View source for Cronton

{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2021}}
{{Infobox UK place
| country                  = England
| type                     = Village
| coordinates              = {{coord|53.391|-2.758|display=inline,title}}
| official_name            = Cronton
| label_position           = left
| static_image_name        = Holy Family Church, Cronton (1).JPG
| static_image_caption     = Holy Family Church, Cronton
| population               = 1,379
| population_ref           = <ref name="census">[[United Kingdom Census 2001|2001 Census]]</ref>
| metropolitan_borough     = [[Metropolitan Borough of Knowsley|Knowsley]]
| civil_parish             = Cronton
| metropolitan_county      = [[Merseyside]]
| region                   = North West England
| constituency_westminster = [[St Helens South and Whiston (UK Parliament constituency)|St Helens South and Whiston]]
| post_town                = WIDNES
| postcode_district        = WA8
| postcode_area            = WA
| dial_code                = 0151
| os_grid_reference        = SJ495885
| london_distance_mi       = 171
| london_distance          = [[Boxing the compass|SE]]
}}
'''Cronton''' is a village and [[civil parish]] within the [[Metropolitan Borough of Knowsley]], [[Merseyside]], in [[England]]. The village is surrounded by [[Green belt (United Kingdom)|green belt land]]. Over the county border in [[Cheshire]], [[Widnes]] town centre is {{convert|2.3|mi|km|1}} to the south-southeast.
==History==
Historically a part of [[Lancashire]], Cronton is an ancient village and was once a centre for the makers of watch parts and movements.{{Citation needed|date=August 2009}} There is an ancient cross, now no more than a column of stone on ruined steps. This was one of many stopping places on the way to the parish church at [[Farnworth, Cheshire|Farnworth]]. The five-holed stocks next to the war memorial in Coronation Gardens are almost unique to Cronton with few other specimens found anywhere. Many of the 19th Century residents of Cronton were farmers. There was a blacksmith in Cronton Lane (opposite what is now the Black Horse pub). Family names common in Cronton during the 19th Century census returns: Leather, Haughton, Pitt, Coughlin, Critchley, Dwerryhouse, Atherton, Hillyer, Glover and Lister. The Catholic Church, Holy Family, was opened at the start of the 20th century. There is also Holy Family Primary school. Prior to this, many Cronton Catholics were carried to [[St Bartholomew's Church, Rainhill]] for burial.{{Citation needed|date=August 2009}}
In the early twentieth century, Cronton was "a favourite resort for cyclists and picnic parties, both from Liverpool and Widnes, on account of a public recreation ground on Pexhill. This hill, rising to only {{convert|200|ft|m|abbr=on}} above sea level, is covered with heather and gorse, and on the top are the Widnes Corporation reservoirs, formed in 1868".<ref>'Townships: Cronton', A History of the County of Lancaster: Volume 3 (1907), pp. 392–94. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=41353;</ref> Today the [[Liverpool Astronomical Society]] has an Observatory – Leighton Observatory – at Pex Hill. It was formerly known as Pex Hill Observatory and Visitors' Centre.
The village has grown since the 1950s but in recent years has slowed with very little new housing development as it is surrounded by Green Belt. The village has two primary schools and just over the border in Widnes is [[Riverside College, Halton|Riverside College]] (formerly Widnes sixth-form college and then renamed Widnes and Runcorn sixth-form college with the advent of another campus being added in [[Runcorn]]), and locally referred to as "Cronton College" as the site directly borders Cronton.
Two [[pub]]s are located in the village, The Unicorn and The Dandelion Tavern (formerly The Black Horse Hotel). Cronton is the location of Pex Hill JFC which is a fast-growing junior football club that utilises the Holy Family Club as its social club. It is also the home of Cronton Villa F.C who play in the Warrington and District league.
Nearby stood Cronton Colliery which ceased production in March 1984, shortly before the Great [[UK miners' strike (1984–1985)]]. Although Cronton 'pit' was a twentieth century enterprise, the surrounding area had supported a coal mining industry throughout the previous century. It was in the 19th century that a large number of Welsh people moved nearby to work 'down the pit' and they brought their distinctive brand of [[Nonconformist (Protestantism)|Non-Conformist]] Christianity with them. There were once at least 31 non-conformist chapels within just three miles (5&nbsp;km) of Cronton, including three Welsh chapels ([[Congregationalist polity|Congregational]], Methodist and [[Presbyterianism|Presbyterian]]) in Widnes, Welsh [[Calvinistic Methodists]] in [[Huyton]] Quarry, and a Welsh Methodist in Whiston.<ref>GENUKI;</ref> Methodism was especially strong in coal-mining communities and Cronton had its own Wesleyan Methodist chapel in Chapel Lane. This chapel still exists and now forms part of the Liverpool District (Widnes Circuit) of the [[Methodist Church of Great Britain|Methodist Church]].
===Cronton Colliery===
Cronton colliers mined the pit's first coal during the Great War in 1915. Cronton thrived and the pit was one of 65 Lancashire collieries at the time of nationalisation. Mainly because of the exhaustion of economically viable reserves, the number of Lancashire collieries had been reduced to 41 by 1962. Five years later this had fallen to 21. By the time Cronton colliery finally closed in 1984 it had been making heavy financial losses for many years and the remaining coal reserves were both limited and difficult to mine. Local coal miners were offered alternative jobs at one of the seven remaining Lancashire collieries. (The last Lancashire deep-pit to close was [[Parkside Colliery]] in 1993).<ref>{{cite web |title=Parkside Colliery (1957–1993) |url=https://www.nmrs.org.uk/mines-map/coal-mining-in-the-british-isles/lancashire-coalfield/st-helens-coalfield/parkside-colliery-1957-1993/ |website=nmrs.org.uk |accessdate=26 February 2020}}</ref>
The 43 hectare colliery site lay completely derelict for years until it was acquired by English Partnerships, the government's national regeneration agency, as part of the National Coalfield Programme. In 1995 the site was partially restored by removing both the colliery infrastructure and major earthworks, and then reclaiming colliery spoil by mixing it with paper mill crumb (provided by Brigewater newsprint mill in [[Ellesmere Port]]) and sewage cake to create soils for successful woodland planting.
The colliery site's ownership was transferred to the Northwest Regional Development Agency in 1999 but it will pass the Land Reclamation Trust in the autumn of 2007. The site has a future as public access land, probably as a new [[country park]]. To help improve nutrient-poor topsoil conditions, which are currently hindering plant development, compost made from recycled garden waste will be added. The aim is to help improve local biodiversity; establish sustainable, low-maintenance native plant communities; and encourage natural wildlife habitats.
==Governance==
Since 1 April 1974, Cronton has been one of six [[civil parish]]es within the [[Metropolitan Borough of Knowsley]], in the [[metropolitan county]] of [[Merseyside]], and its boundaries fall within the [[Whiston, Merseyside|Whiston]] South [[Ward (country subdivision)|ward]] for election of Borough councillors. From 1894 until the local government reorganisation of 1974, Cronton was part of Whiston Rural District within the [[Administrative counties of England|administrative county]] of [[Lancashire]].<ref>Youngs, F., Local Administrative Units: Northern England (London: Royal Historical Society, 1991), p. 689;</ref> Before this Cronton was a township and civil parish, part of the Ecclesiastical Parish of [[Prescot]] in [[West Derby (hundred)|West Derby Hundred]] within the [[Historic counties of England|historic county boundaries]] of Lancashire. To this day the bordering town of [[Widnes]] recognises the village as part of its '[[empire]]' which includes the village of Farnworth, though no other surrounding area does.
==Transport links==
Cronton village is on the [[A roads in Zone 5 of the Great Britain numbering scheme|A5080]], which links Edge Hill in [[Liverpool]] to Penketh on the outskirts of [[Warrington]]. It lies {{convert|1.1|mi|km}} from Junction 7 on the [[M62 motorway]]. [[Hough Green railway station]], on the Liverpool to Warrington line, is {{convert|1.4|mi|km}} away.
There are also bus links between Liverpool city centre and Warrington.
==See also==
*[[Listed buildings in Cronton]]
==References==
{{Reflist}}
==External links==
{{Commons category|Cronton}}
{{Authority control}}
[[Category:Towns and villages in the Metropolitan Borough of Knowsley]]
[[Category:Civil parishes in Merseyside]]