HALSALL, a parish in the hundred of WEST-DERBY, county palatine of LANCASTER, comprising the chapelries of Lydiate, Maghull, and Melling, and the townships of Down-Holland and Halsall, and containing 3538 inhabitants, of which number, 970 are in the township of Halsall, 3 miles (W.N.W.) from Ormskirk. The living is a rectory, in the archdeaconry and diocese of Chester, rated in the king's books at £24. 11. 5. The Misses Blundel were patronesses in 1816. The church, dedicated to St. Cuthbert, has portions in the decorated and later styles of English architecture, and a lofty spire. In the church-yard is a school-house, erected in 1595, by Edward Halsall, who bequeathed a rent-charge of £13, 6. 8. for its maintenance as a free grammar school for twelve boys. The Leeds and Liverpool canal passes through the parish. A bituminous turf, called Litturf, is found in Halsall moss, which burns like a candle.