At this time, the Mersey was considerably wider with sand dunes and marshes to the north leading up to Ainsdale beach and sandstone cliffs and shorelines to the south near Otterspool.

In 1317, a royal licence was issued, granting permission to the Priory to build lodging houses for men crossing the river at Woodside.

King Edward II visited Liverpool in 1323, and the royal accounts show that he used local ferrymen to sail up the river to Ince.

In 1330, his son Edward III granted a charter to the Priory and its successors forever: "the right of ferry there… for men, horses and goods, with leave to charge reasonable tolls".

By the 18th century, the commercial expansion of Liverpool and the increase in stage coach traffic from Chester spurred the growth of the transportation of passengers and goods across the river.

The pontoons were towed into position, moored by chains originally made for the SS Great Eastern, and linked to the mainland by two double bridges.

On 26 November 1878, the ferry Gem, a paddle steamer operated from Seacombe by the Wallasey Local Board, collided with the Bowfell, a wooden sailing ship at anchor on the River Mersey; five people died as a result.

The ferries had a shallow draft, allowing them to skim over the mines floating beneath the surface, and were robust enough to approach the heavily defended mole curling into the North Sea.

[7] They both saw action, which was described on 24 April 1918 by Vice–Admiral Sir Roger Keyes of the Royal Navy in a message to the ferries' manager: "I am sure it will interest you to know that your two stout vessels carried Bluejackets and Marines to Zeebrugge, and remained alongside the Mole for an hour, greatly contributing to the success of the operation...

The Oxton and Bebington vessels were fitted with cranes to enable them to unload United States aircraft from mid-river and deliver them to the Liverpool landing stage.

In spite of the close proximity of Wallasey and Birkenhead and their respective ferry landing stages, each corporation had used different gangway spacing on their vessels.

The 1970s economic situation in Britain saw costs escalating, with funding limited by the MPTE, which was embarking on an expensive operation to construct the Merseyrail "Liverpool Loop" extension.

Compounded with the opening of the Kingsway road tunnel on 28 June 1971 and a further decline in passenger numbers (only 4,000-5,000 a day), the future of the service was uncertain.

She was the best loved of all the Mersey ferries and played host to hundreds of party cruises, with bands such as Gerry & The Pacemakers, The Searchers, The Beatles and Elvis Costello performing on her.

Attempts to bring her back to Merseyside have come to nothing due to the prohibitive cost of making her fit for a 1,000 mile journey coastwise.

They were of a traditional design by naval architects Graham and Woolnough, who are based in Liverpool, but boasted modern equipment including Crossley multi-speed engines for versatile control.

Early photographs of Leasowe and Egremont show them to have deckhead compasses above the wheelhouse and side boxes, which appear to have been removed in the late 1950s.

Chadburn synchrostep telegraphs and rudder angle indicators, hydraulic steering telemotor and an automatic whistle control could be found in both the wheelhouse and the navigation boxes.

Similar types of navigation equipment and deck fittings used on these vessels are extant on the pilot boat Edmund Gardner at Merseyside Maritime Museum.

[16] The current Mersey Ferries fleet comprises two vessels, based on a similar design by naval architects Graham and Woolnough of Liverpool.

Built at the Birkenhead shipyard of Cammell Laird and Co., Overchurch was of all welded construction and also had a bridge that was completely enclosed rather than a wheelhouse and navigation boxes like Mountwood and Woodchurch.

Whilst in lay up at Clarence dry docks, she was offered for sale, with one prospective buyer hoping to use her to operate cruises around the Isle of Man.

Early Birkenhead steamers carried red and black, however this appears to have changed to orange in the 1920s or 1930s, remaining until the merger of the two fleets under the Merseyside Passenger Transport Executive in 1969.

When the ferries were taken over by the MPTE, the liveries of Birkenhead and Wallasey were replaced initially with a primrose yellow and powder blue colour scheme.

From January 2015, MV Snowdrop had a special livery applied, based on the World War I dazzle camouflage and designed by Peter Blake.

The refitting of the ferries has extended their working lives by approximately thirty years, and this is steadily increasing with additional repairs that are carried out on the boats on a regular basis.

A combination of the Tall Ships and the Golf Open at nearby Royal Birkdale ensured over 1 million visitors to the city over the weekend, with many of these taking a trip on the famous ferries.

All three ferries were packed to capacity over the weekend, with the Royal Daffodil operating a special cruise to witness the parade of sail and departure of the ships on Monday 21 July.

In August 2012, it was announced that Merseytravel were initiating a review into cost saving on Mersey Ferries operations after the service is running at a £1 million annual loss.

[22] The Mersey Ferries Long Term Strategy, whilst currently subject to approval, anticipates that a naval architect will be appointed with the intention of having a new vessel ready for service in 2020–21.