Why The Wro?
The Wro - 'the Corner'
1100 years ago a group of Viking settlers from Norway arrived somewhere between West Kirby and Meols on the shores of Wirral having been driven out of Ireland. This initiated a mass migration of their fellow countrymen into the area and soon they had established a community with a clearly defined border, its own language, a trading port and at its centre a government in Thingwall. 600 place names provide the clues as to where the Wirral Vikings settled creating a mini self governing state. Old rental documents refer to 'the Wro' – 'the corner' in West Kirby. The place name was lost by the time 19th century maps were compiled.
Harding, S. (2000) Ingimund’s Saga - Norwegian Wirral Countrywise Publications, Wirral UK
Wirral News September 20th 2006
New Bar Mixes Area's Past with the Present by Katy West
Wirral's Viking heritage and trendy wine bars aren't two subjects you would normally see in the same sentence. But one venue in West Kirby is mixing the past with the present to put some culture and heritage back into Wirral's bar scene!
The Wro in West Kirby earned its name after its owners Sally and Howard Boyd flicked through Viking expert Stephen Harding's Book Ingimund's Saga. On the hunt for a name for their new business which had some relevance to the local area they came across The Wro - old Norse for corner - where a place of the same name was last recorded there in 1454.
After approaching Professor Harding who is well known to readers as the author of several books on Viking Wirral and a champion of the peninsula's unique heritage they managed to track down the old charter which shows the last ever recoding of the Wro.
Professor Harding said: "I found that the charter was in the vaults at the British Library - we managed to get hold of it to copy and Sally and Howard have now put it on the wall in their bar - I think it's wonderful. The Vikings thought very highly of women so I think they would certainly have approved of Sally being at the helm. They were also fond of a drink or two so this would have gone down very well with them!"