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Civic Heraldry of the United Kingdom England

WIRRAL

Additions : 1974 Bebington, Birkenhead, Hoylake, Wallasey

Origin/meaning :
The shield like that of Hoylake, symbolises the Wirral peninsula, with a green background between white and blue waves for the Mersey and Dee estuaries. The central charge is the trident from the crest of Wavasey, epitomising the varied maritime activities of the Wirral - ports, shipbuilding, ferrying, fishing, sailing and seaside holiday resorts. Suspended from the trident is a conventionalised representation of the Wirral Horn, seen in the arms of Wallasey and the device of Wirral UDC. This recalls the tenure of the Master Forestership of the Forest of Wirral by 'cornage' the actual horn eventually coming to the Stanley family.

Above the shield is the closed helm proper to Civic Heraldry, with its twisted crest-wreath and decorative mantling in the green and gold of the shield, typifying the rural parts of the Wirral and the sands of the coastal area. Upon the wreath is the crest, symbolising some of the special natural features of the Wirral. On a sandstone rock representing the islands and the rocky areas of the middle of the peninsula, is the oystercatcher from Hoylake's crest, the bird that is seen in huge numbers on the Deeside area particularly. Flanking the rock are two sprigs of the Bog Myrtle or Sweet Gale, typical of the area and the whole is enclosed within a gold 'palisado' crown - a coronet of palings signifying protection of these distinctive features of the district. Five points indicate the five areas of the Borough.

The supporters represent the main early influences in the history of the Wirral. On the left is the red lion of Randle Meschines, Third Earl of Chester, who formed the entire Hundred of Wirral into a Forest administered by the Master Foresters from Storeton in the modern Bebington area. The crosier in the lion's paw represents St Werburgh's Abbey at Chester, whose manors, churches or lands in Wirral included Bebington, Bronborough (site of an earlier Saxon monastery), Eastham, Childer Thornton Raby and Neston, all or parts of which were also in Bebington Borough.

On the other side is the white lion of the Masseys, founders of Birkenhead Priory, in whose arms, as in those of the former County Borough, the lion and crosier appear, though in the Civic Heraldry the colour of the lion was changed. The white lion is also that of the Domvilles who held Brimstage in Bebington.

For necessary distinction, each lion wears a collar in the form of a letter W, white on the red lion and vice versa

The motto, By faith and foresight, a good principle for a new authority is suggested by words in the mottoes of Birkenhead (Fides - 'Faith') and Hoylake (Prospice - 'Look ahead')

Thus, in various symbolic ways, all the five constituent areas are represented in the Coat of Arms

Literature : Information provided by the Wirral Council.

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