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Cronton is a village and civil parish within the Metropolitan Borough of Knowsley, Merseyside, in England. The village is surrounded by green belt land. Over the county border in Cheshire, Widnes town centre is to the south-southeast. ==History== Historically a part of Lancashire, Cronton is an ancient village and was once a centre for the makers of watch parts and movements. 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 five-holed stocks next to the war memorial in Coronation Gardens are almost unique to Cronton with few other specimens found anywhere. Many of the 19th Century residents of Cronton were farmers. There was a blacksmith in Cronton Lane (opposite what is now the Black Horse pub). Family names common in Cronton during the 19th Century census returns: Leather, Haughton, Critchley, Dwerryhouse, Atherton, Glover and Lister. The Catholic Church, Holy Family, was opened at the start of the 20th Century. There is also Holy Family Primary school. Prior to this, many Cronton Catholics were carried to St Bartholomew's Church, Rainhill for burial. In the early twentieth century, Cronton was “a favourite resort for cyclists and picnic parties, both from Liverpool and Widnes, on account of a public recreation ground on Pexhill. This hill, rising to only above sea level, is covered with heather and gorse, and on the top are the Widnes Corporation reservoirs, formed in 1868”.〔'Townships: Cronton', A History of the County of Lancaster: Volume 3 (1907), pp. 392-94. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=41353;〕 Today the Liverpool Astronomical Society has an Observatory - Leighton Observatory - at Pex Hill. It was formerly known as Pex Hill Observatory and Visitors' Centre. 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 sixth-form college and then renamed Widnes and Runcorn sixth-form college with the advent of another campus being added in Runcorn), and locally referred to as "Cronton College" as the site directly borders Cronton. 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. It is also the home of Cronton Villa F.C who play in the Warrington and District league. Girls Aloud star Nicola Roberts attended Widnes Sixth Form College, now Riverside College, Halton. Former Big Brother housemate Liam Young and Premier League rugby star Stephen Myler also attended the college. Joey Barton and Jennifer Ellison live close by, just over the border in Widnes. Nearby stood Cronton Colliery which ceased production in March 1984, shortly before the Great UK miners' strike (1984–1985). Although Cronton 'pit' was a twentieth century enterprise, the surrounding area had supported a coal mining industry throughout the previous century. It was in the 19th century that a large number of Welsh people moved nearby to work 'down the pit' and they brought their distinctive brand of Non-Conformist Christianity with them. There were once at least 31 non-conformist chapels within just three miles (5 km) of Cronton, including three Welsh chapels (Congregational, Methodist and Presbyterian) in Widnes, Welsh Calvinistic Methodists in Huyton Quarry, and a Welsh Methodist in Whiston.〔GENUKI;〕 Methodism was especially strong in coal-mining communities and Cronton had its own Wesleyan Methodist chapel in Chapel Lane. This chapel still exists and now forms part of the Liverpool District (Widnes Circuit) of the Methodist Church. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Cronton」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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