Rainhill

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RAINHILL, a village, a township, and a chapelry, in Prescot parish, Lancashire. The village stands on the Liverpool and Manchester railway, 9 miles E of Liverpool; carries on manufactures of watch-movements, brooches, and other articles; has also iron-works, a foundry, and a varnish factory; a large engine factory and foundry; and has a station on the railway, a post-office under Prescot, a church, a Wesleyan chapel, a Roman Catholic chapel, and national schools. The church was built in 1837, and enlarged in 1843 and 1868; and consists of nave and aisles, with tower and spire. The Roman Catholic chapel was built by the late B. Bretherton, Esq.; is a large and highly ornate edifice; consists of nave, aisles, and chancel, with a tower; and has, in connexion with it, a school and a convent. The township comprises 1,642 acres. Real property, £8,959; of which £130 are in iron-works. Pop. in 1851, 1,522; in 1861, 2,130. Houses, 384. Numerous villas stand on a hill, and command fine views over the Mersey into Cheshire. The chapelry is more extensive than the township, and was constituted in 1840. Pop. in 1861, 2,608. Houses, 447. The living is a p. curacy in the diocese of Chester. Value, £300.* Patron, the Rev. J. Brierley.

John Marius Wilson, Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (1870-72)