Leyland, Lancashire Explained

Country:England
Official Name:Leyland
Type:Town
Population:38,578
Population Ref:[1] (2001 census)
Shire District:South Ribble
Shire County:Lancashire
Region:North West England
Constituency Westminster:South Ribble
Post Town:LEYLAND
Postcode District:PR25, PR26
Postcode Area:PR
Dial Code:01772
Os Grid Reference:SD549232
Static Image:File:The Parish Church of St Andrews, Leyland - geograph.org.uk - 500122.jpg
Static Image Width:240px
Static Image Caption:Parish church of St Andrews
Pushpin Map:United Kingdom Borough of South Ribble
Pushpin Map Caption:Shown within South Ribble

Leyland is a town in South Ribble, Lancashire, England, 6 miles (10 km) south of Preston. The population was 35,578 at the 2011 Census.[2]

The name of the town is Anglo-Saxon, meaning "untilled land".

History

Leyland was an area of fields, with Roman roads passing through, from ancient Wigan to Walton-le-Dale. It is mentioned in the Domesday Book (1085). In 1066, King Edward the Confessor presided over the whole of Leyland. The manor was divided into three large ploughlands, which were controlled by local noblemen. In the 12th century, it came under the barony of Penwortham.

The area of Worden, which is now Worden Park, was one of nine oxgangs of land granted to the Knights Hospitaller, by Roger de Lacy, in Lancashire, but the land was not assigned to any individual and a local man, who was a very close friend of de Lacy, Hugh Bussel, was assigned holder of the land in 1212.

Notable features that remain include the St Andrew's Parish Church, built around 1200 AD, and the large stone Leyland Cross, thought to date back to Saxon times.

Industry and commerce

The town is famous primarily for the bus and truck manufacturer Leyland Motors, which between the 1950s and 1970s expanded and grew to own several British motor manufacturers, including British Motor Corporation, Standard-Triumph and Rover, culminating in the massive British Leyland company. The truck business still operates today as Leyland Trucks, and is owned by Paccar.[3]

Leyland is also home to one of the leading maintenance and utility companies in the United Kingdom, Enterprise plc on Centurion Way.

The town has been home to the Dr. Oetker pizza factory on Marathon Place, Moss Side, since 1989.[4]

The town centre is dominated by the large Tesco Extra supermarket and adjacent car park.[5]

Architecture

The Anglican church of St Ambrose, on Moss Lane, is a Grade II listed building dating from 1882-85 by Charles Aldridge and Charles Deacon. It is constructed of stone and has green slate roofs with red ridge tiles. It is in a mixed Early English and early French Gothic style.[6]

Since July 2007, the former Primitive Methodist Church on Leyland Lane has been home to the Greek Orthodox Church of the Holy Apostles.[7]

Most of the residential dwellings in Leyland falls are semi-detached, detached and bungalows. There are a few modern housing estates, but about 65% of the accommodation in the town was built in the 1970s.

Governance

There are two tiers of local government covering Leyland, at district and county level: South Ribble Borough Council and Lancashire County Council. The borough council is based in Leyland, at the Civic Centre on West Paddock.[8]

Leyland was an ancient parish. In 1863 the parish was made a local government district, governed by a local board.[9] Such local government districts were reconstituted as urban districts in 1894.[10] [11] Leyland Urban District was abolished in 1974 to become part of the new borough of South Ribble. No successor parish was created for the former urban district and so Leyland is directly administered by South Ribble Borough Council.[12] Shortly before its abolition, the urban district council had built itself a new headquarters on West Paddock, which subsequently became the South Ribble Civic Centre.

Transport

Leyland railway station is on the West Coast Main Line and is operated by Northern. There is one train an hour between Liverpool Lime Street and Preston. There is also one train an hour from Manchester Victoria/Hazel Grove to Blackpool North.

There is a marker adjacent to the old Leyland Motors Spurrier works at the halfway point on the railway journey between Glasgow and London, some 198 miles in either direction. John Fishwick & Sons which served the town's public transport needs, and connected the town to Chorley and Preston, ceased trading in 2015 and Stagecoach Merseyside & South Lancashire took over the route.[13]

Media

Local news and television programmes are provided by BBC North West and ITV Granada. Television signals are received from the Winter Hill transmitter.[14]

Local radio stations are BBC Radio Lancashire on 103.9 FM, Heart North West on 96.9 FM, Smooth North West on 100.4 FM, Capital Manchester and Lancashire on 106.5 FM, Greatest Hits Radio Lancashire on 96.5 FM, Central Radio North West, an DAB station[15] and Radio Leyland, a community based station which is broadcast on 104.8 FM.[16] [17]

The Lancashire Telegraph and Lancashire Evening Post are main newspapers that cover the town.[18] [19]

Education

High schools

High schools in Leyland include Balshaw's CE High School near Leyland Cross, St Mary's Catholic High School, Worden Academy, a smaller high school situated to the west of the town and Wellfield Academy near the town centre.[20]

Colleges

To the east of Worden Park is Runshaw College.[21]

Geography

Leyland is made up by six different areas, the town centre itself counts as the main retail side, with the railway station, library and shops nearby. The other areas include Broadfield, Moss Side, Worden Park, Turpin Green and the Wade Hall estate.

Having been joined by Clayton Brook, draining the village of the same name to the east, after skirting Lostock Hall, the River Lostock flows south west, past Farington and through the western suburbs of the Leyland, collecting Mill Brook (from Worden Park) and Hollin's Brook (draining Runshaw Moor), before moving west towards Croston.

People

Notable people who have grown up or lived in Leyland include:

See also

References

  1. Population of 35,578 is the sum of the following ward populations: Moss Side 3673; Earnshaw Bridge 3722; Golden Hill 3982; Seven Stars 3701; Lowerhouse 4050; Leyland St. Mary's 3562; Leyland Central 3626; Leyland St. Ambrose 3337; Leyland St. John's 5925. All accessed 30 September 2011.
  2. Web site: Leyland Central – UK Census Data 2011 . 24 October 2018 . 24 October 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20181024152543/http://www.ukcensusdata.com/leyland-central-e05005342#sthash.HlNEBMc3.dpbs . live .
  3. Web site: Leyland Trucks . 2024-03-14 . www.leylandtrucksltd.co.uk . en.
  4. Web site: Pizza factory planning to super-size in Leyland to grab a bigger slice of the market . 9 January 2020 . 22 May 2022 . 30 June 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220630010802/https://www.lep.co.uk/business/pizza-factory-planning-to-super-size-in-leyland-to-grab-a-bigger-slice-of-the-market-1359005 . live .
  5. Web site: Tesco Extra . 2024-03-14 . Foursquare . en.
  6. Web site: Church of St Ambrose, Leyland, Lancashire .
  7. Web site: Orthodox Church of the Holy Apostles . holy-apostles.org.uk . 2 March 2020 . 2 March 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200302133612/http://www.holy-apostles.org.uk/ . live .
  8. Web site: Contact us . South Ribble Borough Council . 25 August 2022 . Civic Centre, West Paddock, Leyland, Lancashire, PR251DH.
  9. Book: Kelly's Directory of Lancashire . 1905 . London . 593.
  10. [Local Government Act 1894]
  11. Web site: Leyland Ancient Parish / Civil Parish . A Vision of Britain through Time . GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth . 18 October 2023.
  12. [Local Government Act 1972]
  13. Web site: John Fishwick & Sons . Fishwicks . 25 October 2015 . 24 April 2015 . https://web.archive.org/web/20150424021625/http://www.fishwicks.co.uk/ . live .
  14. Web site: Full Freeview on the Winter Hill (Bolton, England) transmitter . May 2004 . UK Free TV . 14 November 2023.
  15. Web site: Central Radio . 14 November 2023.
  16. Web site: Radio Leyland . 14 November 2023.
  17. Web site: North West Radio Stations . 14 November 2023.
  18. Web site: Lancashire Telegraph. 30 May 2014. British Papers. 14 November 2023.
  19. Web site: Lancashire Evening Post. 10 June 2014. British Papers. 14 November 2023.
  20. Web site: GCSE success for Leyland students . 21 September 2010 . 10 September 2010 . https://web.archive.org/web/20100910083807/http://www.leyland-guardian.co.uk/leyland/GCSE-success-for-Leyland-students.6497486.jp . live .
  21. https://www.runshaw.ac.uk/
  22. https://www.lep.co.uk/arts-and-culture/toms-a-class-act-for-pupils-294409
  23. News: Tim Farron: the Christian Lefty on course to be elected Liberal Democrat leader . Rosa . Prince . The Daily Telegraph . London . 16 July 2015 . 5 April 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180413103829/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/liberaldemocrats/11740888/Tim-Farron-the-Christian-Lefty-on-course-to-be-elected-Liberal-Democrat-leader.html . 13 April 2018 . live.

External links