In 1870-72, John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales described Skelmersdale like this:
SKELMERSDALE, a village and a township-chapelry in Ormskirk parish, Lancashire. The village stands in the E neighbourhood of Blaguegate r. station, and 4½ miles ESE of Ormskirk; and gives the title of Baron to the family of Bootle-Wilbraham. The chapelry contains also Blaguegate village, which has a post-office under Ormskirk. ...
Acres, 1,920. Real property, £5,253; of which £1,000 are in mines, and £19 in quarries. Pop. in 1851, 760; in 1861, 1,028. Houses, 196. Pop. in 1868, above 3,000. The manor belongs to Lord Skelmersdale. S. Hall is the seat of R. Thomas, Esq. Coal is worked, and bricks are made. The living is a p. curacy in the diocese of Chester. Value, £175.* Patron, the Vicar of Ormskirk. The church was built in 1796, and enlarged in 1823. There are two Wesleyan chapels, one of them built in 1866, a recently erected Roman Catholic chapel, an endowed school with £51 a year, and charities £37.
Skelmersdale through time
Skelmersdale is now part of West Lancashire district. Click here for graphs and data of how West Lancashire has changed over two centuries. For statistics about Skelmersdale itself, go to Units and Statistics.
GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth, History of Skelmersdale in West Lancashire | Map and description, A Vision of Britain through Time.
URL: https://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/place/405
Date accessed: 24th April 2024
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