The county has an area of 3,079 square kilometres (1,189 sq mi) and a population of 1,490,300. The north and southwest are generally rural, while the centre, southeast, and coast are more densely populated. After Blackpool (147,663), the largest settlements are Preston (122,719), Blackburn (120,500), and Burnley (81,548); the city of Lancaster has a population of 52,234. The county is governed by the two-tier non-metropolitan county of Lancashire, which contains twelve districts, and the unitary authorities of Blackburn with Darwen and Blackpool. The historic county includes the northern parts of Merseyside and Greater Manchester and the Furness Peninsula in Cumbria, and excludes the eastern part of the Forest of Bowland.
Lancashire was founded in the 12th century; in the Domesday Book of 1086 much of what would become the county is treated as part of Yorkshire and Cheshire. Until the Early Modern period the county was a comparatively poor backwater, although in 1351 it became a palatine, with a semi-independent judicial system. This changed during the Industrial Revolution, when the county rapidly industrialised; until 1974 it included both Liverpool, a major port, and Manchester, which with its surrounding towns dominated the manufacture of cotton textiles.[6] The Lancashire coalfield was also exploited, with many collieries opening. By 1971 Lancashire had a population of 5,118,405, which made it the most heavily populated county in the United Kingdom after Greater London.
During Roman times the area was part of the Brigantes tribal area in the military zone of Roman Britain. The towns of Manchester, Lancaster, Ribchester, Burrow, Elslack and Castleshaw grew around Roman forts. In the centuries after the Roman withdrawal in 410AD the northern parts of the county probably formed part of the Brythonic kingdom of Rheged, a successor entity to the Brigantes tribe. During the mid-8th century, the area was incorporated into the Anglo-SaxonKingdom of Northumbria from the north of the River Ribble and the Kingdom of Mercia from the south, which both became parts of England in the 10th century.
During the 20th century, the county became increasingly urban with Warrington (1900), Blackpool (1904) and Southport (1905) becoming county boroughs, with many boundary extensions. The borders around the Manchester area were particularly complicated, with narrow protrusions of the administrative county between the county boroughs – Lees Urban District formed a detached part of the administrative county, between Oldham county borough and the West Riding of Yorkshire.[15]
The administrative county was also the most populous of its type outside London, with a population of 2,280,359 in 1961. By the census of 1971, the population of Lancashire and its county boroughs had reached 5,129,416, making it the most populous geographic county in the UK.[16]
As the new administrative zones came into existence on 1 April 1974, a government statement in The Times newspaper stated: “They are administrative areas and will not alter the traditional boundaries of counties”.[20]
Yorkshire’s flag flying in Earby in the Borough of Pendle.
As recently as 23 April 2013, a Government statement was issued explaining that, although pre-1974 administrative counties were abolished, the traditional and historic counties were not. “England’s historic and traditional counties still exist” said Eric Pickles, Secretary of State for the Department of Communities and Local Government, and “the government will seek to encourage the marking and continued use of such traditional county names.”[21]
This clarification has helped somewhat - and the towns of the West Riding of Yorkshire that are administered by the Lancashire admin zone continue to proudly fly the Yorkshire flag.[22]
The three main rivers in Lancashire are the Ribble, Wyre and Lune, which all drain west to the Irish Sea. The Wyre rises in Bowland and is entirely within Lancashire, while the Ribble and Lune rise in North Yorkshire and Cumbria respectively. Many of Lancashire's other rivers are tributaries of the Ribble, including the Calder, Darwen, Douglas, and Hodder. The Irwell, which flows through Manchester, has its source in Lancashire.
In the east of the county are upland areas leading to the Pennines. North of the Ribble are Beacon Fell Country Park and the Forest of Bowland, another AONB. Much of the lowland in this area is devoted to dairy farming and cheesemaking, whereas the higher ground is more suitable for sheep, and the highest ground is uncultivated moorland. The valleys of the River Ribble and its tributary the Calder form a large gap to the west of the Pennines, overlooked by Pendle Hill. South of the Ribble are the West Pennine Moors and the Forest of Rossendale, where former cotton mill towns are in deep valleys. The Lancashire Coalfield, largely in modern-day Greater Manchester, extended into Merseyside and to Ormskirk, Chorley, Burnley and Colne in Lancashire.
The north of the ceremonial county is less densely populated than the south, especially inland. The Fylde coast forms a continuous built-up area from Lytham St Annes to Fleetwood, including Blackpool, and further north is the Lancaster/Morecambe built-up area. The rest of the region is characterised by small towns and villages in the flat farmland surrounding the lower reaches of the Ribble, Wyre, and Lune and the sparsely populated uplands of the Forest of Bowland.
The North West Green Belt covers a large part of the south and centre of the county, including all of the non-urban areas in the boroughs of West Lancashire and South Ribble and the majority of Chorley. Elsewhere it is less extensive, but covers the areas between the major settlements to prevent their convergence both with each other and with the nearby Merseyside and Greater Manchester conurbations. There is a further area of green belt in the north of the county, between Lancaster, Morecambe, and Carnforth.
Blackpool and Blackburn with Darwen are unitary authorities, meaning their councils combine the functions of a district and county council. They were formed in 1996, before which each district was part of the non-metropolitan county of Lancashire.[37] Both authorities currently have a majority Labour administration
The Duchy of Lancaster, the private estate of the sovereign, exercises the right of the Crown in the County Palatine of Lancaster.[41] The most prominent effect of this is that the Duchy administers bona vacantia within the County Palatine, receiving the property of persons who die intestate and where the legal ownership cannot be ascertained.[42] The county palatine boundaries remain the same as the historic boundaries, ignoring subsequent local government reforms.[43]
Economy
Lancashire in the 19th century was a major centre of economic activity, and hence one of wealth. Activities included coal mining, textile production, particularly that which used cotton, and fishing. Preston Docks, an industrial port is now disused. Lancashire was historically the location of the port of Liverpool while Barrow-in-Furness is famous for shipbuilding.
Other companies with a major presence in Lancashire include:
Airline Network, an internet travel company with headquarters in Preston.
Baxi, a heating equipment manufacturer has a large manufacturing site in Bamber Bridge.
Crown Paints, a major paint manufacturer based in Darwen.
Dr. Oetker, an international food processing company, has a factory in Leyland that produces frozen pizza mostly under the Chicago Town and Ristorante brands.
Enterprise plc, one of the UK's leading support services based in Leyland.
Hanson plc, a building supplies company operates the Accrington brick works.
Hollands Pies, a major manufacturer of baked goods based in Baxenden near Accrington.
Xchanging, a company providing business process outsourcing services, with operations in Fulwood.
AB InBev, a multinational beverage company, brews Budweiser, Stella Artois, Brahma, Bass and Boddingtons in Samlesbury.
Fisherman's Friend, a confection company, famous for making strong mints and lozenges, based in Fleetwood.
The Foulnaze cockle fishery is in Lytham. It has only opened the coastal cockle beds three times in twenty years; August 2013 was the last of these openings.[44]
Enterprise zone
The creation of Lancashire Enterprise Zone was announced in 2011. It was launched in April 2012, based at the airfields owned by BAE Systems in Warton and Samlesbury.[45]Warton Aerodrome covers 72 hectares (180 acres) and Samlesbury Aerodrome is 74 hectares.[46] Development is coordinated by Lancashire Enterprise Partnership, Lancashire County Council and BAE Systems.[45] The first businesses to move into the zone did so in March 2015, at Warton.[47]
In March 2015 the government announced a new enterprise zone would be created at Blackpool Airport, using some airport and adjoining land.[48] Operations at the airport will not be affected.[49]
This is a chart of trend of regional gross value added of the non-metropolitan county of Lancashire at basic prices published by the Office for National Statistics with figures in millions of British pounds sterling.[50]
Lancashire has a mostly comprehensive system with four state grammar schools. Not including sixth form colleges, there are 77 state schools (not including Burnley's new schools) and 24 independent schools. The Clitheroe area has secondary modern schools. Sixth form provision is limited at most schools in most districts, with only Fylde and Lancaster districts having mostly sixth forms at schools. The rest depend on FE colleges and sixth form colleges, where they exist. South Ribble has the largest school population and Fylde the smallest (only three schools). Burnley's schools have had a new broom and have essentially been knocked down and started again in 2006. There are many Church of England and Catholic faith schools in Lancashire.
The Lancashire economy relies strongly on the M6 motorway which runs from north to south, past Lancaster and Preston. The M55 connects Preston to Blackpool and is 11.5 miles (18.3 km) long. The M65 motorway from Colne, connects Burnley, Accrington, Blackburn to Preston. The M61 from Preston via Chorley and the M66 starting 500 metres (0.3 mi) inside the county boundary near Edenfield, provide links between Lancashire and Manchester, and the trans-Pennine M62. The M58 crosses the southernmost part of the county from the M6 near Wigan to Liverpool via Skelmersdale.
Several bus companies run bus services in the Lancashire area serving the main towns and villages in the county with some services running to neighbouring areas, Cumbria, Greater Manchester, Merseyside and West Yorkshire. Some of these include:
Blackpool Airport are no longer operating domestic or international flights, but it is still the home of flying schools, private operators and North West Air Ambulance. Manchester Airport is the main airport in the region. Liverpool John Lennon Airport is nearby, while the closest airport to the Pendle Borough is Leeds Bradford.
There is an operational airfield at Warton near Preston where there is a major assembly and test facility for BAE Systems.
The major settlements in the ceremonial county are concentrated on the Fylde coast (the Blackpool Urban Area), and a number of notable settlements along west to east of the M65: including the city of Preston and towns of Blackburn, Darwen, Accrington, Burnley, Padiham, Brierfield, Nelson and Colne. South of Preston are the towns of Leyland and Chorley (which, with Preston, formed Central Lancashire New Town designated in 1970), as well as Penwortham, Skelmersdale and Ormskirk. The north of the county is predominantly rural and sparsely populated, except for the city of Lancaster and the towns of Morecambe and Heysham, the three of which form a large conurbation of almost 100,000 people. Lancashire is home to a significant Asian population, numbering over 70,000 and 6% of the county's population, and concentrated largely in the former cotton mill towns in the south east.
Population totals within the post-1998 boundaries of the non-metropolitan county
Year
Pop.
±% p.a.
1801
163,310
—
1811
192,283
+1.65%
1821
236,724
+2.10%
1831
261,710
+1.01%
1841
289,925
+1.03%
1851
313,957
+0.80%
1861
419,412
+2.94%
1871
524,869
+2.27%
Year
Pop.
±% p.a.
1881
630,323
+1.85%
1891
736,233
+1.57%
1901
798,545
+0.82%
1911
873,210
+0.90%
1921
886,114
+0.15%
1931
902,965
+0.19%
1941
922,812
+0.22%
1951
948,592
+0.28%
Year
Pop.
±% p.a.
1961
991,648
+0.44%
1971
1,049,013
+0.56%
1981
1,076,146
+0.26%
1991
1,122,097
+0.42%
2001
1,134,976
+0.11%
2011
1,171,339
+0.32%
Pre-1998 statistics were gathered from local government areas that now comprise the non-metropolitan county Source: Great Britain Historical GIS.[52]
Culture
Symbols
The flag of the historic county of Lancashire
The Red Rose of Lancaster is the county flower found on the county's heraldic badge and flag. The rose was a symbol of the House of Lancaster, immortalised in the verse "In the battle for England's head/York was white, Lancaster red" (referring to the 15th-century Wars of the Roses). The traditional Lancashire flag, a red rose on a white field, was not officially registered. When an attempt was made to register it with the Flag Institute it was found that it was officially registered by Montrose in Scotland, several hundred years earlier with the Lyon Office. Lancashire's official flag is registered as a red rose on a gold field.
The county's most prominent football rivalries are the East Lancashire derby between Blackburn Rovers and Burnley, and the West Lancashire derby between Blackpool and Preston North End.
A further nine professional full-time teams lie within the historical borders of Lancashire but outside of the current ceremonial county. These include the Premier League clubs Everton, Liverpool, Manchester City and Manchester United.
Along with Yorkshire and Cumberland, Lancashire is recognised as the heartland of Rugby League. The county has produced many successful top flight clubs such as St. Helens, Wigan, Warrington, Oldham, Salford and Widnes. The county was once the focal point for many of the sport's professional competitions including the Lancashire League competition which ran from 1895 to 1970, and the Lancashire County Cup which ran until 1993. Rugby League has also seen a representative fixture between Lancashire and Yorkshire contested 89 times since its inception in 1895.[61] In recent times there were several rugby league teams that are based within the ceremonial county which include Blackpool Panthers, East Lancashire Lions, and Blackpool Sea Eagles.
Archery
There are many archery clubs located within Lancashire.[62] In 2004 Lancashire took the winning title at the Inter-counties championships from Yorkshire who had held it for 7 years.[63]
Lancashire has a long and highly productive tradition of music making. In the early modern era the county shared in the national tradition of balladry, including perhaps the finest border ballad, "The Ballad of Chevy Chase", thought to have been composed by the Lancashire-born minstrel Richard Sheale.[64] The county was also a common location for folk songs, including "The Lancashire Miller", "Warrington Ale" and "The soldier's farewell to Manchester", while Liverpool, as a major seaport, was the subject of many sea shanties, including "The Leaving of Liverpool" and "Maggie May",[65] beside several local Wassailing songs.[64] In the Industrial Revolution changing social and economic patterns helped create new traditions and styles of folk song, often linked to migration and patterns of work.[66] These included processional dances, often associated with rushbearing or the Wakes Week festivities, and types of step dance, most famously clog dancing.[66][67]
A local pioneer of folk song collection in the first half of the 19th century was Shakespearean scholar James Orchard Halliwell,[68] but it was not until the second folk revival in the 20th century that the full range of song from the county, including industrial folk song, began to gain attention.[67] The county produced one of the major figures of the revival in Ewan MacColl, but also a local champion in Harry Boardman, who from 1965 onwards probably did more than anyone to popularise and record the folk song of the county.[69] Perhaps the most influential folk artists to emerge from the region in the late 20th century were Liverpool folk group the Spinners, and from Manchester folk troubadour Roy Harper and musician, comedian and broadcaster Mike Harding.[70][71][72] The region is home to numerous folk clubs, many of them catering to Irish and Scottish folk music. Regular folk festivals include the Fylde Folk Festival at Fleetwood.[73]
Classical music
Lancashire had a lively culture of choral and classical music, with very large numbers of local church choirs from the 17th century,[74] leading to the foundation of local choral societies from the mid-18th century, often particularly focused on performances of the music of Handel and his contemporaries.[75] It also played a major part in the development of brass bands which emerged in the county, particularly in the textile and coalfield areas, in the 19th century.[76] The first open competition for brass bands was held at Manchester in 1853, and continued annually until the 1980s.[77] The vibrant brass band culture of the area made an important contribution to the foundation and staffing of the Hallé Orchestra from 1857, the oldest extant professional orchestra in the United Kingdom.[78] The same local musical tradition produced eminent figures such as Sir William Walton (1902–88), son of an Oldham choirmaster and music teacher,[79] Sir Thomas Beecham (1879–1961), born in St. Helens, who began his career by conducting local orchestras[80] and Alan Rawsthorne (1905–71) born in Haslingden.[81] The conductor David Atherton, co-founder of the London Sinfonietta, was born in Blackpool in 1944.[82] Lancashire also produced more populist figures, such as early musical theatre composer Leslie Stuart (1863–1928), born in Southport, who began his musical career as organist of Salford Cathedral.[83]
The Beatles began in Liverpool before the city's county was changed from Lancashire to Merseyside
Liverpool, both during its time in Lancashire and after being moved to the new county of Merseyside, has produced a number of successful musicians. This includes pop stars such as Frankie Vaughan and Lita Roza, as well as rock stars such as Billy Fury, who is considered to be one of the most successful British rock and roll stars of all time.[70] Many Lancashire towns had vibrant skiffle scenes in the late 1950s, out of which a culture of beat groups emerged by the early 1960s, particularly around Liverpool and Manchester. It has been estimated that there were at least 350 bands—including the Beatles—active in and around Liverpool during this era, playing ballrooms, concert halls, and clubs.[93] A number of Liverpool performers followed the Beatles into the charts, including Gerry & the Pacemakers, the Searchers, and Cilla Black.
The first musicians to break through in the UK who were not from Liverpool or managed by Beatles manager Brian Epstein were Manchester's Freddie and the Dreamers,[94] with Herman's Hermits and the Hollies also hailing from Manchester.[95] The Beatles led a movement by various beat groups from the region which culminated in the British Invasion of the US, which in turn made a major contribution to the development of modern rock music.[96] After the decline of beat groups in the late 1960s, the centre of rock culture shifted to London, and there were relatively few Lancashire bands who achieved national prominence until the growth of a disco scene and the punk rock revolution in the mid-and-late 1970s.[97]
Bury black pudding has long been associated with the county. The most notable brand, Chadwick's Original Bury Black Puddings, are still sold on Bury Market,[98] and are manufactured in Rossendale.
Butter cake: slice of bread and butter.
Butter pie: a savoury pie containing potatoes, onion and butter. Usually associated with Preston.
Clapbread: a thin oatcake made from unleavened dough cooked on a griddle.
Eccles cakes are small, round cakes filled with currants and made from flaky pastry with butter, originally made in Eccles.
Fag pie: pie made from chopped dried figs, sugar and lard. Associated with Blackburn and Burnley, where it was the highlight of Fag Pie Sunday (Mid-Lent Sunday).
Fish and chips: the first fish and chip shop in northern England opened in Mossley, near Oldham, around 1863.[99]
Whistle Down the Wind (1961) was directed by Bryan Forbes, set at the foot of Worsaw Hill and in Burnley, and starred local Lancashire schoolchildren.
The tunnel scene was shot on the old Bacup-Rochdale railway line, location 53°41'29.65"N, 2°11'25.18"W, off the A6066 (New Line) where the line passes beneath Stack Lane. The tunnel is still there, in use as an industrial unit but the railway has long since been removed.
Funny Bones (1995) was set mostly in Blackpool, after opening scenes in Las Vegas.
Rivington Pike, near Horwich, atop the West Pennine Moors, is one of the most popular walking destinations in the county; on a clear day the whole of the county can be viewed from here.
Queen Street Mill, the world's only surviving steam-driven cotton weaving shed, located in Burnley
^Harris and Thacker (1987). write on page 252: Certainly there were links between Cheshire and south Lancashire before 1000, when Wulfric Spot held lands in both territories. Wulfric's estates remained grouped together after his death, when they were left to his brother Aelfhelm. And indeed, there still seems to have been some kind of connexion in 1086, when south Lancashire was surveyed together with Cheshire by the Domesday commissioners. Nevertheless, the two territories do seem to have been distinguished from one another in some way and it is not certain that the shire-moot and the reeves referred to in the south Lancashire section of Domesday were the Cheshire ones.
^Crosby, A. (1996). writes on page 31: The Domesday Survey (1086) included south Lancashire with Cheshire for convenience, but the Mersey, the name of which means 'boundary river' is known to have divided the kingdoms of Northumbria and Mercia and there is no doubt that this was the real boundary.
^"Lancashire: County History". The High Sherrifs' Association of England and Wales. High Sheriff's Association of England and Wales (The Shrievalty Association). Archived from the original on 20 March 2012. Retrieved 26 August 2013.
^OPSIArchived 30 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine – The Cheshire, Lancashire and Merseyside (County and Metropolitan Borough Boundaries) Order 1993
^Christopher Thomond (13 August 2013). "Eyewitness: Lytham, Lancashire"(Image upload). The Guardian. Archived from the original on 4 March 2014. Retrieved 14 August 2013.
^ abD. Gregory, The Songs of the People for Me: The Victorian Rediscovery of Lancashire Vernacular Song', Canadian Folk Music/Musique folklorique canadienne, 40 (2006), pp. 12–21.
^J. Shepherd, D. Horn, and D. Laing, Continuum Encyclopedia of Popular Music of the World (London: Continuum, 2003), ISBN0-8264-7436-5, p. 360.
^ abG. Boyes, The Imagined Village: Culture, Ideology, and the English Folk Revival (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1993), 0-71902-914-7, p. 214.
^E. D. Gregory, Victorian Songhunters: the Recovery and Editing of English Vernacular Ballads and Folk Lyrics, 1820–1883 (Lanham, MD: Scarecrow, 2006), ISBN0-8108-5703-0, p. 248.
^Folk North West, "Harry Boardman". Archived from the original on 12 February 2009. Retrieved 25 February 2009., retrieved 16 February 2009.
^ abP. Frame, Pete Frame's Rockin' Around Britain: Rock'n'Roll Landmarks of the UK and Ireland (London: Music Sales Group, 1999), ISBN0-7119-6973-6, pp. 72–6.
^R. Cowgill and P. Holman, Music in the British Provinces, 1690–1914 (Aldershot: Ashgate Publishing, Ltd., 2007), ISBN0-7546-3160-5, p. 207.
^R. Southey, Music-Making in North-East England During the Eighteenth Century (Aldershot: Ashgate Publishing, 2006), ISBN0-7546-5097-9, pp. 131–2.
^D. Russell, Popular Music in England, 1840–1914: a Social History (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1987), ISBN0-7190-2361-0, p. 163.
^A. Baines, The Oxford Companion to Musical Instruments (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1992), ISBN0-19-311334-1, p. 41.
^D. Russell, Popular Music in England, 1840–1914: a Social History (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1987), ISBN0-7190-2361-0, p. 230.
^D. Clark and J. Staines, Rough Guide to Classical Music (Rough Guides, 3rd edn., 2001), ISBN1-85828-721-9, p. 568.
^L. Jenkins, While Spring and Summer Sang: Thomas Beecham and the Music of Frederick Delius (Aldershot: Ashgate Publishing, 2005), ISBN0-7546-0721-6, p. 1.
^J. McCabe, Alan Rawsthorne: Portrait of a Composer (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999), ISBN0-19-816693-1.
^V. Bogdanov, C. Woodstra and S. T. Erlewine, All Music Guide to Rock: the Definitive Guide to Rock, Pop and Soul (Milwaukee, WI: Backbeat Books, 3rd edn., 2002), ISBN0-87930-653-X, p. 532.
^V. Bogdanov, C. Woodstra and S. T. Erlewine, All Music Guide to Rock: the Definitive Guide to Rock, Pop, and Soul (Milwaukee, WI: Backbeat Books, 3rd edn., 2002), ISBN0-87930-653-X, pp. 1316–7.
^S. Cohen, Rock Culture in Liverpool: Popular Music in the Making (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1991), ISBN0-19-816178-6, p. 14.
^"Uncle Joe's Mint Balls". Uncle Joe's Favourites. Wm Santus & Co. Ltd. 2013. Archived from the original on 27 August 2013. Retrieved 14 August 2013.
Bibliography
Crosby, A. (1996). A History of Cheshire. (The Darwen County History Series.) Chichester, West Sussex, UK: Phillimore & Co. Ltd. ISBN0-85033-932-4.
Harris, B. E., and Thacker, A. T. (1987). The Victoria History of the County of Chester. (Volume 1: Physique, Prehistory, Roman, Anglo-Saxon, and Domesday). Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN0-19-722761-9.
Morgan, P. (1978). Domesday Book Cheshire: Including Lancashire, Cumbria, and North Wales. Chichester, Sussex: Phillimore & Co. Ltd. ISBN0-85033-140-4.
Phillips A. D. M., and Phillips, C. B. (2002), A New Historical Atlas of Cheshire. Chester, UK: Cheshire County Council and Cheshire Community Council Publications Trust. ISBN0-904532-46-1.
Sylvester, D. (1980). A History of Cheshire. (The Darwen County History Series). (2nd Edition.) London and Chichester, Sussex: Phillimore & Co. Ltd. ISBN0-85033-384-9.
Lancashire On Line Parish Clerk an active project to transcribe and publish records of Births, Marriages and Deaths in Lancashire from the time records began in Edward VI's reign
Lancashire Archives' online catalogue - over 1 million descriptions of unique historical documents, accessible to the public, which tell the county's story
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