Great Eccleston

Not to be confused with Eccleston, Lancashire.
Great Eccleston

River Wyre at Great Eccleston
Great Eccleston
 Great Eccleston shown within Lancashire
Population 1,486 (2011 Census)
OS grid referenceSD428402
Civil parishGreat Eccleston
DistrictWyre
Shire countyLancashire
RegionNorth West
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post town PRESTON
Postcode district PR3
Dialling code 01995
Police Lancashire
Fire Lancashire
Ambulance North West
EU Parliament North West England
UK ParliamentWyre and Preston North
List of places
UK
England
Lancashire

Coordinates: 53°51′18″N 2°52′16″W / 53.855°N 2.871°W / 53.855; -2.871

Great Eccleston is a village and civil parish in the English county of Lancashire, situated on a coastal plain called the Fylde. The village lies to the south of the River Wyre and the A586 road, approximately 10 miles (16 km) upstream from the port of Fleetwood. At the 2001 United Kingdom census, the parish had a population of 1,473,[1] rising slightly to 1,486 at the Census 2011.[2]

Great Eccleston is part of Wyre district and is in the parliamentary constituency of Wyre and Preston North. Locally, the village is known for its annual agricultural show.

History

Great Eccleston was listed in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Eglestun. In various 13th-century documents it was recorded as Ecclisto, Ecleston and Great Eccleston.[3] In 1066 when the Normans conquered England, the township of Great Eccleston—then part of the ancient hundred of Amounderness—was in the possession of Tostig Godwinson, the brother of King Harold II.[4] Tostig died at the Battle of Stamford Bridge and his lands were subsequently taken over by the Normans. Between 1069 and 1086 William the Conqueror gave Amounderness to Roger de Poitou, an Anglo-Norman baron.[5] In the Domesday Book, the area of Great Eccleston was estimated at two carucates (ploughlands) of land.[3]

The township was originally part of the ecclesiastical parish of St Michael's on Wyre and Great Eccleston's parishioners would have worshipped there at St Michael's Church.[6] In 1723, a chapel of ease to St Michael's was built in a part of Great Eccleston called Copp. It was dedicated to St Anne.[3]

Governance

Great Eccleston is governed locally by a parish council, which is made up of eight elected councillors.[7] Great Eccleston, with the parishes of Inskip with Sowerby, Upper Rawcliffe with Tarnacre and Out Rawcliffe, forms the ward of Great Eccleston, which elects one councillor. Susan Catterall, a Conservative politician, was elected councillor for the ward in 2008.[8] The population of the ward at the 2011 Census was 3,581.[9] Great Eccleston was formerly part of the rural district of Garstang. In 1974, the district merged with those of Fleetwood, Thornton Cleveleys, Poulton-le-Fylde and Preesall to form Wyre Borough Council.[10]

The village is represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom as part of Wyre and Preston North. It elects one MP by the first past the post system of election. Since its creation for the 2010 general election, Wyre and Preston North has been represented at Parliament by Conservative MP Ben Wallace.[11] Prior to the 2010 general election, Great Eccleston was part of the constituency of Lancaster and Wyre. The village is also part of the North West England constituency of the European Parliament.[12]

Geography

Neighbouring towns, villages and places
Little Eccleston, Out Rawcliffe River Wyre St Michael's on Wyre
Larbreck Bilsborrow
   Great Eccleston  
Thistleton Elswick Crossmoor, Inskip

At 53°51′18″N 2°52′15.6″W / 53.85500°N 2.871000°W / 53.85500; -2.871000 (53.855°, −2.871°), and approximately 240 miles (390 km) north-west of London, Great Eccleston lies on a coastal plain called the Fylde. It is approximately 9.5 miles (15 km) north-east of the seaside resort of Blackpool, approximately 6 miles (10 km) south-east of Poulton-le-Fylde and about 12 miles (19 km) north-west of its post town, Preston. Nearby villages include Little Eccleston, Elswick and St Michael's on Wyre and Singleton.

Great Eccleston has a generally temperate maritime climate like much of the British Isles, with cool summers and mild winters. In nearby Blackpool, there is an annual average rainfall of 871.3 millimetres (34.30 in).[13]

Climate data for Blackpool (1971–2000 averages)
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Average high °C (°F) 6.8
(44.2)		 7.1
(44.8)		 9.1
(48.4)		 11.6
(52.9)		 15.2
(59.4)		 17.3
(63.1)		 19.4
(66.9)		 19.4
(66.9)		 17.0
(62.6)		 13.7
(56.7)		 9.8
(49.6)		 7.6
(45.7)		 12.9
(55.2)
Average low °C (°F) 1.7
(35.1)		 1.6
(34.9)		 3.1
(37.6)		 4.2
(39.6)		 6.9
(44.4)		 10.0
(50)		 12.4
(54.3)		 12.3
(54.1)		 10.2
(50.4)		 7.3
(45.1)		 4.3
(39.7)		 2.5
(36.5)		 6.4
(43.5)
Average rainfall mm (inches) 81.1
(3.193)		 58.7
(2.311)		 68.3
(2.689)		 48.9
(1.925)		 49.0
(1.929)		 59.8
(2.354)		 59.5
(2.343)		 73.4
(2.89)		 82.5
(3.248)		 97.9
(3.854)		 94.0
(3.701)		 58.3
(2.295)		 871.3
(34.303)
Source: Met Office

Culture and community

The Great Eccleston Agricultural Show is held in the village over two days every July along with Tractor Pulling,[14] which also sees an event held in its own right at the same show ground during the August bank holiday.[15] Horse, steam and agricultural shows have been held in Great Eccleston since the mid-19th century. Like many similar rural events, the Great Eccleston Show waned in popularity and ceased to take place in the 1950s; it was reinstated in 1972.[15] Up to 40,000 people were expected to attend the 2011 show.[16] Displays typically feature livestock, horticulture, country crafts, local produce and agricultural vehicles.[17] A farmers' market is held in Great Eccleston every month.[18] A weekly general market takes place each week .

See also

References

Footnotes
  1. ↑ "Parish Headcounts", Neighbourhood Statistics (Office for National Statistics), retrieved 17 July 2011
  2. ↑ "Parish population 2011". Retrieved 5 June 2015.
  3. 1 2 3 "Townships — Great Eccleston" in Farrer & Brownbill, pp. 276–279
  4. ↑ "Amounderness hundred" in Farrer & Brownbill, pp. 68–71
  5. ↑ Gooderson, p. 36
  6. ↑ >"The Parish of St Michael-on-Wyre" in Farrer & Brownbill, pp. 68–71
  7. ↑ "The Parish Council", greateccleston.org (Great Eccleston Parish Council), retrieved 17 July 2011
  8. ↑ "Great Eccleston By-Election 2008", Wyre Borough Council Online (Wyre Borough Council), 22 May 2008, retrieved 17 July 2011
  9. ↑ "Ward population 2011". Retrieved 5 June 2015.
  10. ↑ "Mayoral Services — Coat of Arms", Wyre Borough Council Online (Wyre Borough Council), retrieved 17 July 2010
  11. ↑ "Lancashire Teenager Voted 'To Make a Difference'", BBC News (BBC), 8 May 2010, retrieved 17 July 2011
  12. ↑ "Members of the European Parliament", Wyre Borough Council Online (Wyre Borough Council), retrieved 17 July 2011
  13. ↑ "Blackpool 1971–2000 Averages", official website (Met Office), retrieved 17 July 2011
  14. ↑ North West Tractor Pullers Club events list
  15. 1 2 Mackie, John (2011), "The Great Eccleston Show — A Brief History", greatecclestonshow.co.uk (Great Eccleston & District Agricultural Society), retrieved 17 July 2011
  16. ↑ "Thousands Expected at Great Eccleston Show", BBC News (BBC), 16 July 2011, retrieved 17 July 2011
  17. ↑ "Great Eccleston Show Goes Ahead As Planned", Farmers Guardian (UBM), 13 July 2007, retrieved 17 July 2011
  18. ↑ "Great Eccleston Market", Wyre Borough Council Online (Wyre Borough Council), 22 May 2008, retrieved 17 July 2011
Bibliography

Further reading

  • Woode, Ann (1970), Great Eccleston 1066–1970, Preston: The Circlet Publishing Company 

External links

Media related to Great Eccleston at Wikimedia Commons

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