Longton Parish is made up of the two villages of LONGTON and NEW LONGTON

LONGTON

Longton is a village of ancient origin. St. Andrew's parish church was completed in 1887 when the previous chapel of 1772 which stood nearer the main road was demolished. This stood on the site of an earlier chapel, the records of which are lost. Although a document refers to "Eafward Priest of Longton" as early as 1153, and there is evidence of a chapel in Longton just before the reformation in 1517, when William Walton endowed a chantry at the chapel, there is no evidence that it stood on or near the site of the present parish church. No archaeological evidence has ever been found on the current site, and the dedication of the early chapel is unknown.

During the Middle Ages, Longton was known as "a sort of Holy Land" because the monks of Penwortham Priory tended their lands here. It was no doubt the monks who established the first chapel here. Many mediaeval documents survive which are mostly concerning rents paid to the Shireburn Family of Stonyhurst. An old source mentions a meadow called "Tirolkar" which bears a remarkable resemblance to the "Hallcar" of today.

The parish was part of Preston Rural District throughout its existence from 1894 to 1974. In 1974 the parish became part of South Ribble.

NEW LONGTON

The development of New Longton was prompted by the building of the West Lancashire Railway between Preston and Southport in Victorian times. A station called "Hutton and Howick", later renamed "New Longton and Hutton" was built at the junction of what is now Station Road and Chapel Lane, where there was a level crossing.

Since the 1940s housing estate development has taken place south of Hugh Barn Lane and Wham Lane. Other small estates, including the council estate in Dickson Hey, were built on both sides of Station Road. The village lost its railway service in the 1960s, but remains a commuter village with a regular bus service into Longton and Preston City Centre, which is provided by Stagecoach.