An Illustrated History of Old Sutton in St.Helens

Part 25 (of 41)  -  Sutton Streets and Placenames

  a) Marshalls Cross Road      |     b) Eaves Lane     |     c) Leach Lane
  d) Lancots Lane      |      e) Ellamsbridge Road     |      f) Watery Lane
  g) Baxters Lane      |      h) Sherdley & Ell Bess    |      i) The Score

Appendix: Sutton Street Name Changes      Streets Photo-Album

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Researched & Written by Stephen Wainwright ©MMX   Contact Me   

Header image: A stretch of Junction Lane in Sutton with shops c.1910

a) Marshalls Cross Road in Sutton

Picture postcard of cottages in Marshalls Cross Road c.1910 - contributed by Sutton Historic Society

Marshalls Cross Road and Peasley Cross Road were so named because of the roadside crosses that were placed on well-travelled highways so that travellers could stop and pray for their safe journey. These two postcard views of Marshalls Cross Road in Sutton, St.Helens are undated but are probably Edwardian, c.1905.

A picture postcard of the junction of Marshalls Cross Road and Robins Lane to the right c.1910

b) Eaves Lane in Sutton, St.Helens

A postcard photograph of Ivy Cottage in Eaves Lane, Sutton, St.Helens

c) Leach Lane, Leach Hall (& Sutton Leach)

Leach Cottage in Sutton formerly in or near Leach Lane

A document in 1724 refers to Leach Hall possessing 'waterwoods, underwoods and mines of cole'. This was a marriage settlement in which Hamlett's sister Ann was to marry Egerton Leigh and the groom would receive "the Hamlett Yate situated in Sutton in the parish of Prescot commonly called Leach Hall." The estate then seems to have been sold to an Edward Falkener who sold it onto Michael Hughes in 1800 for £2700. In the 1851 census William Blinkhorn is listed as resident at Leach Hall.

d) Lancots Lane in Sutton Oak

e) Ellamsbridge Road in Sutton, St.Helens

Ellamsbridge Road is where these days, we find All Saints Church, an Esso garage and another low, redundant railway bridge. The original Ellams Bridge across Sutton brook (known here as the School Brook) was built in the eighteenth century and the street's prefix is named after Henry Ellam, an influential figure in Sutton in his day, who also owned property in Parr and Lymm. Ellam's will, dated 16th June 1796, has survived and one of his executors was his friend Thomas Greenall of the St.Helens brewery family. Henry Ellam's estates were bought by Michael Hughes in 1797 for £1463.

f) Watery Lane in Sutton

With the large-scale growth of St.Helens during the nineteenth century, the town's bureaucrats were kept very busy naming new roads and renaming existing ones. The latter seems to have reached its peak around the turn of the new century with a number of Sutton streets changing their monicker. The reasons aren't always clear but sometimes it was to avoid confusion with other similarly named St.Helens roads.

So around 1904 Sutton's own Church Street in the 'Pudding Bag' district by St.Helens Junction became Woodcock Street and Church Lane became Monastery Lane. Sometimes only sections of a road were renamed as was the case with Norman's Road, where part of it became Houghton (or Hoghton) Road.

The wonderfully named Ditch Hillock was restyled Watery Lane (or Waterdale Crescent) in 1898, probably because streets were expected to be suffixed 'road', 'street' or 'lane', again to avoid confusion. Watery Lane was the name of the neighbouring road which ran to Worsley Brow and which had existed for some years prior to Ditch Hillock's rebranding. Road nomenclature in centuries past tended to be centred around relevance to the location rather than a pretty name. If streets weren't named after a notable person or family who had lived in the area, they were named after something that was present there. So as flooding from Sutton Brook was endemic in the district, Watery Lane was a highly relevant choice of name!

One of the worst floods was in 1934 when on August 29th after heavy rainfall, flood water entered Watery Lane houses to the height of tabletops in kitchens and flooded the base of staircases. The St.Helens Reporter (pub.31/8/1934) dubbed it 'Day of the Great Splash':

  Furniture floated around living rooms. People living in the houses spent an anxious time as they watched the flood rising and many of them quitted their homes [from upstairs windows] by ladders. 

Exasperated residents of Watery Lane complained to the newspaper how flooding was an annual event with council officials apparently claiming that nothing could be done.

During the 1890s when part of the street was known as Ditch Hillock, the Blinkhorns owned a number of properties including a grocer's / off-licence at no. 51. In May 1893 James S. Smith became the tenant, purchasing the business from his father for £215 and in December he also acquired the butcher's shop opposite. Smith seemed to have little head for business, however, and in 1897 was made bankrupt at Liverpool Bankruptcy Court.

He admitted to Mr. Ring, the assistant official receiver, that he'd been insolvent since he began his enterprise and that he hadn't been keeping any books! His estimate of his assets to the initial inquiry into his affairs was five times higher than what was realised, a discrepancy that he was unable to explain.

John Cook then took over the business and off-licence just as Ditch Hillock was about to renamed Watery Lane and seems to have prospered. Business is business whatever a road happens to be called! (Nb. error in this article was corrected 8/7/09)

g) Baxters Lane in East Sutton

These days most visitors to Baxters Lane are likely to be making their way to Morrisons supermarket. In past times it was the site of Sutton Oak Sheds, where small boys would go to gaze in awe at the magnificent locomotives stored and maintained there (see photograph right contributed by Sutton Historic Society).

Prior to the Sheds relocating to Baxters Lane, the district was largely agricultural land farmed by generations of Baxters, hence the street name. The most famous member of the family was Henry Baxter (1830 - 1886), the industrialist who owned a copper smelting plant and chemical works in Parr. The road was not named after Henry, however, as it pre-dates his factories. However, the story of Henry Baxter's rise is a good example of the changing 19th century times and how Suttoners proved able to adapt.

In 1834 Richard Baxter (1792 - 1872), the father of Henry, took a lease on Peasley Cross Farm. However, the 100 acres of unspolt land was soon damaged by acidic gases from the nearby Sutton chemical works, which eventually destroyed much of his crops. Richard was a pragmatist and realising that farming was becoming unprofitable for him, he sold his land for industrial use and for building plots. He also insisted on his son Henry breaking the long Baxter agricultural line and taking a position in industry. It was a case of "if you can't beat them, join them" and so sixteen years old Henry found himself working at Sutton Copper Works in Sutton Oak.

He was highly thought of by partner William Keates and within nine years, at the age of just 25, became the firm's branch manager. In 1863 the ambitious Henry leased an idle smelting works in Parr from Keates and quickly made it profitable. Ten years later Baxter opened a chemical works next door and in 1883 the wealthy industrialist became the Mayor of St.Helens. All this through his Dad's farm becoming polluted!

Henry Baxter died on May 3rd, 1886 aged 56 at Rann Lea, Rainhill, formerly the residence of John Marsh, another chemical manufacturer. His thriving businesses did not long survive him, however. Baxter's copper works closed in the 1890s and his chemical works - although sold in 1890 to the United Alkali Co. for over £100,000 - closed in the early years of the 20th century. The times were changing....yet again.

The Baxter memorial at the front of Rainhill Parish Church surrounded by iron railings

(This article is mainly sourced from Dr.Theo Barker's St.Helens Reporter account 12/3/1954
courtesy St.Helens Local History & Archives Library)

h) Sherdley Park, Sherdley Road & Ell Bess Lane

In a St.Helens Reporter article of 1966, Sherdley Park was described as being the "lung of the borough" of St.Helens (30/7/1966). The Sherdley estate has also been at Sutton's epicentre for hundreds of years, with the Lord of the Manor's residence traditionally being Sutton Hall, prior to the Hughes family taking over the estate.

The Sherdley name is one of the very oldest in Sutton with the Sherdley family traced back to 1303 when they were recorded as freeholders of Sherdley Hall, its orchard and gardens. In those fourteenth century years the family name was variously spelt 'Sherdilegh', 'Sherdelegh' or 'Schardeley' and simply refers to pasture-land. The first element of Sherdley is believed to be derived from the Old English for 'sceard', which means a gap in an enclosure.

As most of the district in those days was moorland or moss, land that could be used for pasture was considered to be a valuable asset.

As well as the 300 acre park, the Sherdley name is remembered today through the nearby Business Park in Scorecross as well as Sherdley Park Drive and Sherdley Road. The latter until 1902 was called Ell-Bess Lane which was named after a pub that was once kept by a Betty or Bess Seddon who had quite a feisty reputation.

She was given the nickname of 'Hell Bess', because of her prowess in dealing with rowdy drunks that caused trouble on her premises! At some point the pub took on the former licensee's nickname, then the street followed. Both dropped the initial letter of 'hell', as it was then not the mild expletive that it is considered today.

(This article is mainly sourced from the St.Helens Newspaper 1/4/1938 -
courtesy St.Helens Local History & Archives Library)

i) The Score & Scorecross

From around 1800, the main track through the Sherdley Hall estate and park has been referred to as the 'Score' or 'Hughes's Score'. The derivation of Score is from the Old Norse word 'Skor', which means ditch. In an article published in the St.Helens Newspaper (1/4/1938), it stated that "the score, open to pedestrians, is, perhaps, the only rural walk to be found inside the St.Helens boundary."

With much of the estate agricultural, and with Sherdley Park, privately owned by the Hughes family with limited access for the public, the score was an important right of way for Sutton folk. It still exists today as points of park access from Sherdley Road, Marshalls Cross Road and Scorecross although, perhaps, used more by sports enthusiasts in vehicles than walkers.

With no apparent signage on the paths to remind visitors of the track's past, the aforementioned Scorecross dual carriageway, which extends the A569 from Marshalls Cross Road, plays two important roles.

The highway both connects Sutton with the St.Helens Linkway and motorway network and serves as an important reminder of the heritage of the nearby track. Perhaps 'The Score' could also be added to the signs that direct visitors into Sherdley Park.

(partly sourced from an article in the St.Helens Newspaper published 1/4/1938 - courtesy St.Helens Local History & Archives Library)

Appendix 1: Sutton Street Name Changes

A number of Sutton streets from the 19th century and early 20th, no longer exist and others have changed their name. For the benefit of family history researchers and others, this section will list streets which have been renamed with date of change.

     •  Bold Road (part of) renamed Abbotsfield Road in 1899
     •  Church Road renamed Monastery Road in 1902
     •  Church Street renamed Woodcock Street (Pudding Pag) in 1902
     •  Ditch Hillock renamed Watery Lane or Waterdale Crescent / Place c.1896
     •  Ellbess Lane renamed Sherdley Road in 1902
     •  Long Lane renamed Reginald Road
     •  Mill Lane (part from Marshalls Cross Road to Rainhill Road) renamed Elton Head Road 1902
     •  Normans Road (part of) renamed Houghton Road in 1899
     •  Rigbys Lane renamed Gartons Lane in 1902
     •  Thieves Lane renamed Eaves Lane in 1902

                    (partly sourced from St.Helens Local History & Archives Library)

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Next:   Part 26)  Pudding Bag;    |    Research Sources, References & Bibliography

Sutton Beauty & Heritage's History Pages:

01)  Township of Sutton & St.Helens        |      02)  Lords & Masters
03)  Michael Hughes of Sherdley        |      04)  The Sherdley Estate
05)  Sutton's Halls & Houses        |      06)  Dr. Henry Baker Bates
07)  Religion in Sutton        |      08)  Rev. Henry Vallancey
09)  Education in Sutton        |      10)  Mineworking in Sutton
11)  Sutton Manor Colliery #1        |      12)  Sutton Manor Colliery #2
13)  Clock Face Colliery        |      14)  Bold Colliery
15)  Industry in Sutton Township        |      16)  Sutton Transport
17)  Sutton Transport Timeline        |      18)  Health & Sanitary Conditions
19)  Old Sutton Pubs        |      20)  Sport in Sutton
21)  Sutton Boxers & Wrestlers       |      22)  Rapid Rise of Sutton Harriers
23)  Leisure & Entertainment        |      24)  Sutton Celebrations
25)  Sutton Streetnames       |      26)   Pudding Bag
27)  Notorious & Curious Crime      |     28)  Sutton Tragedy #1
29)  Sutton Tragedy #2       |      30)  What's Wrong With Sutton?
31)  How Sutton Has Changed        |      32)  Memories of Sutton Part 1
33)  Memories of Sutton Part 2       |      34)  Memories of Sutton Part 3
35)  Memories of Sutton Part 4       |      36)  Memories of Sutton Part 5
37)  Memories of Sutton Part 6       |      38)  Memories of Sutton Part 7
39)  Sutton Trivia & True Facts       |      40)  Clog Clatters in Old Sutton
41)  Research Sources, References & Bibliography   

Plus 13 Heritage Photo-Albums:

   Sutton's Lords & Masters;     Sherdley Estate;     Religion & Education;
   Transport;     Sport, Leisure & Entertainment;     Sutton Streets;
   Sutton Manor Colliery #1;  #2;  #3;  #4;      Clock Face Colliery;
   Bold Colliery;     Sutton Industry;

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