My Dad once told me something that his Grandfather had told him; that the bottom road in Adlington used to turn down lower Rawlinson Lane and come out at where Frederick's Ice Cream Shop is now. This made sense, as I knew that the old Ellerbeck estate was in that area, so the lower part of Rawlinson Lane was probably an important road at the time. So I checked it out on a few old maps.
On Yates' 1786 map of Lancashire below, Rawlinson Lane can be seen quite clearly in the centre in red, in the same 'L' shape as today. The almost horizontal line is the top part of Rawlinson Lane. The vertical line is the lower part of Rawlinson Lane, and was the only main road access to Duxbury and onwards to Chorley.
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| Yates' 1786 map of Lancashire below (Rawlinson Lane shown in red) |
On Greenwood's 1818 map of Lancashire, the surroundings of Rawlinson Lane look very similar. The Leeds & Liverpool Canal has now been built, and is splitting the lane into two parts.
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| Greenwood's 1818 map of Lancashire now shows the Leeds & Liverpool Canal |
In 1823, parliamentary plans were in process for diversions from Chorley to Hole houses (near the top of Rawlinson Lane) and to Rawlinson Bridge (the bridge over the canal). By 1824, the roads were in use. This work is shown on Hennet's map of Lancashire in 1829; the roads have been built, splitting the lane into two parts.
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| Hennet's map of Lancashire in 1829, after the new road was built (Rawlinson Lane shown in red) |
The lane is still in an 'L' shape to this day.
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