Little Crosby is a small village in Merseyside, North West England. Despite being a suburb within 8 miles of Liverpool it has retained its rural character by, for example, opting not to have street lights. As part of Lancashirethe village was an urban district in its own right until annexed to the Great Crosby urban district in 1932. This urban district was combined with other districts to form the municipal borough of Crosby in 1937. This in turn was absorbed into the new Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in 1974. The village is perhaps the oldest extant Roman Catholic village in England, the squires being the notable recusant Blundell family. The village character has changed little from a 17th-century description that "it had not a beggar,... an alehouse... a Protestant in it...". In 2009 Protestants reside in the village as old values change – Protestant inhabitants however must be "vetted" by the local Squire before occupation of one of the 50 or so dwellings. In 1986 a senior member of the hamlet was quoted in the Liverpool Echo as saying "Protestants are discouraged from settling in our village"..Notwithstanding any remaining sectarianism, the village is now home to the Rock the Boat Brewery, supplying a number of pubs and bottle shops in the wider Crosby area. They host occasional open days and Protestants are more than welcome. Notable attractions are:
The Well Barn, an attractive courtyard which has various small shops and businesses including a jewellery shop, florist, conservationist restorer and furniture makers
The village is dominated by the St Mary's Roman Catholic Church, inspired by Augustus Pugin. Opposite the church is St. Mary's Roman Catholic School, a single storey 1960s building. The first school for the village was established by the Squire, William Blundell, at Boundary Cottage in 1843, next to the brook that then ran between Great Crosby and Little Crosby. In 1859 the school moved to a new building next to the presbytery of the church, opposite the current site. The current school building replaced that in 1964. The school takes pupils from the village and neighbouring villages of Hightown and Ince Blundell.
Governance
From 1950 until 2010 Little Crosby was within the boundaries of the Crosby constituency, whose MP from 1997 till 2010 was Claire Curtis-Thomas, a member of the Labour Party, prior to her election the Crosby seat was generally considered to be a safe Conservative Party stronghold with Tory MP's elected at every election barring the 1981 Crosby by-election where Shirley Williams of the Social Democratic Party was elected to represent the constituency. As a result of boundary revisions for the 2010 general election the Crosby constituency was abolished with its northern parts, including Little Crosby, being merged with the Eastern parts of Sefton that were formerly part of the Knowsley North and Sefton East constituency, to form the new constituency of Sefton Central, which is currently represented by the Labour Party MP Bill Esterson. For elections to Sefton Council Little Crosby is within the Manorelectoral ward and is represented by three councillors. The councillors of Manor ward are of the Conservative Party, of the Liberal Democrats, and of the Labour Party.
