In Northwest England, not far from Liverpool, one can find the beautiful peninsula of Wirral and its beautiful metropolitan borough. Though only a mere ten miles in length, Wirral is nonetheless filled to the brim with beauty and spectacle and much of this is due to the fact that the live-giving River Dee flanks Wirral's west side, dividing its spoils between Wirral and Wales like a generous parent. On the east side of Wirral one can find the River Mersey doing the same while the Irish Sea provides the third and final chapter in the triumvirate of water bodies that provide a stellar landscape to this unique peninsula.
Like any area that is filled with lush foliage due to plentiful water supplies, Wirral has been inhabited in some capacity for as long as mankind has been around. Flint tools have been discovered in the city limits that date back to the Mesolithic Era nearly ten thousand years ago! Neolithic pottery and axes, younger than the flint tools but still incredibly ancient, have also been uncovered all around Wirral and the remains of a hearth that was used from one of the first hunter-gatherer clans was uncovered at Greasby. Of more interest to most historians, however, is the more advanced remains of the Bronze Age that date back to the first millennium B.C. These relics, which include funeral urns, represent the earliest time of continuous occupation in Wirral.
With such a rich history, it is little wonder that Wirral is a thrilling destination for anybody who has an interest in the history of the world. The remnants of an ancient Celtic tribe known as the Cornovii have been uncovered and proven that, even as early as 500 B.C., Wirral was an important port for the burgeoning shipping trade that would soon take over all of the world. It was around this time that traders from the Mediterranean began to flock to Wirral to indulge in the rare minerals that were being leached from the fertile earth of nearby Wales. Later on down the line it seemed that every major empire had a hand in Wirral's fortunes and the city was under the control of countries and peoples as varied as Saxons, Britons, Romans, Vikings, Normans, and even a loose confederation of sea pirates! Very few places in the world can claim to have a history as eclectic as Wirral and one can find evidence of these various occupations everywhere one turns in the city. From the Eastham Manor that dates back to the 1100s and was taken over by William the Conqueror to the epic battleground of the Bromborough which was the site of one of the deadliest clashes in history during the 900s, Wirral is like a living, breathing history lesson that is at once a history book and a museum. Anybody who has an interest in humanity, history, archeology, anthropology, or even geography would be thrilled beyond their greatest desires simply by paying a visit to this highly esteemed burg.
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