Meols
Early Days
Although called Melas in the Domesday Book, the name Meols is from the old Norse word for sand-dunes. Up until a century ago it was called Meolse but the name was changed when the railway station was built -- the story has it that the railway managers were unsure of the spelling and had assumed it to be the same as Meols, near Southport.
In Victorian times, Meols was still a farming community although a few
houses built by the gentry had started to appear. As a small village, it
was without a church or a school and the villagers had to walk to the
parish church at Hoylake where the childern attended the Hoylake
National School.
The population of Meols was 140 in 1801 but, with the arrival of the
Birkenhead Road in about 1850, it had increased to 821 in 1901.
The first inn in Meols was the Sloop Inn. It dates back to at least
1840. It later became a shop and was demolished in 1938.
The original Railway Inn was pulled down in the 1930's when it
became fashionable to build larger inns to attract the motorist. The new
inn was opened on 1st December 1938 and then the old one was knocked down
to become the car park.[Photograph]
St. John the Baptist Church was consecrated on 12th April 1913, the
foundation stone having been laid on 21st October 1911.
The first Anglican services in the 1880's were held in the
schoolroom. In June 1901 a temporary church was opened at a cost of 500 UK
Pounds - this was later to become the church hall.
Between Meols and Leasowe is a submerged forest. Roots and stumps
of large trees are partially buried in peaty soil, which is the result of
a pre-historic forest becoming submerged by the sea encroaching on the
land. Although the remains of this forest had not been seen for several
decades, they were visible in the spring of 1982.
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