I ask because I've just seen the post about a fatal accident in Palm Grove, PRENTON!!
This isn't the first time that I've noticed that the boundary of Prenton has been expanding: anyone know why; is Prenton a more desirable address than Oxton, which as far as I remember was always where Palm Grove was?

The answer is simple, Prenton is where it has always been. What has changed is the 'postal town'. This is effectively down to the postal sorting office responsible for your post. The result being that if you were to write your full address it would be for example:
Mr & Mrs So'n'so
123 Our Street
Prenton or Oxton or Woodchurch etc
Prenton
Wirral
Merseyside
Post code
This is abbreviated in most cases by removing the historic town or village name and just using the 'postal town'.

Thanks for that, however, I see that Oxton is include in the list of locations you gave, and surely Palm Grove is in Oxton?

According to Ward Boundaries, Palm Grove is in Oxton, Claughton or Prenton. How ridiculous !

http://www.wirral.gov.uk/my-services/environment-and-planning/planning/ward-boundaries

It's in England ..try google

Oxton is a small village I thought with a couple of overpriced cafes, a scruffy off licence and an overpriced sign makers is it not? Or am I just being obtuse?

Palm Grove is in the old village boundary of Oxton but runs down to the old Claughton boundary. The addresses used to read as Oxton, Birkenhead or Claughton, Birkenhead in the days when Birkenhead was the primary sorting office. Prenton ward was Prenton, Birkenhead but is now just plain Prenton. I suppose there is nothing stopping anyone to still use their ward aswell as postal town just as they used to making Oxton, Prenton or Prenton, Prenton etc.

Thank you for your helpful response.

Thanks, Granny. Useful maps.

Thanks for that explanation. I saw on Granny's link that it's the boundary and that what the number is determines what ward it is/was.

No problem, a picture paints a thousand words....
Thanks for that link Granny, I would never have thought of looking there.

Ive seem roads in the North End of Birkenhead described as Prenton in some Wirral Globe stories

The last time my wife and I renewed our passports, the forms from the Passport office had my wife living in Prenton and myself in Upton (where we live), I went to the Post Office and queried it, no joy, so I gave up and sent them back as they were.

Post office changing reality does annoy me.

The dock road in Wallasey is classed as Birkenhead according to the post office, cause no end of confusion when someone has the address "Dock Road, Birkenhead" and they are looking on this side of the docks.

They are supposed to work off postcodes so why they pedantically change the area name I've no idea.

I thought the usage of Prenton in the article was odd too, I'd have used Oxton. If I was using Prenton then I'd be describing where Sainsburys & Aldi is.

The only time I use it is for my postal address as I'm ashamed to use Birkenhead!



Overpriced? The cafe on Wellington Road and Terry's "Tea for Two" are both reasonably priced. The latter is your typical greasy spoon.

Overpriced pubs & pretentious restaurants - definitely. But not the cafes.

Royal Mail has decided that every address in the Borough of Wirral falls into one of four Post Towns - Prenton, Wallasey, Birkenhead and Wirral. Those definitions do not match any areas known to the residents. For Royal Mail, Claughton and Oxton are in Prenton; Heswall, West Kirby, Greasby, Egremont, New Brighton, etc. no longer exist; and Birkenhead is not in Wirral. Places that are not in Royal Mail's versions of Prenton, Wallasey or Birkenhead are stated to be in Wirral. Their confusing boundary names are based on their sorting and delivery offices, but are now officially part of a building's postal address.

From http://www.royalmail.com/sites/default/files/Royal-Mail-PAF-Code-of-Practice.pdf -
"The postal address is a sorting and routing instruction to Royal Mail’s staff and not always a geographically accurate description of where a property is located. As mail is circulated via Post towns it may, for example, include the name of that town which could be several miles away, as that is where your mail is processed."

That brings up a couple of anomalies, Oxton despite locally being called Oxton Village was never a village.

The second anomaly is that "Oxton" has two post offices and hence two shopping areas so it has two centres, Wellington Road and the other being the junction of Palm Hill, Claughton Firs, Christchurch Road, Village Road and Rose Mount.

This might have come about because I think there was another name that has died out for the area around the Palm Hill (which I have forgotten!).

Edit: Claughton-cum-Grange

Sorry diggin' but i think you are incorrect. I believe Oxton derives its name from the vikings and has something to do with being a farmstead. Oxton was a village before being incorporated into Birkenhead. It was a large sprawling area and just happens to be lucky enough to retain two post offices, most places had two or more post offices at one time or another which eventually closed through postmasters or mistresses retiring or being forced to close for what ever reason. As for having another name, I haven't heard that before so you could potentially be correct on that issue.

Many towns had two or more post offices, you will struggle to find Villages with two post offices.

Oxton seemed to originally centre above Shrewsbury Road and certainly wasn't one of the Wirral Hundred's, the nearest ones being Prenton and Noctorum. But saying that, Tranmere wasn't a Hundred either.

The first Oxton Village Hall was earlyish 20th century, long after Birkenhead had subsumed it.

"Oxton" seems to centre on St Saviours on both sides of Bidston/Talbot Roads.

Just because an area has a name it does not make it a town or Village. A classic counter-example being Rock Ferry which is purely a vaguely defined area belonging partly to Bebington and partly to Tranmere.

I could be wrong, my original reference material has disappeared off the internet and my memory is poor, I think I have a sheet of notes I made on the subject which I will try and dig out, I should have placed it on one of my websites instead of "filing" it.

I know the feeling regarding memory. Most villages just spring up organically and many disappeared in the same way. I was not around at the time the area was named but I remember something from my old school days that Oxton was a village around 1200ad. My old school notes are now well gone so I can't tell you the source im afraid. There will no doubt be some better history buffs on this site that will be able to clarify this im sure.

Oxton history is HERE

It was a township, but not all townships were official ones decreed by parliament.

To be a village it would have to be administered by a parish council which it looks like it could have been after 1846 when St Saviour's predecessor was built.

Do you remember the campaign to get Bebington back into Cheshire rather than being in Merseyside. This seems to have died out. I suppose the change from 'L' to 'CH' took the wind out of their sails, but in fact all it meant was that the Post Office had transferred its main sorting office from Liverpool to Chester.

Apologies if the campaign is still in existence. I haven't seen much sign of them for some years now.