Previously recorded within the historic county of Lancashire, it is located eight miles (ten kilometres) east of Liverpool.

[6] Archeological evidence such as a neolithic polished hand-axe and mesolithic tool fragments suggest that the region was host to pre-historic settlement up to 12,000 years, ago while other archaeological finds include remnants of a Roman tile workshop in nearby Tarbock and a medieval shovel head.

[7][8][9][10][11] The main industry of Whiston's earlier documented history is agriculture, with the first recorded mill in the area being held by local lord Henry Travers from 1190.

This £150 million programme created seven new 'Centres for Learning' to replace the ten existing secondary schools within the Knowsley borough.

In March 2010, after serving the local area for 46 years, Higher Side Comprehensive School was permanently closed and subsequently demolished to make way for the new St Edmund Arrowsmith Catholic Centre for Learning which was constructed on vacant land behind Higher Side's main buildings.

The land on which Higher Side once stood now serves as a car park and recreational area for staff and pupils of the new St Edmund Arrowsmith.

The only remaining building of the former Higher Side School site is the former Whiston & Prescot City Learning Centre (CLC), now St Edmund Arrowsmith Science Hub.

The original St Edmund Arrowsmith Building on Scotchbarn Lane was retained for several years and redeveloped as a youth training academy, but has also since been demolished.