Wrea Green

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Wrea Green
The Dub at Wrea Green - geograph.org.uk - 92931.jpg
The duck pond - 'The Dub'
Location map United Kingdom Borough of Fylde.svg
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Wrea Green
Shown within Fylde Borough
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Wrea Green
Shown within the Fylde
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Wrea Green
Location within Lancashire
OS grid reference SD397315
Civil parish
District
Shire county
Region
Country England
Sovereign state United Kingdom
Post town PRESTON
Postcode district PR4 2
Dialling code 01772
Police Lancashire
Fire Lancashire
Ambulance North West
UK Parliament
List of places
UK
England
Lancashire
53°46′34″N2°54′50″W / 53.776°N 2.914°W / 53.776; -2.914

Wrea Green is a village in the Fylde borough of Lancashire, England. It lies about 2 miles west of Kirkham. Along with the village of Ribby, it forms the civil parish Ribby-with-Wrea. [1]

Contents

Wrea Green has approximately 1,600 residents,[ citation needed ] many of whom work at the nearby Warton Aerodrome 2 miles away, where BAE Systems is a major local employer. Wrea Green, surrounds the largest village green in Lancashire, at one side of which is a duck pond, known locally as 'The Dub'.

Wrea Green has won "Lancashire's Best Kept Village" award 15 times: in 1959, 1965, 1966, 1968, 1972, 1980, 1986, 1987, 1993, 1996, 2001, 2005, 2009, 2010 and 2012.

History

A part of the village of Wrea Green existed at the time of the Domesday Book , with the name of Rigbi. [2]

Between 1846 and 1961, the village was served by Wrea Green railway station. In 1897 Wrea Green suffered a plague of sparrows and the Parish Council agreed to pay a halfpenny for every sparrow, sparrow's egg or rat's tail that was collected. [3]

The property at the northern end of Church Row was for many years the office of J. Wareing & Son (Wrea Green) Ltd, a long established farm-building construction company [4] but before this was a sub-branch of the District Bank Ltd.

The village surrounds the largest village green in Lancashire, at one side of which is a duck pond, known locally as 'The Dub'. [5] [6]

Religion

St Nicholas Church, from the south The Parish Church of St Nicholas, Wrea Green, Lancashire - geograph.org.uk - 1738461.jpg
St Nicholas Church, from the south

The large Grade II listed Anglican parish church is dedicated to Saint Nicholas. The original small church on the site was licensed for services in 1722 and was consecrated by the Bishop of Chester in 1755. This was eventually demolished and on 13 May 1848 the new vicar, G. L. Parsons, laid the foundation stone for the present structure. [7]

It was rebuilt in 1848–49 by the Lancaster architects Sharpe and Paley. [8] In 1884 the tower and spire were added by the successors in the same practice, Paley and Austin. [9]

The church is active, has regular weekly services and is a popular wedding venue. An extension was built in the late 2000s.

Local businesses

The village has a few small businesses and eating places. These include an artificial grass supplier and installer, a hair salon, a construction design services consultancy, a pub, a holiday hotel, sports and conference centre, a tearoom, a Thai restaurant, a shop with post office, a hotel with restaurant and a dentist. There is also the Wrea Green Institute, a members club with a community room. [10] Agricultural construction company J. Wareing & Son Ltd has now relocated from the village centre and the site has been re-used for a small development of detached houses.

The village pub, The Grapes, dates from the 19th century and was previously known as The Letters Inn and The Dumplings Inn. [11] In April 2024 it closed for a major internal and external refurbishment. It reopened in May 2024 following a six-figure investment. [12]

Community events

Wrea Green Field Day, or Club Day, is a large festival held in Wrea Green including a fancy-dress parade, special event, a three-day visit by a large travelling fair and special stalls on the village green. Local children/teenagers are involved in the parade around the Green and the highlight of the day is the de-crowning of the previous Queen, the "Retiring Queen" (from the year before) and the crowning of a new Queen, the "Rose Queen". [13] People with some local prominence usually crown the Queens, for example, the head teacher of the primary school in 2006 etc.

The Wrea Green Horticultural Society is hosting its first show in September 2016 which will include classes, exhibits and a beer festival. [14]

Education

School House "The School House" Wrea Green, Lancashire - geograph.org.uk - 1738523.jpg
School House

The school (Ribby-with-Wrea Endowed C.E.) was founded by James Thistleton in 1693 and is one of the oldest schools in Lancashire. A second school was founded by Nicholas Sharples in 1715. The two trusts were united in 1750. It moved to the current site in 1845, when the church of St Nicholas [15] replaced the Sharples school. The present building dates from 1893 though it has been expanded over the decades, most recently in 2004.

Twin towns

Since November 2005 the village has been twinned the small picturesque French village of Saint-Bris-le-Vineux in Burgundy. A delegation of Wrea Green residents travelled to St Bris to make the twinning official, but the first large exchange came when, at Easter 2006, 43 French people came to stay in Wrea Green. After the major success of July 2007's trip to France by 40 Wrea Green residents, a return exchange took place in August 2008, when a similar number of French guests came to the UK.

Recent development

In 2010 plans for a new housing estate, comprising 55 houses on land on Richmond Avenue in the village, were announced by developer Les Blanc Bois Holdings Ltd. Additionally, Fylde businessman David Haythornthwaite announced plans to create the "Greenland Sports Village", featuring a football stadium for non league AFC Fylde, at Greenlands Farm on Ribby Road. Both plans met opposition from some villagers [16] and plans to build the AFC Fylde stadium in the village were later abandoned, with the proposed stadium north of Wesham. [17] The houses on Richmond Avenue have since been built. A "Save Wrea Green Action Group" was formed. [18]

See also

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Ribby-with-Wrea is a civil parish in the Borough of Fylde, Lancashire, England. It contains four buildings that are recorded in the National Heritage List for England as designated listed buildings, all of which are listed at Grade II. This grade is the lowest of the three gradings given to listed buildings and is applied to "buildings of national importance and special interest". The parish includes the village of Wrea Green but is otherwise mainly rural. The listed buildings are a former farmhouse, a country house, a 19th-century house, and a church.

References

  1. ↑ "GENUKI: Ribby with Wrea, Lancashire genealogy" . Retrieved 17 January 2015.
  2. ↑ Porter, John (1876). History of the Fylde of Lancashire. W. Porter.
  3. ↑ "Brief History of Wrea Green - Wrea Green" . Retrieved 17 January 2015.
  4. ↑ "Industrial Agricultural Buildings Manufacturers Erectors - Wareing Buildings" . Retrieved 17 January 2015.
  5. ↑ https://www.discoverfylde.co.uk/fylde-villages
  6. ↑ https://www.lancs.live/whats-on/whats-on-news/gallery/wrea-green-photos-lancashire-countryside-27614958
  7. ↑ Porter, J. MRCS, LSA (1878) History of the Fylde of Lancashire, Fleetwood and Blackpool, W. Porter and Sons Publisher, Chapter III - Ecclesiastical History (continued)
  8. ↑ Price, James (1998), Sharpe, Paley and Austin: A Lancaster Architectural Practice 1836–1942, Lancaster: Centre for North-West Regional Studies, p. 71, ISBN   1-86220-054-8
  9. ↑ Hartwell, Clare; Pevsner, Nikolaus (2009) [1969], The Buildings of England. Lancashire: North, New Haven and London: Yale University Press, p. 571, ISBN   978-0-300-12667-9
  10. ↑ "WHAT'S ON". WREA GREEN INSTITUTE. Retrieved 20 August 2016.
  11. ↑ "Grapes Pub Restaurant in Wrea Green, Preston".
  12. ↑ "Nineteen Century Wrea Green Pub Closed for Major Refurbishment - Lytham St Annes News". 16 April 2024.
  13. ↑ "Field Day | Wrea Green". www.wreagreen.com. Retrieved 20 August 2016.
  14. ↑ "Wrea Green Show". www.wreagreenshow.co.uk. Retrieved 20 August 2016.
  15. ↑ "St Nicholas Church of England, Wrea Green, Lancashire genealogy" . Retrieved 17 January 2015.
  16. ↑ 24 February 2010, "Rural fears over 'city of Fylde'", Lytham St Annes Express, retrieved 19 October 2011.
  17. ↑ "Building work kick starts football stadium project". www.lep.co.uk. Retrieved 20 August 2016.
  18. ↑ "Save Wrea Green Action Group". savewreagreenactiongroup.co.uk. Retrieved 15 January 2022.
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