A HISTORY OF LANCASHIRE 



The patron has in recent times not only built the 

 vicarage but given ;(^ioo tithe rent-charge ; and this 

 has been supplemented by Queen Anne's Bounty, the 

 total income being now about £2.^0. 



There are a few charities, the 

 CHARITIES most considerable being that 

 founded by Peter Darwin, who 

 about twenty years ago left ^^+00 for the poor.' 



NORTH MEOLS 



NORTH MEOLS 



BIRKDALE 



There is little to state regarding the history of the 

 parish apart from what is recorded under the town- 

 ships and the church. An isolated patch of land fit 

 for cultivation lying between the sea and the sand- 

 hills on one side and Martin Mere and the mosses of 

 Scarisbrick and Halsall on the other, it was not an 

 attractive place of residence in former times, and the 

 sweeping away of Argar Meols by the sea cannot have 

 added to its charms. In more modern times the 

 draining of mere and mosses and the growth of South- 

 port have wholly transformed it, and it has become 

 one of the favourite health resorts of the country. 

 The agricultural land of the parish is thus occupied : 

 Arable land, 5,166 acres ; permanent grass, 1,449 ! 

 woods and plantations, 38. The surface of the 

 underlying rock, the red kcuper marl of the new red 

 sandstone, or trias, is completely obscured by blown 

 sand for a width inland from the shore of one and a 

 half to two miles, by tidal alluvium at Crossens, and 

 on the landward side by glacial deposits. 



To the county lay the parish used to pay the same 

 amount as Aughton, viz. £2 is. %d. towards ;{^ioo 

 for the hundred ; North Meols with Crossens paid 

 five-sixths, and Blrkdale only a sixth. To the fifteenth 

 it paid 22/. of j^lo6 paid by the hundred.' 



In 162S the only landowners contributing to the 

 subsidy were Thomas Hesketh, Richard Bold, and 

 J.ine Bold, widow.* The hearth tax of 1666 shows 

 a total of I I I householders with 138 hearths; the 

 only considerable houses were the two halls — North 

 Meols Hall with twelve hearths, and Bold House with 

 eight : the parsonage at Crossens had three, and no 

 other house had more than two.' Bishop Gastrell 

 about 1725 records zoo families, including five of 

 'Papists.'* In 1901 the population numbered 64, 105. 

 Crossens was in 171 5 the scene of a skirmish 

 between the royal troops and the Highlanders ; small 

 cannon balls, bayonets, and other relics have frequently 

 been dug up, some being preserved in the vestry of 

 the church. 



The church of St. Cuthbert is a plain 

 CHURCH edifice, built in 1730 on the site of the 

 older building, which had been burnt 

 down.* It cost j^l, 292. It is almost square in plan, 

 with a short western tower and spire erected in 1739. 

 In 1836 it was ' a small building without side aisles, 

 having nave, chancel, and north transept : lighted by 

 three windows on the south side, and two semicircular 

 ones in the chancel." In i860 it was to some 

 extent rebuilt and enlarged, the north aisle and part 

 of the chancel being of this date, and now consists of 

 chancel, nave with north aisle, and west tower with 

 spire. It is faced with wrought stone throughout, 

 and has a slate roof of low pitch over nave and 

 chancel. The chancel has diagonal angle buttresses 

 of pseudo-Gothic design added in i860, surmounted 

 by plain octagonal pinnacles without finials. The 

 east window is of three lights, divided by two 

 columns, with Ionic capitals and bases, carrying archi- 

 trave, frieze, and cornice over the side-lights ; the 

 central light has a semicircular head with keyed 

 voussoirs springing from the level of the cornice over 

 the side-lights ; the sill projects on brackets. The 

 side windows of the chancel are single lights, wide 

 and tall, with semicircular heads, of plain square 

 section, with a projecting keystone. The nave has 

 precisely similar windows and a plain south doorway, 

 over which are inscriptions as to the building and 

 enlargement. Above is a sun-dial. The roof is of 

 one span over nave and north aisle, its centre line 

 being consequently some way north of that of the 

 chancel roof ; all gables have plain copings and small 

 gable crosses of poor design. The tower is of three 

 stages with an octagonal stone spire, with a vane, but 

 no finial ; and having two tiers of spire lights and 

 three plain strings. It rises from within a parapet 

 with shallow pilasters at the middle and angles of each 

 face. The belfry stage is surmounted by a heavy 

 cornice, and has on each of its four sides a single- 

 light window with semicircular head and projecting 



' Gregson, Fragments (cd. Harland), 

 16, iS. 



« Norris D. (B.M.). 



^ Addl. Lay Subsidy, bdle. 250, n, 9. 

 Two old cottages are described in S, O. 

 Addy's E'cAution of the House, 4.;, 



* Xorttu Cestr. (Chet. Soc), ii, 194. 



* The following details are from the 

 EnJ. Cbjr, Rep. for Altcar, issued in 

 1898 J it includes a reprint of the re- 

 port of I Sz8. 



Peter Darwin, of Altcar, by his will 

 (dated 1884. and proved 1SS8) left ^^400 

 to the minister and churchwardens, the 

 interest to be laid out in bread, coals, and 

 clothing, and distributed twice a year to 

 the deserving poor. The sum actually 

 received was ,^359 loj., and being in- 

 vested in a Mersey Dock annuitj', pro- 

 duces £11 OS. 8j. a year, distributed in 

 accordance with the testator's wish. In 



1895 the annuity was transferred into the 

 name of the Official Trustees. 



Jane Liptrot, of Altcar, wished ^^jo to 

 be given to the incumbent and church- 

 wardens for the benefit of the poor, and 

 £l<) 19J. to the churchwardens and over- 

 seers for the master of * the day school 

 recently erected.' Her will was dictated 

 the day before her death (July, 1841), but 

 was never executed ; but her brother, 

 Samuel Liptrot, paid the money, which is 

 now deposited in the Liverpool Savings 

 Bank in the names of the vicar and two 

 trustees appointed by the parish council. 

 The schoolmaster receives i2i. a year, 

 and the parish clothing club 231., the 

 remainder of the interest. 



Of unknown origin was ^^3 loj. paid 

 in 1828 to the incumbent from the rate ; 

 it was supposed to be the interest on £jo 

 left as an endowment of the church. This 

 is still paid out of the church rate. 



226 



Ellen Goore, who died in 1789, left 

 ^40 to the poor, the interest to be 

 divided among poor women attending the 

 sacrament of the Lord's Supper. The 

 money was taken by the parish, 40J. being 

 paid out of the rates as interest. It was 

 paid out of the church rate up to 1854, 

 but was discontinued for some reason 

 unknown. 



William Wilson, in 1665, gave £\o 

 for the poor, which in Bishop Gastrell's 

 time was upon bond ; Notitia Cestr. ii, 

 164. He gave ;£'20 in all, the interest to 

 be divided equally between Altcar and 

 Lydiate. In 1828 nothing was known 

 of it. 



' The churchwardens' seat has the date 

 1683 : and the gallery has the date 1705. 

 Thus the destruction by the fire was not 

 complete. 



' Bainei's ianci. iv, 270. Aviewofthe 

 church is given in Farrcr's AorrA MeoU. 



