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The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland - 1868

"RUFFORD, a parish in the hundred of Leyland, county Lancaster, 5 miles N.E. of Ormskirk, its post town, and 12½ S.W. of Preston. It is a station on the W. section of the Lancashire and Yorkshire railway. This place, formerly a chapelry in the parish of Croston, was made parochial by Act of Parliament. The village is situated near the Leeds and Liverpool branch canal and the river Douglas. It is intersected by the high road from Preston to Liverpool. Petty sessions for the division are held at the Hesketh Arms monthly, in rotation with Chorley, Cuerdon, Leyland, and Penwortham. The land is nearly evenly divided between arable and pasture, with a small tract of heath and common. The tithes have been commuted for a rent-charge of £390, and the rector receives £190 out of those of Ulnes Walton. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Manchester, value £495. The church, dedicated to St. Mary, is crowned by a cupola containing one bell. The interior of the church contains monuments and effigies of a knight and his lady. The parochial charities produce about £22 per annum. There are National schools for both sexes, supported by Lady A. Hesketh and Sir T. G. Hesketh, Bart. The principal residence is Hesketh Hall."