A HISTORY OF LANCASHIRE 



Ralph Smith was in occupation during the town's 

 pleasure. 1 Two years later, however, Mr. James 

 Smith was minister at Rainford, with an allowance of 

 50 a year.' 



The chapel remained in the hands of the Presby- 

 terians,* apparently with the approval of the township, 

 until about 1700, when it was recovered for the Estab- 

 lished Church, a body of trustees being appointed, 

 with the right of nominating the curate, the vicar of 

 Prescot approving.* The township was formed into 

 a district chapelry in i869, 5 and the present church 

 of All Saints was built near the old one in 1878. 

 The registers date from 1718. 



The later incumbents, nominated by the vicar of 

 Prescot, have been 6 : 



1702 Ralph Sherdley 



1722 Robert Peploe ~ 



The old congregation of the chapel, on being 

 evicted, continued their worship elsewhere. Reynald 

 Tetlaw seems to have been minister for about forty 

 years ; his congregation numbered 665, of whom 

 sixty-three had county votes. 9 A chapel was built in 

 1702 or 1703, and was succeeded in 1867 by the 

 present Congregational church. 10 



The Primitive Methodists have two chapels, built 

 in 1857 and 1883. 



So long as the Lathoms held Mossborough the 

 Roman Catholic faith and worship were maintained in 

 the district, 11 and there seems to have been a resident 

 priest down to the time when the estate was sold." 

 At Crank also in the seventeenth century the old 

 form of worship was conducted, Anne Singleton in 

 1676 bequeathing 40 for the priest there, who was 

 to ' celebrate every year six masses for the good of 



her soul and the souls of the family of Mossborough 

 and Crank and the rest of the souls in Purgatory ' ; 

 this was kept up until the beginning of the eighteenth 

 century." For about a century there was no Roman 

 Catholic chapel in Rainford itself; but in 1873 

 land was purchased, and a school-chapel built ; the 

 church of Corpus Christ! was opened in 1875." 



WIDNES 



Wydenesse, Wedenes, 1300 ; Wydnes, 1347. 



Apelton, Il8o ; Appelton, 1198 ; Apulton, 1332. 



Widnes appears at first to have been the name of 

 the district, the township name being Appleton. 

 This hamlet lies close to the centre, with Farnworth, 

 the site of the chapel, on the extreme north, Upton to 

 the north-west, and Denton to the east. Simm's 

 Cross and Lugdale have recently become hamlets or 

 suburbs of Widnes town. The marshy district by 

 the Mersey was interrupted by a projecting piece of 

 higher land, whence a crossing could be had to Run- 

 corn on the Cheshire side. On this ground the 

 town of Widnes has sprung up. 



The flat and open country close to the town itself 

 is absolutely devoid of anything beautiful ; a district 

 more lacking in attractive natural features it would be 

 difficult to conceive. A great cloud of smoke hangs 

 continually over the town, and choking fumes assail 

 the nose, from various works. In the face of such 

 an atmosphere it is not to be wondered at that trees 

 and other green things refuse to grow. Even the 

 riverside is unpicturesque and rendered unpleasant by 

 the unsavoury mud which the tide leaves stranded 

 upon rocks and stones. The more remote and coun- 

 trified parts of the township consist of open fields, 

 with the minimum share of trees. Crops, such as 

 oats, potatoes, and turnips, thrive in a clayey soil. 

 The township lies upon the three sandstone and 

 pebble beds constituting the bunter series of the 

 new red sandstone or trias. The lower mottled 

 sandstone occurs at Upton in the west, the upper 

 mottled sandstone at Denton in the south-east. In 

 the low-lying ground towards the river the strata are 

 obscured by alluvial deposits. 



