West Kirby is a coastal town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral in Merseyside, England. The town lies close to the mouth of the River Dee. Located within the boundaries of the historic county of Cheshire. At the 2011 Census, the population was 12,733. The town is on the opposite side of the River Dee to Mostyn in North Wales. History The name West Kirby is of Viking origin, originally Kirkjubyr, meaning 'village with a church'. The form with the modifier "West" exists to distinguish it from the other town of the same name in Wirral: Kirkby-in-Walea (now the modern town of Wallasey). The earliest usage given of this form is West Kyrkeby in Wirhale in 1285. The old village lay around St. Bridget's Church, but the town today is centred on West Kirby railway station, which is about 1 km away. The town has a Victorian promenade, flanked by the West Kirby Marine Lake that permits boats to sail even at low tide. The original wall was built to create the lake in 1899 but suffered a catastrophic leak in 1985. A new lake was constructed on the site which is wider than previously and allows better sporting opportunities. The Hoylake and West Kirby War Memorial is a notable local landmark, designed in 1922 by the British sculptor Charles Sargeant Jagger, who was responsible for a number of war memorials around the world, including the Royal Artillery Memorial at Hyde Park Corner in London. Civic history West Kirby was a township and parish within the Wirral Hundred. It became part of Hoylake West Kirby civil parish and Hoylake Urban District in 1894. The population was 148 in 1801, 435 in 1851 and 4,542 in 1901. On 1 April 1974, West Kirby was absorbed into the newly created Metropolitan Borough of Wirral as part of local government reorganisation in England and Wales. At that point, West Kirby ceased to be in Cheshire for administrative purposes and became part of the new administrative county of Merseyside. In February 2008 plans were raised for a regeneration of the concourse sports and leisure centre including new retail space and controversially a multi-storey car park. As of 2013 the project appears to have stalled with developers' interest and funding wavering. Local residents' opposition is strong. Geography West Kirby lies at the north-western corner of the Wirral Peninsula. West Kirby is on the eastern side