Hoscar Moss

Hoscar Moss is a small village in Lancashire, England. It is located 2 km east of the larger village of Burscough.

Etymology

The name Hoscar is derived from the Old Norse 'hross' or Old English 'hors' and 'kjarr' (marshland), again from the Old Norse. An early recorded form is Horsecarr (1347) ^[1]

Geography

The village is bounded to the north east by the River Douglas,and to the south is the Leeds and Liverpool Canal. To the north west is the moss from which the village derives its name. Parts of the moss are only 6m above sea level.^[2]

Worship

St Cyprian's Mission Church, built in 1767, is located on Hoscar Moss Road and is open for services. It is a mission church for St John the Baptist, Burscough.^[3] There is also a former Wesleyan Methodist chapel, founded before 1892^[4] that is now a private house, also located on Hoscar Moss Road.

Farming & Agriculture

Many different methods of agriculture have been practiced in Hoscar and it's surrounding areas. These include; turf cultivation, arable crops and grazing for both cattle and sheep.

Farms

• Bleak Hall Farm
• Tyrer's Farm
• Hoscar Hall Farm
• Sandyways Farm
• Moss Grove Farm - formerly a poultry farm, now renamed Moss Grove Cottage and since 2012 derelict.
• Stocks Farm
• Snipe Hall Farm - most notably featured in the English land law case 'Smith and Snipes Hall Farm Ltd v River Douglas Catchment Board'

Transport

The village is served by Hoscar railway station, the station once boasted a goods yard which was used by local farmers to get their crops to the markets of Wigan, Manchester and Southport quickly.^[5]

References