A HISTORY OF LANCASHIRE 



portion of the township the level of the landscape is 

 scarcely broken by even the smallest trees, and the 

 hedges are but scanty. The surface, occupied by 

 cultivated field*^, where corn and potatoes find a 

 congenial soil, is a mixture of clay and sand. A kw 

 farms are dotted about the district. A patch or two 

 of undrained mossland near one of the railways 

 discloses the nature of the surface before the time 

 of reclamation. The geological formation consists 

 entirely of the waterstones of the keuper series of the 

 new red sandstone or trias, with alluvial deposits ob- 

 scuring the strata by the River Alt. 



The main road from Liverpool to Ormskirk passes 

 through it. The Mersey branch of the Lancashire 

 and Yorkshire Railway joins the Liverpool and Wigan 

 line at the south-eastern comer. There are two rail- 

 way stations called Aintree, but actually situated In 

 Netherton, close to the great racecourse, which was 

 opened 8 July, 1829. 



The old village is in the centre of the township, 

 about two miles south-east of Sefton church ; but 

 houses arc multipl}ing on the Walton border, owing 

 to the growth of Liverpool and the rise of industries 

 in the neighbourhood. 



The Alt Drainage Act of 1779 mentions Bull 

 Bridge, and gives some field names, e.g. The Chew, 

 Further Feirock, and Nearer Knots Field. 



Aintree is governed by a parish council. 



JINTREE is not separately men- 



MANOR tioned in Domesday Book ; from later 



notices its assessment is found to have 



been one plough-land.' At the beginning of the 



Nevill of Hornby. 

 Argenty a ialtirc gulet. 



thirteenth century it was held in thegnage by Henry 

 de Holland of Downholland in Halsall, and most of 

 it had already been gr.mted out, 

 Alan de Holland, Robert de 

 Molyneux, Henry son of Gil- 

 bert, Hawise daughter of Ric- 

 hard, and Cockersand Abbey 

 holding in I 21 2.* 



Mr. In'ine in his book on 

 the Hollands, states that * there 

 is no evidence of any blood 

 relation between the two fami- 

 lies (of Holland of Down- 

 holland, who never rose to 

 any important position in the 

 county, and the Hollands of Upholland), and the 

 strong probability Is that they were not in any way 

 connected.' 



The Molyneux share, one oxgang of land, was 

 granted in free marriage with Alice de Molyneux to 

 the son of Richard Baret ; * it descended to the 

 Ridgate or Rudgate family/ by whom It was sold in 

 1490 to Lawrence son of Henry Molyneux.* 



The remainder, or the greater part of it, seems 

 to have been quickly reunited into the hands 

 of a family who adopted the local name ; for in 

 1296 William de Aintree's possession was 6\ ox- 

 gangs of land and half of the mill.*' The descent 

 is far from clear. Part at least — probably including 

 the lordship — descended to Emma, daughter of 

 Henry and Agnes de Aintree, and wife of Henry 

 son of Hugh de Atherton,' and part to William 



' It is supposed to have been part of 

 the demesne of West Derby in 1066. 

 Though the adjacent manor of Sefton 

 appears to have lost a plough-land, being 

 rated later as five instead of the six 

 ptough-lands of 1066, there is nothing to 

 indicate that Aintree formed the missing 

 part, the lordship and tenure being 

 distinct. 



^ Land. Inj. and Extend (Rec. Soc. 

 Lanes, and Ches.), 49. Aintree is not 

 named, but the subsequent history shows 

 that those named held in this place ; 

 Hawise daughter of Richard, however, is 

 doubtful. The service was %$. id. in all. 



The whole of Henry de Holland's hold- 

 ing being 3^ plough-lands, and Down- 

 holland with fiarton being \\^ and Rib- 

 blcton I, it follows that Aintree was one 

 plough-land. 



The Cockersand grant wis known as 

 St. Mar\stead \ Henry son of Alan de 

 Holland granted it in pure alms for the 

 health of his soul and the souls of his 

 wife and his lather. The bounds were 

 from the Akeohead Brook, along the 

 bounds of Eiward to the Alt as lar as 

 Southiield Brook, from this following the 

 Meneway which crosses the brook as far 

 as Stonyford in the Alt ; in breadth from 

 Lunddel Meneway to the Alt ; Cockersand 

 Cbartul. {Chet. Soc), li, 631. This is 

 described as ' a culture ' in 1 2 1 2. It 

 was held by the Wards of Maghull 

 in 1 ^5" J by Thurstan Maghull in 1-1515 

 by John, the chaplain of Maghull, in 

 1461, at arent of izJ. j and by Matthew 

 Maghull in 1501 and 1537; ibid, iv, 

 1244-5 j Duchy of Lane. Assize R, 4, 

 m. 1 1. On the suppressir n it was granted 

 to Thomas Holt j Duchy of Lane. Inq. 

 p. m. xi, n. 46. 



* In a suit between William son of 

 Adam Baret, and William son of William 

 Baret, in 1292, concerning a messuage 



and one oxgang in Aintree, it was stated 

 that Alice, daughter of Robert de Moly- 

 neux, grandmother of the former plaintiff, 

 was seised of them. A certain Richard 

 Baret rendered them to Robert de Moly- 

 neux, his chief lord, who thereupon gave 

 them, with his daughter Alice, to Richard's 

 son William in free marriage. There were 

 two sons, Adam and William, fathers of 

 plaintiff and defendant. William son of 

 Adam recovered 5 Assize R. 408, m. izd. 



From a Haydock charter it seems that 

 the Barcts held land by grant of Matthew 

 de Haydock, who had 1^ nxpnni:;'* in 

 Aintree, and gave half of this to William 

 Baret for life \ Raines MSS. (Chet. Lib.), 

 xxxviiif 236. 



^ William Baret dying without is'iue, 

 his sister Alice inherited. She married a 

 Rudgate, or Ridgate, perhaps of Whiston j 

 their sen William had n son Richard de 

 Ridgate, who in 1351 had to defend his 

 right againit Gilbert de Haydock ; the 

 moiety of an oxgang had been added by 

 this time ; Duchy of Lane. Assize R. 

 I (Lent), m. iij t^. j R. 2 (July), m. j ^. ; 

 R. ;, m. ix ; R. 5, m. z6d. The claim 

 by Gilbert de Haydock was defeated j 

 but lands in Aintree were held by him as 

 early as 1332; Final Cone. (Rec. Soc. 

 Lanes, and Ches.), ii, 82. The writ con- 

 cerning the manor of Aintree, 'except 

 6^ oxgangs, &c^* probably refers to this 

 suit ; Dep. Keeper's Rep. xxxii, App. p. 

 332. 



Some later notices of this family occur. 

 In 1 38 1 Gilbert de Ridgate contributed 

 to the poll tax ; Lay Subs. Lanes. 130/24. 

 John del Ridgate of Aintree received the 

 royal protection on proceeding to Ireland 

 in 1386 in the company of Sir John de 

 Stanley ; Cal. of Pat. 1385-9, p. 156. 



Robert de Ridgate in 1426 granted 

 land in Aintree to Nicholas del Lunt ; and 

 in 1454 Robert del Ridgate, perhaps the 



100 



same, was In possession of one oxgang, 

 5 acres, and half an oxgang, about which 

 the suit had been contested a century 

 before ; Croxteth D, B. vi, 3 ; I, 4. 



Robert's son William, whose wife was 

 named Margery, in 1479 gave all his 

 hereditary lands to his brother Richard, 

 and Emma his wife ; ibid. B. i, 5, 6. 



* Ibid. B. i, 7-9. 



^ Final Cone, i, 179 ; William de Ain- 

 tree actually held 5^ oxgangs, 221 acres 

 of land, 2J. 3^/. rent, and the quarter of 

 the mill, and on the death of Alice, widow 

 of Henry de Aintree, there would revert 

 to him another oxgang, an acre of land, 

 izd. rent, and a quarter of the mill. The 

 succession was settled upon Henry de 

 Aintree and his brothers Gilbert and 

 Robert ; probably they were William's 

 sons, as a Henry, son of William de Ain- 

 tree, occurs in 1292 ; Assize R. 408, m. 

 54. William de Aintree was son of a 

 Henry de Aintree, as appears by a suit 

 against him and Robert de Molyneux 

 brought in 1276 by William son of Adam 

 the Demand; De Banc. R. 13, m. 3:', 

 &c. He was living in 1298 ; Inq. and 

 Extents^ 284. William de Aintree in 

 1295 granted part of his land to William 

 son of Thomas de Nateby ; Croxteth D. 

 B. vi, 2. Earlier was Richard de Ain- 

 tree, living in 1255; Inq. and Extcnti, 



ZOI. 



It appears from a Melling suit that 

 Henry, Gilbert, and Robert died without 

 issue before 1305 5 Assize R. 420, m. 3 (/. 



7 Henry de Aintree married Agne^, 

 daughter of Richard de Molyneux of Sef- 

 ton, and her daughter Emma was defen- 

 dant in various suits in 1301. Gilbert 

 ?on of William de Aintree brought a writ 

 of novel disseisin against her, but did mt 

 prosecute it ; Assize R. 419, m. 3 ; al .0 

 m. S d. 



Then Alice, widow of Henry de Ain- 



