Prescot
| Prescot | |
| Lancashire | |
|---|---|
 Eccleston Street, Prescot | |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | SJ4692 |
| Location: | 53°25’19"N, 2°48’50"W |
| Data | |
| Population: | 11,184 (2001) |
| Post town: | Prescot |
| Postcode: | L34, L35 |
| Dialling code: | 0151 |
| Local Government | |
| Council: | Knowsley |
| Parliamentary constituency: |
Knowsley St Helens South and Whiston |
Prescot is a town in Lancashire, eight miles east of Liverpool city centre and greatly affected by its conurbation. At the 2001, the population was 11,184 according to the census.
Prescot marks the beginning of the A58 road which runs through to Wetherby in Yorkshire. The town is served by Prescot railway station and Eccleston Park railway station.
Churches
The centre of Prescot has seven churches. Dominating the skyline is the 17th century Parish Church, St Mary's.
- Church of England:
- St Mary's
- Independent: Gospel Hall
- Methodist:
- Prescot Methodist Church
- Zion Independent Methodist Church
- Salvation Army
- Pentecostal: Elim Pentecostal (Prescot Community Church)
- Plymouth Brethren
- Roman Catholic: Our Lady and St Joseph.
History
Prescot's name is believed to be derived from the Old English preost cot, meaning "Priest cottage".
In the 14th century, William Dacre, 2nd Baron Dacre, obtained a charter for the holding of a three-day market and moveable fair at Prescot, to begin on the Wednesday following Corpus Christi.[1]
From about 1593 and into the early years of the 17th century, Prescot was home to the Prescot Playhouse, a purpose-built cockpit theatre.
During the 18th and 19th centuries it was at the centre of the watch and clockmaking industry. This ended with the failure of the Lancashire Watch Company in 1910. In later years BICC Cables was the main employer in the town.[2]
Tourism, leisure and places of interest
Prescot Museum houses a permanent exhibition about the history of clock- and watch-making in the town, and several temporary exhibitions per year. The Georgian building is now also home to Knowsley Council's Arts and Events Service.
On the edge of the town is the famous estate of Lord Derby, which includes Knowsley Safari Park.
In recent years, a number of cultural and arts events have been established in the town, including the annual 10-day Prescot Festival of Music and the Arts and an annual Elizabethan Fayre.
Sport
- Football: Prescot Cables FC
Outside links
- Liverpool Street Gallery - Liverpool 34
- Arts in Prescot News about arts and entertainment in the area, including the Annual Prescot Festival of Music and the Arts
- Historical Archives Local government collection of pictures, photos and information about the town
- The Prescotian Site for alumni of the historic Prescot Grammar School
- Prescot Parish Church
- Prescot Roll of Honour Web site dedicated to the commemoration of the men of Prescot who gave their lives in the Great War 1914-1919
- Prescot History in Films A collection of Films Old & New depicting Prescot through the ages
References
- ↑ Edward Baines, William Robert Whatton, Brooke Herford, James Croston, The history of the county palatine and duchy of Lancaster, vol. 5 (J. Heywood, 1893), p. 2
- ↑ BICC was Prescot, Prescot was BICC, http://www.lmu.livjm.ac.uk/BICC, retrieved 9 June 2006