WALLASEY  , an

urban district in the Wirral parliamentary division of Cheshire, England, 2 m . N.W. of Birkenhead, of which it forms a suburb . Pop . (too') 53,579 . The former marshy estuary called Wallasey Pool is occupied by the Great Float, forming an immense dock (see BIRKENAEAD) . The church of St Hilary, to which is assigned a foundation in the loth century, was rebuilt in the 18th century, with the exception of the tower bearing the date 1536 . It was gutted by fire in 1857, and the whole was again rebuilt in the Early English style . On the shore of the Irish Sea is Leasowe Castle, once known as Mock-Beggar Hall, and supposed to have been erected by the earls of Derby in the reign of Elizabeth, in order to witness the horse-races held here . Under Wallasey Pool are remains of a submerged forest, in which various animal skeletons have been found . At the Conquest Wallasey formed part of the possessions of Robert de Rhuddlan, and on his decease became part of the fee of Halton . In the reign of Elizabeth it had a small port, to which there belonged three barques and fourteen men . In 1668 the manor was possessed by the earl of Derby, but various parts after-wards became alienated .

For a considerable

time the horse-races held on what was then a common had considerable reputation, but they were discontinued in 176o . At these races the duke of Monmouth, son of Charles II., once rode his own horse and won the plate .