WEST DERBY HUNDRED 



suitably placed at the top of the hill, was begun in 

 1865 ; the present church was opened in 1878. 

 St. Bernard's school church was built in 1884 ; it was 

 in 1901 replaced by the new church of Our Lady of 

 Lourdes and St. Bernard. St. Clare's, near Sefton 

 Park, was consecrated in 1890. St. Charles Borro- 

 meo's in Aigburth Road, begun in 1892 in a tem- 

 porary iron building, was opened in 1900.' 



The Orthodox or Greek church at the corner of 

 Prince's Road, in the Byzantine style, was built in 

 1870 for the accommodation of the numerous Greek 

 merchants and others resident in Liverpool. 



The Jewish synagogue in Prince's Road was built 

 about 1878 to replace the older one in Seel Street, 

 Liverpool. 



FORMBY 



Fornebei, Dom. Bk. ; Fornebi, 1177; Forneby, 

 common till 1500 ; Formby, 1338, became common 

 in the sixteenth century. 



This township or chapelry forms a detached por- 

 tion of the parish of Walton, and including the 

 manors and hamlets of Raven Meols on the south- 

 west and Ainsdale on the north, has an area of 6,619 

 acres, 4,502 being the acreage of Formby proper. 8 

 Ainsdale has since 1894 been an independent town- 

 ship.* In 1901 the separate population of Formby 

 was 5,642, and of Ainsdale 1,314. 



Formby is bounded on the west by the sea, the 

 shore being protected by extensive and somewhat 

 lofty sandhills, covered with a luxuriant growth of 

 creeping willows and star grass, the latter being 

 systematically planted to keep the sand from drifting 

 away. Game abounds on these hills, wherefore the 

 land is strictly preserved, and only a few footpaths 

 across the forbidden ground are open to the public. 

 The sandhills afford shelter from the sea winds to the 

 three villages of Formby, Formby-by-the-Sea, and 

 Freshfield, which form practically one town, situated 

 on flat, sandy land, surrounded by fields intersected 

 by ditches, where rye, wheat, potatoes * and a variety 

 of market produce flourish, including fields of 

 asparagus, a specialty in the district. Fishing for 

 shrimps and raking the sands for cockles affords 

 employment to some of the inhabitants. Formby 

 sandhills are famous to local botanists as the habitat 

 of several uncommon and characteristic wild plants, 

 among which may be mentioned the Wintergreen, 

 Pyrola rotundifo/la, var. maritima. Towards the sea 

 the soil and subsoil consist of blown sand, with fluvia- 



WALTON 



tile sand or loam towards the neighbourhood of the 

 Alt ; on the landward side the soil is peaty ; to the east 

 of Formby Hall a small area of keuper marls occurs. 



The principal road is that from Liverpool to 

 Southport, from Alt Bridge northwards through 

 Formby and Ainsdale. The village is large and 

 scattered over the central portion of the area ; in 

 recent years residential districts have grown up by the 

 sea. This is largely due to the railway facilities, the 

 Lancashire and Yorkshire Company's line from 

 Liverpool to Southport having stations called Formby 

 and Freshfield. 



Formerly the township must have been much 

 larger. As it is, Formby Point is a prominent feature 

 of the coast-line ; but the greater part of Raven Meols 

 was long ago destroyed by the sea. 5 About the 

 beginning of the eighteenth century sand gradually 

 overwhelmed the lands by the shore, changing the 

 coast-line. 6 The dark tilled soil of the ancient surface 

 and the natural furrows made by the plough are 

 occasionally found when clearing the ground of blown 

 sand. From 1710 Formby leases contained a clause 

 providing for the planting of star-grass, which became 

 part of the service due to the lords of the manors ; 

 afterwards an Act was passed, making the planting 

 compulsory. 



There are many curious place-names in Formby. 

 The Wicky Dales and Clovenly Dales are near the 

 Ainsdale boundary. The banks forming the fences of 

 the fields are called ' cops.' Dangus Lane, on the 

 east side of the village, is sometimes called Danesgate 

 Land, being connected by local traditions with an in- 

 cursion of the Danes. The Whams is an open space 

 to the west of Formby Hall. Watchut or Watchyard 

 Lane may be derived from wet-shod. Stingman's or 

 Steeman's hook, by the moss on the east, is supposed 

 to be derived from the vipers which formally infested 

 the place. Brank Farm was so called from brank or 

 buckwheat, which will grow on very poor land. 



There are traditions that troops for the suppression 

 of the rebellion of 1715 were embarked at Formby 

 for Scotland, and that early in the eighteenth century 

 a proposal was made that docks should be constructed 

 here rather than at Liverpool. 



The old roundhouse was pulled down about 1893, 

 but remains of the stocks may still be seen. A stone 

 cross with steps was erected in 1879 on the village 

 green, which was then enclosed ; the old cross and 

 steps were re-erected in St. Luke's churchyard. The 

 pedestal of another, called the Cop Cross, formerly 

 stood west of the village. 7 



