Upper Gronant

The Dungeon (SSSI)

Thurstaston · 9.9 miles

The Dungeon is a 1.2-hectare (3.0-acre) Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) situated 1 mile north-west of Heswall, on the Wirral Peninsula, England. The site was notified in 1988 due to its geological features which show the Tarporley Siltstone Formation of the Mercia Mudstone Group.

Arrowe Park

Woodchurch Green · 11 miles

A mix of open countryside, sporting amenities and historic structures gives the Arrowe Park area a distinct character on the Wirral Peninsula. Situated roughly 6.5 km west of Birkenhead, the park lies within the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, adjacent to the Woodchurch housing estate and just south of the village of Upton. The land originally formed part of an estate acquired by John Shaw in the early nineteenth century; his nephew, John Ralph Nicholson Shaw, erected Arrowe Hall in 1835 and laid out parkland, a lake and workers’ cottages. Ownership passed to Lord Leverhulme in 1908, then to Birkenhead Corporation in 1926, and finally to the Wirral local authority in 1974. Arrowe Hall, a Grade II-listed Elizabethan-style mansion, was sold in 1997 and now operates as a private care centre, while the nearby Arrowe Park Hospital, opened by the Queen in 1982, provides acute accident and emergency services. The country park, opened in 1926, offers a range of recreational facilities. Within its 150 acres lies Arrowe Park Golf Club, founded in the 1930s, with a clubhouse and an eighteen-hole course; additional provisions include a pitch-and-putt area, footgolf, tennis courts, bowling greens, football pitches and a children’s play zone. A public house, built in 1994, serves visitors. Arrowe Brook runs along the western boundary, forming Arrowe Park Lake and a walking path. The nearest settlement identified on OpenStreetMap is Woodchurch Green, providing a reference point for directions. Admission to the public park is unrestricted, while the hospital and private care centre operate on a medical-service basis.

Thornton Manor

Thornton Hough · 13 miles

A substantial 19th-century country house dominates the village of Thornton Hough on the Wirral, Merseyside. Recorded as a Grade II* listed building, the manor was erected in the middle of the 1800s on land once owned by the Mostyn family of North Wales. After purchase by solicitor Charles William Potts in 1849, the property changed hands to businessman Thomas Brittain Forwood in 1863 and was subsequently let to William Lever in 1888, who bought it outright in 1893. Lever’s tenure saw a series of extensions: an Elizabethan-style main block designed by Douglas and Fordham around 1896, stables by J.J. Talbot in 1899, a music room in 1902, a later ballroom-turned-swimming pool, a south-front porch in 1906 and a gatehouse in 1910. A major 1913 reconstruction added further Elizabethan wings, while plans for additional enlargement were halted by the First World War. The surrounding park, originally laid out under Forwood, was later refined by Thomas H. Mawson and the Lever family, featuring a lake, a loggia dated 1912, a lookout tower, and a network of tree-lined avenues extending roughly five miles. Today the manor remains in private ownership and is not generally open to the public. It can be hired for weddings and other events, offering the historic interiors and extensive grounds as a venue. Notable recent uses include private political talks in 2019 and a significant fire in early 2022 that required eight fire engines. No regular admission fee or visitor facilities are provided, as access is limited to organised functions.

Birkenhead Park

Claughton · 14 miles

Birkenhead Park is a major public park located in the centre of Birkenhead, Merseyside, England. It was designed by Joseph Paxton and opened on 5 April 1847.

Lady Lever Art Gallery

Port Sunlight · 15 miles

The Lady Lever Art Gallery is a museum founded and built by the industrialist and philanthropist William Lever, 1st Viscount Leverhulme and opened in 1922. The Lady Lever Art Gallery is set in the garden village of Port Sunlight, on the Wirral and one of the National Museums Liverpool.

Wallasey Dock

Seacombe · 15 miles

The former Wallasey Dock, now a water-filled site beside Seacombe, marks a piece of Birkenhead’s maritime heritage on the Wirral Peninsula. Built between 1874 and 1877, the dock replaced the earlier Great Low Water Basin of 1863 and lay between Alfred Dock to the north and Morpeth Dock to the south, with river access to the west via East Float. Its sheds originally stored grain before being repurposed for imported livestock, and a pumping station added in 1890 on the adjoining river wall contributed to gradual silting. By the 1960s the basin was largely silted, leading to dereliction by 1992. In the early 2000s the dock was filled, creating space for a vehicle park that serves the nearby Twelve Quays roll-on/roll-off ferry terminal. The resulting landscape includes a lake-type water feature recognised by OpenStreetMap, with Seacombe identified as the closest settlement. While the site no longer functions as a working dock, the surrounding area provides access to the ferry terminal’s transport facilities. No specific admission charges or visitor amenities are recorded for the former dock itself; access is via the existing road network serving the vehicle park. The location therefore offers a glimpse of industrial change, set within a water-adjacent environment that reflects the evolution of the local docklands.