WEST DERBY HUNDRED 



being decidedly flat, sparingly timbered, with open 

 fields. The soil is loamy, with clay lying below the 

 surface, the crops raised being principally barley, oats 

 and wheat, with occasional fields of potatoes. The 

 ground by the riverside lies very low, and consists of 

 marshy pastures, jutting out into the numerous bends 

 of the river. The southern portion of the township 

 is not destitute of trees ; the landscape is pleasantly 

 varied by fields of corn and roots. The geological 

 formation here and in Great Sankey is the same. 

 The eastern boundary is partially formed by Whittle 

 Brook. In 1901 the population was 1,735. 



A road from Farnworth to Warrington runs east- 

 wardly through the centre of 



the township ; along it the , i 



village is built. The London 

 and North- Western Company's 

 Liverpool and Warrington line 

 traverses the southern part of 

 the township, having a station 

 near the river side, called 

 Fiddler's Ferry and Penketh ; 

 it was opened about 1852. On 

 the river side of this railway 

 is the Sankey Navigation Canal 

 between St. Helens and Widnes, 

 entering the Mersey below 



Fiddler's Ferry. The Liverpool and Manchester 

 section of the Cheshire Lines Committee's railway 

 crosses the northern corner. 



Forty years ago there were about one hundred 

 acres of waste or common land, called the Greystone 

 Heath and Doe Green. An award for enclosure was 

 made in 1868 and confirmed in 1869, ninety acres 



kingfisher 



PRESCOT 



being divided among the freeholders, while six acres 

 were reserved for a recreation ground, and five acres 

 for a cemetery for Penketh. 



The township has a parish council of seven 

 members. 



The ancient ferry across the Mersey called Fiddler's 

 Ferry 1 was owned in 1830 by Mrs. Hughes of 

 Sherdley Hall, Sutton ; there was an acknowledge- 

 ment due to Sir Richard Brooke for permission to 

 pass over his land.* 



PENKETH, originally a hamlet in 



M4NOR Great Sankey, 3 was part of the demesne 



of the lords of Warrington. It is not 



clear when the manor was first granted out, 4 but in 



1 242 Roger de Sankey held the twentieth part of a 



knight's fee here under the heirs of Emery le Boteler. 5 



The descent from Roger is 



obscure. About 1280 Gilbert . 



de Penketh and Robert de 



Penketh were joint lords of the 



manor ; 6 later records prove 



that the descendants of the 



latter held under those of the 



former. 



Gilbert de Penketh had two 



sons, Henry and Richard. 7 



The inheritance went to seven SH 



daughters, or grand-daughters, Argmt, 



upon whom in 1325 the SUC- nueen three muscles gules. 



cession was settled. 8 Margery, 



the eldest of these, married Richard son of William 

 de Ashton, 9 and their descendants retained the lord- 

 ship of the manor down to the seventeenth century. 10 

 John Ashton, who died in 1620, had the distinction 



