About Hoole

Much Hoole and Little Hoole are two small adjoining parishes so similar that they can be taken as one. Together they form a straggling village built along the old winding Liverpool-Preston road, now forming loops set back on either side of the straight new road. From the slight ridge on which it is built, lanes lead eastwards to the hamlets of Much Hoole Town, Goose Green, Much Hoole Moss Houses and Little Hoole Moss Houses, while to the west, meadows slope gently down to the Douglas river, widening here to join the Ribble.

For unspoilt charm the tree encircled Church of St. Michael has few rivals in the country. It is a small brick building dating from 1628, which has stone mullioned windows, a stone tower from 1720, and a chancel from 1857. It contains a two decked pulpit from 1695 and galleried seating. The words ‘Prepare to meet your God’ appear over the porch together with the words ‘Believe, Trust, Obey’. A sundial on the tower dates from 1815 and is inscribed with the words ‘Sine, Sole, Sileo’ (without the sun I am silent). On the clock is written in Latin ‘As the hours pass, so does life.’ This is a memorial to Jeremiah Horrocks, the Astronomer who was curate at the church when he first observed the Transit of Venus in 1639. this proved that the planets revolved around the sun rather than the earth, which was the common belief at the time. More on St Michaels Church

The road by which the church stands has now become a quiet backwater, away from the traffic that rumbles along the A59 road.

Over the years Hoole, as with most villages, has had to tolerate a large increase in housing, but although it has a village hall, bowling club, tennis courts, recreation field, and two public houses, it has no doctors surgery or chemist and has only a very small general store/post office.

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