If you haven't delved too deep into Adlington's past, you might wonder why I've brought up Standish on a blog about Adlington. However, until 1842 when Adlington became a separate parish, Adlington, along with Anderton, Heath Charnock, Duxbury and Worthington, were all a part of the parish of Standish.
This effectively meant that Standish parish was the Chorley Council of its day! Before workhouses were established to house the poor, each parish was a self-governing body responsible for caring for its own poor. This was funded by collecting rates which were levied on property owners and tenants.
As Adlington didn't have a church, it would also mean walking to Standish for services, a journey which would have taken over an hour on foot, even walking across fields. Furthermore weddings, baptisms and funerals would have taken place here.
Standish also had a memorable rector as far as Adlington was concerned, Reverend Richard Perryn, who was here from 1779 to 1826, and it was he who was responsible for setting up Adlington's first school, now 'The Old School House' on Adlington Common.
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| The Old School House on Adlington Common, Copywright Raymond Knapman from Georgraph.org.uk, licensed for reuse under Creative Commons License |