Elswick, Lancashire
| Elswick | |
| Lancashire | |
|---|---|
 Elswick United Reformed Church | |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | SD421384 |
| Location: | 53°50’20"N, 2°52’48"W |
| Data | |
| Population: | 1,079 (2011) |
| Post town: | Preston |
| Postcode: | PR4 |
| Dialling code: | 01995 |
| Local Government | |
| Council: | Fylde |
| Parliamentary constituency: |
Fylde |
Elswick is a rural village on the Fylde coast of Lancashire, some eight and a half miles east of Blackpool and twelve miles north-west of Preston. The 2011 Census recorded a population of 1,079.
At the Norman Conquest in 1066, Elswick was a small agricultural community in the Hundred of Amounderness. The village was originally part of the ecclesiastical parish of St Michael's on Wyre. A Nonconformist chapel was built in Elswick before 1650.
History
Elswick appears in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Edeleswic, and its area was estimated at three carucates of land.[1]. In later documents it is recorded variously as Etleswhic, Etheliswyck and Elleswyk.[1]
At the time of the Norman conquest in 1066, Elswick was in the possession of Earl Tostig, the brother of King Harold II. After Tostig's death at the Battle of Stamford Bridge and the Norman conquest which followed quickly upon it, his lands were forfeit to the Crown. Between 1069 and 1086 King William gave Amounderness to Roger the Poitevin.[2]
In the 13th century, part of the township of Elswick was owned by the lord of Freckleton, and smaller parts by Warine de Whittingham and Alan de Singleton.[1] In the early 16th century, Henry VII's administrator Edmund Dudley held the township and it was later in the possession of Thomas Stanley, 2nd Earl of Derby.[3]
Elswick was part of the Parish of St Michael's on Wyre and Elswick's villagers would have worshipped at St Michael's Church approximately five miles away.[3][4] By 1650 a chapel had been built in the village which at that point was recorded as containing 50 families.[3] It was intended to be a chapel of ease to St Michael's but was neither endowed nor |consecrated, possibly because of the turmoil of the Civil War.[5] The chapel was licensed in 1671 for use as a Nonconformists' meeting place and used initially by Presbyterian worshippers.[6] When this licence was declared void, the chapel closed and later reopened as a Congregational chapel. In 1753, it was replaced by a new building, which was enlarged in 1838. This in turn was replaced by a chapel built 1873–74 by H. J. Powell, on land given by a Miss Harrison.[7][8]
In 1902, a sanatorium for smallpox sufferers was built in the village. It was later a treatment centre for tuberculosis patients and then a probation hostel.[9] It is now a private residence.
Between 1951 and 1956 just off the Roseacre Road between Elswick and Roseacre was the site of a VHF fixer station, part of the RAF Western Sector, and was one of a number similar fixed sites managed by nearby RAF Longley Lane.[10] The site contained an octagonal wooden hut with a hand steerable radio mast with two radio receivers of type R1392D, transmitter and telephone line. This hut was protected by a close surrounding octagonal brick wall to provide some bomb blast protection. The station was used to allow each sector to locate RAF or allied aircraft and to help pilots find airfield runways in low cloud weather conditions. The site had three RAF wireless personnel (two were normally on duty) who were billeted in Elswick village. The site closed in around 1956 as the technology was replaced by improved systems.
Historically, Elswick has largely been a rural agricultural community.[9] In the 11th century it had the largest amount of cultivated land in the parish of St Michael.[11] There was also a cottage weaving industry in the village up to the 19th century with villagers weaving flax and then cotton on hand looms.[9] In the 21st century, Elswick is a commuter village from which many residents commute to Preston, Blackpool and Poulton-le-Fylde.[12][13]
About the village
The Congregational chapel of 1753 is now used as a church hall. It is a roughcast building on a rectangular plan with a two-storey house attached. The old chapel is a Grade II listed building.[14] The newer chapel, completed in 1874, is in the style of a traditional parish church with a tower.[7] It is now a United Reformed church.[12]
Elswick Manor is an early 19th-century house.[15] It is rendered and has slate roofs.[7] It has also received a Grade II designation.[15] Hartwell and Pevsner (2009) describe the building as "nothing special".[7] Other listed buildings in Elswick include the lodge to the manor house and farm buildings.
The village has two pubs—the Ship Inn and the Boot and Shoe.[12] The village is known locally for its ice cream parlour, Bonds of Elswick.[12]
Transport
The railway came to the Fylde in 1840.[16] There is no route through Elswick; the nearest railway stations to the village are Poulton-le-Fylde and Kirkham and Wesham, both on the line between Blackpool and Preston. Elswick lies west of the M6 motorway and is linked to it by the M55 motorway approximately four miles away at Greenhalgh and by the B5269 road by way of Broughton.
Outside links
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("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Elswick, Lancashire) |
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Townships — Elswick in A History of the County of Lancaster - Volume 7 pp 282–284: {{{2}}} (Victoria County History)
- ↑ Gooderson, p. 36
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Porter, p. 471
- ↑ The Parish of St Michael-on-Wyre in A History of the County of Lancaster - Volume 7 pp 260–267: {{{2}}} (Victoria County History)
- ↑ Fishwick, pp. 127–128
- ↑ Fishwick, p 128
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 Nikolaus Pevsner: Pevsner Architectural Guides
- ↑ Fishwick, p 132
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 Lancashire Federation of Women's Institutes, pp, 78–79
- ↑ Britannica
- ↑ Fishwick, p. 20
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 12.3 About Elswick - Elswick Parish Council (2008)
- ↑ Elswick Parish Council
- ↑ National Heritage List 1072053: Old Congregational Chapel
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 National Heritage List 1072055: Elswick Manor
- ↑ Porter, p. 82
- Elswick Village History – Elswick Parish Council
Books
- A History of the County of Lancaster - Volume 7 : {{{2}}} (Victoria County History)
- Fishwick, Henry: 'The History of the Parish of St. Michaels-on-Wyre in the County of Lancaster' (1891)
- Gooderson, P. J.: 'A History of Lancashire' (Batsford, 1980) ISBN 0-7134-2588-1
- Nikolaus Pevsner: Pevsner Architectural Guides
- 'The Lancashire Village Book' by the Lancashire Federation of Women's Institutes (Countryside Books, 1990) ISBN 1-85306-076-3
- Porter, John: 'History of the Fylde of Lancashire' (W. Porter, 1876)