Sefton is a village and
civil parish 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, ...
in
Merseyside,
England. Located to the south west of
Maghull
Maghull ( ) is a town and civil parish in Sefton, Merseyside (historically a part of Lancashire). The town is north of Liverpool and west of Kirkby. The area also contains Ashworth Hospital.
Maghull had a population of 20,444 at the 2011 Census ...
and to the north east of
Great Crosby, it is on the
flood plain
A floodplain or flood plain or bottomlands is an area of land adjacent to a river which stretches from the banks of its channel to the base of the enclosing valley walls, and which experiences flooding during periods of high discharge.Goudi ...
of the
River Alt. The village is bisected by the
B5422, Brickwall Lane, which cuts also through the site of the moat of Sefton Old Hall, a recognised National Monument. At the
2001 Census the population was recorded as 772,
increasing to 855 at the 2011 Census.
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 ...
a part of
Lancashire, the name Sefton is thought to be derived from the
Old Norse ''sef'', meaning "sedge" or "rushes" and ''tún'' meaning "farmstead". In the past ''Sephton'' was an alternative spelling.
The Parish
Church of St Helen (Church of England) - the only Grade I listed building in the Borough - was first built around 1170 as the private chapel of the
Molyneux family.
This village is home to Sefton Parish Church, Saint Helen's Well, a pre-Reformation shrine, a plague pot, the Grade II listed 'Punch Bowl Inn' and the site of Sefton Mill dating back to the Middle Ages. Local folklore has it that Sefton Hall, a loyalist stronghold, was the scene of a skirmish in the English Civil War. The Georgian Rectory to nearby Sefton Parish Church was demolished in the 1970s, however the gate piers still stand at the entrance to Glebe End. The curate's house, Lunt House, was situated in the nearby hamlet of
Lunt.
Governance
From 1997 until 2010 the village and
civil parish of Sefton was part of the
Knowsley North and Sefton East
Knowsley North and Sefton East was a county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elected one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election.
History
A primar ...
constituency represented by
George Howarth, a
Labour Party MP. As a result of boundary revisions for the
2010 general election the village now forms part of the new
Sefton Central constituency which is represented by the
Labour MP Bill Esterson.
For elections to
Sefton Council the village and
civil parish of Sefton is within the Park electoral ward and is represented by three
councillors.
In Art and Literature
In Fisher's Drawing Room Scrap Book, 1834, an engraving of a picture by
Thomas Allom of the interior of the church, with a bridal couple, is accompanied by a short sketch by
Letitia Elizabeth Landon in which the arrival of the groom is patiently awaited until it is learnt that he has taken fright and absconded, whereupon a young lieutenant bravely steps in and takes his place.
[ ]
See also
*
Earl of Sefton
*
Listed buildings in Sefton, Merseyside
Sefton is a civil parish and a village in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton, Merseyside, England. It contains 19 buildings that are recorded in the National Heritage List for England as designated listed buildings. Of these, one is list ...
References
External links
British History Online - Sefton
{{Authority control
Towns and villages in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton
Civil parishes in Merseyside