Wirral joins US civil war trail

C.S.S. Alabama and C.S.S. Shenandoah were built in Birkenhead

Wirral has become the second place outside the United States to be officially recognised for its involvement in the American Civil War.

The region has been added to the 600-site Civil War Discovery Trail as two of the war's most famous ships were built at the Laird Brothers shipyard.

Confederate Navy ships were built in Birkenhead in the 1860s, including C.S.S. Alabama and C.S.S. Shenandoah.

Wirral Council is setting up a tourist attraction based on its war links.

The Wirral Maritime Heritage Trail will also commemorate the Argyle Rooms in Birkenhead, which were an important meeting place for the anti-slavery lobby.

A model of CSS Alabama is on show at Williamson Art Gallery

Edwin Bearss is a trustee of the Civil War preservation Trust (CWPT) and is Chief Historian Emeritus of the US National Park Service.

He said: "Adding the Wirral Maritime Heritage Trail to the Civil War Discovery Trail brings an important new dimension to our understanding of the international partnerships that supported the Confederate war effort.

"The Civil War did not just stop at the water's edge," he added.

CWPT has more than 70,000 members and is the largest non-profit battlefield preservation organisation in the US.

Emma Degg, from Wirral Council, said: "The Wirral Maritime Heritage Trail, which incorporates our peninsula's American Civil War designation, will form a key regional, national and potentially international tourism offer.

"It highlights Wirral's coast as our key attraction for both visitors and investment," she said.

A maritime museum in Cherbourg, France, was the first site outside the US to be added to the trail in 2004.

It has extensive exhibits on the recently rediscovered wreck of the C.S.S. Alabama.