A HISTORY OF LANCASHIRE 



died unmarried in 1843 ; his two brothers, James 

 and Philip, were priests ; and his sisters all died un- 

 married at Blackbrook. The whole of their property 

 was given to various ecclesiastical purposes, Black- 

 brook House becoming a convent of the Sisters of 

 Mercy. 



Some neighbouring landholders had estates in Parr. 1 

 The only freeholder recorded in 1600 was Edward 

 Travis ;' the subsidy list of 1628 does not name any. 

 Under the Parliament the properties sequestrated 

 were those of Bryan Howard and Emma Mather, 

 both for recusancy. 3 The hearth tax list of 1666 

 includes twelve houses here having three hearths and 

 more. 4 The land tax return for 1785 shows that 

 the assigns of Sarah Clayton paid 18 for Parr Hall 

 estate, and John Orrell 5 for Blackbrook out of a 

 total of 50. 



The Established Church has two places of worship 

 in Parr ; St. Peter's, built in 1 844, and Holy 

 Trinity,* Parr Mount, in 1863. The vicar of 

 St. Helens presents to them. 



There is a Free Gospel chapel at Blackbrook. 



The Roman Catholic church of Blessed Mary Im- 

 maculate, Blackbrook, was consecrated in 1845. The 

 mission is supposed to have been founded at the 

 end of the seventeenth century, when Bryan Orrell, 

 alias John Martin, an alumnus of Douay, 1686, came 

 to serve at Blackbrook House, where, as stated above, 

 his elder brother had settled. In 1754 a room to 

 serve as a chapel was built, James Orrell, the owner, 

 granting a 500 years' lease at a rent of is. 6 St. Vin- 

 cent's, Derbyshire Hill, was opened in 1905. 



RAINFORD 



Raineford, 1190; Rcineford, 1202; Rayneford, 

 1256; Raynesford, 1262; Reynford, Rayneford, 

 and Raynsford, 1292. 



This is a large township, having an area of 5,872^ 

 acres, 7 embracing open country, flat on the north and 

 west and undulating on the south-east. The highest 

 ground, rising to 300 ft. above sea level, is near the 

 village of Crank, a bare exposed spot. In the northern 

 portion of the district there are coal mines ; the 

 remainder is agricultural, the principal crops raised 

 being potatoes, oats, wheat, and clover. The soil is 

 clayey. The Sankey or Rainford Brook flows through 



the whole length of the township from north-west to 

 south-east, on its way towards the Mersey. The 

 geological formation consists mainly of the coal 

 measures, but from Rainford village to the chase in 

 Knowsley Park there is a belt three-quarters of a 

 mile in width of the lower mottled sandstone of the 

 bunter series (new red sandstone), and the pebble 

 beds of the same series are just touched at Kirkby 

 Moss. Formerly the land can have been of com- 

 paratively little value, the large area of moss being 

 shown by such names as Reeds Moss, Rainford Moss, 

 and Mossborough ; occasional patches of unreclaimed 

 mossland are still met with. About 1720 the 

 northern half was called Chapel end, and the southern, 

 Haysarm end. The village of Rainford is in the 

 former, and the hamlet of Crank in the latter. Rain- 

 ford Hall (Col. Pilkington, J.P.) is a large modern 

 house on an old site, east of the village. 



The principal road is that from St. Helens to 

 Ormskirk ; it runs alongside the brook, which it 

 crosses before reaching the village. Here it is joined 

 by another road coming from Prescot in the south- 

 west. The London and North-Western Company's 

 line from St. Helens to Ormskirk also runs parallel 

 to the brook, with stations at Crank, Rookery, and 

 Rainford. The Lancashire and Yorkshire Company's 

 line from Liverpool to Manchester crosses the 

 northern end of the township, and where it passes 

 under the other railway is a station called Rainford 

 Junction. 



The population in 1901 numbered 3,359. 



A local board was formed in 1872 ; 8 and in 1894 

 became an urban district council of fifteen members. 



Rainford has several collieries. It has long been 

 known for the manufacture of tobacco pipes, but this 

 industry is now decaying ; firebricks and crucibles 

 were also made here. 



The early history of R4INFORD is 

 M4NOR obscure. In 1324 it was held by Robert 

 de Lathom in socage, without any service ; ' 

 it descended from the Lathoms to their heirs the 

 Stanleys, 10 and the earl of Derby is the lord of the 

 manor. No manor court is now held, but eighty 

 years ago one used to be held on the first Tuesday 

 after Easter. 11 The land was early divided among 

 a large number of free tenants, one or more of 

 whom took the local surname," others being known 



