Template:Wp-Heswall-History

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Before the Norman conquest, Heswall has been cited as a possible location for Dingesmere, mentioned with regard to the Battle of Brunanburh, in Egil's Saga. Heswall was recorded in the Domesday Book as Eswelle and owned by Robert de Rodelent, who also owned much of the land on the eastern side of the River Dee. In 1277, it became the property of Patrick de Haselwall, who was Sheriff of Cheshire.

In 1801, the population was recorded as 168. By the census in 1841, it had grown to 398. Before 1897 it was known as Hestlewelle or Hesselwelle. Its growth was started by wealthy merchants from Liverpool; they had originally chosen it as a retreat, but the arrival of two railway connections allowed them to commute. One line is the Borderlands Line from Wrexham Central to Bidston which opened in 1896. This line is still active and has Heswall railway station on the eastern edge of the town. The station was formerly called Heswall Hills to distinguish it from the older, now demolished, Heswall Station. The old station was in Station Road in the Lower Village on another line from West Kirby to Hooton. This opened in 1886 but the line closed to passengers in 1956. The track of the old railway became a footpath, the Wirral Way.

The speedy development of Heswall has seen the once separate villages of Gayton, Heswall, Pensby and Thingwall become joined by continuous housing.

The oldest structure is the tower of St Peter's Parish Church, which is about 500 years old. The present church was built in 1879, and is the third to have been built on the site. The previous church was destroyed by a violent thunderstorm on 19 September 1875; the organist and the boy who pumped the bellows for the organ were both killed.

The remains of Gayton's windmill, which stopped operating in 1860 and is now converted into a house, can be seen close to the Devon Doorway Restaurant on Gayton Roundabout, a short distance back up Telegraph Road towards Heswall.

The Royal Liverpool Children's Hospital originally opened in Heswall as Liverpool Country Hospital for Children in 1909. The hospital was situated on a site purchased in 1900. It stood on the opposite side of Telegraph Road from 'The Puddydale’ and had a clock tower and grounds with views over the Dee estuary. The hospital closed in 1985^[1][2] and there is now a Tesco supermarket on the site. The supermarket was extended in the early 2000s, then refurbished during 2011.

An affluent area, Heswall was listed as the seventh richest neighbourhood in the UK in 2001, with an average household income of £46,600.