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. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

in the

Metropolitan Borough of Sefton The Metropolitan Borough of Sefton is a metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England. It was formed on Local Government Act 1972, 1 April 1974, by the amalgamation of the county boroughs of Bootle and Southport, the municipal borough of Crosby, ...

Merseyside Merseyside ( ) is a ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial and metropolitan county in North West England. It borders Lancashire to the north, Greater Manchester to the east, Cheshire to the south, the Wales, Welsh county of Flintshire across ...

, England. Historically in

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

, 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 ...

, northeast of

Liverpool city centre Liverpool city centre is the administrative, commercial, cultural, financial and historical centre of Liverpool and the Liverpool City Region, England. There are different definitions of the city centre for urban planning and local government; ...

. In 2011 the parish had a population of 6689. It is best known as the site of

Aintree Racecourse Aintree Racecourse is a horse racing, racecourse in Aintree, Merseyside, England, near to Liverpool. The racecourse is the venue for the Grand National steeplechase (horse racing), steeplechase, which takes place annually in April over three da ...

, which since the 19th century has staged the

Grand National The Grand National is a National Hunt horse race held annually at Aintree Racecourse in Aintree, Merseyside, England. First run in 1839, it ...

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 terminus of the Aintree district is commonly referred to by the local populace as "Old Roan." This nomenclature is a colloquial moniker employed by residents and lacks formal legal recognition as a distinct geographical location.

History

The name Aintree, thought to be of

Saxon The Saxons, sometimes called the Old Saxons or Continental Saxons, were a Germanic people of early medieval "Old" Saxony () which became a Carolingian " stem duchy" in 804, in what is now northern Germany. Many of their neighbours were, like th ...

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 1779 ( 19 Geo. 3. c. 33).

Today

The village itself has two

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

s, Aintree Davenhill and Holy Rosary and
Music School
five churches, St. Giles (

Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

), Holy Rosary (

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

), Old Roan

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

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 port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

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, between Aintree and Maghull. Although Aintree railway station is convenient for the racecourse, the village itself is closer to Old Roan railway station. Both are on the

Merseyrail Merseyrail is a commuter rail network which serves Merseyside and adjacent areas of Cheshire and Lancashire in the North West England, North West of England. Merseyrail serves 69 Railway station, stations, 67 of which it manages, across two lin ...

Northern Line The Northern line is a London Underground line that runs between North London and South London. It is printed in black on the Tube map. It carries more passengers per year than any other Underground linearound 340million in 2019making it the bu ...

's Ormskirk branch, with regular service between Liverpool Central and

Ormskirk Ormskirk is a market town in the West Lancashire district of Lancashire, England. It is located north of Liverpool, northwest of St Helens, Merseyside, St Helens, southeast of Southport and southwest of Preston, Lancashire, Preston. Ormski ...

. In the past, it was also served by Aintree Central railway station 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. 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 and south—including Maghull, Ormskirk, Aintree Hospital, and

Southport Southport is a seaside resort, seaside town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in Merseyside, England. It lies on the West Lancashire Coastal Plain, West Lancashire coastal plain and the east coast of the Irish Sea, approximately north of ...

—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, a leading Labour Party MP from 2001 to 2017, and currently

Mayor of Greater Manchester The mayor of Greater Manchester is the directly elected metro mayor, mayor of Greater Manchester, responsible for strategic governance in the region that includes health, transport, housing, strategic planning, waste management, policing, the G ...

, 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