Aintree is a village and

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authorit ...

in the

Metropolitan Borough of Sefton The Metropolitan Borough of Sefton is a metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England. It was formed on 1 April 1974, by the amalgamation of the county boroughs of Bootle and Southport, the municipal borough of Crosby, the urban districts of ...

Merseyside Merseyside ( ) is a metropolitan and ceremonial county in North West England, with a population of 1.38 million. It encompasses both banks of the Mersey Estuary and comprises five metropolitan boroughs: Knowsley, St Helens, Sefton, Wir ...

, England.

Historically History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancas ...

, it lies between Walton and Maghull on the

A59 road The A59 is a major road in England which is around long and runs from Wallasey, Merseyside to York, North Yorkshire. The alignment formed part of the Trunk Roads Act 1936, being then designated as the A59. It is a key route connecting Merseysi ...

, north-east of Liverpool city centre, in

North West England North West England is one of nine official regions of England and consists of the ceremonial counties of England, administrative counties of Cheshire, Cumbria, Greater Manchester, Lancashire and Merseyside. The North West had a population of ...

. It is best known as the site of

Aintree Racecourse Aintree Racecourse is a racecourse in Aintree, Metropolitan Borough of Sefton, Merseyside, England, bordering the city of Liverpool. The racecourse is the venue for the Grand National steeplechase, which takes place annually in April over ...

, which since the 19th century has staged the Grand National horserace. In the 1950s and 1960s, there was also a three-mile-long international Grand Prix motor racing circuit on the site, which used the same grandstands as the horserace. A shorter form of the racing circuit is still used for various motorsport events. The northern end of Aintree is known as Old Roan.

History

The name Aintree, thought to be of

Saxon The Saxons ( la, Saxones, german: Sachsen, ang, Seaxan, osx, Sahson, nds, Sassen, nl, Saksen) were a group of Germanic * * * * peoples whose name was given in the early Middle Ages to a large country (Old Saxony, la, Saxonia) near the Nor ...

origin, means "one tree" or "tree standing alone." It is first recorded in 1226, also as Ayntre (the usual mediaeval spelling) in 1292. Eyntre occurs; Ayntree and Ayntrie, 16th century.William Farrer & J. Brownbill (editors), ''A History of the County of Lancaster (Volume 3)''. Institute of Historical Research, 1907. pp99-101. Local legend held that an oak tree on Bull Bridge Lane (removed in 2004) was "the Ain tree" though the antiquity of the name excludes the possibility. The historic core of the village was a small linear settlement near the junction of School Lane, Bull Bridge Lane and Wango Lane. Much of the nearby flat, wet and boggy land was reclaimed for agriculture following the Alt Drainage Act of 1779.

Today

The village itself has two

primary school A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary e ...

s, Aintree Davenhill and Holy Rosary and
Music School
five churches,

St. Giles Saint Giles (, la, Aegidius, french: Gilles), also known as Giles the Hermit, was a hermit or monk active in the lower Rhône most likely in the 6th century. Revered as a saint, his cult became widely diffused but his hagiography is mostly leg ...

(

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of t ...

), Holy Rosary (

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: * Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

), Old Roan

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's ...

Church, Old Roan Baptist Church (which met in Davenhill Primary School until recently and now meets at the former site of Holy Rosary Infants School) and Aintree Village Family Church (a Baptist church, meeting at Old Roan Methodist Church Hall, Altway); two small local shopping areas (on Altway and at the Old Roan); and three public houses, the Blue Anchor (which backs onto the

Leeds and Liverpool Canal The Leeds and Liverpool Canal is a canal in Northern England, linking the cities of Leeds and Liverpool. Over a distance of , crossing the Pennines, and including 91 locks on the main line. The Leeds and Liverpool Canal has several small branc ...

), The Valentine, named after a fence on the racecourse, and the Old Roan (now closed), which gives its name to a railway station in the village. The village also had a public library (now closed). A retail park along Ormskirk Road on former industrial land has brought a significant number of major out-of-town shops to the area. Aintree Davenhill Primary School has a large field with a metal building that was built in the 1950s (since been rebuilt). The building was going to be a hospital building, but was turned into a school. The classrooms were along corridors that were originally going to be hospital wards. Holy Rosary Primary School was a split-site school until 2008 with an approximate between the schools. The reception and infant classes were based at a site at the Old Roan end of the village between Altway and Aintree Lane, and the junior classes based at the Valentine end of the village in the Oriel Drive site. After substantial building work to extend the Oriel Drive school, the Aintree Lane/Altway site was closed as a school at the beginning of the 2008–09 academic year, was taken over by Old Roan Baptist Church and is now called the Hope Centre, providing various services for the local community. The school has a large field used for events such as their sports day and an all-weather sports pitch. The original building was built in the 1970s and 1980s.

Transport

The main road from

Liverpool Liverpool is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the List of English districts by population, 10th largest English district by population and its E ...

to Aintree is the A59 (known as Ormskirk Road as it passes through Aintree) - with the road passing through Aintree's retail parks. The M57, M58, A59, and A5036 meet at a complex junction called

Switch Island Switch Island is a major road junction near Aintree in Merseyside, England, in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton. The junction is at the western terminus of both the M57 and M58 motorways, which converge on the A59 trunk road, the north- ...

, between Aintree and Maghull. Although

Aintree railway station Aintree railway station is a railway station that serves the village of Aintree, Merseyside, England. It is on the Ormskirk branch of the Merseyrail network's Northern Line. Until 1968 it was known as Aintree Sefton Arms after a nearby p ...

is convenient for the racecourse, the village itself is closer to

Old Roan railway station Old Roan railway station is a railway station in Aintree village, Merseyside, England, about seven miles north-east of Liverpool, on the Ormskirk Branch of the Northern Line of the Merseyrail network. Location The station is located on Ormskir ...

. Both are on the

Merseyrail Merseyrail is a commuter rail network serving the Liverpool City Region and adjacent areas of Cheshire and Lancashire. Merseyrail operates 66 railway stations across two lines – the Northern Line and Wirral Line, which are dedicated el ...

Northern Line The Northern line is a London Underground line that runs from North London to South London. It is printed in black on the Tube map. The Northern line is unique on the Underground network in having two different routes through central London, t ...

's Ormskirk branch, with regular service between

Liverpool Central Liverpool Central railway station in Liverpool, England, forms a central hub of the Merseyrail network, being on both the Northern Line and the Wirral Line. The station is located underground on two levels, below the site of a former mainl ...

and

Ormskirk Ormskirk is a market town in the West Lancashire district of Lancashire, England, north of Liverpool, northwest of St Helens, southeast of Southport and southwest of Preston. Ormskirk is known for its gingerbread. Geography and administ ...

. In the past, it was also served by

Aintree Central railway station Aintree Central railway station was a station located on the North Liverpool Extension Line on Park Lane, Aintree, Merseyside, across Park Lane from the current Aintree station. History The station opened on 13 July 1880 as Aintree Racecour ...

on the North Liverpool Extension Line, located behind Aintree railway station. The North Mersey Branch also ran through, close to the station, and had

Aintree Racecourse railway station Aintree Racecourse railway station was a station located on the North Mersey Branch, in Liverpool, England. It originally opened as Aintree Cinder Lane around 1890 as the only station on the line at the time, only opening for race days at Ai ...

. Bus services are regular: a bus every 20 minutes to

runs through the village, while various other routes to Liverpool and destinations to the north—including Maghull, Ormskirk, and Southport—stop near the Old Roan. The

runs through the village.

Notable residents

* Ted Sagar, the former Everton goalkeeper, ran a pub in Aintree after retiring as a player in 1952. * Phil Thompson, former Liverpool captain and now Sky Sports pundit, lived on Bull Bridge Lane. *

Andy Burnham Andrew Murray Burnham (born 7 January 1970) is a British politician who has served as Mayor of Greater Manchester since 2017. He served in Gordon Brown's Cabinet as Chief Secretary to the Treasury from 2007 to 2008, Culture Secretary from 200 ...

, a leading Labour Party MP from 2001 to 2017, and currently Mayor of Greater Manchester, was born in Old Roan in Aintree in 1970, * Richard Crawshaw, Baron Crawshaw of Aintree OBE, known as Dick Crawshaw, lived for most of his life on Aintree Lane. * Ronald Sugden (1896-1971), first-class cricketer and Royal Air Force officer

References

External links