| Raby | |
Raby |
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Raby
Raby shown within Merseyside |
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| Population | 100 (2001 Census)[1] |
|---|---|
| OS grid reference | SJ309799 |
| Metropolitan borough | Wirral |
| Metropolitan county | Merseyside |
| Region | North West |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | WIRRAL |
| Postcode district | CH63 |
| Dialling code | 0151 |
| Police | Merseyside |
| Fire | Merseyside |
| Ambulance | North West |
| EU Parliament | North West England |
| UK Parliament | Wirral South |
| List of places: UK • England • Merseyside | |
Raby is a village located within the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England. It is located at the south-central part of the Wirral Peninsula. At the time of the United Kingdom Census 2001, Raby had a total population of 100.[1]
The village is very near to Merseyside's boundary with Cheshire.[2] Separated from Raby by the M53 motorway, the village of Raby Mere is located about three miles to the east and is now nearly contiguous with the town of Bromborough.
The name is of Viking origin, deriving from the Old Norse Ra-byr, meaning 'boundary settlement'.[3] It is believed to be so named because it lay close to the boundary which existed in the 10th and 11th centuries between the Norse colony in Wirral to the north, centred on Thingwall, and Anglo-Saxon Mercia to the south.[4]
Raby was a township in Neston Parish of the Wirral Hundred with a population of 131 in 1801, 195 in 1851, 350 in 1901 and 308 in 1951.[5]
Raby is a rural community, comprising a few houses, two farms and an old, thatched public house, the 'Wheatsheaf', which is well known in the locality. The pub is owned by the Leverhulme Estate, which owns much land locally.
Raby, along with the neighbouring villages of Brimstage and Thornton Hough, are within an Area of Special Landscape Value, a protective designation to preserve the character and appearance of the area. This is part of the Wirral Unitary Development Plan of the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral.[6]