Worsley. 233 



dotus cordatus, are also plentiful, lying chiefly, as at 

 Blackpool, among the sea-refuse.* 



South Lancashire, via the original Liverpool and 

 Manchester line, offers few attractions to the excur- 

 sionist, being flat, and, except in the immediate neigh- 

 bourhood of Worsley, unrelieved by the picturesque. 

 The railway, as far as Parkside, is said to be the dullest 

 in the kingdom. Worsley, however, compensates the 

 general deficiency, and an afternoon cannot be better 

 spent than in the exploration of its many points of in- 

 terest. Running through Weaste and Eccles, the latter 

 place interesting as having given birth to ROBERT AINS- 

 WORTH, compiler of the sevenfold-famous Latin Dic- 

 tionary, originally published in 1736, we presently 

 reach Patricroft, and thence proceed either by the road, 

 or, far more pleasantly, by the canal-bank and the fields, 

 Worsley lying distant about two miles. The Hall, which 

 stands near the upper portion of the village, on the left- 

 hand side of the road, is the third of the name. The 

 original, or "old "hall a most interesting, quaintly- 

 timbered structure still exists, and is at present occupied 

 by the Hon. Algernon Egerton. The second was pulled 

 down a few years ago. The erection of the present mag- 

 nificent building was commenced about 1839, by the 

 first Earl of Ellesmere, (then Lord Francis Egerton,) 



* For particulars of the Southport Flora and Fauna, and much 

 useful information respecting the place, see Dr McNicoll's excellent 

 " Hand-book." 



