Far Banks

Banks is a large coastal village in Lancashire, England, south of the Ribble estuary four miles (6 km) north-east of Southport. The village is administered by West Lancashire Borough and North Meols Parish Council. It is in the South Ribble parliamentary constituency. At the 2001 census the population of the North Meols civil parish was 3,792, rising to 4,146 by the 2011 census.

Banks is the largest village in the parish of North Meols on the West Lancashire coastal plain. It was primarily an agricultural community due to the excellent soil, although there was fishing activity for many years. Production of flowers and vegetables is common on the farms surrounding the village. The proximity of Southport and Preston have led to its expansion as a dormitory for commuters.

History

Etymology

Banks is believed to have been named for the many artificial embankments built in the north of the village to protect it from winter floods from the River Ribble and the tide. The old embankments can be seen when entering Banks at Marsh Road and at the end of George's Lane. However, these embankments became redundant when the River Ribble retreated in the 1900s and larger ones are in place further north creating more farmland. Local people refer to the village as ''Bonks'' ; retained from the Middle English pronunciation.

Early history

The earliest recorded history commences with a deed concerning Far Banks, made in the reign of Henry II in 1154. It relates to a Guide House for travellers who forded the River Ribble from the Fylde to North Meols. At this time the area was on the most northern fringe of the ancient division of West Derby and the local area was called ''meles'', meaning sand dunes.

The area was isolated to the north and west by the Ribble estuary, to the south by a chain of barren sand hills, to the east by a lake called Martin Mere – which at the time was the largest lake in England covering .

The biggest coastal disaster in the area was in 1719 when 5,000 acres of the Ribble estuary, from Crossens to Hesketh Bank and Tarleton were flooded, when the sea banks broke. A total of 47 houses were carried away by the tidal flood. Nine people drowned and cattle, sheep and crops were lost.

North Meols

Dating from before the Norman conquest, this area of small farming and fishing villages was originally known as ''Otegrimeles'', from the Norse word , meaning sand dunes. Historically, North Meols centred on St. Cuthbert's Church in Churchtown, although there were vicarages in Crossens, Banks and Birkdale. Parts of the parish were almost completely surrounded by water until the drainage of Martin Mere and other marshland was completed. This was done by the irrigation and sluice ditches constructed by Thomas Fleetwood of Bank Hall in 1692 with further attempts in 1780. The drainage was completed in the 19th century with the construction of Crossens pumping station. This left a legacy of fine agricultural soil, which continues to be exploited – the primary industry in the area is farming, especially of flowers and vegetables.

Banks railway station

Banks had a station on the West Lancashire Railway which opened on 19 February 1878, on the line between Southport and Preston railway station to carry passengers and produce to be sold at town markets. The station had a depot and goods yard for coal merchants. The line crossed Hoole Lane, Long Lane and Square House Lane where there were manned level crossings.
Low passenger numbers led to the railway's decline and its closure was assured by the Beeching Axe on 7 September 1964.
The stone bridge supports that carried the track across the sluice ditches in Banks can still be seen and the station platform still exists. The route is used as a public footpath.

Greaves Hall

Thomas Talbot Leyland Scarisbrick was born in 1874. He grew up in Southport and was educated in Lancashire. In 1900 he built Greaves Hall on a site. It had a porter's lodge by the main entrance, a gardener's lodge, engineer's workshop, laundry and general workshop, all built close to the hall in a mock Tudor style. The mansion was surrounded by lawns and gardens filled with ornamental trees and flowering shrubs. The hall had approximately 55 rooms, open areas situated on the ground, first, second and attic floors and a vast basement.

The Scarisbrick family lived at Greaves Hall until after the First World War when they moved to Scarisbrick Hall and sold the estate to a consortium of Banks farmers. The mansion stood empty while the land was cultivated by the consortium.
The mansion and grounds were occupied by Sherbrook School for Girls. The school was closed when the Health Authority took over the hall as a TB hospital and subsequently for patients with mental health and learning disabilities from Liverpool during and after the Second World War. Greaves Hall Hospital had wards built in the grounds and the mansion house was used for administration. In the early 1990s the facility was moved to Southport.

Given Grade II listed status in 1997, Greaves Hall suffered many fires and vandalism. Its owners claimed it was beyond repair and two planning applications to demolish it were refused. On 4 August 2009 a small section of the roof collapsed, within days it was cleared and full demolition commenced on 13 August. The site of the Greaves Hall mansion house and former hospital maintenance area has been redeveloped for housing.

Water tower

The water tower off Aveling Drive dominated the skyline from the 1960s. It could be seen from miles around and from Winter Hill, east from the village. The tower was built for Greaves Hall Hospital and was decommissioned in 1992 when the hospital closed. After a failed preservation attempt, it was demolished in 2018 under protest by local residents.

Geography

At , Banks is situated in North West England. The closest cities are Preston approximately to the north east and Liverpool approximately to the south west. The nearest town is Southport, south west of the village.

Situated on the West Lancashire Coastal Plain, most of the village is only slightly above sea-level and parts can be susceptible to flooding. There are embankments to the north of the village and there are drainage systems across the area, most notably the pumping station on Banks Road, Crossens.

The drainage of Martin Mere in the mid-19th century created a legacy of fine agricultural soil which is exploited to this day - the primary industry in the area is farming, especially of flowers and vegetables.

The area has a maritime climate like most of the UK. The area rarely sees substantial snowfall and temperatures rarely fall below –5 °C so it does not have frequent frosts. Banks generally has moderate precipitation, unlike the rest of western UK.

Areas

Banks Village is the central part of Banks and where most of the shops, both the religious sites and the primary schools are situated. It is also where Greaves Hall was situated.
Far Banks is the east side of the village from Smithy Corner to the border with Hundred End and Tarleton. Banks Enclosed Marsh is former marshland in the north which has been reclaimed for agriculture. This area is sparsely populated, consisting mostly of farmhouses. Banks Marsh is the far north of the village and is part of the Ribble estuary. There are no houses in this area as it prone to flooding.

There are three other areas in the civil parish of North Meols: Hundred End is a hamlet on Marsh Road between Banks and Hesketh Bank, Churchtown/Crossens Moss is south west of the village and mostly used for agriculture. The villages of Churchtown and Crossens are part of Southport.

Banks Marsh

Banks Marsh forms the largest area of marshland within the Ribble Estuary National Nature Reserve. It is one of the most important sites in the United Kingdom for wintering wildfowl. The reserve, established in 1979, occupies over half of the total area of the Ribble Estuary, including extensive areas of mud and sand flats and almost all of the salt marsh habitat - one of the largest such areas in England. Its 4,697 hectares (11,613 acres) contain large areas of intertidal mud and sand flats.

The reserve has been declared a Ramsar site