IT'S a well known fact that Wirral has many early settlements, but did you know that one part of the borough is older than both Stonehenge and the Pyramids?

Next week Greasby will welcome new boundary signs to mark the historical discovery that the area contains the earliest dated settlement in Western Britain - and one of the oldest in the country.

Acknowledging the significance of Greasby with these signs has long since been an aspiration of former Liverpool City Centre planning team leader Rod Hutchinson.

His ambition has been made possible thanks to community funding through the Western Link project - a £1 billion venture between National Grid and Scottish Power Transmission that will being renewable energy from Scotland to homes and businesses in England and Wales.

Rod said: “After 12 years of endeavour, I’m delighted that these place-name signs have at last been realised.

"Greasby’s amazing history is worth celebrating both locally and nationally."

The work that led to the latest ‘dating’ of Greasby began with excavations near Greasby Copse between 1987 and 1990 by archaeologists from Liverpool Museum.

They uncovered a substantial settlement complete with a stone floor, pits, large working hollows and fireplace together with more than 12,000 early stone tools.

At that time, the site was dated at 7,000 BC or earlier and ascribed to the Mesolithic period.

After the proposals for boundary signs, curator of prehistoric archaeology at the Museum of Liverpool Ron Cowell raised more cash to carbon date hazelnut shells found in the stone hearth and made the discovery that the remains were dated from around 8,500 BC.

Over the centuries Greasby has seen a change in spellings from Greavesberi, Grausberi, Grauesbyri, Grausby, Grauesbi, Greseby, Greisbie to Gresbie.

However it seems the name is of Anglo-Saxon origin as it occurs in the Domesday Book as Gravesberie, possibly deriving from the Old English, Graefes-burh – ‘the Castle of Graef’ or 'stronghold at a wood or grove'.

Greasby was on the postulated important Roman road from Chester to Meols, where Roman remains such as coins, jewellery and weapons, have been found.

Excavations in Greasby village in 1965 established that Barker Lane was of Roman origin although official confirmation of that was not possible until around 1980.

In addition to Western Link’s support for the signs, £750 was donated from the Wirral West Community Fund and £750 from Greasby Community Association to cover the costs of installation.

Chair of the Wirral West Constituency Committee, Cllr Jeff Green, said: “We are proud to have one of the oldest confirmed settlements in the country on our doorstep and delighted to have been able to support the signage project with funding.

"Now everyone who visits or passes through Greasby will know the significance of the village.”

The unveiling of one of the five signs will be at 11am on Thursday, September 28, outside the Premier Inn on Greasby Road, Greasby, Wirral CH49 2PP.