Chorley's Inns and Taverns: Leyland - Railway Hotel (Midge Hall)

Name: The Railway Hotel

Address: 15, Midge Hall Lane, Leyland

The Railway Hotel at Midge Hall was opened shorty after the new railway station was built there in the mid-1800s a clear opportunity presenting itself to make a good living from the passing trade.

Midge Hall Railway Station courtesy of Leyland Historical Society

1909 Map of Midge Hall Area

Listed landlords were John Bennett (1870-73), Henry Bimson (1881-1900), John Bennett Jnr. (1901), Thomas Duckworth (1911-17) and Mr Bannister (1920).

The 1861 census record below shows the residents of Midge Hall and there is no trace of the hotel or even a beer house at that time.

1861 Census

Marriage: 24 Sep 1868 St Andrew, Leyland, Lancs.

James Bennett - full age, Inn Keeper, Widower, Leyland

Martha Dodgson - full age, Spinster, Leyland

Groom's Father: John Bennett, Farmer

Bride's Father: Thomas Dodgson, Blacksmith

Witness: John Bennett; Betty Thornley

Married by Licence by: Kinton Jacques Curate

Register: Marriages 1856 - 1875, Page 175, Entry 349

Source: Original register held at Lancashire Archives

James Bennett was the landlord at the Ship Inn on Towngate in the 1860s and witness at his wedding was his younger brother John who was the landlord at the Railway Hotel. They were brought up in Leyland on the farm of their parents John and Susanna Bennett.

CHORLEY LICENSING SESSIONS.

Thomas Smith, the Queen’s Hotel, Leyland, applied through Mr. Beddows was granted —John Bennett, of the Railway Hotel, Midge Hall, Leyland, supported by Mr. Belston also applied for spirit license.

10 September 1870 - Wigan Observer and District Advertiser