History of Melling
Discover the History of Melling
Parish Council Boundary
Statistics
- Population 2,810 (2001 Census)
- OS reference SD385002
- Civil parish Melling
- Metropolitan borough Sefton
- Metropolitan county Merseyside
- Region North West
- Country England
- Sovereign state United Kingdom
- Post town LIVERPOOL
- Postcode district L31
- Dialling code 0151
- Police Merseyside
- Fire Merseyside
- Ambulance North West
- EU Parliament North West England
- UK Parliament Sefton Central
The Origins of the Melling
Historically part of Lancashire, Melling and was recorded in the Doomsday Book of 1086 as Melinge. The name Melling is derived from the Old English name ‘Mellingas’, which literally means ‘the followers of Mealla’. It is a tribal name, preserving the memory of a small independent group of migrant settlers of the 6th century AD, who came across to England and reached Lancashire, probably via the valleys of Pennine rivers, over thirteen hundred years ago, and is among the most ancient of English place names according to Dr Wainright who in his studies of Scandinavian England writes ‘The Mellingas apparently wandered west until they made a permanent home in south Lancashire, on the edge of a low-lying swamp’.
J.R.Green describes the group of 6th century AD settlers in his famous ‘History of the English People’, as ‘Little knots of kinsfolk drew together, not as kinfolk only, but as dwellers in the same plot, knit together by their common holdings with the same bounds. Each had its moot hill or a sacred tree as a centre’.
During surveys undertaken as part of the construction of the M57 motorway, a number of anomalies were found which were concluded as being the remains of a Stone Age settlement based around Melling Rock.
It is also noted that the local Wood Hall farm, was the location of a very minor battle during the English Civil War, which was concluded from a number of cannonballs dating from that era along with Melling House, which is shown to have been seriously damaged as a result of such action.
The Leeds and Liverpool Canal passes the village, and during the years of the Industrial Revolution the village flourished through passing trade. Over the years Melling’s local economy has been supported by industries such as a quarry, a pottery and, most recently, the BICC factory (which was demolished in the late 1990s). Farming has always been prevalent in the area and remains so today with much of the land being grade 1 agricultural. However with the growth in population over recent years this has seen a significant number of residents commute to work in Liverpool or other surrounding towns.
Land
A study of the old Melling field names enables a picture of ancient Melling to be drawn, with its woods, groves, copses, glades, meadows and arable land with hedges and ditches.
When the great stretch of water, moss and bog called Hengerther Lake which covered much of the land from Melling to Maghull, was finally drained in the 14th century, by the initiative monks from Cockersands Abbey, who used local labour to cut the drainage ditches, the long term result was to convert the watery wastes in to highly fertile land.
This area was owned, about eight hundred years ago, by Henry of Melling, who in 1184 AD, gave it to Cockersands Abbey. The monks had the dykes and ditches dug to drain the water into natural brooks. With the constant clearance of land with fire and axe, and as the drainage of the swampy bog, meadow and arable land increased, there were the usual boundary squabbles. The Domesday Book records a great wood in Melling and Victorian history confirms this. There must have been many other woods in Melling besides the great wood, for as late as 1704 it is recorded that dwellings were being made in oak and ash in Melling.
There is mention in the Cockersands Chartulary, towards the end of the 12th century AD of three ancient roads in Melling. One of these being Cascough Lane (Brewery Lane), Cascough meaning ‘Jackdaw Wood’, so this road would go through the wood recorded in the Doomsday Book.
Melling Folk
It is clear that the principle farming families in Melling at the end of the 13th century were the Tatlock, Bootle and Molyneux.
Tatlock family settled in Melling about 1200 in the 17th century and over three centuries of settled farming at ‘The Bank’ for they were usually referred to as ‘Tatlock de Bank’. John Tatlock and his family founded the Tatlock charity for Educational purposes.
There is records of the Molyneux family in Melling from the 13th century referred to as Moyneux of the Wood as they claimed a manor and made Melling their principle home, their house being known as the Hall in the Wood.
The name of Bootle (Botul) appears early in the 13th century. This distinguished family married into the Wilbraham family. Lethom House was built by Sir Thomas Bootle about 1734.
Craftsmen
It is fascinating to realise how complete was the independence of the occupants of Melling in the 17th and 18th century, and if you take a selection of the trades and crafts in Melling, then a picture of a self-contained village emerges: basket maker, shoemaker, nailor, plasterer, blacksmith, spurrier, watchmaker, joiner, tanner, ropemaker, stonemason, brewer, miller, carpenter, slater, weaver, taylor, school master, clerk, inn keeper, attorney, hatter, doctor, solider, sailor, tobacconist.