Just had a look on The Cheshire Sheaf 2cds available for £10 from Cheshire Local
History Association. - It's quite good
APRIL 16, 1902.
NOTES.
[613] THE RENTAL OF THE EARL OF DERBY, FOR
HIS WIRRAL PROPERTY, 1521-2.
(Continued from No. 589.)
In the following portion the Rental still deals
with lands in the parish of Bidston, including the
townships of Moreton and Saughall Massey.
Perhaps the most interesting reference is that to
the fishery " in the water of Ayne called Dowble-
Dyke." There can hardly be any doubt that here we
have an early name for the little stream which still
drains the northern end of the Wirral Peninsula
and which is now known as The Fender. There is
only this one stream in Bidston parish, with two
branches, one draining the flat lands as far as
Newton Carrs at the end of West Kirby Hill and
the other flowing from the district near Prenton and
Barnston. Both these streams unite on the Bidston
Marsh and are both called the Fender, though the
Ordnance folk have invented the name Birket for
the former branch. Near the point where they
unite are some dykes or banks, probably of considerable
age, built to prevent the overflowing of
the meadows by the high tides coming up Wallasey
Pool. These may represent the "Dowble Dyke"
mentioned in the document. The word Ayne is
itself very interesting. It is no doubt the Celtic
word Afon or Avon, meaning water.
