WEST DERBY HUNDRED 



ORRELL AND FORD 



Orhull, 1280, 1360; Orrell, or Orell, 1350 

 onwards. 



Ford, 1 300 onwards ; Forde and Forth occur. 



This township is formed of two detached portions, 

 Orrell to the south and Ford to the north ; their 

 combined area is 727 acres. 1 The population in 

 1901 was 2,104. 



It has not been ascertained when Orrell and Ford 

 were separated from Litherland to form a distinct 

 township ; they are not recognized in the county lay, 

 which was settled in 1624.* 



ORRELL lies on the border of Walton. It con- 

 tains the highest land in the parish of Sefton, about 

 125 ft. above the sea. Its area is 370 acres. The 

 Lancashire and Yorkshire Company's railway from 

 Liverpool to Ormskirk runs along the southern 

 border, the tunnel being now almost completely 

 opened, and the Mersey and Fazakerley branch passes 

 through Orrell. A pedestal of an ancient cross still 

 exists, and there is a sundial at Springwell House. 3 



Orrell occurs comparatively early as a well-defined 

 part of Litherland, as may be seen from the numerous 

 references already given in the account of the manor 

 of Litherland ; it is, for example, called a ' vill ' as 

 early as 1310,' and its 'fields' are mentioned ; 5 but 

 there is nothing to show that it was ever a distinct 

 manor. It is described as a hamlet of Litherland in 



!345- 6 



One branch of the Demand family appears to have 

 taken the surname of Fox, and John son of Richard 

 Fox of Orrell occurs. 7 Another family of which 

 there is some mention took its surname from the 

 place. 8 



SEFTON 



From 1 894 the township had a parish council, 

 but Orrell was in 1905 taken into the borough of 

 Bootle. 



FORD occupies a corner between Litherland, 

 Great Crosby, and Sefton. It touches upon the open 

 country and shares the refreshing sea-breezes which 

 come from the west. The road from Litherland to 

 Sefton passes through it, as also the Leeds and Liver- 

 pool Canal. The separate area is 357 acres. The 

 ford from which the place takes its name was perhaps 

 one over the Rimrose Brook, which divides it from 

 Great Crosby. 9 



Ford is mentioned only casually in mediaeval 

 deeds, but appears to have given a surname to a 

 resident family. 10 



Early in the eighteenth century Thomas Syers of 

 the Ford appears to have been the principal resident. 11 



A Roman Catholic cemetery of 2 1 acres was opened 

 in 1855, and has the church of the Holy Sepulchre 

 adjoining it, built in 1861. There is also a convent 

 of nuns of the Good Shepherd who have an asylum 

 for penitent women, established in Everton in 1858 

 and removed to Ford in 1867 ; their church of the 

 Sacred Heart, built in 1887, is open to the public." 



AINTREE 



Aintree, 1226 ; Ayntre, 1292 the usual mediae- 

 val spelling ; Eyntre occurs ; Ayntree and Ayntrie, 

 xvi cent. 



This triangular township forms the south-eastern 

 corner of the parish ; its area is 850 acres ; 13 the 

 population in 1901 was 261. 



The county is extremely flat, and in the northern 



99 



