Up Holland
| Up Holland | |
| Lancashire | |
|---|---|
 St Thomas the Martyr, Upholland | |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | SD518052 |
| Location: | 53°32’28"N, 2°43’41"W |
| Data | |
| Population: | 7,376 (2011) |
| Post town: | Skelmersdale |
| Postcode: | WN8 |
| Dialling code: | 01695 |
| Local Government | |
| Council: | West Lancashire |
| Parliamentary constituency: |
West Lancashire |
Up Holland is a village in Lancashire, three miles east of Skelmersdale and four miles west of Wigan. The population at the 2011 census was recorded as 7,376.
The village is on a small hill 292 feet above sea level that rises above the coastal plain. There are views towards St Helens and Liverpool in the south west, Ormskirk and Southport in the north-west and towards Wigan, Manchester and on to the High Peak of Derbyshire in the east.
Name
The place-name is first attested in the Domesday Book of 1086, where it appears as Hoiland.[1] It appears as Upholand in a Lancashire Inquest of 1226. This is from the Old English hohland, meaning 'land on or by a hoe or spur of a hill'.[2]
The name 'Up Holland' differentiates the village from another place locally called Downholland, ten miles to the west (on the other side of Ormskirk). The manor of Holland was a possession of the Holland family until 1534, whence it may be presumed they derived their name.
Churches
The parish church is St Thomas The Martyr. The church was previously that of a Benedictine monastery, the Priory of St. Thomas the Martyr of Upholland.
A Roman Catholic seminary, St Joseph's College, used for training priests, was once based in Up Holland. The college closed down in 1987 after over 150 years of serving the northern Roman Catholic dioceses of England.
Fame and infamy in the parish
George Lyon, reputed to be one of the last highwaymen to haunt British roads, and is said to be buried in the churchyard of the Church of England parish church, St Thomas the Martyr. The truth of the matter is that Lyon was little more than a common thief and receiver of stolen goods. The grave can be found under the concrete parapet opposite the White Lion pub.
A burial place of greater historical significance can be found at the south east corner of the church. Here, in a railed enclosure is the grave of Robert Daglish; a pioneer in steam locomotive engineering and design. In 1814, when George Stephenson was still working on his early locomotive Blucher, Daglish built The Yorkshire Horse,[3] a 'rack and pinion' locomotive to haul coal wagons at a nearby colliery. This proved to be a great success. Daglish went on to construct other locomotives and work on railway systems both in Great Britain and America.
Community
Up Holland has its own art society known as the Upholland Artists' Society[4] that consists of a group of amateur and professional artists that live in or near Upholland. They hold regular exhibitions and paint a wide range of subjects from local scenes to contemporary abstract pieces.
Upholland railway station is on the Kirkby Branch Line.
Gallery
-
Upholland Windmill -
The Old Dog pub -
St. Thomas Church
Outside links
 |
("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Up Holland) |
- Up Holland Parish Council
- Church of St Thomas the Martyr
- Exploring St. Joseph's Seminary, Up Holland
- St Teresa's Roman Catholic Church, Up Holland
References
- ↑ http://domesdaymap.co.uk/place/SD5205/upholland/ Domesday Online: [Up]holland
- ↑ Ekwall, Eilert, The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Place-Names. Oxford, Oxford University Press, 4th edition, 1960. p. 245 ISBN 0198691033
- ↑ The The Wigan Archaeological Society: Pingot Valley
- ↑ Uphollandartists.com