Prenton appears as Prestune in the Domesday Book of 1086, with the name Pren- ton persisting despite the Norman-French accented spelling. Domesday describes Prenton as having a one-league square woodland - which is, if the League is taken in its old English measurement of. The size and importance of the wood may reflect the name of the settlement. Pren is Welsh for the material 'wood' and in the name Prenton there is the Saxon suffix tún for a settlement, which suggests a settlement in a wood. The Welsh/British name for Prenton would thus be Prentre which could easily have changed into Prenton following Anglian penetration of the area in the early seventh century. Note that Landican retained its Welsh/British name even through Anglian and subsequent Norse occupation. Domesday also records the presence of a water mill at Prenton, and this has been provisionally identified at Prenton Dell. Previously a township in Woodchurch Parish, Wirral Hundred, Prenton was added to Birkenhead Borough in 1933. The population was 81 in 1801, 99 in 1851 and 412 in 1901. In August 1940, during the Second World War, a house maid working in Prenton became the first fatality of a bombing raid in Cheshire.
Geography
Prenton is situated on the eastern side of the Wirral Peninsula, about west of the River Mersey at Tranmere Oil Terminal. The area is approximately south-south-east of the Irish Sea at Wallasey and about east-north-east of the Dee Estuary at Thurstaston. Prenton is at an elevation of between above sea level; the highest point being near the junction of Pine Walks and Burrell Road, with the Halfway House crossroads at an elevation of above sea level. Prenton Brook merges with the River Fender, at Prenton, within the North Cheshire Trading Estate.
Community
Housing is mostly private, and ranges from terraced properties nearer Birkenhead, to large detached villas in the Mountwood conservation area. The major roads were mostly laid out in the early part of the 20th century. Much of the housing is from the Edwardian era and the 1930s, though there are some late Victorian buildings and some modern property. The main shopping area is on Woodchurch Road, which includes the Sainsbury's, Aldi, Home Bargains]. However, there are many small shops in other locations such as The Dellhousing estate or in nearby Oxton. Sited on the junction of Woodchurch Road and Storeton Road is the 'Halfway House' public house, dating back to at least 1879 which is now thought of as Prenton but actually was in Oxton township. Prenton Golf Club is to the south of the suburb. Prenton Rugby Club is off Prenton Dell Road and runs 3 senior teams and a Vets / Casual team.
Education
Prenton includes the all-girls' secondary Prenton High School for Girls and the mixed primary Prenton Primary School.
Notable people
Eric Nixon, English footballer, worked in Prenton.
