Outlying Areas: Little Crosby, Thornton, Ince Blundell and Sefton

	St. Mary's Church, Little Crosby Little Crosby is a historic unspoilt village just to the north of Liverpool. It adjoins the Blundell family estate at Crosby Hall. The family goes back to the Norman conquest and has lived here since the 15th century. It is thought that the church stands on the site of a Saxon chapel called the Harkirk. In 1611, William Blundell established a burial ground here for Roman Catholic recusants denied burial at Sefton Church in the aftermath of the Reformation. A number of Anglo-Saxon coins were found at this time. The present church was completed in 1847.
	St. Mary's Church, Little Crosby
Little Crosby in Lewis's Topographical Dictionary of England (1848) William Blundell, Esq., is now lord of the manor, and owner of the township, which comprises 1740 acres, and of which the surface is level, with a light sandy soil. His seat, Crosby Hall, was built by his ancestors in 1500, and has since been altered and improved at various times, a portion bearing the date 1647; the park is gracefully laid out, and well wooded, and among the trees the laurel is unique. [...] The Roman Catholic chapel here, dedicated to the Blessed Virgin, was rebuilt in 1847, at the sole cost of Mr. Blundell, amounting to £2500; it is a handsome structure of stone, in the early English style, with a tower surmounted by a spire. The interior is richly ornamented [...]. At Harkirk, an ancient burial-ground, a number of Saxon and other ancient coins, of which a print is preserved in the British Museum, were found in April, 1611; and in 1847 were discovered the remains of an arched window.
Little Crosby in the Victoria History of the County of Lancaster (1907) This township lies to the north of Great Crosby, Thornback Pool being the boundary on that side. Extending along the coast, a wide belt of sand-hills, in which are rabbit warrens, forms an efficient protection to the low-lying land from the inroads of the sea. Some of the inhabitants are fishermen, who reap a harvest of shrimps, flukes, and cockles from the sea and broad firm sands. Excepting those which cluster about Crosby Hall, there are but few trees or hedges, fields being principally divided by ditches. The alluvial soil produces good crops of potatoes and corn, whilst there are also meadows and pastures. [...] The village, hall and park are at the southern end of the township; to the north are Moorhouse and Hightown, a modern hamlet; on the shore near the last-named is a lighthouse, built in 1839. [..] There are six crosses, one being in the village. At Harkirk, now within the park, a number of Anglo-Saxon coins were found in 1611.
	Cottages, Little Crosby The village has a number of attractive early 17th century cottages, many constructed of sandstone from a local quarry on Delph Road (now filled in).
	Cottages, Little Crosby
	Village Cross, Little Crosby
	Lodge House, Little Crosby
	Little Crosby from Dibb Lane
	Sniggery Wood, Little Crosby
	Farmland near Thornton Thornton is at the extreme northern edge of the Liverpool conurbation. This is typical of the flat agricultural land that starts here, bleak and brooding on a freezing winter's afternoon. About 100 years ago it is said to have been a village much resorted to by pleasure parties. Slightly more recently it was where Iived as a teenager.
Thornton in the Victoria History of the County of Lancaster (1907) This township [...] is situated in flat country consisting of pastures and cultivated fields. The soil is loamy, producing crops of potatoes, turnips, and corn. The pastures near the Alt lie very low and are often flooded in winter-time and wet seasons. Trees are not a prominent feature of the open landscape. [...]. In the summer the village is much resorted to by pleasure parties. The road from Sefton to Great Crosby passes through it. To the north-east is a hamlet now called Homer Green, formerly Hulmore. There is the pedestal of a cross called Broom's Cross. An ancient sundial on a stone pillar stands on Thornton Green; close to it are the stocks. Dialect words in colloquial use which may be noticed here are 'neave' for fist, 'narky' for fractious [surely more widely used?], and 'coi ammered' or 'cain ammered' for testy or contentious.
	Stocks, Thornton The present Thornton stocks date from 1791, when they replaced an earlier set. They continued in use as late as 1863. The damage visible was caused when a truck collided with them during a blackout in World War II.
	Sundial, Thornton Sundials were a common feature of Lancashire villages. The sundial here in Thornton predates 1720, making it possibly the oldest surviving example in south-west Lancashire.
	Aughton from Broom's Cross, Thornton This is the view towards Aughton from Brooms Cross. The pedestal survives of an ancient resting place for coffin bearers en route to Sefton Church.
	Ince Woods Ince Blundell is flat, agricultural fen country with very few trees. Ince Woods are a substantial remnant of the ancient woodland, protected against development, particularly in regard to the once posited new road from the north of Liverpool to Formby. It appended the name of the local Blundell family near the end of the 14th century to distinguish it from Ince near Wigan. The first Blundell to have had an interest in the land appears to have been Richard in the late 12th century.
Ince Blundell in the Victoria History of the County of Lancaster (1907) Ince Blundell embraces a considerable area of flat, fen country laid out in pastures and cultivated fields, where corn, root crops, and clover-hay are produced in a rich alluvial soil. The River Alt forms a tortuous boundary along its north-eastern, northern, and western edges. The low-lying fields are mostly separated by deep ditches, which serve for division and drainage. Near the sea coast, and near the mouth of the Alt, there is a narrow band of sandhills. The trees clustering about Ince Blundell Hall and village emphasize the scarcity of timber in the district, for they stand out as an abrupt mass in the bare landscape. Solitary trees here and there incline to the south-east, showing the direction of the prevailing winds. [...] The brook called Twine Pool and Hynts Brook divides Ince from Thornton. [...] The village is situated near the middle of the township. There are hamlets called Carr Houses and Lady Green; North End includes Alt Grange. The greens have been enclosed. There are crosses upon ancient bases in the village. The 'flowering' of the cross used to take place on Midsummer Day.
	St. Helen's Church, Sefton Sefton is the tiniest of hamlets, though it gives its name to the entire borough. It was the seat of the Norman Molyneux family, who lived in a large moated house called Sefton Hall that once stood just over the road from the church. They moved to Croxteth Hall in 1710 and later became Earls of Sefton. St. Helen's, or Sefton Church as it is often called, is based upon a Norman church, the private chapel of the Molyneux family, dating from 1170. The original church, not much of which remains, was added to over the centuries, with the spire appearing around 1320. It was substantially in its present form by 1550; gravestones date back to the 17th century. Thomas Pennant, describing a visit to Sefton in 1773, wrote, “... placed on a vast range of fine meadows, that reach almost to the sea and in a great measure supply Liverpool with hay. It is watered by the Alt, a small trout stream; but after the first winter flood is covered with water the whole season, by reason of want of fall to carry it away.”
Sefton in Lewis's Topographical Dictionary of England (1848) The western townships are bordered by the Irish Sea and the mouth of the Mersey, a range of dreary sandhills forming a barrier along the shore, which is lined with marshes and covered with rabbit-warrens. The river Alt, fed by numerous rills, flows by Aintree, Lunt, and Ince-Blundell, and discharges itself into the sea to the north, below Formby Point. At Sefton, this stream resembles a canal, and in wet seasons overflows the meadows, a flat district extending several miles, which, during inundations, assumes the appearance of an arm of the sea. The Leeds and Liverpool canal intersects the parish. The principal halls are those of Little Crosby and Ince-Blundell. Sefton Hall existed in 1372, and was a stately pile, with a circular moat (still in existence) inclosing about a quarter of an acre of elevated ground, opposite the church. The farmhouse which subsequently occupied the site of this ancient seat of the Molyneuxs, has been taken down, and all that now remains of the mansion is a few heaps of stones scattered from its strong and massive walls. A brewery here, established about a century ago, is conducted by Mr. Molyneux Rothwell. [...] The church is a large and handsome structure, and one of the finest in the county, originally erected in 1111, and partly rebuilt in the reign of Henry VIII by Anthony Molyneux, a distinguished preacher, then rector. It is partly Norman, and partly in the later English style, with a lofty spire; and the interior is remarkably elegant. The chancel, separated from the nave by a magnificent screen, contains sixteen richly-sculptured stalls, and numerous monuments to the family of Molyneux, of whom Sir William performed signal acts of valour under the banner of the Black Prince, at Navaret; as did Sir Richard in the battle of Agincourt, and another Sir William in that of Flodden-Field. In what is called Lord Molyneux's chapel are several modern monuments of the family, one of them, particularly fine, in white marble, to the memory of Caryll, Viscount Molyneux, who died in 1699. A sunk forest on the coast, is one of the most remarkable characteristics of the parish; and so abundant is the timber imbedded in the earth, generally two feet or more below the surface, that fifty loads of trees, chiefly of oak, are sometimes found in a single acre.
Sefton in the Victoria History of the County of Lancaster (1907) The eastern boundary is formed by the River Alt, except where the present course of the stream has been restricted to the centre of Sefton meadows, the whole of these lying within the township. In time of frost they are flooded for the amusement of skaters. The church and the mill stand at the western edge. A few dwellings amid a clump of trees cluster round the church; there are also hamlets called Sefton Town, Buckley Hill, and Windle's Green. The moated site of the ancient house of the Molyneux family lies to the south-east of the church, but nothing remains above the ground of the buildings finally dismantled in 1720. Part of it was standing till 1817. Close to the site, on the south, is a farmhouse, known as The Grange, retaining some seventeenth-century details, and a barn of late sixteenth-century date, though much patched with later work. The mill over the Alt is said to have been built in 1595, and has a four-centred doorway and chimney-piece which may well be of that date. Wheat, barley, oats, and rye are grown, as well as potatoes; but cabbages are now the chief crop.
	St. Helen's Church, Sefton The interior of the church contains much early woodwork including the three screens visible here, dating from the early 16th century, an octagonal pulpit from 1635, a muniments chest ca. 1350 and many carvings. There are brass monuments to Tudor members of the Molyneux family, but the oldest is that to Sir William Molyneux (d.1290). There is also a 1596 bible. A notable rector in Tudor times was the aptly named Parson Nutter, called The Golden Ass by Elizabeth I because of his wealth and ignorance, who wasn't known for his application to the job but nevertheless left a huge hoard of gold under his deathbed.
	The Punch Bowl, Sefton The Punch Bowl is almost as much a feature of the hamlet of Sefton as the ancient church next door. It has been modernised and extended, losing much of its original character, but is still a nice place to visit in a timeless rural setting.
Lunt in the Victoria History of the County of Lancaster (1907) Lunt is situated in the flattest fen district drained by the River Alt, which also forms its north-eastern boundary. The marshy pastures are liable to floods during winter and in wet seasons. In the southern portion there are cultivated fields where cereals and root-crops thrive in a soil consisting of a mixture of sand and clay. Hedges are scanty and trees few and far between. It was formerly a hamlet of Sefton, but its separation seems to have been accomplished before 1624. [...] St. Helen's well [still on the map], close to Sefton church, is a wishing well; a pin had to be thrown in, and if it could be seen at the bottom of the well the omen was favourable.