Upton is a village in the northern part of the Wirral Peninsula, England, and is situated within 4mi of Birkenhead, 4mi of the Dee Estuary, a similar distance from the River Mersey, and 2mi from the Irish Sea. It is in the parish of Overchurch and administratively, the village is a ward of the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral in the Metropolitan County of Merseyside. Historically, Upton was part of Cheshire. At the 2011 census, the population is 16,130 (7,529 males, 8,601 females).Upton was originally settled as an Anglo-Saxon farming community, and remained as a farming community until the village's rapid urbanisation and expansion from the mid-19th century. This was brought about by the development of Liverpool as a major port, with rail and road links across the Mersey estuary. The village now has a strong service economy which is based primarily around healthcare and retail, with a variety of places nearby, and within the village, to pursue sport and leisure activities.HistoryToponymyThe name Upton is from the Old English upp, meaning hill, and tun, meaning a farm. Upton therefore means Hill Farm. This is still recognisable today, as Upton is on a low hill. As the name Upton is relatively common, it was sometimes known historically as Upton in Wyrhale (in 1307) or Upton by Birkenhead.
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