England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Hale St Mary

The Parish

The chapelry of Hale, which lies within the mother parish of Childwall, lies in southwestern Lancashire, indeed it is the most southerly point of the county, and forms a stretch of the border, here formed by the River Mersey, with neighbouring Cheshire. Hale is located roughly 3 miles west of the Cheshire industrial town of Runcorn and sits a little over 2 miles south of the A561 road which links Runcorn with Liverpool. Hale is a fairly large village built largely around a triangular junction of lane, two lead in from north and northeast whilst one leads down to the Mersey and the lighthouse of Hale Head. Most properties lie along these lanes or between the two more northerly. Sitting on relatively low and marshy ground the parishes main income would have come from pastoral farming, a local trade which is found in employment descriptions of the grooms is salt digging, pans created by the brackish Mersey being left to evaporate, a trade quickly eliminated once the fossil salt beds of nearby Cheshire became exploited. Modern developments abound hereabouts, the Liverpool to London railway line cuts across the chapelry's northern reaches, whilst immediately west is Liverpool John Lennon Airport bringing noise to an otherwise quiet and rural village. Sitting on the banks of the River Mersey there are numerous dykes and man0made watercourses draining into the nearby estuary which flows into the Irish Sea between the twin ports of Liverpool & Birkenhead. Hale is sited at just 10 metres above sea level but land rises gently away from the river reaching 30 metres or so by the time it reaches the railway. Hale chapelry is comparable in size to a lowland English rural parish at around 1,600 acres carved from the acreage of Childwall, within that acreage there would have been around 650 parishioners. Hale is not specifically mentioned in Domesday Book.

The Church

St Mary's church sits on the eastern side of the lane leading to Hale Head, Church Road. Sadly little remains of the medieval fabric of St Mary, a fire in 1977 left only the walls standing, completely destroying all inside. Strangely that fire also revealed a more complex history of the church on this site, a trace of the original timber framed church of the 11th century emerging as a ghost from the wreckage. The remaining piece of medieval is the Perpendicular styled 14th century western tower complete with battlemented top. The original medieval nave & chancel had been replaced at the beginning of this transcript period in 1758, further restored in both 1874 & 1903 but all this was in turn following the modern rebuild after the fire. Great work has been done internally to present a "calmer & grander" space than before as Pevsner describes it. Church Road is broad enough for street parking outside the churchyard where a small lychgate grants entry. The churchyard has ample space and is free of significant obstacles for the photographer.