Fulwood is a suburb[1] of Preston, Lancashire, England, to the north of the city centre. It had a population of 28,535 in 2011, which increased to 34,691 in 2021[2] and since 2019 is made up of four electoral wards on Preston City Council.
Fulwood began to develop in the second half of the 19th century and, until 1974, it was governed independently from Preston. It has retained a distinct identity and character, and much of the settlement is in the Fulwood Conservation Area.[1]
Etymology
Fulwood was once part of a large forest which covered much of the North West. It was referred to as Fillewood in 1199; Fulwode in 1228 and Foghellwood in 1334.Woods were often named from some natural feature and it is thought that 'Ful' meant 'foul' which implies it must have been a rather damp and boggy wood.
History
"Historic Fulwood and Cadley" by Carole Knight and Margaret Burscough, published by Carnegie Press in 1998 provides a comprehensive history of Fulwood.
Although Preston itself was settled in Roman times, there is no evidence of Fulwood ever being occupied at that time although their two main routes passed through Fulwood. The road from Kirkham to Ribchester, following the line of Watling Street Road, was intersected by the route, from Walton-le-Dale to Lancaster, somewhere near Withy Trees and Fulwood Barracks. Traces of the original Walton-le-Dale to Lancaster road were found in 1861, during building work on Lower Bank Road.
At the beginning of the 10th century in AD 902, a large number of Irish Norsemen landed along the coastline of Lancashire and made settlements in the area. There were two Norsethegns, called Ravenkel and Mamegil who owned land in Fulwood. Ravenkel who also held land in Woodplumpton had a hey for enclosing wild cattle at the site of the current Plungington public house on Lytham Road, and Mamegil's plot was at the west of Cadley near to Woodplumpton. One of their chieftains, Agmundr, sometimes between 900 and 930, gave his name to Amounderness.
One of Harold's supporters, Germot of York was stirred to take revenge against Tostig who had been killed at Stamford Bridge. He made a marauding foray into Amounderness, overran the countryside, pillaging it and leaving it near derelict. All of Tostig's supporters were killed. King William's Norman Army, faced with rebellion by the northern EarlsEdwin and Morcar, completed the devastation by burning the town of Preston and the surrounding areas, leaving few inhabitants in the remaining settlements.
Roger de Poitou fled England in 1102 after participating in a failed rebellion against the new king, Henry I. As a result, the King confiscated the Honour of Lancaster, from de Poirou which included the castle. The Honour changed hands several times thereafter.
The land was developed as a royal forest which provided meat for the monarch and the court and, through the selling of rights, revenue for the monarch but it was also a source of resentment to all sectors of society. The south-western corner of this forest became known as Fillewood Forestenclosed within its own boundaries.
A Normansettlement was made on the western edge of the Royal Forest which became known as Cadley and the enclosed park was granted to the Singleton family, Bailiffs of Amounderness.
The Singleton's held the land until 1631 when the plague wiped out all of the family.
In December 1551, a portion of the Forest was granted to SirAnthony Browne by KingEdward VI on the advice of his Regency Council. The land was transferred almost immediately to Thomas Clayton by a deed dated February 1552. On his death, he bequeathed the land to his first born son, William, a Justice of the Peace in Lancashire, who died in 1631. The Clayton family owned the Fulwood Hall estate until 1895 but they did not occupy it for all of that time. In later years, the land was farmed by two tenants Mr Morris from Mason Hill Farm and Mr Hill from Fulwood Hall Farm. The hall had become a simple farmhouse, which was taken over by Preston Golf Club.[3] If you visit the clubhouse today, you will enter through a porch dated 1636 and initialled 'W.C.', which are likely to be the initials of William who died in 1631, although he had a son and grandson also named William.
During the Interregnum, the Parliament passed an Act effectively abolishing forest law. Much of the land known as Fulwood Moor though was still held by the Crown and the rest was leased to the Earl of Derby. There were also forest smallholders who had grazing rights on the common land of Fulwood Moor.
The first school in Fulwood known as Cadley School was built in the early 1700s on Cadley brow just behind the site of the Home for the Blind and remained open until 1863 when it was demolished. The school was taken over by the parish church and re-opened in the building next to Christ Church. The school closed in 1938 but the premises continue to be used as a parochial hall.
In 1786, the 12th Earl of Derby laid out a racecourse on Fulwood Moor, part of which ran through what is now the north-east corner of Fulwood Barracks and playing fields. Race meetings were held there until 1833.
In 1811, an Act was passed by Parliamentenclosing Fulwood and Cadley Moors, although one twelfth of the land (96 acres) was still retained by the monarch as Duke of Lancaster and that land eventually became the site of Fulwood Barracks which was built between 1842 and 1848. Following enclosure the rest of the forest land was divided by specially selected commissioners. Some of the land was given to those who had a claim and the rest sold to new owners, which included the Rawsthornes at Broughton Tower and the Gerards at Haighton Hall.
In 1850, a Freehold Society was set up in Preston as a result of the Reform Act 1832 which extended the right to vote to persons who held a forty shilling freehold and the purchase of a suitable site was a priority for the society trustees. When the Fulwood Moor was enclosed in 1817, Samuel Horrocks, the mill owner purchased forty-five acres on the north side of Eaves Brook, just within the township of Fulwood. In 1850, following the death of Mr Horrocks, the land was put up for sale and the trustees of the Preston Freehold Land Society purchased the site for £4,995 and then advertised the plots on the Freehold Park Estate which became known as Fulwood Park . The building work started in May 1851 and the development of the estate continued over the next fifty years. The Fulwood Park Estate was bounded by Garstang Road and Watling Street Road and included Lower Bank Road, Higher Bank Road and Victoria Road.
During the 19th century, the township of Fulwood started to develop into the suburb of Preston it is today. The Christ Church was built for the Church of England on Victoria Road in 1865 and became a district-chapelry. It was during this period of industrial development in Preston with all its wider social consequences that several
institutions were built in the healthier environment of Fulwood which included the UnionWorkhouse on Watling Street Road, the home for the elderly run by the Little Sisters of the Poor and the HarrisOrphanage on Garstang Road, the Home for the Blind at the corner of Lytham Road and Black Bull Lane, and the Poor LawSchool on St Vincent's Road, which was demolished and is now the site of Corpus Christ RC High School.
Fulwood was also an area chosen by wealthy Victorian residents for their country houses for the same reason and one of the finest examples still standing is Greyfriars on Walker Lane which was commissioned in 1849 for James Clayton, an ironfounder, who resided there until his death in 1885. The house was then sold to Frank Hollins, who enlarged the property and grounds. He became a baronet in 1907 and the Hollins family owned the property until 1963.
In 1876, the Nook Land Company Ltd was formed and built the small development known as Nooklands today, which is off Garstang Road.
Preston's first horse-drawn tram service was started in 1879 by the Preston Tramway Company and ran from Lancaster Road in the town centre and up Garstang Road to Fulwood going through Victoria Road, East Road and Watling Street Road to Fulwood Barracks. The route was worked by six tram cars and twenty five horses. When not in use the tram cars were kept in the tramhouse at the corner of Garrison Road, which has been demolished and replaced by houses.
The horse trams were replaced in June 1904 by electric trams which followed a circular route coming up Garstang Road from the town centre and going down Deepdale Road from Sharoe Green Lane in Fulwood. Fulwood Barracks became a focal point for all sorts of excursions from Preston. A casual tram ride to Fulwood was considered a treat by families living in the town.
On 15 December 1935, the final tram from Fulwood made its way to the town of Preston for the last time to signal the end of the tramway service, which was to be replaced by the bus services we know today.
In the 20th century, the suburb of Fulwood continued to expand, initially on the north side of Watling Street Road and to the east towards the barracks. Further infilling occurred in the inter-war years but the major
expansion of Fulwood occurred post-war.
The former Preston Carmelite Monastery[4] on St Vincent's Road was discalced in 2023. The site was sold and will be converted to a nursing home. The sale ended the Carmelites' association with Preston and the local community which had commenced in 1917.[5]
Wychnor (farmhouse converted to a dwellinghouse), Lightfoot Lane
The Preston to GarstangTurnpike trust was set up in 1751. Today, the A6 road follows much of its length. Along the road at regular intervals are a set of nine milestones put in place by the trust, some time between the mid to late 1700s. They consist of a convex triangular stone about 1 metre high with a rounded top, and they are inscribed with the distances in miles to Garstang and Preston. They are said to be the most impressive series of milestones in the whole of Lancashire.
Fulwood has expanded in the 20th and 21st centuries and has been popular with housing and business developers, with its close links to the M6 and M55 motorways and the A6 (Garstang Road). Since the 1970s when the Central Lancashire New Town was proposed, large sites have been made available for development, such as Longsands, which is a residential area, and Eastway Business Park, where many businesses are currently located, including the Lancashire Evening Post (LEP), Asda supermarket, Royal Mail sorting office, HomeServe, Xchanging, CPC,[9] and EDS.[10] The Lancashire Coroner Service and Court is also based at Faraday Drive on the Business Park.[11]
The B6241 (Eastway) provides a vital route, bypassing much of the residential and central areas of Preston, and it provides access to a Ibis hotel; the Fulwood Central shopping centre with Aldi and B&M stores and the Eastway shopping centre with a Lidl store.
Off Eastway, the B6242 (Andertons Way), connects to the M6 motorway at junction 31a (which was opened in the 1990s) and provides access to a Premier Inn hotel (Preston East) and the Bluebell Way Business Park on the boundary with Brookfield.
A Co-op Food store is based at the junction of Watling Street Road and Garstang Road; a Morrisons Daily store is on Garstang Road and a Sainsbury's supermarket is located on Sir Tom Finney Way (formerly Deepdale Road) on the boundary with Deepdale.
Since the mass migration of Indians, Fulwood has been a popular place of residence for well-known, and wealthy families of the Vora Patel community, many of whom have resided here for several generations. Many families of this community amassed great wealths during the economic prosperity of the textile industry in Northern England and, to this day, retain much of their wealth and have bought many of Lancashire's historic properties.[12]
Architecture
The former Fulwood Workhouse
Fulwood is one of the greener parts of the Preston area, however it is nevertheless a fairly built up area, with buildings dating back to the Victorian gentrification of the region, and earlier. Due to large investments during the late Victorian era, Fulwood was an area of much development by wealthy Preston industrialists.
Some of the finest Victorianbuildings of Lancashire can be found in Fulwood,[13] such as Christ Church, Fulwood Barracks, the former Fulwood UnionWorkhouse, on Watling Street Road and the former HarrisOrphanage (now Harris Park site) on Garstang Road. Many of the larger houses in Fulwood were also built during the Victorian period, particularly those in Lower Bank Road and the Nooklands cul-de-sac off Garstang Road.
Amenities
Fulwood has a large number of local amenities. The suburb has a large number of local shops, primary and high schools, a college, pubs, restaurants, hotels, libraries, parks and woodlands, a Lloyd's Bank branch, a large Asda supermarket, Booths store, Aldi store, Lidl store, Co-op Food store and Morrisons Daily store, doctors surgeries and health centres, pharmacies, dental surgeries, Preston's main hospital, Royal Preston Hospital, and many other services.
Preston Grasshoppers R.F.C., Fulwood and Broughton Cricket Club, Fulwood Lawn Tennis Club, Fulwood Leisure Centre and Preston Golf Club are also located in Fulwood. (see Sports section below)
The former Sharoe Green Hospital was also in Fulwood until its closure in 2004.[17]
Fulwood Hall Hospital located at Midgery Lane is a private hospital operated by Ramsay Health Care UK, providing a wide range of treatments and healthcare services[18]
BBC North West, the regional BBC station for the North West region,
ITV Granada, the ITV franchise holder for the North West region, and
a local TV service for Blackpool and Preston, That's Lancashire, from studios at the Northern Lights Business Centre in the University of Central Lancashire's Media Factory building.
The following regional radio stations include Fulwood within their coverage:
BBC Radio Lancashire - Lancashire wide, news, talk, sport and music. (Broadcast from Blackburn)
Blog Preston[20] is a hyperlocal news website which provides community news, views and information about the city.[21][22]
VisitPreston.com is a website that "showcases everything that Preston has to offer to all audiences", providing information on topics such as business investment, education, tourism, etc. It is provided by key local stakeholders including the Preston City Council, Lancashire County Council, University of Central Lancashire, Preston Business Improvement District, and The Chase creative consultants.[23]
Notable people
A notable former resident of Fulwood was Colonel John Rouse Merriott ChardVC, of the Royal Engineers, Officer Commanding at Rorke's Drift in 1879. He was posted to Preston between 1887 and 1892, and is recorded in the 1891 Census living at 80 Victoria Road, Fulwood.
Lieutenant-General SirJohn Bagot Glubb, known as Gubba Pasha, the former Commanding Officer of the Arab League was born at 48 Watling Street Road, Fulwood in 1897 and a blue plaque outside the property commemorates the location.
The famous footballer SirTom Finney and the former MP and Circuit Judge, Mary Holt were both born in Preston and resided in Fulwood for many years prior to their deaths.
Fulwood has several parks[24] and woodlands managed by Preston City Council and the Woodland Trust which are located adjacent to Andertons Way, Conway Drive, Fairways, Fernyhalgh Lane, Foregate, Levensgarth Avenue, Mill Lane, Sherwood Way, South Drive, and Tower Lane. This makes Fulwood one of the greener suburbs of Preston.
There are allotment sites on Sharoe Green Lane and Blackpool Road.
There are a number of Friends community groups which local residents can join to help maintain and keep tidy the parks and woodlands in their neighbourhood.
The following sporting activities are available in Fulwood:
Cricket
Fulwood & Broughton Cricket Club[41] (known as F&B) is based on Garstang Road on the boundary with Broughton. The 1st XI plays in the Northern Premier Cricket League, with two other teams playing in the Palace Shield structure. There is also a T20 team.[42] It also has a growing women's section who compete in friendly games, and a junior section with competing teams from Under 10 to Under 17.
There are two social men's cricket teams in Fulwood. A Fulwood & Broughton CC midweek team and Preston Grasshoppers CC, both of whom play in the Boddingtons Village Cricket League.[43]
Cycling
The Preston Guild Wheel cycle route runs through Fulwood. It is also used by walkers and runners
Football
Fulwood's local football team is Fulwood Amateurs F.C.[44] (known as Fulwood Ams) based at Lightfoot Green off Lightfoot Lane. The men's 1st XI play in the West Lancashire League Premier Division (Tier 11 in the English football pyramid).[45][46] In the 2021-22 season, Fulwood Amateurs won the Lancashire FA Amateur Shield.
Golf
Preston Golf Club,[3] is a 18 hole, 6,278 yard, par 71 course affiliated to the England Golf Association which is located on Fulwood Hall Lane.
Leisure centre
Fulwood Leisure Centre[47] is located on Black Bull Lane and provides a 25 metre swimming pool, teaching pool, squash courts, gym, fitness studios, sauna and steam rooms.
Fulwood also has three sports and social clubs which have bowling greens and snooker/pool tables with teams competing in local leagues. The clubs are also available for hire for social events:
Moor Park Sports and Social Club, Blackpool Road[52]
Tennis
The Fulwood Lawn Tennis Club[53] is affiliated to the Lawn Tennis Association and provides four all-weather carpet courts with floodlights and a clubhouse, which is located at the end of Highgate Avenue. The club offers tennis for all, including adults and juniors who wish to competete in local leagues or just play social fun tennis.
Transport
Road
Junctions 31a and 32 of the M6 motorway and Junction 1 of the M55 motorway can be accessed within Fulwood on the boundary with the adjacent village of Broughton, and the A6 road passes through Fulwood.
^"Story shorts – 21/02/11". Lancashire Evening Post. 21 February 2011. Archived from the original on 4 April 2012. Retrieved 12 December 2011. NESTA (National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts) has worked alongside the Big Lottery Fund to deliver support to 17 organisations nationwide. They include Prescap, Preston FM, Blog Preston and CSV Preston.
