Moreton is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral in Merseyside, England. It is located approximately to the west of Wallasey. Historically part of Cheshire, it is now within the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral. The town was divided in 2004 between the local government wards of Leasowe & Moreton East and Moreton West & Saughall Massie. Moreton is also part of the parliamentary constituency of Wallasey. In the 2001 census it had a population of 17,670. History Prior to the Norman conquest, the Lingham area of Moreton was a possible location for Dingesmere, mentioned with regard to the Battle of Brunanburh, in Egil's Saga. At the time of the Domesday Book, the area was a township in the parish of Bidston, within the Wirral Hundred. In the twelfth century, it formed part of the estates of Hamo de Mascy. The name Moreton was first recorded in 1278, as Meretun, and derives from Anglo-Saxon words meaning a settlement (tun) beside a lake (mere). The village joined with neighbouring Lingham to form the parish of Moreton-cum-Lingham in the late nineteenth century. It was absorbed into the County Borough of Wallasey in 1928. Geography The town is located between Great Meols to the west and Bidston and Upton to the south and east. Before the sea embankment was constructed, the area included 3000 acres of tidal lagoon, at between one and two metres below sea level, with most of the remainder little more than one metre above. The coast at Moreton is part of a stretch of sand that runs from Meols to Leasowe known as Mockbeggar Wharf, named after Mockbeggar Hall, otherwise known as Leasowe Castle. 'Mockbeggar Hall' is also the name of Moreton's Wetherspoons pub (The name Mockbeggar apparently being an old sailors' term for a lone house). The North Wirral Coastal Park also runs for four miles along this coast, including public open space, common land, natural foreshore and sand dunes. The park provides a wide variety of recreational activities; some of the more popular being sailing, sea angling, swimming, cycling, picnicking, walking, jogging, ball games, bird watching and horse riding. The low-lying land behind the coast is protected by a large concrete embankment. Some of the coastal land is in the Moreton Conservation Area and provides important natural habitat. The embankment gives a good view at low tide to see a variety of wading birds. There are also