WEST DERBY HUNDRED 



suitably placed at the top of the hill, was begun in 

 1865 ; the present church was opened in 1878. 

 St. Bernard's school church was built in 1884 ; it was 

 in 1 90 1 replaced by the new church of Our Lady of 

 Lourdes and St. Bernard. St. Clare's, near Sefton 

 Park, was consecrated in 1890. St. Charles Borro- 

 meo's in Aigburth Road, begun in 1892 in a tem- 

 porary iron building, was opened in 1900.' 



The Orthodox or Greek church at the corner of 

 Prince's Road, in the Byzantine style, was built in 

 1870 for the accommodation of the numerous Greek 

 merchants and others resident in Liverpool. 



The Jewish synagogue in Prince's Road was built 

 about 1878 to replace the older one in Seel Street, 

 Liverpool. 



FORMBY 



Fornebei, Dom. Bk. ; Fornebi, 1177; Forneby, 

 common till 1500 ; Formby, 1338, became common 

 in the sixteenth century. 



This township or chapelry forms a detached por- 

 tion of the parish of Walton, and including the 

 manors and hamlets of Raven Meols on the south- 

 west and Ainsdale on the north, has an area of 6,619 

 acres, 4,502 being the acreage of Formby proper.* 

 Ainsdale has since 1 894 been an independent town- 

 ship.' In 1901 the separate population of Formby 

 was 5,642, and of Ainsdale 1,314. 



Formby is bounded on the west by the sea, the 

 shore being protected by extensive and somewhat 

 lofty sandhills, covered with a luxuriant growth of 

 creeping willows and star grass, the latter being 

 systematically planted to keep the sand from drifting 

 away. Game abounds on these hills, wherefore the 

 land is strictly preserved, and only a few footpaths 

 across the forbidden ground are open to the public. 

 The sandhills afford shelter from the sea winds to the 

 three villages of Formby, Formby-by-the-Sea, and 

 Freshfield, which form practically one town, situated 

 on flat, sandy land, surrounded by fields intersected 

 by ditches, where rye, wheat, potatoes * and a variety 

 of market produce flourish, including fields of 

 asparagus, a specialty in the district. Fishing for 

 shrimps and raking the sands for cockles affords 

 employment to some of the inhabitants. Formby 

 sandhills are famous to local botanists as the habitat 

 of several uncommon and characteristic wild plants, 

 among which may be mentioned the Wintergreen, 

 Pyrola rotundifolia, var. maritima. Towards the sea 

 the soil and subsoil consist of blown sand, with fluvia- 



WALTON 



tile sand or loam towards the neighbourhood of the 

 Alt ; on the landward side the soil is peaty ; to the east 

 of Formby Hall a small area of keuper marls occurs. 



The principal road is that from Liverpool to 

 Southport, from Alt Bridge northwards through 

 Formby and Ainsdale. The village is large and 

 scattered over the central portion of the area ; in 

 recent years residential districts have grown up by the 

 sea. This is largely due to the railway facilities, the 

 Lancashire and Yorkshire Company's line from 

 Liverpool to Southport having stations called Formby 

 and Freshfield. 



Formerly the township must have been much 

 larger. As it is, Formby Point is a prominent feature 

 of the coast-line ; but the greater part of Raven Meols 

 was long ago destroyed by the sea." About the 

 beginning of the eighteenth century sand gradually 

 overwhelmed the lands by the shore, changing the 

 coast-line.' The dark tilled soil of the ancient surface 

 and the natural furrows made by the plough are 

 occasionally found when clearing the ground of blown 

 sand. From 1 7 1 o Formby leases contained a clause 

 providing for the planting of star-grass, which became 

 part of the service due to the lords of the manors ; 

 afterwards an Act was passed, making the planting 

 compulsory. 



There are many curious place-names in Formby. 

 The Wicky Dales and Clovenly Dales are near the 

 Ainsdale boundary. The banks forming the fences of 

 the fields are called ' cops.' Dangus Lane, on the 

 east side of the village, is sometimes called Danesgate 

 Land, being connected by local traditions with an in- 

 cursion of the Danes. The Whams is an open space 

 to the west of Formby Hall. Watchut or Watchyard 

 Lane may be derived from wet-shod. Stingman's or 

 Steeman's hook, by the moss on the east, is supposed 

 to be derived from the vipers which formally infested 

 the place. Brank Farm was so called from brank or 

 buckwheat, which will grow on very poor land. 



There are traditions that troops for the suppression 

 of the rebellion of 1 7 1 5 were embarked at Formby 

 for Scotland, and that early in the eighteenth century 

 a proposal was made that docks should be constructed 

 here rather than at Liverpool. 



The old roundhouse was pulled down about 1893, 

 but remains of the stocks may still be seen. A stone 

 cross with steps was erected in 1879 °" '^^ village 

 green, which was then enclosed ; the old cross and 

 steps were re-erected in St. Luke's churchyard. The 

 pedestal of another, called the Cop Cross, formerly 

 stood west of the village.' 



^ Liverpool Cath. Ann, 1 90 1, 



'The census of 1901 gives: 5,873 

 acres, including six of inland water. The 

 foreshore of Formby alone measures 1,562 

 acres, and of Ainsdale 620. 



' Loc. Gov. Bd. Order 31626. 



* Potatoes are said to have been intro- 

 duced into England by the wrecking of a 

 vessel on the coast at or near Formby ; 

 Tram. Hist. Soc. (New Ser.), xi, 203 ; Jeno- 

 way, Antij. Notes (Edin. 1823), p. 207. 



' See Trans. Hist. Soc. (New Ser.), x, 

 48 ; xiii, 93. 



To the entry of Raven Meols in the 

 ancient rating book of the county is added 

 the note : — ' All or the most part whereof 

 is drowned in the sea.' 



In a report prepared in 1839 the action 

 of the winds and tides was noted. The 

 effects were * perceptible in the destruction 



of large quantities of land in the vicinity 

 of the landmark, now in ruins, near the 

 edge of the shore, and about the lifeboat 

 house, which when erected thirty-five 

 years ago stood 100 yards inland, but now 

 projects about 300 yards before the hills 

 and line of high water 5 in this period also 

 at least 300 yards have been taken from 

 before the landmark' ; Trans. Hist. Soc. 

 xxii, 246. The appended note gives a 

 more moderate estimate of the change. 



The landmark mentioned was a tower 

 on Formby Point ; a corresponding tower 

 was erected in Ince Blundell to assist 

 navigators in entering the Mersey by 

 Formby Channel. See the plan in En- 

 field's Li'verpool, 1771. 



' The land on the seaward side of the 

 Alt, where is now the Altcar rifle range 

 (in Little Crosby township), was reclaimed 



45 



during last century ; see the map of en- 

 trance to the Mersey in Enfield, Liverpool ; 

 but the course of the Alt does not seem to 

 have changed since the date of this map, 

 1771. 



In the north, near the boundary of 

 Ainsdale, is a large sandhill covering the 

 spot where once stood a cottage known as 

 Richard Cave's Cottage. 



' In old days the leases used to include 

 the right to fish on a given part of the 

 shore, which was called a " stall," and 

 was treated as one of the fields of the farm; 

 but when the great changes took place on 

 the coast about this time (1700), this 

 custom fell into disuse .... The last 

 fishery lease that I have seen is dated 

 1 7 1 1 ' ; information of Mr. John Formby. 



7 Lanes, and Ches. Antiq. Soc. xix, 187- 

 9 ; Trans. Hist. Soc. (New Ser.), xi, 239. 



