The Rawcliffes
There are three "Rawcliffes" - Upper, Middle and Out Rawcliffe. The distance from Out Rawcliffe through Middle Rawcliffe to Upper Rawcliffe is approximately 3 miles. The church at upper Rawcliffe or St. Michael's-on-Wyre as it is now called, inextricably links the three "Rawcliffes". Between AD 627 and AD 640 St. Michael's church was founded, dedicated to St. Michael the Archangel and was known to be one of only three churches in the Hundred of Amounderness mentioned in the Doomsday book. St. Michael's on Wyre means "Church of St. Michael". "Wyre" additionally is a Celtic river name, which means, "wending one".
In 1837 Thomas Robert Wilson ffrance gave a parcel of land from his estate in Out Rawcliffe on which to build a church. The church is dedicated to St. John the Evangelist. The ffrance family who also owned Little Eccleston Hall estate owned most of the farm-land in 1838. In this parish there is also a Pinfold. It was made of stone and was used for holding stray animals. The "Pinder" would then look after the animal until the owner was found, who would then have to pay a small fee to get the animal back.
