Avenham Walks

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At the rear of the church on the right, a plaque marks the site of the Earl of Derby's cockpit (Stop 2). When the pit was not being used for cockfighting, it was used, amongst other things, as a Sunday school.

From 1832, the cockpit was rented by Joseph Livesey as a meeting place for the Temperance Society. The Mormons also chose this venue for their first mission conference on Christmas Day 1837 and continued to use it for some time after.

This is also the place where the Earl of Derwentwater, made his mark in the town's history.

In an attempt to win the crown for the exiled Old Pretender, a Jacobite rebel army, marching south from Scotland, had entered Preston. However, the two armies of King George were also converging on the town. While the Jacobite General sat and pondered the worst in his tavern on the Market Square, Lord Derwentwater, a more dynamic individual, was out in his shirtsleeves at the back of the Parish Church helping his soldiers to dig ditches to defend the town.

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