here on Postcodes-uk.com.

So What Defines a City?

A city has a cathedral. Liverpool is famous for having two cathedrals (the Anglican Cathedral and the Metropolitan Cathedral) to denote the two distinctions between Roman Catholics and Protestants. Chester too has a cathedral (Chester Cathedral) and so is classed as a city. Wirral does not have a cathedral and therefore is not classed as a city.

What are the Towns of the Wirral?

Because the Wirral is divided into two, I’ve listed the towns as they appear under each of their respective councils.

Wirral Council

Cheshire West & Chester Council

Barnston Bebington Beechwood Bidston Birkenhead Brimstage Bromborough Caldy Clatterbridge Claughton Eastham Egremont Ford Frankby Gayton Grange Greasby Heswall Hoylake Irby Landican Larton Leasowe Liscard Meols Moreton New Brighton New Ferry Newton Noctorum Oxton Pensby Port Sunlight Poulton Prenton Raby Mere Raby Rock Ferry Saughall Massie Seacombe Spital Storeton Thingwall Thornton Hough Thurstaston Tranmere Upton Wallasey Wallasey Village West Kirby Woodchurch Woodside

Blacon Boughton Chester City Chester Villages Davenham and Moulton Dodleston and Huntington Ellesmere Port Town Elton Farndon Frodsham Garden Quarter Gowy Grange Great Boughton Handbridge Park Hartford and Greenbank Helsby Hoole Kingsley Lache Ledsham and Manor Little Neston and Burton Malpas Marbury Neston Netherpool Newton Parkgate Rossmore St Paul’s Saughall and Mollington Shakerley Strawberry Sutton Tarporley Tarvin and Kelsall Tattenhall Upton Weaver and Cuddington Whitby Willaston and Thornton Winnington and Castle Winsford Over and Verdin Winsford Swanlow and Dene Winsford Wharton Witton and Rudheath

In Summary

Wirral is neither a city nor a town, the question is actually a bit misguided and hopefully, I’ve been able to outline the answer in this article and explain why.

I’ll admit I had to refresh some of the knowledge myself and did plenty of research to try and ensure I gave you a correct answer but if I’m wrong on anything then please feel free to let me know in the comments below.

Also if you would like to contribute to this article I’d be happy to accept your input.

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People Also Ask:

Is the Wirral classed as Liverpool?

No, it is its own separate entity. The Wirral lies between Liverpool, Chester and North Wales.

Is Wirral a good place to visit?

I like to think so. I’ve lived in quite a few parts of the UK for a variety of reasons and I think it’s got a bit of everything that you would want. It’s got shopping for people who want quaint little shops and the bigger high street names too. It’s also very green with lots of green belt countryside including the Wirral Way which is a fantastic place to go walking. We also have beaches and coastlines which are brilliant for family days out.

What does the Wirral mean?

The name originates from the plant “myrtle” which was once thought to cover the region, Wirral actually means “myrtle corner” for this reason. The myrtle plant is no longer found in the Wirral and it’s closes location is in Formby.