Greasby

Greasby (ˈɡriːzbi) is a large village on the Wirral Peninsula, Merseyside, England. A predominantly residential area, it is contiguous with Upton to the east and Saughall Massie to the north. The small village of Frankby is to the immediate west. Historically within the county of Cheshire, it is part of the Greasby, Frankby and Irby Ward of the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral and is in the parliamentary constituency of Wirral West. At the 2001 census, Greasby had 9,830 inhabitants, with the total population of the ward at 14,667. In the 2011 census the population of Greasby was not measured. However the total population of Greasby, Frankby and Irby Ward was 13,991. The earliest known human settlement in Merseyside has been found at Greasby, believed to date from approximately 7000 BC. A rectangular floor of sandstone slabs and pebbles suggests regular use by the nomadic hunters of that period. The remains of burnt hazelnut shells found at the site were used for radiocarbon dating. The results specified a time period between 8300 BC and 8500 BC, even earlier than previously thought. National Museums Liverpool archaeologists excavated the site between 1987 and 1990. Greasby was an Anglo Saxon settlement, as witnessed by the form of the name, Gravesberie, in the Domesday Book. Gravesberie derives from the Old English gräf (a grove) and burh (a fortified place). This has been recorded as meaning "grove farm/settlement", or alternatively, a "stronghold or fortification by a grove, trench, canal or wood". The name was Scandinavianised to Greasby, under the influence of Old Norse speakers in Wirral (gräf and býr, with býr meaning "settlement" or "farmstead"). The name of the village has been variously spelt over time, including: Grauesberi, Grauesbyri, Grauisby (1093), Grauesbi (c.1155), Grauesby (c.1170), Griseby (1280) and Graysby (1610). Prior to the Norman conquest of England in 1066, Greasby was owned by a man named Dunning, who may have been an official (bailiff or steward) for the earls of Mercia.