Aintree is a village and civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton, Merseyside, England. Historically in Lancashire, it lies between Walton and Maghull on the A59 road, north-east of Liverpool city centre, in North West England. It is best known as the site of Aintree Racecourse, which since the 19th century has staged the Grand National horserace. In the 1950s and 1960s, there was also a three-mile-long international Grand Prix motor racing circuit on the site, which used the same grandstands as the horserace. A shorter form of the racing circuit is still used for various motorsport events. The northern end of Aintree is known as Old Roan. History The name Aintree, thought to be of Saxon origin, means "one tree" or "tree standing alone." It is first recorded in 1226, also as Ayntre (the usual mediaeval spelling) in 1292. Eyntre occurs; Ayntree and Ayntrie, 16th century. Local legend held that an oak tree on Bull Bridge Lane (removed in 2004) was "the Ain tree" though the antiquity of the name excludes the possibility. The historic core of the village was a small linear settlement near the junction of School Lane, Bull Bridge Lane and Wango Lane. Much of the nearby flat, wet and boggy land was reclaimed for agriculture following the Alt Drainage Act of 1779. Today The village itself has two primary schools, Aintree Davenhill and Holy Rosary and a Music School; five churches, St. Giles (Anglican), Holy Rosary (Roman Catholic), Old Roan Methodist Church, Old Roan Baptist Church (which met in Davenhill Primary School until recently and now meets at the former site of Holy Rosary Infants School) and Aintree Village Family Church (a Baptist church, meeting at Old Roan Methodist Church Hall, Altway); two small local shopping areas (on Altway and at the Old Roan); and three public houses, the Blue Anchor (which backs onto the Leeds and Liverpool Canal), The Valentine, named after a fence on the racecourse, and the Old Roan (now closed), which gives its name to a railway station in the village. The village also had a public library (now closed). A retail park along Ormskirk Road on former industrial land has brought a significant number of major out-of-town shops to the area. Aintree Davenhill Primary School has a large field with a metal building that was built in the 1950s (since been rebuilt). The building was going to be a