Kendrick’s Cross Station, Rainhill.
From Rainhill station the line passes through a short cutting, and then descends the Whiston inclined plane. Prescot Church is on the N. side, with Ellsby Hills and Halton Castle on the S.
The town of Prescot, one mile N. of the line, lies principally on a substratum of coal, several mines of which are excavated to its very edge. The district has long been noted for the superior construction of watch tools and motion-work. The drawing of pinion-wire originated here; and small files, considered to be of great excellence, are made and exported in large quantities. Coarse earthenware, especially sugar moulds, are here made from the clay of the neighbourhood, which is particularly adapted to the purpose. The plate-glass works at Ravenhead are very extensive and celebrated. The concave and convex mirrors, and large plate-glass, being equal, if not superior to any produced on the Continent. The Church is ancient; the spire, which was rebuilt in 1789, is 156 feet high, and is a fine object from the railroad. In the Church are several monuments, one by Sir Francis Chantrey, R.A., is of great beauty. John Philip Kemble, the tragedian, was born at Prescot, in 1757. The view of the Cheshire hills in the southward distance, is rich and extensive.
Knowsley Park, seat of the Earl of Derby, appears on the N. The mansion has evidently been erected at different periods; its most ancient part is of stone, and is said to have been raised by the first Earl of Derby, for the reception of his son-in-law, King Henry VII., in whose honours the Earl had been mainly instrumental. Great enlargement and decoration of the mansion took place on occasion of this royal visit: a handsome stone bridge was thrown across the Mersey at Warrington, and an embankment or causeway thrown up across the marshes to the rising ground on the Cheshire side. Many valuable and interesting pictures adorn the mansion, which is surrounded by a beautiful park.
Several coal, lime, and marble works are passed on either side; and while traversing the Huyton embankment, Preston church, the Hazels, seat of Joseph Birch, Esq., and the church and village of Huyton are observed on the N. On the S. appears Childwall park, hall, and church; beyond, is Woolton hall, seat of N. Ashton, Esq.; the whole scene finely wooded.