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Croston - De Trafford Arms

Name: The De Trafford Arms

Address: Station Road (formerly Cannaleach), Croston

The De Trafford Arms © Copyright Alexander P Kapp and
licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.

The De Trafford Arms was built in the 1860's and bore the name of the De Trafford family who lived in Croston Hall.  


Croston Hall was a country mansion house, built in a gothic style architecture, situated in the village of Croston, Lancashire, England. The original Croston Hall was constructed in the 17th century, for the Ashworth family. The old hall was taken down and a new hall was erected in the 19th century and was occupied by Henry Tempest, a magistrate, following his marriage to Jemima, the daughter of Joseph Thomas Trafford, whose family owned the hall for the rest of its existence. The last Croston Hall was built by the De Trafford Family in the 19th century to the east of the village of Croston. Thomas de Trafford, who was born at Croston Hall, became 1st Baronet.
The last of the De Trafford family to live at the hall was a man (known locally as "the Squire"), who died in 1960, followed by the death of his sister in 1964. Neither had an heir, so when he died, the small chapel in the grounds along with 2 acres (8,100 m2) of land around it was left for the use of the Catholic people of Croston, and the rest of the land was left to the Archdiocese of Liverpool. Croston Hall was pulled down in the mid 1960s but the stables and the walled garden buildings were left, as was the lodge and the bridge.
(Courtesy of Wikipedia)

Listed landlords at the pub were James Gardner (1867), William Hunt (1871), William T Turner (1881), Richard Birchall (1891), William Bromiley (1901), Dorothy Bromiley (1911) and Jane Fisher (1917-).

Preston Chronicle 07 May 1864

1871 Census

Preston Chronicle 09 June 1866

Shields Daily Gazette 01 September 1880

1881 Census

Preston Chronicle 13 April 1867

1891 Census

Preston Chronicle 08 June 1867

1901 Census

1911 Census

Lancashire Evening Post 11 April 1917
1921 Census


Chorley Guardian Tuesday 24 September 2013
A development company faces the wrath of residents over its choice of name for a village street.
Croston villagers are furious with Wainhomes’ development after they chose to name a new street St Aidan’s Place, which is based on the old de Trafford Arms site on Station Road. But residents wanted the street name to be named after the de Trafford family, because of their links to Croston. The de Traffords built the pub in the village, and can be traced back in Croston to 1526. In the borough council’s guide to street naming, it states parish councils will be given 21 days to raise issues with naming rights.
But on this occasion, the parish council says it never received any notification from the borough council about the proposed St Aidan’s Place name – as it is thought that was sent to a defunct email address.
Parish councillor Kath Almond said: “People in Croston couldn’t believe their eyes when a board advertising the Wainhomes development went up in the village. Everyone had expected the new street name to be called after the de Trafford family, which was the name suggested to Chorley Council by the parish council.
“The new name bears no relation to the community. St Aidan was an Irish monk who preached Christianity in Northumbria. There is no record of him ever visiting Lancashire. We think that we have a right to ask Chorley Council to go through the whole process again legally, even if it means having to pay compensation to the developers for any costs incurred to date. This is where the de Trafford Arms was, and this is where the name should stay.”
Coun Peter Wilson, deputy leader of Chorley Council, said: “The developer suggested the name St Aidan’s Place, which is not only in accordance with the guidelines published on our website, but also has the historical link with Croston in that St Aidan founded the village. We consulted the parish council and when no response was received, we contacted them again to ask for their opinion.They made their comments known then, but it was decided St Aidan’s Place was a relevant name. We have a delicate balance of trying to ensure new street names have some relevance to the area, as well as satisfying the needs of the developer to market and sell properties. However, I can understand that the name de Trafford is important to the village. So we’ve suggested to the parish council that a future housing development in the village could perhaps incorporate the de Trafford name. Steve Toghill, managing director of Wainhomes, said: “We have gone to Chorley Council with a name suggestion and they have done the relevant consultation, and come back to us accepting it. There are operational issues to think about now – we have put signs up, registered the site with that name, and all the marketing material has that name, which all costs money. I would have looked at the name the parish council wanted, because I do understand why they want it, but sadly it’s too late now.”


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