As a child during the late 1980’s, I remember well wanting to look at Peter Aughton’s book, Southport & North Meols: A History. As part of the front cover, Aughton chose to use part of William Yates’ 1786 map of Lancashire that showed North Meols (spelt ‘Meals’ on the map) and it was probably the placenames of ‘Little London’ and ‘Horse Houses’ (both Hawes-side & South Hawes) that captivated me the most, sparking a lifelong fascination with maps & local history.
Section of William Yates 1786 map of Lancashire (surveyed c1776/80 & published 1887) . Reproduced with kind permission from The National Library of Scotland.
Fast forward to recent times and the excellent National Library of Scotland website Map images - National Library of Scotland (nls.uk) with their mapping services, where a whole range of maps can be viewed in high detail. Yates’ map is available to view, and I admit to having spent endless hours doing just so, mainly to assist with my research. Some time ago, upon viewing this map in greater detail, I noticed an unnamed cross just to the south of Little London which appears to be at the junction of Trap Lane and Little London Lane. The location of this mysterious cross in modern terms would be the approx. junction of Cumberland Road and Southbank Road today. In the C18th & C19th centuries, this area was known as ‘Higher Blowick’. But what did this cross on Yates’ map represent? A website link to the map recently appeared on local social media groups prompting much discussion, and even causing one or two eagle-eyed users to comment on the mysterious cross, which further prompted me to fulfil this investigation that has been on my ‘to-do’ list for some time.
Section of Yates map showing position of the cross at the junction of Trap Lane & Little London Lane. Reproduced with kind permission from The National Library of Scotland.
So, who was William Yates? He was born c1738, recorded as being aged 64 years when he was buried on 30th November 1802 at St. Thomas’ in Liverpool. He is known as being a customs officer in Liverpool however, from details within his will held at the Lancashire Record Office, it showed he also had a pot-works at Sutton Heath near St. Helens. A more detailed look at his will can be read here: 109-16-France.pdf (hslc.org.uk).
In 1763, a notice appeared in newspapers declaring that a William Yates, pot-maker of Liverpool, was bankrupt. There is no William Yates mentioned in Gore’s 1766 & 1767 directories for Liverpool however, in 1766 & 1768, William Yates of Liverpool is mentioned again within newspapers as being a bankrupt pot-seller and having to pay dividends to creditors at the Old Roe-Buck in Newcastle-under-Lyne. Given that he mentions a pot-works in his will, I am in no doubt that this is the same William Yates being referred to in the press reports. It is unclear at what point he started to carry out land surveys however, by 1769 he had already assisted George Perry with his Map of the Environs of Liverpool.
J. B. Harley, writing in 1962, who describes Yates as an ‘amateur map maker’, suggests that the presence of another surveyor in Liverpool, namely Peter Burdett of Derby, may have been the reason why Yates chose to survey Staffordshire as his first project starting in 1769, although I feel his links to the pottery industry cannot be overlooked as a reason why he chose Staffordshire over his native Lancashire. Harley’s detailed paper on both Yates and Burdett can be read online here: 115-7-Harley.pdf (hslc.org.uk). Harley suggests that Yates’ survey of Lancashire took place between at least 1776 and was near completion by 1780, a fact backed up by a notice appearing in the Manchester Mercury in October 1780 from William Green, one of Yates’ assistants, that he had finished his part of the surveying and was again readily available for work. The map was engraved by Thomas Billinge in 1786 and was finally published in 1787. It is also believed that the trigonometrical base lines were measured out on the beach between Formby and North Meols.
But what about the mysterious cross shown within North Meols? To begin with, I decided to scour the map for other crosses as they didn’t feature as one of the objects listed within the map key. I spotted one on the Fylde near Pilling namely, ‘Crawleys Cross’, which on later maps is shown as a boundary stone. What appears to be a cross is also shown at Formby, shown as being one of the landmarks near to the mouth of the Alt. Other known crosses such as ‘Marshalls Cross’ near the Bold estate Tithebarn to the south of St. Helens is named on the map but no actual cross is shown. The cross at Lydiate is named also as ‘Lidiate Cross’ but again, no figure of a cross is shown.
Yates' Explanation or Map Key, with no reference to crosses. Reproduced with kind permission from The National Library of Scotland.
The site of Crawleys Cross near to Pilling on the Fylde. Reproduced with kind permission from The National Library of Scotland.
Formby Landmarks at the Mouth of the Alt. Reproduced with kind permission from The National Library of Scotland.
The site of Lydiate Cross named on the map. Reproduced with kind permission from The National Library of Scotland.
Local historian Walter Jesson discussed ancient crosses in his book, Betwixt Ribbel and Moerse: The Chronicle of Christes Croft. He places their locations on a pull-out map covering the whole of south-west Lancashire however, the mysterious ‘Higher Blowick Cross’ does not feature.
The spot where the cross is shown on the map was on Trap Lane, equidistant (approx. 350 yards) between ‘The Trap’ (Ash Street/Southbank Road junction), named as such on the 1845 OS map, and the junction with Ash Lane (Everard Road). As previously mentioned, this area was known as Higher Blowick and was one of the nine districts mentioned by Bishop Gastrell in his Notitia survey of 1720. It is not clear where the name The Trap derives from, one explanation being that it could relate to the entrapment of animals in the area. It is also worth noting that the parcel of land named as The Trap on the first edition OS map of 1845, is actually called ‘Gotham Hill’ on Henry Bankes’ 1736 plan of the Bold Estate. Crossing Trap Lane and continuing from Snuttering Lane in a north-easterly direction was the ancient Churchgate path.
Section of Henry Bankes' 1736 plan of the Bold Estate. Note Gotham Hill (The Trap in 1845) and Little London to the right of the image. The spot where the cross is shown would be at the junction above 'House Field'. © Sefton Library Services
Section of the 1845 OS first edition. Reproduced with kind permission from The National Library of Scotland.
The junction of Trap Lane & Snuttering Lane as pictured by Henry Sampson c1860 in his 'Bits of Old Southport' publication. Trap Lane runs through the centre of image with Snuttering Lane veering to the right. Just out of shot on the left was a stile which marking a continuation of the Churchgate track to St. Cuthbert's Church at Churchtown.
The social media comments regarding the cross somewhat naturally suspected a religious link, immediately questioning whether it represented the site of a church or chapel. There was a Wesleyan School-Chapel recorded in Johnson & Green’s 1868 directory on the south-west side of Southbank Road (Trap Lane). This could well have been part of Alice Blundell’s (neé Ball) farm which was believed to have been used as a Wesleyan place of worship according to Geoffrey Ellis in his book, Dissenters of Every Description. A Southport Visiter notice from 1869 mentions the 'Trap Lane Sunday School', probably part of the same farm complex. Alice’s farm was recorded as being on both Trap Lane and also Snuttering Lane throughout its time in earlier census returns, as it was set back at a similar distance from the two old North Meols lanes, although it appears that access was gained from a track leading off Trap Lane. The farm building is still shown to be standing in a developing Nolan Street on a map surveyed in 1889, and Alice is named as 84 year old 'lodger' in an un-numbered property (I am certain that this is her farm) on Nolan Street in the 1891 census. Alice is last recorded in the 1893 directory for Nolan Street however, she passed away in the final quarter of that year and by 1894, houses had replaced the site of her farm.
Edwin Beattie painting with the caption: 'Old Cottages & Gypsy Encampment, near to Trap Lane Old Chapel, now Southbank Road Chapel'. © Sefton Library Services
Section of the 1889/90 OS town plan showing Alice Blundell's farm still standing, surrounded by development. Reproduced with kind permission from The National Library of Scotland.
Section of the 1892/94 OS map. Alice Blundell's farm can be seen on Nolan Street. Grigg's Farm & other cottages can be seen at the junction with Little London Lane. Southport Central's football ground is also present. Reproduced with kind permission from The National Library of Scotland.
In 1876, the foundation stone of a new Wesleyan School Chapel was laid in Southbank Road. It officially opened in 1877 however, just a decade later, stones were laid for the Southbank Road Wesleyan Church on the same site, the building still standing today at the junction with Ash Street and Cemetery Road. But from where did the origins of the Trap Lane School-Chapel grow?Â
Edwin Bland, writing for the years 1765-70 in his Annals of Southport tells us the following:
In these two years the Rev. John Wesley visited Lancashire and stayed in Preston. On one of these occasions, he passed through Bretherton and North Meols. When in this neighbourhood he preached from a ‘Cop’ near the junction of Trap Lane and Snuttering Lane, not many yards from where Southbank Road Church now stands. It would be probably 1770, for in 1864 an old woman, then aged 95, told the writer that she was a child in her mother’s arms at the time, and was present on the occasion, pointing out the spot on which Mr. Wesley stood to preach. Very likely it was as a result of this visit that the ‘Old Class’ was established at Churchtown. It exists to this day. The September quarterly meeting of the Manchester district in 1776 was held at Bolton, when North Meols sent as the quarter’s collection, £1 6s 3d, whilst Liverpool only sent £0 11s 3d.
Frank Cheetham questioned Bland's Annals entry in one of his Visiter investigative articles, published on 25th November 1930 entitled; Did John Wesley visit North Meols? An Enquiry. Cheetham, regarded as one of Southport’s greatest historians, discusses what he describes as a ‘tradition’ mentioned by Bland, immediately turning his attention to Wesley’s journal stating that the evangelist did not visit Preston in the years 1765 & 1770. Cheetham tells us it was in fact Liverpool where Wesley stayed in 1765 & 1770 and credits an anonymous writer on early Methodism in Southport (published in 1903) for recognising this (Wesley also visited Liverpool on both earlier & later occasions to these dates). The writer sways towards the year of 1770 for Wesley’s supposed visit to North Meols and re-tells the following entry from his journal for that year.
March 29th Thursday, I preached at the new preaching house at Rochdale; and on Saturday, 31st at Chester. Tuesday, April 3rd, I went to Liverpool, and on Wednesday and Thursday I read Mr Sellous’ answer to Elisha Cole’s book on God’s Sovereignty. Friday, 6th, I preached at Wigan at noon and in the afternoon at Bolton…
The anonymous writer suggests that Wesley preached in the open air in North Meols in between visiting Liverpool on the 3rd and Wigan on the 6th. Cheetham pointed out that he found it somewhat remarkable that Wesley did not record that he visited North Meols, however, he also said that Wesley may not have noted it down due to being, ‘immersed in Sellous’ answer to Cole’. Cheetham concludes his article focusing on the 95 year old woman mentioned by Bland, who would have been just 12 months old in 1770, therefore, herself being unable to remember the occasion or the exact spot, suggesting that the information had likely been passed down to her by her mother, and that perhaps the story and her memory may have become distorted over the passing decades. Cheetham signed off his investigation with the verdict, ‘Not Proven’.
John Wesley was known to preach in the open air, delivering his sermons many times from the market cross in his hometown of Epworth, Lincolnshire. Open air preaching, I would imagine, would be best delivered from a raised area, of which a field cop certainly was. It is said that the poor would flock to see him, in the 1770’s, North Meols was certainly a poor parish. Is it possible, that if John Wesley did visit to North Meols in the year 1770, that a preaching cross was erected following his visit, and marked on Yates' map, perhaps to show other potential visiting preachers that they would be accepted in the area. The Southport Guardian published an article in June 1901 entitled, Southport: Its Methodism and Convention. It mentions the diary of one John Silcock, Master of the Parish Grammar School from 1779, who left on record that, 'various young men were in the habit of coming to preach at holiday times...' Silcock had one man lodge with him and he felt the need to write to him to warn him that his, 'doctrine would no longer be allowed by the ruling powers of North Meols'. Apparently this did not stop subsequent preachers from visiting during the bathing season. The article credits Silcock as being of, 'much assistance to the early travelling preachers appointed the circuit'.
The approximate location brought to light by Bland following his interaction with the 95 year old woman in 1864 is within a few hundred yards from where the location of the Higher Blowick Cross is shown on Yates’ map. It is known that North Meols sent a collection to Manchester in 1776, which according to Harley, was the same year that Yates’ survey is known to have begun, so if a preaching cross did exist as a result of Wesley’s visit, Yates’ certainly would have seen it whilst carrying out his detailed survey. It is also highly likely that Yates’ was acquainted with North Meols, if as it is thought, that the trigonometrical baselines were measured out on our sandy shores; the baselines for the Liverpool map of 1769 certainly were measured on, ‘the level sands of Bootle Bay’.
I feel it is possible that Cheetham, like Jesson later in the C20th, did not notice the mysterious cross on Yates’ map, they certainly didn’t have the access that we do today to view the map online and, I don’t know of any other local historians or writers that mention the mysterious cross, despite the map being reproduced at either end of the C20th, by William Farrer in 1903 and as mentioned earlier, Peter Aughton in 1988.
The junction of Cumberland Road & Southbank Road. Could this be the site where John Wesley preached from a field cop in 1770? © David Walshe 2024
Whilst Cheetham delivered his verdict that it is not proven that John Wesley visited North Meols, I feel that the inclusion of the mysterious Higher Blowick Cross on Yates’ pioneering map of Lancashire, in relation to the location provided in the account re-told by Bland from his 95 year old woman in 1864, cannot be over-looked as potential evidence that John Wesley did visit North Meols.
© David Walshe (Secret Sand Land) 2024
All references/sources mentioned within the text.