A HISTORY OF LANCASHIRE 



The soil where still exposed in the north is stiff 

 clay with a mixture of sand. The geological forma- 

 tion is triassic, comprising the upper mottled sand- 

 stones of the hunter series lying upon the pebble beds 

 of the series, with a small area of the basement beds 

 of the keuper series thrown down by a fault. 



Bootle is traversed by the Lancashire and Yorkshire 

 Railway from Liverpool to Southport and from the 

 docb to Aintree, with two stations on the former, called 

 Bootle and Marsh Lane ; by the London and North 

 Western Company's line from the docks to Edgehill, 

 with stations at Balliol Road and Alexandra Dock ; 

 and by the Midland Company's line to the docks. 

 The Liverpool Overhead Railway, opened in 1893, 

 runs by the docks, having its terminus at Seaforth. 

 The Leeds and Liverpool Canal passes through the 

 township. 



The place was thus described in 1774.: 'Bootle 

 cum Linacre lies near the sea on a very sandy soil 

 and contains some well-built houses. A very copious 

 spring of fine, soft, pure water rises near it, which about 

 half a mile below turns a mill and soon after falls into 

 the sea at Bootle Bay. . . . Linacre, a pretty rural 

 village, is a distinct township, but a member of the 

 manor of Bootle. It lies adjacent to the sea, on the 

 west.' ' 



The map prepared in 1 768 ' shows the village ot 

 Bootle situated almost in the centre of the combined 

 township, where Litherland Road now meets Merton 

 Road. On the south side was a large open space ; 

 somewhat to the north was the famous spring, now 

 marked by the pumping station. The mills' — there 

 was a windmill as well as a watermill — were to the 

 north-east of St. Mary's Church. From the village 

 various roads spread out. One, now Merton Road, 

 led to the shore just to the north of one of the Bootle 

 landmarks, which were curiously-shaped signal posts 

 for the guidance of ships entering the Mersey.* 

 Clayfield Lane, now Breeze Hill, led to Walton 

 church and village. The second of the old Bootle 

 landmarks stood beside this road on the high ground 

 near the Walton boundary. Field Lane, now Haw- 

 thorne Road, led to Kirkdale. Trinity Road and 

 Derby Road seem more or less to represent the road 

 to the lord's manor-house at Bank Hall ; to the side 

 of this road towards the river was Bootle Marsh. 

 Gravehouse Lane led from near the spring, first east 

 and then north, to join the present Linacre Lane 

 at the Orrell boundary. 



Linacre village was situated on the present Linacre 

 Road, between the point at which this road is joined 

 by Linacre Lane and the Litherland boundary. The 

 shoreward portion of the township was called Linacre 

 Marsh ; Marsh Lane led down to it. The northern 



boundary w.is Rimrose Brook ; the southern was 

 another brook rising in Bootle and flowing to the 

 river parallel to the mill stream.' 



At the beginning of last century Bootle was a 

 ' pleasant marine village . . . much resorted to in 

 the summer season as a sea bathing place.' ' ' The 

 ride along the beach was, in the summer, remarkably 

 pleasant and much frequented. The sands were 

 hard and smooth, and the wind, especially if westerly, 

 cool and refreshing.' ^ The spring had then become 

 one of the chief sources of the Liverpool water 

 supply.* 



Within the last fifty years the growth ot Liverpool 

 trade has turned the seaside summer resort into a 

 busy town. The sandy shore has been reclaimed for 

 the largest of the Mersey Docks, namely the Brockle- 

 bank ; Langton, opened in 1881 ; Alexandra, with 

 three branches, 1881 ; and Hornby. To the north 

 of the latter is a large open space, in the north- 

 west corner of which is the Seaforth Battery. 

 On the river wall at the Hornby dock gate is a 

 lighthouse. 



There was a sandstone quarry in Breeze Hill. 

 There are large dye works, corn mills, and jute works, 

 but the occupations of the inhabitants are principally 

 connected with docks and railways, the timber-yards 

 and grain stores. 



An outbreak of plague occurred in 1652. 



There were in BOOTLE before the 

 Mj4N0R Conquest four manors which four thegns 

 held, the assessment being two plough- 

 lands and the value 6^1^. ; the priest of Walton had 

 the third plough-land in right of 

 his church.' The first known 

 lord after the Conquest was 

 Roger son of Ravenkil, who in 

 1129—30 was one of the men 

 of the count of Mortain be- 

 tween Ribble and Mersey.'" His 

 son Richard, lord of Wood- 

 plumpton in Amounderness, the 

 founder of Lytham Priory, was 

 succeeded by one of his daughters 

 and coheirs, Amuria, the wife of 

 Thomas de Beetham." This 

 Thomas in 1 2 1 2 held two 

 plough-lands in Bootle in thegn- 



age for 8/. Sd. yearly service ; " and as another daughter, 

 Quenilda, was in 1252 found to have held a plough- 

 land of Walton church by the yearly service ot 

 p. ^i/.," it seems clear that the father had held the 

 whole vill. 



Upon Quenilda's death without issue a fresh par- 

 tition appears to have been made, for Sir Ralph de 



Beetham of Beet- 

 ham. Or, a chief in- 

 dented a-zure, over all a 

 bendlet gules. 



' Enfield, Liverpool, 1 1 2. 



' In the work just quoted. Sherriffs 

 map of 1823 shows comparatively little 

 •change, 



'In 1823 there were two windmills 

 ■only ; one near the spring and one by the 

 shore. 



•* These landmarks, figured on Enfield's 

 map of the entrance to the port, remained 

 unchanged in 1823. In 1829 two pillars 

 or obelisks, 100 ft. high, were erected on 

 the shore in substitution. 



' The Midland Railway line nearly re- 

 presents it. It will be found from this 

 that Lmacre was somewhat smaller than 

 Krowsley ward. 



' Baines, Lanes. Dir. ii, 712. 



^ Stranger in Liverpool (ed. 18 12), 195. 

 At Bootle Mills two good houses had been 

 provided for the accommodation of visitors. 

 The edition of 1844 ^'so states that 'in- 

 yalids and others ' visited Bootle in the 

 summer for the bathing ; 229. 



^ A company was formed in 1799 to 

 utilize this supply ; see Gregson, Frag- 

 ments (ed. Harland), I 50. 



9 KC.H. Lanes, i, 284A. 

 " Farrer, Lanes. Pipe R. i ; he owed 

 30 marks for a concord between him- 

 self and the count. For the father see 

 ibid. 290, 296. Roger gave one of the 

 plough-lands to the Hospitallers ; see 

 Linacre. 



32 



'1 See further in the accounts of Formby 

 and Kirkby. 



^'^ Lanes. Inq. and Extents (Rec. Soc. 

 Lanes, and Ches.), 22. In 1 246 Thomas de 

 Beetham withdrew a plea of novel disseisin 

 against William son of Henry de Walton 

 and others respecting a tenement here ; 

 Assize R. 404, m. 9 d. 



" Inq.and Extents, 191 ; 'in the vill of 

 Bootle she held indemesneone plough-land 

 with the appurtenances in chief of the 

 church of St. Mary of Walton, by the 

 service of 401^. yearly at the feast days of 

 St. Mary and the Annunciation ; the 

 residue is worth 331. ^. in all issues 

 of land to her own use, saving the 

 said 401/.* 



