Chorley
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Chorley is a market town in Lancashire, Great Britain, south of Preston and at the foot of the West Pennine Moors. It is the seat for the borough of Chorley and has been twinned with the former Hungarian capital, Székesfehérvár since 1991. Chorley is also linked with the American town of Duxbury as it is named after a part of the town and founded by one of the towns most famous sons; Myles Standish. Chorley has a population of 101,991 according to the last census.
Chorley borders the towns of Bamber Bridge, Blackburn, Bolton, Leyland, Ormskirk and Wigan.
The current mayor is councillor Mary Wilson whilst the Member of Parliament (MP) is Lindsay Hoyle.
Today, the borough of Chorley is made up of the town and the surrounding villages. The borough contains several railway stations with the main being Chorley railway station located in town centre. The town's wealth mainly came from the cotton industry, remnants of which in the form of the Morrisons chimney still exist. Today Chorley exists acts mainly as a satellite town for neighbouring Bolton and Preston.
History
The name Chorley means the "Ley" - an opening in the woods, not quite a field - by the River Chor. A settlement has existed at Chorley since at least the bronze age. A farmer at Astley Hall Farm found a pottery burial urn from this period in 1963. This find was followed up with further excavations, with further artifacts being found. Objects from these excavations are on display at the hall's museum.
During the Roman era Chorley was not a settlement but a Roman road ran near Chorley for Wigan. It is believed that some Roman's did settle at Brindle to the north of the town as Roman remains were discovered in the late 1950s.
A market charter was granted to the town in the 1250s, and there is evidence from 1498 that the market was actually taking place. Nowadays, the town has two markets, the Flat Iron Market and the Covered Market. For one weekend each year, French market traders sell their produce in the town, with Chorley's merchants returning the favour in France. The market has a number of specialist cheesemongers who purvey the local Lancashire cheese in various forms. Also sold is the famous Chorley Cake.
During 1442 a local Noble named Sir Rowland Standish (Related to Myles Standish) who had fought at Agincourt brought back to Chorley the skull of Saint Lawrence and interred them at an altar at the parish church. With the bones interned there the Church was renamed St. Lawrence's. Records of this are mentioned in the Harleian Manuscripts. The bones were not off the 3rd century saint but are believed to be the bones of Lorcán Ua Tuathail a saint canonised as St. Lawrence from Dublin who died in Normandy in the 12th century. The bones went missing in the Reformation under the rule of King Henry VIII
According to the apocryphal story, Sirloin steak was officially knighted by James I at Hoghton Tower, a large stately home on the outskirts of the town, where William Shakespeare once worked. Astley Hall is a more central stately home, set in the middle of the town's largest park, Astley Park. Oliver Cromwell visited here on his trek through the region.
In 1745 when Preston was taken by Jacobites Chorley was a mustering point for soldiers to attack the town. Also folklore recalls the Jacobites travelling through Chorley at a later date on the way back to Scotland without attacking the town due to the local support in the gentry for their cause.
Chorley like most Lancashire towns gained its wealth from the industrial revolution of the 19th century which was also responsible for the town's growth. Chorley was a vital cottam town with many Mills loitering the skyline. Today only three mills still remain working. Also Chorley in its location was vital in coal mining. Several exisited in Duxbury Woods with the biggest being located at the end of Grundy's Lane and another located on the current site of Chorley Conference Centre on Carr Lane. The last to close was the Ellerbeck Colliery in 1987 which was located in south Adlington.
During the 1950s a De Havilland Vampire flying from nearby Samlesbury Aerodrome crashed at Ellerbeck Colliery killing the pilot.
The town was also vital during World War II as it was home to the Royal Ordnance Factory, a large munitions factory in the village of Euxton around 2 miles outside the town centre.
In the 1970s, Chorley was designated as part of Central Lancashire new town, together with Preston and Leyland. The original aim of this project was to combine the three settlements into a single city with a population of around half a million. Although this never came to pass, and the project has since been abandoned, Chorley benefited from the urban renewal commonly associated with new towns. Examples include a bypass of the town centre, and the Market Walk shopping centre.
As the 21st Century progresses, Chorley will grow significantly in size as the new Buckshaw Village gets built on the former explosives area of the ROF Chorley site, the old munitions factory at Euxton.
2000 saw the building of the largest Mormon temple outside Salt Lake City in Chorley, known as the Preston Temple.
Industry
In days gone by, as with most towns in Lancashire, Chorley was a mining town, evidence of which can be seen by the various abandoned quarries on the outskirts of the town. One of the most beautiful of these is Anglezarke quarry, found between Chorley and Horwich. A lot of reminents can be found of mining including the old railway bridge belonging to Duxbury Mine on Wigan Lane.
Chorley today still does have some clothing factories but far fewer than it had in the 19th century. Chorley is now mainly a service town but is home to a Leyland Trucks factory, BAE Systems factory and a John Smiths brewery. Chorley is also home to the headquarters of Pontins.
Currently the former ROF site is being built over into Europe's biggest new town, Buckshaw Village. The site will consist of homes and several large factories. In 2005 it was announced that part of the former ROF will become a facility for the RAC firm LEX. The previous facility was on a former Leyland Trucks factory.
Education
Chorley is home to numerous primary schools both council and church supported.
Chorley has these 6 high schools:
- Albany County High School
- Bishop Rawstorne CE High School
- Holy Cross RC High School
- Parklands County High School
- Southlands County High School
- St. Michael's CE High School
Most Chorley children go on to attend the nearby Runshaw College in Leyland. Runshaw College has also expanded into the former Administration site of ROF Chorley and is using, amongst others, the main Administration Building.
Lancashire College, based in Chorley, is a part of Lancashire County Council's Lancashire Adult Learning, offering a wide range of courses, a speciality being intensive residential language courses.
Chorley is also home to the cadet forces with Chorley Detachment Army Cadets, 92 Squadron ATC and the Sea Cadets.
Sport
Chorley is home to the semi-professional football team, Chorley F.C., also known as the magpies due to their black and white strip. Founded as a rugby team in 1875, they switched to playing football eight years later. Since then they have had limited success, with their most memorable moments being two appearances in the second round of the FA Cup, and two seasons in the Football Conference in the late 1980s. They currently play in the Northern Premier League First Division.
The town and surrounding boroughs boast a number of cricket clubs, with two teams taking the town name. Chorley Cricket Club currently play in the Northern League, and were finalists in the ECB National Knockout Cup for three consecutive seasons from 1994 to 1996, winning the trophy on the first two occasions. Chorley St James Cricket Club are the second side in the town, competing in the Southport & District Amateur Cricket League, having been members of the Chorley League until its demise in 2005.
Until 2004, Chorley also boasted a Rugby League side, Chorley Lynx, who played in league two of the national league. However, the club was forced to close in 2004 due to small crowds and the withdrawal of funding by backer Trevor Hemmings. Many of the club's players and staff joined the newly formed Blackpool Panthers, operating out of nearby Blackpool.
Media
Nationally Chorley is often portrayed as a barometer of public opinion, especially during political campaigns as it has both a large rural and urban mix.
Chorley has two local newspapers: the Chorley Guardian and the Chorley Citizen.
A British comedy television show, Phoenix Nights, cited Chorley's radio station, Chorley FM, whose slogan was "Coming in your ears". The station based in Chorley originally broadcast for only a few weeks, but in 2005 received a licence to broadcast from Chorley community centre.
Divisions
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Places of interest nearby
- Astley Hall
- Camelot Theme Park
- Chorley Mormon Temple
- Duxbury Woods
- Heskin Hall
- Leeds & Liverpool Canal
- Park Hall
- Yarrow Valley Park
- Winter Hill TV Mast which is visible from most points in the town.
- Rivington Pike
Chorley also has a number of large parks, including Astley Park to the north and Duxbury Park, to the south of the town.
Famous residents
- Kathleen Ferrier (opera singer)
- Paul Mariner (England international footballer)
- Steve Pemberton (comedian)
- Dave Spikey (comedian)
- Jason Queally (Olympic cyclist)
- Kevin Simm (from Liberty X pop group)
- Ken Morley (actor)
- Michael Jennings (boxer)
- Phil Cool (comedian)
- Bill Beaumont (former England rugby captain)
- Starsailor (pop group)
- Myles Standish (former of the Pilgrim Fathers)
- Charles Lightoller (Highest ranking crew member to survive the RMS Titanic)
- Sir Henry Tate (sugar magnate and founder of the Tate Gallery in London)
- David Unsworth (footballer)
- Paul Grayson (England rugby union player)
- Derek Draper (former Labour spin doctor and newspaper columnist)
- Colonel Silvester (leader of Lancashire Militia at Peterloo)
- Allistar Holdsworth
- Trevor Hemmings (Millonaire Businessman)
References
- A History of Chorley, By Jim Heyes. 1994. ISBN 1-871236-31-2