Cronton
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Cronton is a small village on the border of Merseyside and Cheshire in England. Widnes town centre is about 1.5 miles away. The village has grown since the 1950s but in recent years has slowed with very little new housing development as it is surrounded by Green Belt. The village has two primary schools and just over the border in Widnes is Riverside College (formerly Widnes and Runcorn sixth-form college)[1]. Two pubs are located in the village, The Unicorn and The Black Horse. Cronton is the location of Pex Hill JFC which is a fast growing junior football club that utilises the Holy Family Club as its social club. Nearby stood Cronton Colliery which ceased production in March 1984, shortly before the Great Miners Strike 1984 - 85. In the 19th century a number of Welsh people moved nearby to work 'down the pit' and they brought their distinctive brand of non-conformist Christianity with them.
Cronton is an ancient village and was once a centre for the makers of watch parts and movements. The Catholic Church, Holy Family, was opened at the start of the 20th Century. Prior to this, many lifelong Cronton Catholics were carried to St Bartholomew's in Rainhill for burial. The area surrounding Liverpool has had a significant Catholic population for many years. Many of the 19th Century residents of Cronton were farmers. There was a blacksmith in Smithy Lane (adjacent to the Black Horse pub). Family names common in Cronton during the 19th Century census returns : Leather, Haughton, Critchley, Dwerryhouse, Atherton, Glover and Lister.
There is an ancient cross, now no more than a column of stone on ruined steps. This was one of many stopping places on the way to the parish church at Farnworth. The six-holed stocks next to the war memorial in Coronation Gardens are almost unique to Cronton with few other specimens found anywhere.
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