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The County of Lancashire (6)
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Including Lancashire cities, boroughs,
towns and major villages
Alphabetical
order - continued:
Darwen
Darwen dates its history back to Anglo-Saxon times though evidence
is scarce, depending mainly on an ancient burial ground uncovered
in the Whitehall area. It takes its name from the river which
runs through the narrow valley from the south through the town.
From the 19th century passing trade giving rise to regular markets
in Over Darwen and during the Industrial Revolution the town
grew into a booming cotton mill town and by 1911 its population
reached around 40,400.
The Borough of Darwen was created in 1877 and remained intact
until Local Government reorganisation of 1974 when it became
part of the Borough of Blackburn. Currently around 33,000 live
in the town. Overlooking the town stands the dominant Jubilee
Tower, (locally known as Darwen Tower), built in 1897 to commemorate
the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria.
In 1998 Darwen became part of the new Blackburn with Darwen
Unitary Authority which made it completely independent of Lancashire
County Council.
Fleetwood
See
Main Entry.
Formby
Formby
is located on the coast of south-west Lancashire, 13 miles north
of Liverpool and
7 miles south of Southport
beside the River Alt. The village was founded by Scandinavian
settlers in the early 9th century in a remote and inaccessible
part of the county, isolated by forests, lakes and marshland.
In the nineteenth century the arrival of the railways connected
the village directly with Liverpool and Southport, which sentenced
Formby to eventually become a major dormitory area for the Metropolitan
Borough of Merseyside to the south.
Garstang
Garstang
is a small market town, located in Lancashire where a main north-south
road crosses the Wyre. The name of the town probably comes from
the Saxon word "Gaerstung" (meaning common
or meadow land). In the Doomsday Survey of 1086 it is described
as "Cherestanc". In 1314 King Edward II granted
a Charter for a market to be held in the town. Two annual horse
and cattle fairs were also held up until quite recent times.
The Market Place still exists as a focal point for the township,
with food produce market days on Thursdays, and is nowadays
marked by a Market Cross which was first erected in 1887 to
commemorate Queen Victoria's diamond jubilee. Also in the Market
Place stand the old village stocks; there were also several
large stones (the Fish Stones) which were used to display fishmonger's
wares.
On the outskirts are the ruins of Greenhalgh Castle, built by
Thomas Stanley, the Earl of Derby in 1490. In the end it fell
to Cromwellian forces during the English Civil Wars
Great
Harwood
Great
Harwood, in the Parish of Blackburn, has evidence of Bronze
Age activity and may have existed for many centuries. Hoards
of ancient gold and bronze implements have also been uncovered
nearby. The origin of the town's name has at least two possible
explanations, with the "har" indicating "grey"
(hence "grey wood"). Another possibility is that
"hara" comes from the Old English for "hare"
(hence a wood where hares are found). "Great" distinguishes
it from Little Harwood, 5 miles west.
At the time of The Norman Conquest of 1066 Great Harwood was
predominantly moor and marsh land with sporadic clearings of
cultivated land. It had many springs and small streams on its
hillsides where the first settlements and farmsteads were built.
The whole area was in the possession of the de Lacy family until
1177, when it was bequeathed to Richard de Fitton.
In 1338 King Edward III granted a Royal Charter to Adam Nowell,
Lord of the Manor of Netherton, for a weekly market and annual
fair to be held at Great Harwood. The market still survives
today, but the last fair was held in 1931 until revived by the
Great Harwood Civic Society in 1973.
In the 19th century Great Harwood saw weaving as its main form
of employment, carried out as a cottage industry on hand looms
at weaver's cottages. By the 1870s, increasing industrialisation
and mass produced textile manufacture in larger surrounding
towns saw the death knell of hand weaving and by the 20th century
the craft had completely died out.
Haslingden
Haslingden
is a small town in the Rossendale Valley with a population of
around 16,000. Its name means 'valley of the hazel trees'. Haslingden
has the oldest recorded history of any of the borough towns
of Rossendale and was granted Borough status in 1891. Its parish
church, St James is built on the site dating from 1284. Haslingden
is celebrated for its fine stone quarries, and many famous locations
boast paving slabs from Haslingden, (including Trafalgar Square
in London). Much of the town's industrial and historical past
is now housed in the local museums, including Helmshore
Textile Museum, Higher Hill Museum and Museum of Lancashire
Textile Industry. Haslingden is also birthplace of the famous
Hollands Pies.
Heysham
Heysham
is a small village on the edge of Morecambe
Bay, which began as a small fishing village which grew up
to become a major port in the 19th century. Today, it has a
busy cargo terminal and its ferries still operate out of the
port to the Isle of Man and to Ireland. The village is also
somewhat dominated by Heysham nuclear power station, which produces
most of Lancashire's electricity.
Its parish church, St Peters, dates back to 976 AD, but an even
older chapel once stood on the site. By the time of Viking incursions
into Heysham in the 10th century, the chapel was already around
300 years old. Located on the Fylde coast, the unmistakable
silhouettes of nuclear reactors Heysham 1 and Heysham 2 at Half
Moon Bay can be seen for miles in all directions.
Hornby
Hornby
is a small, picturesque stone built village in the Lune Valley
between Kirby Lonsdale and Lancaster,
located on an old traditional pack horse route through the county.
It sits astride the River Wenning, and was originally part of
the parish of Melling, but its history really dates back to
the construction of Hornby Castle in the 13th century, though
there were probably small settlements there well before this
time. Hornby Castle was founded in the reign of King Stephen
by Roger de Montebegone, who held several lordships in the county
of Lincolnshire. The castle is well known as the subject of
one of William Turner's paintings. The church of St Margaret
holds several pre-Norman decorated crosses.
Kirkham
Originally the Parish of Kirkham was one of the largest in the
county of Lancashire and contained 17 townships. In pre-Roman
times it was probably the main settlement of Setantu.
Later, it was occupied by the Romans as temporary site on the
Roman military road that ran through the district on its way
from the fort at Ribchester. Hence, virtually the whole of its
main street lies on the Roman road. The name Kirkham comes from
times when Danes occupied the land and
settled in this area. Kirkham's name is a combination of the
Danish "kirk" (meaning "church")
and the Saxon word "ham" (meaning "township"
or "settlement").
After the Norman Conquest of 1066 it was in the estate of Amounderness
Hundred. By the Domesday Survey of 1086 the Hundred was recorded
as having three churches, at Kirkham, Preston and Poulton and
it here that settlements grew up in an otherwise sparsely populated
landscape. Kirkham was granted a Royal Charter by King Henry
III in 1296, making it a Free Borough and thereby entitled to
hold a market and and a five day fair twice a year on certain
feast days.
By the 14th century a parish committee known as "Thirty
Sworn Men" handled parish affairs. The poor of Kirkham
were entitled to a free education in the grammar school which
adjoined the parish church.
In medieval Kirkham the growing of flax and hemp to produce
linen, rope and coarse cloth was a common occupation. By the
17th century employment prospects in Lancashire were so poor
that outside workers came to the more prosperous Kirkham to
seek employment.
The town still boasts a cobbled market place and so-called
Fish Stones which date back to 1683 - here fish were laid out
by traders on market days.
Lancaster
See
Main Entry.
Townships
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