| Withnell Fold | |
|---|---|
 Withnell Fold Methodist Church | |
  Withnell Fold Shown within Chorley Borough  Withnell Fold Location within Lancashire | |
| OS grid reference | SD612231 |
| Civil parish | |
| District | |
| Shire county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | CHORLEY |
| Postcode district | PR6 |
| Dialling code | 01254 |
| Police | Lancashire |
| Fire | Lancashire |
| Ambulance | North West |
| UK Parliament | |
Withnell Fold is a hamlet, situated between Blackburn and Chorley, in Lancashire, England. [1]
Withnell Fold, a model village and paper mill was built on a greenfield site in 1843. The owner and builder was Thomas Blinkhorn Parke (1823–1885), the son of Robert Park, a local cotton mill owner. [2] The houses in Withnell Fold had gardens and outside toilets.
The mill was started in 1843 and opened and began production on 15 January 1844, with one machine. [3] Three years later a second machine was installed, and the business was so successful that a third machine was installed in 1855. The machines were known as "74", "66" and "60", the widths of the paper produced. The quality and variety of the paper improved, and in 1849, tissue paper was made, followed in 1856 by coloured tissue.
Writing papers were introduced in 1863 and had a reputation for being of the finest quality. Cartridge paper came in 1878. The mill supplied newsprint for Preston, Bolton and Liverpool newspapers. The firm continued as a family concern until 1890 when it combined with Wiggins Teape & Co., an old established firm of stationers.
Although the merger did not take place until 1890, the mill had supplied paper to Wiggins and Teape from 1847, and in an old diary kept by Mr. T. B. Parke, there is an entry for February of that year, which reads "Am now making double cap ordered by Wiggins & Teape".
Notable dates in the village chronology are: [4]
Withnell Fold Methodist Church was built by Thomas Blinkhorn Parke in 1852 as a day school and chapel combined. [5] It was opened on 13 June 1852, by Revd Joshua Priestly. Two days later, Miss Dutton of Coventry arrived to take up the post of schoolmistress.
By 1897, the school was too small so Herbert Thomas Parke, son of Thomas, built a new school by the village square. This is now Withnell Fold Primary School. [6] By the entrance to the school is a sculpted tree which represents Thomas Blinkhorn Parke, the villages’ founder.
The date stone to the right of the school’s main entrance door shows HTP 1897, the initials of Herbert Thomas Parke and the date the building was completed. Lessons did not start until 2 May 1898, when the children moved from the old school. The headmistress was Esther Jenkins, who took up her duties on 7 February 1898. [7] She continued to teach at the school until her retirement in 1935. [8]
Chorley is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Chorley in Lancashire, England, 8 miles (13 km) north of Wigan, 11 miles (18 km) south west of Blackburn, 11 miles (18 km) north west of Bolton, 12 miles (19 km) south of Preston and 20 miles (32 km) north west of Manchester. The town's wealth came principally from the cotton industry.
Coppull is a village and civil parish in Lancashire, England. It is part of the Borough of Chorley, lies around 300 feet (91 m) above sea level. Its population is around 8,000, having been counted at 7,959 in the 2011 Census. It is bounded by Whittle Brook, Clancutt Brook, the River Yarrow, Eller Brook, Hic-Bibi Brook and Stars Brook. Coppull is located between Chorley and Standish, Greater Manchester, to the east of the A49 road near Charnock Richard.
Eccleston is a village and civil parish of the Borough of Chorley in Lancashire, England. It is beside the River Yarrow, and was formerly an agricultural and later a weaving settlement.
Abbey Village is a village in the English county of Lancashire and the constituency of Chorley. It is located on the A675 road, six miles (10 km) from Blackburn, eight miles from Chorley, nine miles (14 km) from Preston and ten miles from Bolton.
Clayton-le-Woods is a large village and civil parish of the Borough of Chorley, in Lancashire, England. According to the census of 2001, it has a population of 14,528. At the 2011 census the population of Cuerden civil parish was included within Clayton-le-Woods, giving a total of 14,532.
Withnell is a village and civil parish in the Borough of Chorley, Lancashire, England. According to the census of 2001, it had a population of 3,631, reducing to 3,498 at the census of 2011. Withnell is about 5 miles (8 km) north-east of Chorley itself and about 5 miles (8 km) from Blackburn.
Bretherton is a small village and civil parish in the Borough of Chorley, Lancashire, England, situated to the south west of Leyland and east of Tarleton. The population of the civil parish at the 2011 census was 669. Its name suggests pre-conquest origins and its early history was closely involved with the manor house Bank Hall and the families who lived there. Bretherton remained a rural community and today is largely residential with residents commuting to nearby towns.
Rivington is a village and civil parish of the Borough of Chorley, Lancashire, England, occupying 2,538 acres. It is about 6 miles (9.7 km) southeast of Chorley and about 8+1⁄2 miles (13.7 km) northwest of Bolton. Rivington is a rural area consisting primarily of agricultural grazing land, moorland, with hill summits including Rivington Pike and Winter Hill within the West Pennine Moors. The area has a thriving tourist industry centred around reservoirs created to serve Liverpool in the Victorian era and Lever Park created as a public park by William Lever at the turn of the 20th century, with two converted barns, a replica of Liverpool Castle and open countryside. Rivington and Blackrod High School is located here. Rivington and its village had a population of 109 at the 2011 Census.
Feniscowles is a village in the unitary authority of Blackburn with Darwen, Lancashire, England. It lies approximately 3 miles (4.8 km) west of Blackburn, in the civil parish of Livesey.
Much Hoole is a village and civil parish in the borough of South Ribble, Lancashire, England. The parish of Much Hoole had a population of 1,851 at the time of the 2001 census, increasing to 1,997 at the 2011 Census.
The River Roddlesworth is a river in Lancashire, England, a tributary of the River Darwen.
Brinscall is a village in the Borough of Chorley, Lancashire, England. Located approximately five miles north-east of Chorley, Brinscall borders the similar-sized villages of Withnell and Abbey Village. Brinscall is part of the civil parish of Withnell but does not have its own boundaries. However, an area used in the 2001 census that covers approximately the same area as the village had a population of 1,431. The village population at the 2011 census was 1,388.
The River Len is a river in Kent, England. It rises at a spring in Bluebell Woods to the southeast of the village centre of Lenham 0.6 miles (0.97 km) from the source of the River Great Stour; both rise on the Greensand Ridge. Its length is c10 miles (16 km). It enters the River Medway at Maidstone.
Whitechapel is a tiny hamlet in the civil parish of Goosnargh in Lancashire, England. It lies on the border of the Forest of Bowland near the foot of Beacon Fell, and close to the neighbouring village of Inglewhite. Its name is marked as White Chapel on some maps.
Stagecoach Merseyside & South Lancashire is a major operator of bus services in North West England. It is a subsidiary of the Stagecoach Group, and has its origins in the purchase of Ribble Motor Services in 1988 from the National Bus Company and Glenvale Transport in 2005. The head office of Stagecoach Merseyside & South Lancashire is in Liverpool and was formed in 2011 following the merger of Stagecoach Merseyside and Ribble Motor Services which was the Chorley and Preston operations of Stagecoach North West.
Sanatorium Park is a public park in the Leckwith district of western Cardiff, Wales. It includes open green space, wildflower hedgerows, two play areas, and a football goal with a half basketball court.
