Goosnargh
| Goosnargh | |
| Lancashire | |
|---|---|
 Goosnargh Parish Church, St Mary the Virgin | |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | SD557367 |
| Location: | 53°49’26"N, 2°40’26"W |
| Data | |
| Population: | 1,316 (2011) |
| Post town: | Preston |
| Postcode: | PR3 |
| Dialling code: | 01772 |
| Local Government | |
| Council: | Preston |
Goosnargh is a village and civil parish in Lancashire, lying between Broughton and Longridge. It mostly falls within the civil parish of Whittingham, although the ancient centre lies in the civil parish of Goosnargh. The parish of Goosnargh had a population of 1,204 recorded in the 2001 census,[1] increasing to 1,316 at the 2011 Census.[2]
Contents
Etymology
The name, meaning "Gosan's or Gusan's hill pasture", derives from (an Old Irish personal name) and erg (Norse for "hill pasture"). The name appeared in the Domesday Book as "Gusansarghe" but by 1212 had changed to "Gosenargh", closer to today's pronunciation.[3] However, one reference suggested "Gusansarghe" was from Old Norse gudhsins hörgi (related to hörgr), meaning "at the idol's (god's) temple."[4]
Goosnargh village
The Anglican parish church of St Mary the Virgin is situated on Church Lane. Trinity Methodist Church, originally dating from the early 1880s, is situated on Whittingham Lane.[5]
Goosnargh has two public houses, The Grapes located on Church Lane and The Stags Head on Whittingham Lane. The Bushells Arms located on Church Lane has closed.
There is also a Post Office, hairdresser, pharmacy, village hall and a fish and chip shop in the village. There used to be a gift shop and an estate agent in the village but these have closed down. The village is also the location of the Whittingham and Goosnargh Social Club.
The village holds an annual festival on the first Saturday after the Spring Bank Holiday Monday during which there is a procession through the village. The procession includes decorated floats, fancy dress, maypole dancing and marching bands.
The village gave its name to the Goosnargh Cake, a type of caraway seed shortcake biscuit. Goosnargh Cornfed Chicken and Duck is championed by chefs including Gordon Ramsay.[6]
The beams in the 900-year-old local church have traces of sea salt in them. People believe they were from old Viking long boats.
Goosnargh village has a primary school: Goosnargh Oliversons C of E.
Bushell House, formerly known as Bushell's Hospital, on Mill Lane, is a retirement home and a Grade-II listed building dating from 1722.[7]
Goosnargh parish
Goosnargh parish includes the small villages of Inglewhite and Whitechapel, and Beacon Fell Country Park.
The parish contains the Roman Catholic church of St Francis, Hill Chapel, and an adjoining Catholic primary school of the same name. The sixteenth-century Catholic martyr George Beesley was born at the site.[8]
Only one side of one road in Goosnargh village, including the parish church, lies within Goosnargh parish; almost all of the village lies within adjacent Whittingham parish. This may explain why the village is sometimes referred to as "Goosnargh and Whittingham", as if there were two villages. Some road signs on entering the village display "Goosnargh and Whittingham". The website of the local "Goosnargh & Whittingham Whitsuntide Festival" refers to "the twin villages of Goosnargh and Whittingham".[9] An article in a local newspaper also refers to "the villages of Whittingham and Goosnargh".[10] However, the website of Whittingham Parish Council[11] refers only to the village of Goosnargh.
Local businesses
Two miles out of Goosnargh village is Ye Horns Inn, noted for its roast duck and incorporating the Goosnargh Brewing Company. The brewery produces a number of beers including Goosnargh Gold, Goosnargh Truckle and Real Goosnargh Bitter (RGB).
Five of the ten Lancashire cheese dairies listed on the British Cheese Board's website in 2009 are located in Goosnargh parish: Butler's, Greenfields, Mrs Kirkham's, Shorrocks and Carron Lodge.[12]
Fallout bunker
During the Second World War the operations bunker of RAF Barton Hall was located at a site on Langley Lane on the border of the parishes of Goosnargh and Whittingham. After the War the Royal Observer Corps 21 Group Headquarters and the Western Sector Control of the United Kingdom Warning and Monitoring Organisation took over the bunker. In the bunker was the standby national control of the famous Four-minute warning air-raid warning system for the UK. The ROC and UKWMO were disbanded between 1991 and 1995 and the nuclear bunker was closed.[13][14]The premises are now used as a Veterinary practice.
In popular culture
The name "Goosnargh" appears in the works of Douglas Adams. In So Long, and Thanks For All the Fish, it is a Betelgeusian word used by Ford Prefect "when he knew he should say something but didn't know what it should be". Alternatively, in The Meaning of Liff, his comic dictionary based on British place names, it is defined as "Something left over from preparing or eating a meal, which you store in the fridge despite the fact that you know full well you will never ever use it".
References
- ↑ "Parish headcount". Lancashire County Council. Archived from the original on 10 December 2006. https://web.archive.org/web/20061210214612/http://www.lancashireparishcouncils.gov.uk/documents/information/Parish_headcount.pdf. Retrieved 2009-01-10.
- ↑ "Civil Parish population 2011". http://www.neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/LeadKeyFigures.do?a=7&b=11123800&c=goosnargh+cp&d=16&e=62&g=6442148&i=1001x1003x1032x1004&m=0&r=1&s=1453129201438&enc=1. Retrieved 16 January 2016.
- ↑ Lancashire Towns and Villages Retrieved on 29 October 2008
- ↑ Taylor, Isaac (1896). Names and Their Histories: Alphabetically Arranged as a Handbook of Historical Geography and Topographical Nomenclature. London: Rivington, Percival & Co. pp. 390. https://books.google.com/books?id=cNkNAAAAQAAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_navlinks_s#v=onepage&q=&f=false.
- ↑ "Trinity Methodist Church Goosnargh". trinitygoosnargh.org.uk. http://trinitygoosnargh.org.uk/. Retrieved 11 April 2013.
- ↑ Gordon Ramsay's Claridge's menu, retrieved on 29 October 2008
- ↑ "Bushells Hospital, Goosnargh" at britishlistedbuildings.co.uk
- ↑ Camm, B. (1907), "Ven. George Beesley", The Catholic Encyclopedia, New York: Robert Appleton Company, retrieved 27 June 2009
- ↑ Goosnargh & Whittingham Whitsuntide Festival: 2008 Festival, accessed 5 November 2007
- ↑ "Sports association up off the blocks", Longridge News, 3 May 2007, accessed online 6 November 2007
- ↑ Lancashire Parish Portal: Whittingham Parish Council, accessed 5 November 2007
- ↑ The Lancashire Dairies, British Cheese Board, accessed 27 June 2009
- ↑ Hunt, D. (2003), The Wharncliffe Companion to Preston — An A to Z of Local History, Wharncliffe Books, Barnsley, ISBN 1-903425-79-4, p.151
- ↑ Subterranea Britannica: Royal Observer Corps: Preston, accessed 6 November 2007
Outside links
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("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Goosnargh) |
