A HISTORY OF LANCASHIRE 



is the infirmary, with an income of nearly 740 a 

 year from investments. 1 Of the minor charities some 

 are for Warrington proper" and others for different 

 townships of the parish Burtonwood, 3 Rixton,* and 

 Woolston ; 6 that for Poulton has been lost. 6 



The Warrington Clergy Institution for the relief 

 of widows and orphans of clergymen in the old arch- 

 deaconry of Chester, which included Cheshire and 

 South Lancashire, was founded in 1697, and still 

 continues its benevolent work. In conjunction with 

 it is a school for the orphan daughters of clergymen, 

 founded in 1 842 ; the buildings were erected on the 

 site of the old mote hill, but the school was removed 

 to Darley Dale, Derbyshire, in 1905. There is a 

 training college for schoolmistresses in connexion with 

 the Established Church. 



WARRINGTON 



Walintune, Dom. Bk. ; Werinton, 1 242 ; this and 

 Werington common to 1550 ; Warington, 1330. 



Warrington lies on flat ground near the Mersey, 7 

 which winds with sudden swoops and curves all along 

 its southern margin. From Little Sankey to Padgate 

 Brook an alluvial terrace fringes the low ground lying 

 by the course of the river, of which, for a considerable 

 part of the distance, it constitutes the northern bank, 

 concealing over a large area the underlying mottled 

 sandstones of the bunter series. Along the riverside 

 the land is composed of marshy pastures called Arpley 

 and Howley, dotted over with cattle, or where the 

 river nears the big industrial town of Warrington 

 huge factories line the water's edge. With the ex- 

 ception of a fringe of open country on the edges of 

 the township the land is covered with houses, streets, 

 railways, and factories. The soil is loamy and fertile 



and produces crops of potatoes, and other market 

 produce. Good broad roads run into the town from 

 all quarters and become quickly narrowed as they ap- 

 proach the centre of the town, where is a curious 

 mixture of really picturesque old houses and great 

 modern factories which overshadow the antique. In 

 the floor of the old schoolhouse near the parish 

 church of Warrington is St. Elphin's Well, now 

 disused. This is generally reported to be in the 

 churchyard. The Sankey Brook forms the western 

 boundary of the township on its way to join the 

 Mersey. 



The town grew up beside the river, about the 

 centre of the boundary. Little Sankey lay on the 

 western side and Orford on the north ; between these 

 hamlets and the town was the heath. Orford was 

 divided from Hulme in Winwick by a brook and 

 tract of marshy ground ; and probably in the same 

 way from Warrington town. The area is 2,8 1 7 acres. 

 The population in 1901 was 64,242.* 



The road from Prescot and the west passed the 

 Sankey Brook by a bridge, 9 then north-eastwardly 

 through Little Sankey, with its green, and wound 

 and still winds eastwardly through Warrington till 

 it reaches the parish church at the extreme east end 

 of the town ; it is called in turns Sankey Street, 

 Buttermarket Street, Irlam Street, and Church Street. 

 After passing the church and the ancient mote hill 

 the road divides ; the main road goes to Manchester, 

 and a northerly branch, Padgate Lane, to Bolton. 



From the bridge over the Mersey a cross-road leads 

 north, as Bridge Street, Horsemarket Street, and Win- 

 wick Street, to Winwick and Wigan ; it crosses the 

 former road near the highest land of the town, about 

 a thousand yards west of the church. The market 

 stands to the north-west of the crossing I0 and marks 





