A HISTORY OF LANCASHIRE 



ii the infirmar)-, with an income of nearly ^^740 a 

 year from investments.' Of the minor charities some 

 are for Warrington proper' and others for different 

 township; of the parish — Burtonwood,' Rixton,' and 

 Uoolston ; ' that for Poulton has been lost.* 



The Warrington Clergy Institution for the relief 

 of widows and orphans of clergymen in the old arch- 

 deaconry of Chester, which included Cheshire and 

 South Lancashire, was founded in 1697, and still 

 continues its benevolent work. In conjunction with 

 it is a school for the orphan daughters of clergymen, 

 founded in 1 842 ; the buildings were erected on the 

 site of the old mote hiU, but the school was removed 

 to Darley Dale, Derbyshire, in 1905. There is a 

 training college for schoolmistresses in connexion with 

 the Established Church. 



WARRINGTON 



Walintune, Dora. Bk. ; Werinton, I 242 ; this and 

 Werington common to 1550 ; Warington, 1330. 



Warrington lies on flat ground near the Mersey,' 

 which winds with sudden swoops and curves all along 

 its southern margin. From Little Sankey to Padgate 

 Brook an alluvial terrace fringes the low ground lying 

 by the course of the river, of which, for a considerable 

 part of the distance, it constitutes the northern bank, 

 concealing over .i large area the underlying mottled 

 s.indstones of the bunter series. Along the riverside 

 the land is composed of marshy pastures called Arpley 

 and Howley, dotted over with cattle, or where the 

 river nears the big industrial town of Warrington 

 huge factories line the water's edge. With the ex- 

 ception of a fringe of open country on the edges of 

 the township the land is covered with houses, streets, 

 railways, and factories. The soil is loamy and fertile 



and produces crops of potatoes, and other market 

 produce. Good broad roads run into the town from 

 all quarters and become quickly narrowed as they ap- 

 proach the centre of the town, where is a curious 

 mixture of really picturesque old houses and great 

 modern factories which overshadow the antique. In 

 the floor of the old schoolhouse near the parish 

 church of Warrington is St. Elphin's Well, now 

 disused. This is generally reported to be in the 

 churchyard. The Sankey Brook forms the western 

 boundary of the township on its way to join the 

 Mersey. 



The town grew up beside the river, about the 

 centre of the boundary. Little Sankey lay on the 

 western side and Orford on the north ; between these 

 hamlets and the town was the heath. Orford was 

 divided from Hulme in Winwick by a brook and 

 tract of marshy ground ; and probably in the same 

 way from Warrington town. The area is 2,8 1 7 acres. 

 The population in 190 1 was 64,242.* 



The road from Prescot and the west passed the 

 Sankey Brook by a bridge,' then north-eastwardly 

 through Little Sankey, with its green, and wound 

 and still winds eastwardly through Warrington till 

 it reaches the parish church at the extreme east end 

 of the town ; it is called in turns Sankey Street, 

 Buttermarket Street, Irlam Street, and Church Street. 

 After passing the church and the ancient mote hill 

 the road divides ; the main road goes to Manchester, 

 and a northerly branch, Padgate Lane, to Bolton. 



From the bridge over the Mersey a cross-road leads 

 north, as Bridge Street, Horsemarket Street, and Win- 

 wick Street, to Winwick and Wigan ; it crosses the 

 former road near the highest land of the town, about 

 a thousand yards west of the church. The market 

 stands to the north-west of the crossing '° and marks 



* Sec 63-4 of the Report. 



* Brownficld's Almshouses were esta- 

 blished by the will of John Brownfield, 

 1697, augmented by his wife and John 

 Goulbome. Four houses were in 1 828 

 supposed to belong to this charity. Part 

 of the endowment was afterwards lost, 

 the overseers being unable to identity 

 the property on which the rent was 

 charged ; and in 1S-4 the houses, having 

 become ruinous, were pulled down, and 

 the site was afterwards sold. The pro- 

 ceeds were invested, and an annual mcome 

 of 201. \il. is distributed by the rector 

 among poor widows. 



Anne Royle, by will in 1731, left her 

 cottage in Church Street to the rector 

 that he might distribute the rent to poor 

 housekeepers. In 1828 the house was 

 found to be dilapidated. The last rent 

 known to have been paid was in 1831 ; 

 after which the rector is said to have 

 sold the premises, and nothing further 

 is known. 



Joseph Daintith in 1787 bequeathed 

 ^80 a year for the Sunday school which 

 he had established, and a building was 

 erected on the north side of Church 

 Street, .^fter several changes owing to 

 the erection of other schools and altered 

 circumstances the buildings were sold 

 and the charity is represented by a capital 

 of ^^388 consols, the income being applied 

 by the rector in the purchase of Bibles, 

 ice, for the use of the Sunday school. 



Shaw Thewlis by will in 18S4. left 

 ^500 for the benefit of the aged poor ; 

 the income, ^14 zs. 4^/., is employed in 

 the purchase of blankets for distribution 

 to poor persons, chiefly widows. James 



Morris left in 1885 a net sum of ^800 

 for the benefit of the poor attending the 

 parish church, and Thomas Morris in 

 1897 left j^5oo for blankets for women 

 over sixty years of age. 



The Ladies' School of Industry, the 

 gymnasium and reading-room, and the 

 Charles Middleton Scholarships and the 

 School of Art are also noticed in the 

 Reftirr. 



" Besides the school there was formerly 

 an accumulated poor's stock of ^^63 ioj., 

 but this was lost by the failure of Thomas 

 Claughton in 1823. Gaskell's charity, 

 of unknown origin, has a stock of ^20, 

 the interest of which is expended in 

 clothing, &c., for the poor ; it is now 

 under the control of the parish council. 



< Thomas Clare in 1730 left an acre 

 called the Town-field in Glazebrook for 

 the benefit of the poor. In 1828 it was 

 let at a rent of £<), and this sum was dis- 

 tributed by the agent of Charles Tempest, 

 trustee. This arrangement continued until 

 1869, when trustees were appointed 'by 

 the Char. Com. The present income, 

 £6 loj^ is spent on cotton cloth, which 

 is given to about seventy poor persons. 



The Hon. Elizabeth Wilson-Patten, 

 daughter of Lord Winmarleigh, in 1896 

 gave a room, with an endowment of 

 ^15 IOJ. for maintenance, to be used 

 as club-room, reading-room, or the like, 

 for the education or recreation of the 

 people of the township, 



' By an enclosure award in 1 849 an 

 allotment of 4 acres of mossland was 

 assigned to the labouring poor. A rent- 

 charge of £1 IOJ. was payable, but does 

 not seem to have become operative. The 



land 13 divided into forty-eight allotmenta, 

 let to poor persons at a rent of Sd. each. 

 By the same award Martinscroft Green 

 was reserved as a recreation ground. 



^ There was in 1786 a poor's stock of 

 £2iOf the accumulation of gifts made by 

 Peter Legh and others at various times. 

 This seems for a long time to have been 

 lent to the owner of Houghton, and in 1823 

 was in the hands of Thomas Claughton, He 

 failed, and only ;^io was recovered ; thii 

 amount was spent on clothing for the 

 poor, and the charity became extinct. 



7 A small tongue of land on the 

 Cheshire side, but belonging to the town- 

 ship of Warrington was encircled by the 

 Mersey until the middle of the eighteenth 

 century, when during a great flood the 

 river cut through the neck, of the isthmus 

 and took its present course ; Beamont, 

 IVarr. in 14.65 (Chet. Soc), 86. 



8 The area is that of the old township, 

 of which Warrington proper had 1,714 

 acres, Orford 658, and Little Sankey 445. 

 The population, however, is that of the 

 county borough, including Latchford and 

 excluding Orford. The area of the 

 borough is given in the census report ai 

 3,058 acres, including 77 of inland water ; 

 there arc besides 67 of tidal water and il 

 of foreshore. 



^ A view of an old timbered house near 

 Sankey Bridge is shown in Trant. Hist. 

 Soc. xxvii, 115. It is inscribed *T. I.' on 

 the king-post, and 'R.B. 1632,' on the 

 tie-beam of the gable. 



^^ This crossing, the Market Gate, it 

 at the junction of Sankey, Horsemarket, 

 Buttermarket and Bridge streets. The 

 last three streets ascend to it. 



