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Shown within Lancashire
Preston City Council
http://www.preston.gov.uk/
City of Preston
Geography
Grid reference:
Status:City (2002)
Region:North West England
Admin. County:Lancashire
Area:
- Total		Ranked 215th
142.22 km²
Admin. HQ:Preston
ONS code:30UK
Demographics
Population:
- Total ()
- Density		Ranked

/ km²
Ethnicity:85.5% White
11.6% S.Asian
Politics
Leadership:Leader & Cabinet
Executive:
MPs:Nigel Evans, Mark Hendrick, Michael Jack
Preston is a city and local government district in North West England. It is the administrative centre of Lancashire, and is on the River Ribble. Preston was granted the status of a city in 2002,"'Proud Preston' wins city status", BBC News, 14 March 2002. URL accessed on 6 June 2006. becoming England's 50th city in the 50th year of Queen Elizabeth's reign.

History

Early development

During the Roman period the road from the Setantian port of Neb of the Nese passed one mile north of Preston and intersected the road from Languavallium in Cumberland to Condate in Cheshire in Preston at Tulketh-hall.

In Ripon in 705 the lands near the River Ribble were set on a new foundation, and the parish church was probably erected. Later Edward the Elder passed the lands to cathedral at York and then from successive transfers the lands were passed round between churches, hence the name Priest's Town or Preston. An alternative explanation of the origin of the name is that the Priest's Town refers to a priory set up by St. Wilfrid near the Ribble's lowest ford. This idea is reinforced by similarity of Preston's crest bearing a lamb with St. Wilfrid's banner (Walsh and Butler 1992).

The right to hold a Guild Merchant was conferred upon the Burgesses of Preston by a charter of 1179; the associated Preston Guild is a civic celebration held every 20 years

The strategic location of the city, almost exactly mid-way between Glasgow and London, is demonstrated in that decisive battles of the English Civil War (1643) and the first Jacobite rebellion (1715) were fought in Preston.

In 1825 Preston was in the hundred of Amounderness, in the deanery of Amounderness and the archdeaconry of Richmond. The name of Amounderness is more ancient than the name of any other Wapentake or hundred in the County of Lancaster, and so Preston dates from at least the High Saxon period. Served by the River Ribble, Preston was one of the principal ports of Lancaster. King Charles I demanded a quarter more ship money than from Lancaster and twice as much as from Liverpool.

Industrial Revolution

The 19th Century saw a transformation in Preston from a small market town to a much larger industrial one, as the innovations of the latter half of the previous century such as Richard Arkwright's Water Frame (invented in Preston) brought cotton mills to many Northern English towns. With industrialisation came examples of both oppression and enlightenment.

The town's forward-looking spirit is typified by its being the first English town outside London to be lit by gas. The Preston Gas Company was established in 1815 by, amongst others, a Catholic priest: Fr. Joseph "Daddy" Dunn of the Society of Jesus.

The more oppressive side of industrialisation was seen on Saturday 13th August 1842, when a group of cotton workers demonstrated against the poor conditions in the town's mills. The Riot Act was read and armed troops corralled the demonstrators in front of the Corn Exchange on Lune Street. Shots were fired and four of the demonstrators were killed. A commemorative sculpture now stands on the spot (although the soldiers and demonstrators represented are facing the wrong way). In the 1850s, Karl Marx visited Preston and later described the town as "the next Saint Petersburg"*.

The Preston Temperance Society, led by Joseph Livesey pioneered the Temperance movement in the 19th Century. Indeed the term teetotalism is believed to have been coined at one of its meetings. The website of the University of Central Lancashire library has a great deal of information on Joseph Livesey and the Temperance movement in Preston *.

Preston Guild

Every twenty years, a famous celebration called the Preston Guild takes place in the city. The last Guild celebration took place in 1992 and the next is due in 2012

Geography

Physical geography

The River Ribble runs through the city. The Forest of Bowland forms a backdrop to Preston.

Civic geography

The southern part of the district is mostly urbanised but the northern part is quite rural. The current borders came into effect on April 1, 1974, when the Local Government Act 1972 merged the existing county borough of Preston with Fulwood urban district and part of Preston Rural District. Preston was designated as part of the Central Lancashire new town in 1970.

Suburbs and electoral arrangements

Preston City Council is elected "by thirds", which means one councillor from each of the three-member wards are elected every year, with those representing 2-member wards being elected in alternative years. The Council is currently with "No overall Control", as no party has an overall majority.

The Preston wards and district are as follows. Recent electoral results in Preston can be found at Preston local elections

Demographics

According to the 2001 Census 71.5% people were Christians, 9.8% had no religion and 8.2% were Muslims.Census 2001: Preston, Office for National Statistics. URL accessed on 6 June 2006. The Hindu and Sikh populations are smaller at 2.6% and 0.6% respectively but in both cases this represents the highest percentage of any local authority area in the North West. 1.8% of the city's population were born in other EU countries.

Landmarks

Economy

Preston is home to two BAE Systems factories. Its biggest is Warton which builds the Eurofighter, the other is Samlesbury, though part of the latter has recently been sold to Spirit AeroSystems, Inc.

The town is also home to Alstom's UK factory which is located on Strand Road.

Matalan Retail PLC was also founded in Preston. Although the head office of Matalan moved to Skelmersdale in 1998, the city still has the tax office for the company (located in Winckley Square and the largest Matalan store in the world.

Convenience Store chain Spar has their British head office located in the Deepdale district, although it is soon to be moved to the Redscar area on the edge of the city.

Leyland Trucks still has a very large presence in the city with their last remaining factory based in Farrington Moss.

The financial sector also has a large presence in the city with a large selection of consultancies, insurance and law firms based in Winckley Square in the city centre.

Transport

Road

The Preston by-pass, opened 5 December 1958, became the first stretch of motorway in the UK and is now part of the M6 with a short section now forming part of the M55. It was built to ease traffic congestion in Preston caused by tourists travelling to the popular destinations of Blackpool and The Lake District. In the 1980's, a motorway running around the west of the city which would have been an extension of the M65 running to the M55 was started but never finished. That is the reason that the M55 has no junction 2, because it was reserved for the new western bypass. However, the existing M6 between junctions 30 and 32 was widened extensively between 1993-95 to compensate for this. A new junction, 31A was opened in 1997 to serve a new business park close to the motorway. As well as the M6 (North and South), Preston has 3 other motorways which terminate in the city.

  • M61 - Preston to Manchester via Chorley, Westhoughton and Bolton
  • M65 - Preston to Colne via all towns in the East Lancs conurbation
  • M55 - Preston to Blackpool via Kirkham
Many major A-roads also pass through Preston including the A6 and the A59.

Rail

Preston railway station is a major stop on the West Coast Main Line, with regular long distance train services to London (Euston) and the South East, and Glasgow to the North. Preston is also a hub for connecting rail services in the North West, with connections available to Blackpool and Manchester (via Bolton).

Water

The former Preston Port has been the site of an expanding commercial and residential complex since 1988. Known as Riversway or The Docks, it is the biggest man-made marina in the UK, with 40 acres of deep water at all states of the tide . This marina has its own chandlery and coffee shop, training courses and boat sales.

Bus

Although lacking any rail based rapid transit network, Preston has a very comprehensive bus network. The 3 main local operators are:
  • Preston Bus - Serving only the Preston borough
  • Stagecoach in Lancashire (formerly Stagecoach Ribble) - serving most areas outside the borough, particular emphasis on Walton-le-Dale, Penwortham/Longton and Longridge
  • John Fishwick & Sons - providing frequent services into the city centre for Lower Penwortham, Lostock Hall, Leyland, Euxton and Chorley
Preston is also served by many national bus services. Stagecoach Express, National Express, Eurolines, and Megabus all have a large presence at Preston Bus Station. Preston was one of the first cities in the UK to have its bus network fitted with Realtime, a satellite based technology fitted to every bus stop which provides an accurate time and destination of the next bus arriving using GPS tracking. This service was initially restricted to all services within the borough, however, it has now been expanded to cover the 111 City Centre/Leyland route due to its popularity. Preston has the largest bus and coach station in Western Europe. Despite its impressive size, the building has proved very controversial. The facility is due to be demolished in 2008 and replaced with a smaller, but more suitable facility closer to the city's main shopping area and railway station. Despite a campaign to save it, the majority are in agreement that it is outdated and no longer suitable to accomodate Preston's transport needs.

Education

The city is home to the University of Central Lancashire. Formerly known as Preston Polytechnic, "UCLan" is now the sixth largest university in the country. The university currently has over 33,000 students."facts.pdf", University of Central Lancashire. URL accessed on 6 June 2006. As well as the university, the Preston area is home to many other higher education institutes:
  • Preston College - Based in Fulwood with 2 campuses near the RPH and Moor Park. Specialising mainly in voactional courses and adult courses.
Has status as Vocational Centre of Excellence.
  • Runshaw College - Based in the southern suburbs of the metropolitan area with 3 campuses. The Sixth Form centre in Leyland, the Euxton Lane Centre (mainly adult courses) in Euxton, and the Market Street Centre in Chorley (mainly vocational courses). The college has the best results in the UK and the third best in Europe. Has Beacon College Status and CoVE in Information Communication Technology.
  • Cardinal Newman College - Based on a single campus in Avenham, close to the city centre. Has a very good reputation in sporting courses.
  • Stonyhurst College - Private college based in the rural outskirts near Longridge. Has a good reputation due to JR Tolkien's son being educated there. It is said that much of the inspiration for Lord of the Rings is based around the college.
  • Myerscough College - College specialising in agricultural courses. Their main campus is based just north of the city, but they also have a smaller campus in Penwortham.
  • Lancashire College - Small college based in Chorley mainly for adult education.
  • Alstom College - Small agricultural college based in Longridge.

Media

Local Radio Stations

Sport

Preston is famous for Preston North End F.C. (one of the founders of the F.A., one of the oldest Football League teams and the National Football Museum, the home of English football heritage (located at Deepdale football ground).

The Preston Mountaineering Club are based in the town and have been in existence for over 70 years

Famous residents

Twin cities/towns

Trivia

  • The first Kentucky Fried Chicken outlet in the UK was opened on Fishergate in Preston.
  • The first traffic cones were used in building Preston bypass in the late 1950s, replacing red lantern paraffin burners.
  • The parents of legendary American Outlaw Butch Cassidy emigrated from Preston to escape religious persecution for their Mormon faith. It was said that, unlike Paul Newman's cinematic portayal, Butch spoke with a thick Lancashire accent.
  • Preston has the highest percentage of a Catholic population anywhere in the UK and Wales. Kevin Kilbane, one the finest players Preston has produced was Irish and played for the Republic of Ireland's FAI
  • The town of 'Coketown' in Charles Dickens book Hard Times is based on the city of Preston. In order to gain research for an 'industrial' novel, Dickens visited Preston in January 1854 during a strike by cotton workers that had by that stage lasted for 23 weeks.
  • Preston is home to Europe's second largest bus station with 79 gates.
  • Preston North End was one of the founding members of the The Football Association.
  • Preston is also home to both the head office & main contact centre for Optimum Contact
Solutions, part of the largest Home Shopping Company in the UK. ,
  • The first ever Matalan store was founded in Preston.
  • J.R Tolkien gained much of his inspiration for writing Lord of the Rings from the area around Preston.

References

  • Sartin, S, 1988, The people and places of Historic Preston, Preston: Carnegie
  • Walsh, T and Butler, G., 1992, The Old Lamb and Flag, Preston: Carnegie

See also

External links

Cities in England | Preston | Towns in Lancashire | Locations featured in Time Team

Preston | Preston | Preston (ville) | Preston | פרסטון | Preston | Preston, Lancashire | Preston (Anglia) | Preston | Preston | 普雷斯顿

 

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the "Preston".

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