now Bull Lane in Walton, Park Lane, Netherton Way, and Bootle Golf Course. Netherton was anciently a township associated with the parish of Sefton, becoming an independent civil parish in 1866. It became part of Sefton Rural District under the Local Government Act 1894, and then West Lancashire Rural District in 1932. Netherton parish lost areas to the county borough of Bootle in 1940, 1951 and 1968 (reducing the parish from in 1931 to in 1951). The residual parish no longer exists, forming part of Sefton parish. The area has been a part of the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton since local government reorganisation on 1 April 1974. For parliamentary elections Netherton is within the Bootle constituency represented by the Labour Party MP Peter Dowd. For elections to Sefton Council Netherton is split between the electoral wards of Netherton and Orrell, whose three representatives are Susan Ellen Bradshaw, Robert John Brennan, and Ian Ralph Maher, and St. Oswald, whose three representatives are Paula Spencer, Carla Thomas and Linda Cluskey. All six councillors who represent the Netherton area are members of the Labour Party. Architecture The oldest houses are to be found at the heart of the old hamlet of Netherton, clustered around the green in what is now known as Netherton Village, just north of the Leeds and Liverpool Canal. The old catholic church of St. Benet nearby was built in 1793. Unusually it appears as an ordinary house from the road with the church backing onto what was once open fields. A modern church was built over the road in the 1970s. Nowadays, Netherton is formed with many modern housing, the most recent being the George Wimpey estate, completed in 2000, built just from Netherton Village green. Housing in this part of Netherton is considered rather desirable, unlike the council-owned housing closer to the town's shopping amenities. Education Netherton is home to one secondary school, The Salesian Academy of St John Bosco. Formerly there was St Ambrose Barlow High School, Bootle Grammar School and Warwick Bolam County Secondary School as well as a Girl's County Secondary School. In August 2009, Bootle High School closed its doors for the last time as students transferred to Litherland High School. In December 2009, works started to demolish the school on Browns Lane. Now however the properties on the council estate are mostly privately owned and were bought under the right to buy scheme