Birkdale, a township and a suburb of Southport, in North Meols parish, Lancashire, on the coast, and on the Southport railway, 1 3/4 mile S of Southport. The township is divided into the two ecclesiastical parishes of St Peter and St James. Acreage, 2215; population, 12,387 ; of the ecclesiastical parishes, 14,014. The township has a station on the L. & Y.R., consists of several streets with good residences and boarding-houses, and has greatly increased in population in recent years. It is governed by a local board, and possesses a town-hall and a court house (erected in 1891) for petty sessional business. The livings are vicarages in the diocese of Liverpool, St Peter's with a residence, and are both in the gift of trustees. The income is derived from pew rents, and is therefore variable. There are Roman Catholic and Wesleyan chapels.
