History of Aintree: One tree, a Grand National, and Royal Ordnance Factories

Aintree, 1226; Ayntre, 1292 (this is the usual medieval spelling); Eyntre occurs, Ayntree and Ayntrie in 16th Century. (VCH Lancs: III)

Origins of the name: Saxon, One tree, or ‘tree standing alone’.

Image: Liverpool hero - Red Rum, by Charles Roffey, released under a Creative Commons license via Flickr

Historic Features in Aintree

Aintree was a tiny rural village until the beginning of the twentieth century. In 1894 the population was only 300 – too small for even a parish council! The first signs of change appeared as industry arrived, as with the opening of the British Enka Artificial Silk factory, when a handful of new houses were built for the factory workers near the Blue Anchor. Three years later houses appeared at the east end of the village, and then more on the main road to Liverpool.


Recommended reading

Book: There are few books on Aintree history that don’t talk exclusively about racing of one sort or another, but given Alexander Tulloch’s other books on Liverpool, this should be a good read.

Amazon UK Hive

Website: https://aintreevillageparishcouncil.gov.uk/the-parish/parish-history/


Aintree as a village

Use the slider in the top left to change the transparency of the old map.

Tiny Beginnings, Industrial Expansion

Aintree on the Ordnance Survey Road Map of Liverpool, Manchester and Chester map of 1927
Aintree on the Ordnance Survey Road Map of Liverpool, Manchester and Chester map of 1927

Aintree’s great advantages for industry are its landscape and location. Factories could expand across the flat open land, attracting more and more workers. Housing could be built in huge chunks so workers could live close by. Products from the factories moved quickly to Liverpool and its docks. Even the military realised the possibilities, and sited one of the Royal Ordnance Factories here in the 1930s.

So from the late 19th century until to the Second World War, Aintree expanded at a phenomenal rate. In the later twentieth century, more ‘clean air’ industries joined the growth. Food processing, electrical engineering and printing were all close by, along with similar sites growing in Speke. By 1952, 24 factories employed 12,800 people, as part of a post-war move to re-allocate Britain’s industrial resources.

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Horses and Cars at Aintree Racecourse

Aintree on the Ordnance Survey map of 1952
Aintree on the Ordnance Survey map of 1952

The more recent history of Aintree is inseparable from the racecourse and the Grand National. Horse racing was a popular sport in Liverpool from at least Tudor times. In the 18th century Nicholas Blundell organised races on the sands at Crosby and the Derby was run here in 1780. William Lynn, landlord of the Waterloo Hotel in Aintree, created a racetrack close to his own pub in 1829. In 1836 he opened a new grand stand, and then organised a four mile steeplechase, won that year by Captain Beecher on ‘Duke’. Some researchers prefer to think of this race as the first true Grand National.

By 1839 the aristocracy took an interest, and Lords Derby, Eglington, Wilton and Sefton and Lord George Bentinck backed a national racing event. Fifty thousand people crowded into the event, and so the race was dubbed the ‘Grand National’ by a journalist. The label came into common use, and in 1847 became official.

But it’s not only horses which have raced around Aintree. The British Grand Prix came to Liverpool five times between 1955 and 1962, and in 1953 Stirling Moss became the first Briton to win it. Car racing finally came to an end at Aintree in the early 1980s.

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From an acorn ain mighty oak

Reproduced with the permission of the National Library of Scotland

Domesday Book makes no mention of Aintree. It was a small part of West Derby, and came under that place’s entry.

The flat and featureless place may have gained it the name ‘One Tree [and little else!]’. But once people drained the boggy land and industries moved in, the landscape worked in its favour. The proximity of Liverpool was the perfect way to transport goods to market, and companies flocked to take advantage of the open space and growing workforce.

Aintree is known to racing fans and the wider public for its steeplechase. But for almost as long the village has been the centre of an industrial tradition which carries on today.

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Bibliography

9 Comments on “History of Aintree: One tree, a Grand National, and Royal Ordnance Factories”

  • Peter Gill

    says:

    Hi, Can you please alter the link that you have for Aintree Village Parish Council website? The link you have was closed a number of years ago, could you please replace it with the link above?

    Many thanks,

    Peter

    Cllr Peter Gill
    Chairman Aintree Village Parish Council

    Reply

    • Hi Peter,

      Thanks for pointing out the dead link! I’ve replaced it with the link you’ve supplied, so hopefully readers will be able to more easily find their way to your history pages.

      Regards,
      Martin

      Reply

    • Could you please tell me the name of the old factory opposite the lba football pitches on long lane. Think it was as an old ordinance factory

      Reply

  • Could you please tell me the name of the old factory opposite the lba football pitches on long lane. Think it was as an old ordinance factory

    Reply

  • Peter Heney

    says:

    Was there an old spring that ran through aintree village?

    Reply

    • Hi Peter,

      Looking at the old maps, I can’t see any water course through the village itself. There’s only the Leeds-Liverpool Canal to the south and the stream to the north which still runs under Bull Bridge Lane / Spencers Lane.

      Best wishes,
      Martin

      Reply

  • Peter Gill

    says:

    Hi Martin,
    The stream you are talking about is the River Alt and that marks the north boundary of the Civil Parish of Aintree Village. It rises in Huyton and runs up to Formby and then down to Hightown and out into Liverpool Bay.
    This is the new address for the parish council.
    https://aintreevillageparishcouncil.gov.uk/

    Reply

    • Thanks Peter,

      I’ve updated the screenshot with the new site. Looks great!

      Cheers,
      Martin

      Reply

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