Welcome
To the historic Wirral village of Eastham
Whether by accident or design, you have reached the website of the Eastham Village Preservation Association. Eastham is an ancient English village on the Wirral Peninsula; its long history reflected in the jumble of cottages that jostle for space with grander properties – a planner’s nightmare!
Before you explore further, may we share with you a little of Eastham’s history and learn how we are working to protect, preserve and promote it?
Eastham lies just a stone’s throw from the eastern bank of the River Mersey. White-washed roadside cottages, bright with hanging baskets in the summer, cluster along the narrow lanes, while the 12th-century St Mary’s Church rises from a sandstone outcrop, quietly presiding over its charges in the surrounding area.
Down at Eastham Ferry, the River Mersey still flows past the original sandstone cliffs, much as it always has done. Ocean-going vessels glide by within touching distance of the shore, heading for the world-famous Manchester Ship Canal — a daily reminder of Eastham’s confluence of ancient landscape and living industry.
This is an old place — very old. Eastham predates the Domesday Survey of 1086, and the yew tree in the churchyard is older still, planted when the Roman legions were leaving Chester, what scenes it must have witnessed. It has lived through the departure of the Roman army, the coming of the Vikings, the country-defining Battle of Brunanburh, the ransacking of its vicarage during the civil war, stagecoaches, the paddle streamer ferries to Liverpool, and so much more.
With its medieval road pattern and historic layout, Eastham has not adapted easily to the demands of the 21st century. To protect its character, dignity and deep sense of past lives, the village was designated a Conservation Area in 1974.
At heart, Eastham remains a classic English village: its ancient church and churchyard with headstones dating back to 1632, church bells ringing across the rooftops; its venerable yew tree; its two pubs, fine houses and oak-beamed cottages; its sandstone walls, and its cricket team, playing in whites on sunlit afternoons in Torr Park as they have done since 1854.
This website tells the story of Eastham — its past, its present, and the work we are doing to ensure that this remarkably resilient village continues to thrive for generations to come. We hope you’ll explore, discover, and perhaps even join us?