The Village of Billinge is about 5 miles to the South West of
The theory of the name "Billinge" is derived from a word meaning
Stands at 600 ft. above sea level.
Shown on the map as Billinge Beacon was one in a chain of beacons Is no ordinary hill, which ever
way you approach you have to climb Lancashire, Yorkshire, Cheshire, Angelesey,
Flintshire, Caenarvonshire,
Wigan, and about 4 miles North East of St Helens, in Lancashire, England.
"sword" or "edge" hence a prominent hill. In this case it could mean
"settlement on or near the prominent hill. The village was probably
settled in the 9th century.
Billinge Hill........
to spread news of the Spanish Armada.
up to it. On a clear day 16 counties can be seen from
the beacon,
which are........
Denbighshire, Merionethshire, Montgomeryshire,
Westmoreland,
Cumberland,Kirkcudbrightshire, Isle of Man, Derbyshire,
Staffordshire, and Shropshire....
(from the book by Richard Lewis..."The Billingers")
Subterranean Church. ???
What must rank as the strangest find underground is the subterranean church allegedly found near Billinge
Stork Public House. ???
Halfway between St Helens and Wigan, the Stork Hotel was built in 1717,
on the site of an older inn that was
in the late 18th century. Four children decided to explore the limestone caverns in the area and vanished.
One child survived and told a terrifying tale about small old men with beards who killed his three friends
and chased him. The petrified child stumbled over human bones in the caves and finally managed to scramble
through an opening to the surface as a hand was grabbing at his ankle. The authorities were concerned
because a number of people had gone missing in the area near the cave entrances. Two heavily armed soldiers
descended into the caverns with torches and claimed that they not only found a heap of human bones, they
also found the ruins of an ancient church of some unknown denomination. The interior of the church was lit
by three large candles and grotesque gargoyles formed part of an altar. Throughout the exploration of the
underground, the soldiers said they felt as if they were being watched, and also heard voices speaking in
an unknown language. One report said that a child's head was found in a cave, along with evidence of
cannibalism. After a second investigation, the caves either collapsed or gunpowder was used to seal them,
and so the riddle of the underground church of Billinge remains unsolved.
built in 1640. The
crypt of the old building, which is now used as the cellars of the more modern Stork Hotel, was
used to
incarcerate Royalistprisoners during the Civil War, and it is during this period that one of the prisoners
died as a result of mistreatment by his Parliamentary captors. It is the ghost of this Royalist soldier that
now haunts the hotel and has been seen many times in various parts of the building. Customers at the bar have
heard heavy footsteps walking the floor above them and empty glasses have been seen to be moved along the bar
counter, as if by invisible hands. The tread of the Cavalier has been said to be that loud that on several
the Cavalier standing right behind him. The customer thought that he had seen
somebody who was attending a fancy dress ball, until he returned to the bar and heard for the first time about the
ghost. The hotel is also haunted by the ghost of highwayman, George Lyon, who stayed many times at the Stork.
He has also been heard riding his horse through the village in the early hours of the morning, and was once
seen by a motorist who was driving along what was then a very quiet road.
MAJOR HALLS
PUBLIC HOUSES
VILLAGE BLDGS
PLACES
HILL/QUARRY
St AIDAN'S
St MARY'S. (RC)
METHODIST
BISPHAM
B/T MARRIAGES
KING & COUNTRY
CONF. DONERS
1841
1851
1861
1871
1881
1891
1841
1851
1861
1871
1881
1891
LAVIN
SIMM
MATHER
HEATON
McLOUGHLIN
ROBY
ROBINSON'S.
COLEMAN
TAYLOR
GAFFNEY'S
DIXON
MELLING
FARRAR
FOSTER
ANDERTON
