People have lived in the area now known as Hoylake for more than 6,000 years.  Stone Age communities left their mark and Celts, Romans, Saxons and Vikings farmed and fished here.  In the Middle Ages the settlement in this area was destroyed by storms.  Subsequently, the hamlets of Little Meols, Hoose and Great Meols grew up and these were eventually merged into one village and called Hoylake.  The name is derived from 'Hoyle Lake', a channel of water between Hilbre Island and Dove Point.

Many of the original Hoylake buildings were demolished in the mid-nineteenth century to make way for new ones.  This was brought about by an upsurge in the village's popularity as a desirable place to live and to take holidays.  As the fishing industry declined, so the village took on another life: somewhere for wealthy merchants from Liverpool to come and experience open spaces and exhilarating sea air.

photo © Martin Waters permission sought

Hoylake Village is on the northwest corner of the Wirral Peninsula.  Ten miles long and seven miles wide it boasts forty miles of coastline along the River Mersey to the east, the Irish Sea to the north, and the River Dee to the south.  The peninsula experiences a moderate climate with higher than average sunshine and lower than average rainfall.