Meols /ˈmɛlz/ (sometimes known as Great Meols) is a village on the northern coast of the Wirral Peninsula, England. It is contiguous with the town of Hoylake immediately to the west. Historically in Cheshire, since 1 April 1974 it has been part of the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, in the metropolitan county of Merseyside. The 2001 census recorded the population of Meols as 5,110. In the 2011 census specific population figures for Meols were not available. The total population of the Hoylake and Meols local government ward was 13,348.