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The Parish of North Meols
in the County of
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NORTH MEOLS

A parish in the hundred of WEST DERBY, county palatine of LANCASTER, 9-1/2 miles (N.N.W.) from Ormskirk, containing 2,763 inhabitants.

The living is a rectory, in the archdeaconry and diocese of Chester, rated in the king’s books at £8.3.4., and in the patronage of Peter Hesketh, sq. The church is dedicated to St. Cuthbert. There is a place of worship for independents. An ancient grammar school, endowed with £370, by means of various benefactors, is now consolidated with a National School, erected by subscription in 1827, on the site of the old schoolroom; sixty boys and eighty girls are educated gratuitously.

From “A Topographical Dictionary of England,” by Samuel Lewis, Vol. 3, p. 281. London, 1831.

MEOLS (North)

A village, a township, a sub-district, and a parish in Ormskirk district, Lancashire. The village stands on a rivulet, 1 mile from the coast, an 2-1/2 NE of Southport r. station; bears the name of Churchtown; and has a post-office of that name under Southport, and a fair on the Monday and Tuesday after 20 Aug.

The township contains also the town of Southport, and the hamlets of Southaws, Hawiside, Little London, Higher Blowick, Lower Blowick, Rowe-Lane, Marshside, Crossens, and Banks. Acres, 18,871; of which 10,805 are foreshore - water. Real property, £48,226. Pop. in 1851, 8,694; in 1861, 14,661. Houses, 2,585.

The increase in pop. was chiefly in Southport; and arose, there and elsewhere, principally from house-building for mercantile men, and from the establishing of boarding- schools. The property is much subdivided.

The manor belongs to the Rev. Charles Hesketh and the Trustees of the late C. Scarisbrick, Esq. North Meols Hall was formerly the seat of the Heskeths, and is now a farm-house.

Hand-loom silk weaving is a principal employment. The sub-district is conterminate with the township.

The parish contains also the township of Birkdale; and comprises 10,301 acres of land, and 14,240 acres of water. Real property, £53,178. Pop. in 1851, 9,319; in 1861, 15,947. Houses, 2,822.

The living is a rectory in the diocese of Chester. Value £844.* Patron, the Rev. C. Hesketh The church stands at Churchtown; consists of nave, aisles, and chancel, with tower and spire; and contains monuments to the Heskeths and the Fleetwoods.

Three vicarages of Southport, and those of Crossens, Banks, and Birkdale are separate benefices.

Chapels for Independents, Wesleyans, and Primitive Methodists, a national school, and charities £22 are in North Meols ecclesiastical section; and ten dissenting chapels, a Roman Catholic chapel, and three national schools are in Southport.

From “The Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales,”
By John Marius Wilson, London, 1872. Vol. 2, p. 315.

Entered here 2 October 2005 by Lynn Ransom Burton.

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