Arkholme

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Arkholme
Lancashire

Arkholme motte and the west end of the church
Location
Grid reference: SD582722
Location: 54°8’39"N, 2°38’29"W
Data
Population: 334  (2001)
Post town: Carnforth
Postcode: LA6
Dialling code: 01524
Local Government
Council: Lancaster
Parliamentary
constituency:
Morecambe and Lunesdale

Arkholme is a village in northern Lancashire, within the civil parish of "Arkholme-with-Cawood", though there is no hamlet of Cawood. The parish had a population of 334 recorded in the 2001 census.

The village is on the north side of the River Lune, and running down to its banks. The village of Melling lies across the river, joined to it across the flood meadows only by a footpath and ford. Arkholme is north east of Lancaster and stands on the B6254 road.

Cawood

Cawood was originally the forest owned by the Lords of Hornby, hence the "wood" in its name.[1]

Church

In the village is the 15th-century Church of St John the Baptist.[2]

History

Arkholme is a small village forming part of a cluster of villages and hamlets along the Lune Valley, each with evidence of a motte, as with Melling and Whittington. Arkholme has no surviving bailey. This is the densest distribution of Norman castles outside of the Welsh border countryside.

The village was served by the Furness and Midland Joint Railway line until 1960. A tunnel took the line from Wennington (where it connected with the Midland Railway) to Melling, the next station being at Arkholme.

Thankful Village

Arkholme is one of only two Thankful Villages in Lancashire – those rare places that suffered no fatalities during the Great War of 1914 to 1918. This small village sent by far the biggest number from one village and parish off to war – 59. It is remarkable that all 59 returned to their homes. A nearby village, Nether Kellet, five miles to the south-west, sent 21 men and it, too, is a Thankful Village – all their men returned.

Both Arkholme and Nether Kellet were also doubly Thankful Villages, as they suffered no loss of their men in either the First World War nor the Second, which is a remarkable co-incidence as Twice Thankful Villages are very rare.

References

Outside links

("Wikimedia Commons" has material
about Arkholme and Cawood)