The County of Lancashire - 6

The Townships of Lancashire
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 continue on the Next Page >

See Also:

• Ancient British Lancashire
• Roman Lancashire
• Celtic & Saxon Lancashire
• The Danes in Lancashire
• The Norman Conquest of Lancashire
• Norman Fortifications in Lancashire
• Trade & Commerce in Medieval Lancashire
• Tudor & Renaissance Lancashire
• Lancashire during the Civil Wars
• Industrialisation in Victorian Lancashire
• Modern Lancashire
• Lancashire Towns & Townships
• Useful Lancashire Information
• Lancashire Dialects
• Old Cheshire & Lancashire Families
• Cheshire
• City of Lancaster
• Lancashire & Cheshire Regional Dishes & Specialities
• Lancashire Hotels

Enter your search terms Submit search form   Web www.manchester2002-uk.com