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Chorley

Chorley is a market town in Lancashire, in North West England. The town's wealth came principally from the cotton industry. As recently as the 1970s the skyline was dominated by numerous factory chimneys, but most are now demolished: remnants of the industrial past include Morrison's chimney and a few other mill buildings, and the streets of terraced houses for mill workers. Chorley is known as the home of the Chorley cake.

History

The name Chorley came from Anglo-Saxon Ceorla-lēah = "the peasants' clearing". The name of the River Chor was back-formed from "Chorley". The principal river in the town is the River Yarrow. The Black Brook is a tributary of the Yarrow. The River Chor runs not far from the centre of the modern town, notably through Astley Park.

A settlement has existed at Chorley since at least the Bronze Age^{[citation needed]} The earliest find came from 3500 BC on Anglezarke as the site known as Round Loaf was discovered. A farmer at Astley Hall Farm found a pottery burial urn from this period in 1963. This find was followed up with further excavations, with further artifacts being found. Objects from these excavations are on display at the hall's museum.

During the Roman era Chorley was not a settlement but a Roman road ran near Chorley towards Wigan. It is believed that some Romans did settle at Brindle to the north of the town, as Roman remains were discovered there in the late 1950s.

A market charter was granted to the town in the 1250^{[citation needed]} and there is evidence from 1498 that the market was actually taking place^{[citation needed]} Nowadays, the town has two markets, the Flat Iron Market and the Covered Market. For one weekend each year, French market traders sell their produce in the town, with Chorley's merchants returning the favour in France. The market has a number of specialist cheesemongers who purvey the local Lancashire cheese in various forms. Also sold is the famous Chorley Cake.

During 1442 a local noble named Sir Rowland Standish (a relative of Myles Standish, Mayflower passenger and military commander of Plymouth Colony), who had fought at Agincourt, brought back to Chorley the skull and bones of Saint Lawrence and interred them at an altar at the parish church. With the bones interned there the church was renamed St. Lawrence's. Records of this are mentioned in the Harleian Manuscripts. The bones were not of the 3rd century saint but are believed to be the bones of Lorcán Ua Tuathail, a saint canonised as St. Laurence from Dublin, who died in Normandy in the 12th century. The bones went missing in the Reformation under the rule of King Henry VIII.

According to the apocryphal story, James I after a good meal, officially knighted Sirloin steak ("Sir" loin) at Hoghton Tower, a large stately home on the outskirts of the town, where William Shakespeare once worked. Astley Hall is a more central stately home, set in the middle of the town's largest park, Astley Park. Oliver Cromwell visited here on his trek through the region.

On 27 November 1745 when Bonnie Prince Charlie and his Jacobites passed through Preston and Wigan on their way south to Manchester and Derby in the hope of taking London and the Crown, Chorley was a mustering point for the Government scouts tracking them. The Prince and his Army marched through Chorley itself on 10 December on the way back to Carlisle and Scotland and their dreadful day of destiny on Culloden Moor near Inverness the following 16 April. There was considerable local support in the town for that famous lost cause.

Chorley, like most Lancashire towns, gained its wealth from the industrial revolution of the 19th century which was also responsible for the town's growth. Chorley was a vital cotton town with many mills littering the skyline. Today only three mills still remain working. Also Chorley in its location was vital in coal mining. Several pits existed in Duxbury Woods with the biggest being located at the end of Grundy's Lane and another located on the current site of Chorley Conference Centre on Carr Lane. The last to close was the Ellerbeck Colliery in 1987 which was located south of Chorley, between Coppull and Adlington.

Chorley became incoroprated as a municipal borough in 1881. The town's population remained roughly static in the 20th century, with the 1911 census showing 30,315 people and the 1971 census showing 31,665. Under the Local Government Act 1972, Chorley became the core of a larger non-metropolitan district of Chorley on 1 April 1974.

The town was also vital during World War II as it was home to the Royal Ordnance Factory, a large munitions factory in the village of Euxton around 2 miles outside the town centre. With a second smaller factory also built near the Blackburn-Wigan railway line in Heapey.

In the 1970s, Chorley was designated as part of Central Lancashire new town, together with Preston and Leyland. The original aim of this project was to combine the three settlements into a single city with a population of around half a million. Although this never came to pass, and the project has since been abandoned, Chorley benefited from the urban renewal commonly associated with new towns. Examples include a bypass of the town centre, and the Market Walk shopping centre.

As the 21st century progresses, Chorley will grow significantly in size as the new Buckshaw Village gets built on the former explosives area of the ROF Chorley site, the old munitions factory at Euxton.

Chorley saw the completion of the largest Mormon temple in Europe in 1998, known as the Preston England Temple.

Local government

Adlington and Anderton

Astley and Buckshaw

Brindle and Hoghton

Chisnall

Chorley East

Chorley North East

Chorley North West

Chorley South East

Chorley South West

Clayton-le-Woods & Whittle-le-Woods

Clayton-le-Woods North

Clayton-le-Woods West & Cureden

Coppull

Eccleston and Mawdesley

Euxton North

Euxton South

Heath Charnock and Rivington

Lostock

Pennine

Wheelton & Withnell

Geography

Chorley is located at the foot of the West Pennine Moors. It is the seat for the Borough of Chorley which is made up of Chorley and its surrounding villages. Chorley had a population of 33,424 as of the 2001 census, with the wider borough of Chorley having a population of 101,991. Chorley forms a conurbation with Preston and Leyland and was once proposed as being designated part of the Central Lancashire New Town under the New Towns Act,^[1] a proposal which was eventually scaled back.^[2]

Economy

BAE Systems

Telent

FedEx, North West depot located in the town

CSC, two locations, one in Euxton and the other in Clayton-le-Woods, north of Chorley

Multipart Solutions Limited, successor to the parts arm of the Leyland DAF

Wolseley, major depot in Buckshaw Village

Healthcare

Chorley is served by the local NHS hospital Chorley and South Ribble District General Hospital which is located on Euxton Lane. As well as this a private hospital at Euxton. The town also had another major hospital formerly on Eaves Lane before this closed in the 1990s. There was also the Heath Charnock isolation hospital on Hut Lane which dealt with infectious diseases before reverting to use for long term patients before closing in the 1990s.

Transport

Stagecoach North West operate bus services which connect the town to Bolton, Blackburn, Preston, Manchester and Euxton

Network Chorley which is run by Stagecoach operates Optare Solos to provide local internal transport around the town

Fishwick Buses connect Chorley bus station to Leyland and Preston

Arriva operate buses to Wigan

National Express also operate a daily service from Chorley Interchange to London

Rail

The main central station is Chorley railway station in the town centre. The station is used by:

First TransPennine North West whose line runs between Manchester Airport and Windermere and now links direct to Scotland without changing.

Northern Rail Manchester to Preston Line runs through Chorley and also connects the town to Bolton, Preston and Manchester.

The station was also served by the Wigan-Blackburn Railway line up until it was closed in 1960. The line also had stops at Heapey and Brinscall.

There is also a station at Euxton (Balshaw Lane) between Wigan and Preston.

Waterways

The Leeds and Liverpool Canal runs parallel to Chorley and several marinas and locks are located on the Chorley area. Marinas along the canal include:

White Bear Marina, Adlington

Cowling Launch, Chorley

Top Lock, Whittle

Botany Bay, Botany Brow

Riley Green, Hoghton

Education

Holy Cross Catholic High School

Albany Science College

Bishop Rawstorne CE High School

Parklands County High School

Southlands County High School

St. Michael's CE High School

Sport

Chorley is home to the semi-professional football team, Chorley F.C., also known as the 'Magpies' due to their black and white strip. Founded as a rugby team in 1875, they switched to playing football eight years later. Since then they have had limited success, with their most memorable moments being two appearances in the second round of the FA Cup, and two seasons in the Football Conference in the late 1980s. They currently play in the Northern Premier League First Division.

The town and surrounding boroughs boast a number of cricket clubs, with two teams taking the town's name. Chorley Cricket Club currently play in the Northern League, and were finalists in the ECB National Club Cricket Championship for three consecutive seasons from 1994 to 1996, winning the trophy on the first two occasions. Chorley St James Cricket Club are the second side in the town, competing in the Southport & District Amateur Cricket League, having been members of the Chorley League until its demise in 2005.

Chorley RUFC was founded in the early 1970s and initially their matches were on the playing fields of Astley Park. Since there was no club house in the early days the team played from the Prince of Wales pub, near the town's covered market. Work started on a new clubhouse on 22 March 1984, on an area of land off Chancery Road, situated on the edge of the freshly constructed Astley Village Estate. The club currently run two senior sides and a mini section, the 1st XV playing in the RFU North Lancs 2 division.

Until 2004, Chorley also boasted a rugby league side, Chorley Lynx, who played in league two of the national league. However, the club was forced to close in 2004 due to small crowds and the withdrawal of funding by backer Trevor Hemmings. Many of the club's players and staff joined the newly formed Blackpool Panthers, operating out of nearby Blackpool.

Chorley also boasts as being home to some of the countries most successful track cyclists including Jason Queally and Bradley Wiggins, both Olympic gold medal winners. The town due to the Manchester Velodrome has become home to some of the biggest names in the sport.

In terms of local sporting facilities the town is home to a large council owned leisure centre; All Season which contains a 25 metre swimming pool, two sports halls, squash courts and a fitness suite. The borough also includes other gym facilities, two other council owned leisure centres; Clayton Green and Coppull and another public swimming pool at Brinscall. The town is also home to a Next Generation fitness centre and other private pools and leisure centres. It is also home to a David Lloyd Tennis Centre.

A mile south of Chorley town centre, Duxbury Park boasts one of the best municipal golf courses in the North of England.

The town is also home to many amateur football, rugby and cricket teams. There are also several grass football pitches, bowling greens and tennis courts in the town. A public outdoor swimming pool did exist in Astley Park but was demolished in the 1990s due to Health and Safety fears.

Chorley are also home to the Chorley Harriers Running Club, who regularly compete in road, cross country, fell and athletics events.

Media

Nationally Chorley is often portrayed as a barometer of public opinion, especially during political campaigns as it has both a large rural and urban mix.

Chorley has two local newspapers: the weekly paid-for Chorley Guardian and the free Chorley Citizen. A British comedy television show, Phoenix Nights, cited Chorley's radio station, Chorley FM, whose slogan was "Coming in your ears". Chorley does have a radio station, (which is unconnected to the TV Series) The station based in Chorley originally broadcast for only a few weeks, but in 2005 received a licence to broadcast from Chorley Community Centre, for more information see Chorley FM.

As well as Phoenix Nights, comedian Dave Spikey based his comedy series Dead Man Weds on, and filmed most of it in, Chorley. Steve Pemberton, the creator of The League of Gentlemen, based most of its characters on folk from Adlington.

Seal Films, a local film production company brought an accolade to the town in 2001 after they were nominated for a Royal Television Society Award for a short film. The company continue to operate in Higher Wheelton.

Culture and community

Chorley is well known for the Chorley Little Theatre. It also has two Historical Societies (the Chorley Historical and Archaeological Society and the Chorley and District Natural History Society) and Chorley Film Society.

Places of interest

Astley Hall

Camelot Theme Park

Chorley Mormon Temple

Great Hill

Duxbury Woods

Heskin Hall

Leeds & Liverpool Canal

Park Hall

Chorley Little Theatre

Yarrow Valley Park

Winter Hill transmitting station - its mast is visible from most points in the town.

Rivington Pike

The Latvian consulate for the United Kingdom is based in nearby Charnock Richard

Notable people

Adrian Rigby (award - winning artist)

Barry Mason (songwriter)

Bill Beaumont (former England rugby union captain)

C. D. Darlington (Biologist)

Captain Myles Standish (former of the Pilgrim Fathers)

Charles Lightoller (highest ranking crew member to survive the RMS Titanic)

Dave Spikey (comedian)

David Unsworth (former footballer and currently Preston North End development coach )

Phil Parkinson (Charlton Athlectic Manager)

Derek Draper (former Labour spin doctor and newspaper columnist)

Jason Queally (Olympic cyclist)

Joel Tomkins (Wigan rugby league footballer)

John Foxx (musician)

Joseph Gilgun (actor who currently stars in Emmerdale)

Ken Morley (actor)

Kevin Simm (from Liberty X pop group)

Loui Batley (actress and dancer)

Michael Jennings (boxer)

Mickey Walsh (former Irish international and FC Porto player)

Paul Grayson (England rugby union player)

Paul Mariner (England international footballer)

Paul McKenna (Footballer with Nottingham Forest F.C.)

Phil Cool (comedian)

Sam Tomkins (rugby league footballer, brother of Joel)

Sir Henry Tate (sugar magnate and founder of the Tate Gallery in London)

Sir Walter Haworth (Nobel Prize winner)

Rosemarie Wright (pianist)

Starsailor (pop group)

Steve Pemberton (comedian)

Lana Williams (dancer on the show Strictly Dance Fever)

Tom Smith (Lancashire cricket player)

Tom Criddle Stephenson (1893-1987) was a British journalist and a leading champion of walkers' rights in the countryside. Credited for pioneering the Pennine Way and born in Chorley.

Trevor Hemmings (millionaire businessman)

Walter Berg (astronomer / astrologer)

Conrad Hunte (former West Indian Test Batsman) lived in Chorley before the 1957 Test Series against England in which he expected to make his debut. They WICB sent him a letter to ask him to play, but it didn't reach him.

Thomas Rawlinson 18th Century Industrialist believed to have been born in Chorley. Established an iron works in Invergarry, said to be the inventor of the modern kilt.