WEST DERBY HUNDRED 



ORMSKIRK 

 Ormeskierk, 1202; Ormeskirk, 1366; Ormiskirk, 



i>54- 



This township, surrounding the parish church, has 

 an area of only 572^ acres. 1 The boundary on the 

 west is the Mere Brook dividing it from Aughton. 



The fine old market- town of Ormskirk, noted for 

 its gingerbread, lies on sloping ground on the side of 

 a ridge, whose highest point is 254ft. above sea-level. 

 The small amount of open ground consists of pasture 

 and cultivated fields, bare and almost destitute of trees. 

 Two large water-works on Greetby Hill are prominent 

 features, but hardly add to the beauty of the neigh- 

 bourhood. The geological formation is similar to that 

 of the adjacent townships. The town has grown up 

 along the great road going north-west to Preston, 

 named at this point Aughton Street and Burscough 

 Street. At the market cross two other main roads 

 branch out ; Church Street leads north to the church, 

 and turning round its east end branches off towards 

 Scarisbrick and Halsall ; while Moor Street, leading 

 east, soon divides into roads leading to Bickerstafte and 

 Skelmersdale. The population in 1901 numbered 

 6,857. 



The Liverpool and Preston Railway, opened in 

 1849, runs parallel to and on the east of the first- 

 named highway. The station stands in the other 

 main street of the town Derby Street parallel to 

 and on the north of Moor Street. The houses have 

 spread out to the east of the railway. A branch line 

 of the London and North-Western Railway connects 

 the town with St. Helens. 



The market is held in Moor Street and Aughton 

 Street. A clock tower was built here in 1876,* and 

 the Corn Exchange was erected in 1896. In Moor 

 Street is a statue of the earl of Beaconsfield, erected in 

 1884. The Savings Bank dates from 1822 ; a library 

 was formed in 1854, and a working men's institute in 

 1867. Public pleasure grounds were opened in 1894. 



The soil is chiefly mossy and sandy, and the subsoil 

 sand and clay. 



The town is thus described by Leland, who visited 

 it about 1535 : ' Ormskirk, a four miles or five miles 

 from Liverpool, and about a two miles from Lathom ; 

 a parish church in the town ; no river by it, but mosses 

 on each side.' 3 Camden, writing fifty or sixty years 

 later, merely says that it was ' a market town, famous 

 for the burial place of the Stanleys, Earls of Derby.' 4 

 A more vivid account of its state in 1598 is contained 

 in one of the pleadings in the Duchy Court, as 

 follows : ' Ormskirk is a great, ancient, and very 

 populous town, and the inhabitants are very many, 

 and a great market is kept there weekly besides two 

 fairs every year ; and the Quarter Sessions are held 

 there twice a year, whereunto, as also to the church 

 there on Sundays, holidays, and other days to divine 



ORMSKIRK 



service, weddings, christenings and burials, and also 

 upon other great occasions, great multitudes of people 

 continually thither repair.' 5 



The Quarter Sessions were held in Ormskirk from 

 the time of Henry VIII onward until 1817, when 

 they were transferred to Liverpool. 6 The ancient 

 market and fairs were conveniently situated for the 

 district, and have continued to the present day ; the 

 weekly market being held on Thursday, and the fairs 

 on Whit Monday and Tuesday and on 10 and 1 1 

 September. 



During the Civil-War period Ormskirk was the 

 head quarters of the Parliamentary forces. At the 

 Restoration Charles II was twice proclaimed at the 

 market cross by John Entwisle, a prominent lawyer 

 and justice of the peace. 7 Sir William Dugdale stayed 

 here in 1664, when engaged upon the work of his 

 visitation. References to it in the eighteenth century 

 show that it was a miniature capital for the district, 

 where public and private business could be transacted 

 and social meetings and entertainments arranged. 

 The Aughton races must have contributed to enliven 

 its social life. There was also a cockpit in the town. 8 

 There yet remain, as inns, shops, or the like, some of 

 the eighteenth-century town houses of the families 

 who lived in the neighbourhood, plain but of good 

 proportion and detail, and often containing fittings 

 belonging to their better days. A good instance is 

 the Wheatsheaf Inn, formerly belonging to the Rad- 

 cliffes. 



At the beginning of last century the place was 

 described as ' a clean, well-built market town.' Cotton- 

 spinning obtained a 'footing' here, but was abandoned, 

 and about 1830 silk-weaving also was attempted. 9 

 About the same time hat-making was an important 

 industry, but this also has decayed. 10 



In 1635 Ormskirk was a seat of the glove trade." 



Roperies and breweries are now the principal 

 industries, and there is an iron foundry ; while there 

 are market gardens around the town. 12 



The ducking-stool formerly stood in Aughton 

 Street, near the Mere Brook, but was removed in 

 1780. The dungeon and pillory were in the same 

 street. The stocks were kept in the tower of the 

 parish church, and when required for use were 

 erected by the church gates, or by the fish-stones 

 in Aughton Street. 13 



A number of books were published here early last 

 century. 11 A newspaper, The Advertiser, was estab- 

 lished in 1853, and continues to be issued weekly on 

 Thursday. 



The more noteworthy natives of the place include 

 Austin Nuttall, author of the Dictionary ; Alexander 

 Goss, Catholic bishop of Liverpool ; 15 and Robert 

 Harkness, a geologist. 16 Of minor note was William 

 Hill, who discovered a mad-dog medicine which made 

 Ormskirk famous. 17 What is known as the Ormskirk 



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