This work is a comprehensive guide to the buildings of South-West Lancashire. The great port of Liverpool dominates, with its cathedrals, mighty commercial buildings and warehouses, and Georgian inner city. Full accounts are given of its varied suburbs, complete with the churches, parks and villas of the mercantile elite. The industrial towns beyond include St Helens, still a thriving glassmaking centre; Warrington, with its own innovative New Town; and handsome Wigan, capital of the Lancashire coalfield. But most of the area remains rural, and in this distinctive landscape of moss and mere are some of England's most memorable buildings: Sefton church with its opulent 16th-century woodwork, the gorgeous timber-framed Speke Hall, and Georgian country houses including Knowsley, ancestral seat of the Earls of Derby, and Ince Blundell, with its extraordinary Neoclassical sculpture gallery. In this book, each city, town or village is treated in a detailed gazetteer. It contains a general introduction that provides a historical and artistic overview. Numerous maps and plans, over 100 new colour photographs, full indexes and an illustrated glossary help to make this book invaluable as both reference work and guide.