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Chorley

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This is an old revision of this page, as edited by StuIsCool (talk | contribs) at 03:28, 3 January 2007 (Undo revision 98093662 by 86.144.33.51 (talk)). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

For other uses, see Chorley (disambiguation).

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File:Chorley library.jpg
Chorley Library

Chorley is a market town in Lancashire, England, south of Preston and at the foot of the West Pennine Moors. It is the seat for the borough of Chorley which is made up of Chorley and its surrounding villages. Chorley had a population of 33,424 as of the 2001 census, with the wider borough of Chorley having a population of 101,991. Chorley forms a conurbation with Preston and Leyland and was designated as part of the Central Lancashire New Town.

Chorley is near to the city of Preston and the towns of 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.

History

The name Chorley came from Anglo-Saxon Ceorla-lēah = "the peasants' clearing". The name of the River Chor was back-formed from "Chorley". The principal river in the town is the River Yarrow. The Black Brook is a tributary of the Yarrow. The River Chor runs not far from the centre of the modern town, notably through Astley Park.

A settlement has existed at Chorley since at least the Bronze Age. The earliest find came from 3500 BC on Anglezarke as the site known as Round Loaf was discovered. 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 Romans did settle at Brindle to the north of the town, as Roman remains were discovered there 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 (a relative of Myles Standish, who captained the Mayflower), 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 of 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, James I after a good meal, officially knighted Sirloin steak ("Sir" loin) 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.

Chorley became incoroprated as a municipal borough in 1881. The town's population has remained roughly static in the 20th century, with the 1911 census showing 30,315 people and the 1971 census showing 31,665. Under the Local Government Act 1972, Chorley became the core of a larger non-metropolitan district of Chorley on April 1, 1974.

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 largest new town project Buckshaw Village outside the proposed Thames Gateway. 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.

Many people today commute out of the town to local industry and offices. Nearby major emplyers include; BAE Systems and Leyland Trucks.

Transport

Road

Chorley is cut through by the A6 Roman road which goes straight through the town centre. The town is also near to the M61 of which Junction 6 and 8 serving the town. Also the M6 motorway serves the west of the town with Junction 27 connecting the town to the motorway, Charnock Richard services on the M6 are located in Chorley Borough.

Bus

Chorley's main form of public transport is the bus and it has a very modern central bus station known as Chorley Interchange.

Rail

Chorley borough has many railway stations but the main central station is Chorley railway station in the town centre. The station is used by:

Waterways

The Leeds and Liverpool Canal runs parallel to Chorley and several marinas and locks are located on the Chorley area of the Leeds and Liverpool Canal. Marinas along the canal include:

  • White Bear Marina, Adlington
  • Cowling Launch, Chorley
  • Top Lock, Whittle

Education

Chorley is home to numerous primary schools both council and church supported.

Chorley has these 6 high schools:

Some private schools are also present just outside the boroughs.

A few 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.

In terms of local sporting facilities the town is home to a large council owned leisure centre; All Season which contains a 25 metre swimming pool, two sports halls, squash courts and a fitness suite. The town also includes other gym facilities, two other council owned leisure centres; Clayton Green and Coppull and another public swimming pool at Brinscall. The town is also home to a Next Generation fitness centre and other private pools and leisure centres.

The town is also home to many amateur football, rugby and cricket teams. There are also several grass football pitches, bowling greens and tennis courts in the town. A public outdoor swimming pool did exist in Astley Park but was demolished in the '90's due to Health and Safety fears.

Media

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Chorley FM logo

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.

As well as Pheonix Nights comedian Dave Spikey based on and filmed most of his comedy series Dead Man Weds in Chorley. Steve Pemberton the creator of The League of Gentlemen has based most of its characters on folk from Chorley (including a headteacher of a certain high school), as well as this the town that the show is set is said to based on the village of Adlington in Chorley Borough.

Chorley has appeared on Youtube and a film about the town titled Chorley: Where people go to fight.

Commerce

Chorley town centre is the main source of shopping facilities in the town. Shops such as W.H. Smith, Argos and Woolworths to name a few have a presence in the town. The town centre in recent years has seen the new Market Walk development and the building a new town centre Booths supermarket.

The town is also famous for its market heritage and is quoted as Lancashire's market town. The outdoor market which has ran for over 200 years takes place every Tuesday on the Flat Iron. There is also a covered market place in the market square.

As well as these Chorley has seen development out of town including retail parks which have seen the addition of Currys and B&Q to name a few. Chorley is also home to three of the four big supermarkets, including Asda, Morrisons and Tesco.

Chorley is also near to the Middlebrook retail park and the Trafford Centre. Also Chorley is only a stones throw away from Bolton, Preston and Manchester.

Divisions

These are the council wards within Chorley Borough:

Places of interest nearby

Rivington Pike Tower. This can be seen from many parts of the town

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

Sir Henry Tate

Twin Towns

Chorley is also linked with the American town of Duxbury, Massachusetts which was named after a part of the town and founded by one of the towns most famous sons, Myles Standish.

References

  • A History of Chorley, By Jim Heyes. 1994. ISBN 1-871236-31-2
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