Thornton | |
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![]() Marsh Mill, on Fleetwood Road | |
OS grid reference | SD339421 |
District | |
Shire county | |
Region | |
Country | England |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
Post town | THORNTON-CLEVELEYS |
Postcode district | FY5 |
Dialling code | 01253 |
Police | Lancashire |
Fire | Lancashire |
Ambulance | North West |
UK Parliament | |
Thornton is a village in the Borough of Wyre, about 4 miles (6 km) north of Blackpool and 2 miles (3 km) south of Fleetwood. [1] The civil parish of Thornton became an urban district in 1900, and was renamed Thornton-Cleveleys in 1927. In 2011 the Thornton built-up area sub division had a population of 18,941. [2]
Thornton is first mentioned in 1086 in the Domesday Book, where it was referred to as Torentum (a name preserved by Torentum Court on Lawsons Road). At the time it covered a large area including what are now Cleveleys and Fleetwood, and had a very low population density. It is thought that a settlement had existed at the site since the Iron Age, and a Roman road passes close to the village. The area remained lightly populated until 1799, when the marshland around the village was drained and agricultural production began on a large scale. [3]
A railway station was opened in Thornton in 1865. The opening of salt works at nearby Burn Naze by the United Alkali Company in the early 1890s (later becoming ICI) led to significant expansion of the village, with new houses and community buildings constructed. Thornton became an Urban District Council in 1900, surviving until 1974 when it became part of the Wyre Borough Council. [3]
A notable early building, The Illawalla, stood in Skippool between 1902 and 1996.
In 2015, the complete skeleton of a pre-historic wolf, nicknamed the Thornton Wolf, was discovered in the back garden of a home in the village. [4]
Thornton–Cleveleys railway station was formerly the principal intermediate stop on the Fleetwood branch of the LMS/British Rail London Midland Region railway, running from Poulton-le-Fylde, but it has been years since the station was used, and with the recent fencing-over of the level crossing in Station Road/Victoria Road East in order to prevent youths from congregating on the tracks, the glory days of Thornton are long since gone. However, a decision by an action group based in Poulton means they will finance a feasibility study into bringing the railway back to Thornton and Fleetwood. [5]
Thornton Centre's stops 1 and 2 are served by five bus routes:[ citation needed ]
Marsh Mill, a large well-preserved windmill, built in 1794, is a prominent landmark. It was commissioned by Bold Hesketh, uncle of Peter Hesketh (later Peter Hesketh-Fleetwood), who would go on to play a prominent role in the expansion of Fleetwood. Tragedy struck in May 1930, when a Miss Alice Baldwin and a Mrs Mary Jane Bailey visited the windmill with an interest in purchasing it. However, when both women stepped onto the fantail platform, the platform collapsed and the women fell to their deaths. [6]
Thornton contains a number of schools, including Baines Endowed Primary School, Thornton Primary School, Stanah Primary School, Royles Brook Primary School, and Millfield Science & Performing Arts College in addition to a small public library. [7]
Wyre is a local government district with borough status in Lancashire, England. The population of the non-metropolitan district at the 2011 census was 107,749. The district borders the unitary authority area of Blackpool as well as the districts of Lancaster, Ribble Valley, Fylde and Preston. The council is based in Poulton-le-Fylde. The district is named after the River Wyre, which runs through the district.
Poulton-le-Fylde, commonly shortened to Poulton, is a market town in Lancashire, England, situated on the coastal plain called the Fylde. In the 2001 United Kingdom census, it had a population of 18,264. There is evidence of human habitation in the area from 12,000 years ago and several archaeological finds from Roman settlement in England have been found in the area. At the time of the Norman conquest, Poulton was a small agricultural settlement in the hundred of Amounderness. The church of St Chad was recorded in 1094 when it was endowed to Lancaster Priory. By the post-Medieval period the town had become an important commercial centre for the region with weekly and triannual markets. Goods were imported and exported through two harbours on the River Wyre. In 1837, the town was described as the "metropolis of the Fylde", but its commercial importance waned from the mid-19th century with the development of the nearby coastal towns of Fleetwood and Blackpool.
Fleetwood is a coastal town in the Borough of Wyre in Lancashire, England, at the northwest corner of the Fylde. It had a population of 25,939 at the 2011 census.
Cleveleys is a town on the Fylde Coast of Lancashire, England, about 4 miles (6 km) north of Blackpool and 2 miles (3 km) south of Fleetwood. It is part of the Borough of Wyre. With its neighbouring settlement of Thornton, Cleveleys was part of the former urban district of Thornton-Cleveleys and is part of the Blackpool Urban Area. In 2011 the Cleveleys Built-up area sub division had a population of 10,754.
Over Wyre is the collective name given to a group of villages in Lancashire, England, situated on the Fylde, to the north and east of the River Wyre. The group is usually considered to include Hambleton, Stalmine, Knott End-on-Sea, Preesall, Pilling and Out Rawcliffe. The name distinguishes these villages from the larger southern part of the Fylde, between the Wyre and the Ribble, which includes the urban areas of Blackpool, Poulton-le-Fylde, Thornton, Cleveleys, Fleetwood and Lytham St Annes.
The Preston and Wyre Railway was promoted to open up agricultural land in the Fylde in Lancashire, access a new port at what became Fleetwood and the Lancaster Canal at Preston: it opened in 1840. An associated company built the dock leading to the company changing its name to the Preston and Wyre Railway, Harbour and Dock Company. Passenger business was more buoyant than expected, and the company built branch lines to the nascent resort of Blackpool and Lytham that opened in 1846. At that time the line was leased by the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway and later the London and North Western Railway took a share in the lease which was later converted to outright ownership. The Preston and Wyre Railway continued to be jointly owned as the Preston and Wyre Joint Railway.
Thornton-Cleveleys is a conurbation consisting of the village of Thornton and the town of Cleveleys. The two settlements formed a joint urban district from 1927 until 1974, before becoming part of Wyre. The two settlements constitute part of the Blackpool Urban Area.
Poulton-le-Fylde railway station serves the town of Poulton-le-Fylde in Lancashire, England. It is managed by Northern Trains, but also served by Avanti West Coast and is 14+1⁄4 miles (22.9 km) northwest of Preston.
Hambleton is a village and civil parish in the English county of Lancashire. It is situated on a coastal plain called the Fylde and in an area east of the River Wyre known locally as Over Wyre. Hambleton lies approximately 3 miles (4.8 km) north-east of its post town, Poulton-le-Fylde, and about 7 miles (11 km) north-east of the seaside resort of Blackpool. In the 2001 United Kingdom census, the parish had a population of 2,678, increasing to 2,744 at the 2011 census.
The Fleetwood branch line consists of the railway line from Preston to Fleetwood. It passed through many smaller stations along the way. When work at Fleetwood docks was under threat in the mid-1960s, the main Fleetwood station was closed; the remainder of the branch south to Poulton followed in 1970. Proposals exist to re-open the branch to passenger services in the near future.
Thornton–Cleveleys was a railway station in England which served the Lancashire village of Thornton and town of Cleveleys. Located on the now disused line between Poulton-le-Fylde and Fleetwood, the station also had a shunting yard for the making-up of freight trains for Preston and beyond. During its life it was also known at times as Thornton station and Thornton for Cleveleys station. In the 1860s and early 1870s the line was of great importance, being the direct route from London to Glasgow. Before the Shap route was opened, passengers would travel from Euston to Fleetwood and then onwards via steamer to Scotland.
Burn Naze Halt railway station served Burn Naze in Thornton-Cleveleys, Lancashire, England, between 1909 and 1970. The platforms were heavily overgrown with vegetation until recently when the Poulton & Wyre Railway Society began restoration work.
The Blackpool Built-up Area or Blackpool Urban Area is an urban area in Lancashire, England, consisting of the large town of Blackpool along with several surrounding towns and villages. Defined by the ONS it had a population of 239,409 in 2011 this is considerably down on the 2001 population of 261,088 mainly due to Fleetwood no longer being considered as part of the built-up area. The population of the Blackpool Urban Area has been declining for some time with the 2001 population down 0.1% from the 1991 figure of 261,355.
The Fylde is a coastal plain in western Lancashire, England. It is roughly a 13-mile-long (21-kilometre) square-shaped peninsula, bounded by Morecambe Bay to the north, the Ribble estuary to the south, the Irish Sea to the west, and the foot of the Bowland hills to the east which approximates to a section of the M6 motorway and West Coast Main Line.
The FY postcode area, also known as the Blackpool postcode area, is a group of eight postcode districts in North West England, within five post towns. These cover the western half of the Fylde plain on the west coast of Lancashire, including Blackpool, Thornton-Cleveleys, Poulton-le-Fylde, Fleetwood and Lytham St Annes.
Carleton is a village on the coastal plain of the Fylde in the Borough of Wyre in Lancashire, England. It consists of Great Carleton, Little Carleton, Norcross and Whiteholme and is situated close to Poulton-le-Fylde. Other nearby settlements include Thornton, Bispham and Blackpool. Historically, Carleton was in the parish of Poulton-le-Fylde. It borders the Borough of Blackpool immediately to the west.
Skippool is an area of Thornton-Cleveleys, Lancashire, England. It is situated between Little Thornton and Poulton-le-Fylde along the western banks of the River Wyre, about three miles south of its mouth between Fleetwood and Knott End. These banks are known as Skippool Creek, an historic docks area now home to mostly run-down vessels. The MV Good Hope, for example, may date from the 1830s. Skippool Creek is a short branch off Main Dyke, which empties into the River Wyre in front of Blackpool and Fleetwood Yacht Club.
Marsh Farmhouse is an historic building in Thornton-Cleveleys, Lancashire, England. Built in 1803, it is a Grade II listed building. It is located to the southeast of today's Amounderness Way roundabout at Victoria Road West.
The Burn Naze was a public house in the English conurbation of Thornton-Cleveleys, Lancashire. Built in 1910, when it replaced the former Burn Naze Inn, it was one of the oldest pubs in the area by the time of its closure in 2019, and was listed as a community asset in 2021. It was demolished in 2022.
Coastliner is a bus operator in west Lancashire, England. Established in 2007, it is based at the Brinwell Road garage in Mereside, near Blackpool, although its registered office address is 341 Lytham Road in Blackpool. Between 2007 and 2019, the company was named Nuttall's Coaches Ltd.