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Ormskirk in Lancaster County England History and GeographyORMSKIRK, a parish in the hundred of WEST DERBY, county palatine of LANCASTER, comprising the market town of Ormskirk, the chapelry of Skelmersdale, and the townships of Bickerstaffe, Birkdale, Burscough, Lathom, and Scarisbrick, and containing 12,422 inhabitants, of which number, 3838 are in the town of Ormskirk, 13 miles (N.N.E.) from Liverpool, 40 (S. by W.) from Lancaster, and 209 (N.W. by N.) from London. This place is supposed to derive its name from a church built here by two sisters of the name of Orm; and it constituted part of the possessions with which Robert Fitz-Henry, lord of Latham, endowed Burscough priory, an establishment founded by him for Black canons, in the reign of Richard I. The town, which is situated on the road from Liverpool to Preston, is clean and well built: it consists chiefly of four streets, diverging at right angles from a central area used as the market-place: it is not lighted, but paved under the direction of the surveyors of highways. Its trade and manufactures are on a limited scale; the principal establishments are hat-manufactories and roperies. The manufacture of cotton and silk has also been introduced, but the produce has hitherto been inconsiderable: there is also a small trade in balance-making. The loamy soil in this parish produces a great quantity of carrots, which are sent to the market at Liverpool; and the farmers in the neighbourhood are noted for the culture of early potatoes of a superior quality. The inhabitants have also long been famous for making gingerbread, which meets with a rapid sale in the surrounding towns, and is even exported. The disposal of local produce, and the importation of articles of consumption, are greatly facilitated by the Leeds and Liverpool canal and the Douglas navigation, which are about three miles distant from the town. There are considerable coal mines within the parish. The market, granted in the 14th of Edward I. to the prior of Burscough, is on Thursday; and fairs are held on Whit-Monday and Whit-Tuesday, and on the 8th of September. The petty sessions for the division are held here; and a court leet is held annually in October, at which a constable and other officers are appointed for the town. Quarter sessions, formerly held here, have been removed to Kirkdale. The living is a discharged vicarage, in the archdeaconry and diocese of Chester, rated in the king's books at £10, endowed with £200 private benefaction, and £200 royal bounty, and in the patronage of the Earl of Derby. The church, dedicated to St. Peter and St. Paul, is of ancient, but obscure, foundation. It is stated to have been built at the expense of the two sisters above named, to a disagreement between whom, regarding the completion of the design, tradition ascribes the peculiarity of its possessing a tower and a steeple detached from each other: but it is more probable that the tower was erected for the express purpose of receiving eight bells, removed hither from Burscough priory, on the dissolution of that monastery. Within the building are a chapel and vault, constructed pursuant to the will, dated in 1572, of Edward, the third Earl of Derby, for a cemetery for that noble family, the deceased members of which have been interred here since the dissolution of the priory, when such bodies as were not already reduced to ashes, were removed hither. An episcopal chapel at Skelmersdale was erected by subscription in 1776, and greatly enlarged in 1823: it is presented to by the Vicar. That at Latham is a donative, belonging to Lord Skelmersdale. There are places of worship for Independents, Methodists of the New Connexion, and Unitarians. The free grammar school was founded about 1614, and is endowed with various benefactions, producing £138. 15. per annum: the salary of the master is £60 per annum, with permission to receive small gratuities: the school is open to all boys of the parish, and about forty free scholars are instructed in classical and general literature. A school-room, in Church-street, was built in 1724, at the expense of James, Earl of Derby, for a Blue-coat school, now called the United charity school, in which seventy boys and fifty girls receive gratuitous instruction on Dr. Bell's plan: it is supported partly from permanent funds, amounting to about £32 per annum, and partly by subscriptions. There is also an infant school. A dispensary was established in 1705; and a bank for savings in 1822. From Lewis's Topographical Dictionary of England 1831, courtesy of Databases 4 Sale |
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