Coordinates: 53°30′11″N 2°46′59″W / 53.503°N 2.783°W / 53.503; -2.783

Rainford is a village and civil parish within Metropolitan Borough of St Helens, in Merseyside, England. It is around 5 miles (8.0 km) north of St Helens. At the 2001 Census the population of the civil parish was 8,344.

Historically a part of Lancashire, it is unknown when Rainford was founded, but the name of the village is in the Domesday Book,^{[citation needed]} thus making Rainford older than the maritime city of Liverpool, which dominates the region. Rainford formerly constituted an urban district.

Rainford is well known for its industrial past when it was a major manufacturer of clay smoking pipes. The nearby coal mines became worked out and closed prior to World War Two.

Until the mid 1960s, it was also a location for sand excavation, for use in the glass factories of St Helens.

One of the noteworthy buildings in Rainford is The Rookery, a large 17th century manor house situated off the 'Pottery Padds'; the house was formerly a school and workhouse and has since become home to a tenant.

Molly Rainford (born 2000) is an English child singer who rose to fame after reaching the final of the sixth series of Britain's Got Talent in 2012. She finished sixth overall. After the series finished, it was reported that Rainford signed a record deal with Sony, with an album due to be released by Christmas.

Rainford's father is Dave Rainford, a footballer.

Angie Stone (born Angela Laverne Brown on December 18, 1961) is an American R&B and soul singer-songwriter, record producer, and occasional actress. She has been nominated for three Grammy Awards. She has been most successful on the R&B charts, with four Top 10 albums, including a number one album, and ten singles, including a Top 10. She has sold over 1.4 millions albums in the U.S. and over 5 millions albums worldwide.

Stone was born in Columbia, South Carolina, where she began singing gospel music at First Nazareth Baptist Church, under the leadership of Reverend Blakely N. Scott.

She has a daughter and son. Her daughter Diamond (born 1984) is from her marriage to Rodney Stone (also known as Lil' Rodney C!, from the hip hop group Funky Four Plus One). Diamond contributed background vocals to her 2007 song "Baby", and gave birth to Stone's grandson in 2008. During the 1990s Stone dated neo soul singer D'Angelo. Their son Michael was born in 1998. Stone lives in Atlanta, Georgia with Michael and fiancé Ashanti, an airline auditor who has two children of his own.