WEST DERBY HUNDRED 



WARRINGTON 



the western limit ot the old town, as the church 

 marks the eastern. 



Mersey Street leads from the bridge north-east to 

 Irlam Street, about half way between the maricet and 

 the church. From this point Fennel Street and 

 Battersby Lane lead north to Orford Hall. From 

 Buttermarket Street, Bank Street and Academy Street 

 lead down to Mersey Street — in the former was the 

 county court ; in the latter stood the famous 

 Academy. 



From Horsemarket Street a narrow crooked lane 

 called Town Hill, Cockhedge Lane, and School Brow 

 leads eastward to the Boteler Grammar School, and 

 then turns into the Manchester Road near the parish 

 church. 



On the western side of the town Cairo and Bold 

 streets lead south from Sankey Street ; in the latter 

 is the Museum and Library, with the School of Art 

 adjacent. King Street, Golborne Street, and Legh 

 Street lead north from Sankey Street ; and farther to 

 the west, on the same side, is the Town Hall, 

 formerly Bank Hall. These streets indicate the 

 extent of the town about a century ago. Now it 

 has spread over a much larger area, especially to 

 the north-west and west. At the west end of 

 Sankey Street and Green Street, which marks the 

 site of the old green, two other ancient lanes remain. 

 One runs north and east to near the market-place ; 

 the other makes a more extended circuit in the 

 same direction, and is known as Lovely Lane, Folly 

 Lane, Longford Street, Conies Corner, and Marsh 

 House Lane. The last named, on the north side 

 of which are the Orford Barracks, opened in 1878, 

 ends at Padgate Lane, close to its junction with 

 the Manchester Road. 



Orford Barracks is the dep6t of the combined 

 8th and 40th regimental districts, or the King's 

 (Liverpool Regiment), late 8th King's, and the 

 Prince of Wales' Volunteers (South Lancashire 

 Regiment), late 40th and 82nd Foot. 



A dispensary was opened in the market-place 

 in 1 8 10, and removed in 1818 to a more com- 

 modious building in Buttermarket Street. The 

 new infirmary and dispensary in Kendrick Street 

 was built in 1872. 



The public cemetery is on the eastern extremity 

 of the town. The workhouse lies on the north- 

 western boundary ; near it is the infectious diseases 

 hospital. 



The post office, formerly accommodated in a 

 building at the comer of King and Sankey streets, 

 was in 1882 removed to the opposite side of the 

 latter street. A new one is being built. New police 

 courts were erected in 1900 near Bank Quay Station. 

 Warrington is crossed by the railways of the 

 London and North Western Company and the 

 Cheshire Lines Committee. The former company's 

 railway from London to Carlisle passes north through 

 the town on a high-level line. There are two 

 adjacent bridges over the Mersey and Ship Canal, 

 one for the main line from Crewe, and the other for 

 the branch from Chester, which here join.' The 



station is at Bank Quay on the south-west of the 

 town. The same company's railway from Liverpool 

 to Stockport through Widnes has stations at Bank 

 Quay (low level) and Arpley ; near the latter it crosses 

 the Mersey into Cheshire. The Cheshire Lines 

 Committee's Liverpool and Manchester railway has 

 a station (Central) in Horsemarket Street. This 

 necessitates a deviation of over half a mile from the 

 direct line, the junctions being near Sankey Brook on 

 the west, and Padgate on the east. 



From its position at the head of the tidal part of 

 the Mersey, half way between Liverpool and Man- 

 chester, and as having what was formerly the lowest 

 bridge across the river, Warrington has always been a 

 good market town, and many industries have sprung 

 up and flourished in it. A century ago the manu- 

 factures were huckabacks and coarse cloths, sailcloth, 

 canvas, fustian, pins, and glass ; and it was also noted 

 for the excellence of its malt. The Wednesday 

 market was noted for fish, provisions, and all kinds of 



The Old Fox Inn, Warrington 



cattle and sheep, 'not inferior to the Leicestershire 

 breed.' ' 



In 1825 sugar-refining and copper works were 

 among the industries that had been lost to the town ; 

 cotton yarn, velveteens, calicoes, and muslins were the 

 chief manufactures, and pins, files, and other tools 

 were made.' 



More recently great forges and iron-foundries and 

 soapworks have been established, but the older in- 

 dustries of wire-drawing, file-making, and fustian- 

 cutting have been retained ; the breweries are also 

 well known. Boats are built. There are extensive 

 tanneries, heavy sole leather and belting being 

 made.* 



^ The first railway was a branch from 

 Newton-le-Willows, on the Liverpool and 

 Manchester line, to Bewsey Street, opened 

 in 1 8 3 1 . The Grand Junction line through 

 Crewe to Warrington and the north was 

 opened in 1837 ; it served for both Liver- 



pool and Manchester for a time. The 

 Watrington and Chester line began work- 

 ing in 1850. See W. Harrison, Manch. 

 Rail'ways. 



2 Capper, Tcpog. Diet. lio%. The mak- 

 ing of sailcloth and sacking and a small pin 



manufacture were the chief industries in 

 1769 ; Arthur Young, Tour, iii, 211-13. 



' Baines, Lanes. Direct, ii, 590. 



* A plan of the town, showing the 

 different factories, &c., was issued from 

 the Observer office in 1 90 1. 



