In April 1840, James Brierley the Incumbent (Vicar nowadays) of St Ann’s Church bought land at the corner of Warrington Road and View Road from his father Thomas Brierley to build a school.
The building was funded by local donations and grants and was completed in December 1840. It consisted of two classrooms – one for the boys and one for the girls. It was to be used on Sundays for religious instruction and on other days for teaching reading, writing and common arithmetic.
The first Headmaster was John Ellis who lived in the small cottage on Warrington Road between Church Terrace and the shop which is now a hairdressers.
In 1847 the building was extended to contain separate accommodation for Infants and Juniors and was further enlarged several times before closing as a school in the 1970’s.
The building eventually reopened as The Millennium Centre for the community of Rainhill. The new foundation stone was laid by the Archdeacon of Warrington, the Venerable David Woodhouse on 7th May 2000, and on 20th September 2001 the Princess Royal officially opened the Centre.
