Crossens: Difference between revisions

|country = England

|coordinates = {{coord|53.6697|-2.9487|display=inline,title}}

|metropolitan_borough = [[Metropolitan Borough of Sefton|Sefton]]

|metropolitan_county = [[Merseyside]]

|region = North West England

|post_town = SOUTHPORT

|postcode_area = PR

|postcode_district = PR9

|dial_code = 01704

|os_grid_reference = SD369198

|static_image_name = StJohnsChurchCrossens.jpg

|static_image_caption = St John's ChutchChurch

|pushpin_map = United Kingdom Southport

|pushpin_map_caption = Location in Southport

Formerly ''Crossenes'' or ''Crosnes'', meaning a “ness” or headland with a cross. The cross was possibly a guide for shipping or people crossing the [[Ribble and Alt Estuaries|Ribble Estuary]] from [[Freckleton]] (near Lytham). A hospice or lodging house was sited in Crossens where travellers could rest after making the crossing. It is also believed to be the point at which 2,000 horsemen from a retreating Royalist force crossed the Ribble estuary following the [[Battle of Marston Moor]]. They later joined the [[Siege of Lathom House]].

Sited as it was on the shore of Martin Mere and at the seaward end of Crossens Sluice, Crossens formed the basis of a substantial fishing industry supporting the surrounding area and the nearby village of [[Banks, Lancashire|Banks]]. After Martin Mere was largely reclaimed for farmland, the focus of the town increasingly turned to agriculture, and to this day the high-quality soil supports several flower and vegetable farms in the east of the district. Farming of some scale or other has been a feature of this area since medieval times. However, the [[Industrial Revolution]] led to Crossens' incorporation into Southport as a site for housing for the larger town's burgeoning worker population. The first half of the 20th century saw the area becoming home to some light industry (including the [[Vulcan (cars)|Vulcan motor works]]), but apart from some small industrial units the area is now primarily a commuter suburb for Southport, [[Preston, Lancashire|Preston]] and [[Ormskirk]].<ref name=BAHRS/>

''The Criffel granite boulder''Stone is a large boulder that lies at the side of Banks Road, Crossens. It is made of Criffel [[granite]]; a type of rock that is only normally found in [[Dumfries]], [[Scotland]]. It was found in the ground when the pumping station on Banks Road was being built in 1959.

[[Geologists]] found that the rock was deposited in the area during the last [[ice age]] (18,000 years ago) by ice. Rocks like this that have been transported in this way are called [[glacial erratics|erratics]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://lancashirepast.com/2018/10/07/criffel-stone-crossens-near-southport/ |title=Criffel Stone, Crossens near Southport|publisher=Lancashire Past|access-date=22 March 2021}}</ref>

Crossens lay on the route of the [[West Lancashire Railway]] from Southport to Preston; [[Crossens railway station]], opened in 1878, was the last station within the Southport boundary. In April 1904 it became the final electrified station on the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway's suburban lines radiating from Liverpool. The electric trains shared the line from Southport with steam trains continuing to Preston. The line and station closed on 67 September 1964.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.disused-stations.org.uk/c/crossens/index.shtml|title=Station name: Crossens|publisher=Disused Stations|access-date=22 March 2021}}</ref>

Being the northernmost districtpart of Southport, Crossens is the terminus of several bus routes - [[Arriva North West]] services 44, 47 and 49 terminate at the Plough Hotel roundabout, still known as such even though the Plough Hotel was demolished c.2015. Other bus services passing through Crossens include [[Stagecoach North West]] services 2 and X2, and [[Cumfybus]] service 40, which terminates on Harrogate Way.