Lancashire is acounty of England, in the northwest of the country. The county did not exist in 1086, for theDomesday Book, and was apparently first created in 1182,[1] making it one of the youngest of the traditional counties.
The historic county consisted of two separate parts. The main part runs along the northwestern coast of England. When it includedManchester andLiverpool, it had a greatest length of 76 miles, and breadth of 45 miles, and an area of 1,208,154 acres. The northern detached part of the old county palatine, consisting ofFurness andCartmell, was 25 miles in length, 23 miles in breadth and was separated from the main portion of Lancashire byMorecambe Bay and theKendal district ofWestmorland.[2] The highest point in the historic county is 803 metres (2,633 ft) at theOld Man of Coniston.[3]
As acounty palatine, theDuke of Lancaster had sovereignty rights in the areas of justice and administration within the county.[4] However the third man to hold the title,Henry Bolingbroke, seized the English throne in 1399 to become Henry IV and both the duchy and palatinate have since been possessions of the crown, administered separately but consistently with the rest of the country. The later part of the 19th century brought large reforms with much of the county's independent legal system merged into the national courts and a newadministrative county and network ofcounty boroughs being formed. Since thenLancashire County Council has been seated atCounty Hall inPreston.
In 1974 the administrative county was abolished and newceremonial counties created with the areas around the cities ofManchester andLiverpool forming the larger portions ofGreater Manchester andMerseyside. The section north of Morecambe Bay joinedWestmorland andCumberland to form the modern county ofCumbria. However the newLancashire gained control of theForest of Bowland andWest Craven areas formerly under the administration of theWest Riding of Yorkshire.
Throughout these changes, historic Lancashire still continues to be recognised as a geographical and cultural area by the British Government.[5] Thehistoric county palatine boundaries are also still recognised and unmoved withLancaster still being recognised as thecounty town.[6][failed verification] Traditional borders are still followed by organisations such as theLancashire FA.[7]
TheHigh Sheriffs ofLancashire,Greater Manchester andMerseyside are still appointed by the King in right of the duchy.[8] The duchy also benefits from the legal concept ofbona vacantia within county palatine, whereby it has the right to property for which the legal owner cannot be found. The proceeds are divided between two registered charities, the Duchy of Lancaster Benevolent Fund and the Duchy of Lancaster Jubilee Trust.[9]
The emblem of thehistoric county of Lancashire is theRed Rose of the English royalHouse of Lancaster, and in 2008 theFlag of Lancashire became recognised by theFlag Institute. On 27 November,Lancashire Day celebrates the culture of the historic county ranging from its history to its owndialect.
Lancashire takes its name from the city ofLancaster, whose name means 'Roman fort on theRiver Lune',[10] combining the name of the river with theOld Englishcæster, which derived from the Roman word for a fort or camp.[11] Official documents often called it the "County of Lancaster" rather than Lancashire; "Lancastershire" occurs in late 14th century, andLeland was still using it in 1540. "Lancashire" occurs in thePaston Letters in 1464.[12] Lancashire became the preferred designation, as asyncope of Lancastershire.
At the time when the Romans arrived in England, much of northern England was inhabited by theBrigantes, though the Cumbrian highland area was inhabited by theCarvetii, who were possibly a tribe within the larger Brigantes group. Another tribe named theSetantii has also been hypothesized based on the name of a Roman era port near the mouth of theRiver Wyre, calledPortus Setantiorum, and they were possibly also Brigantes, if they existed.[13]
The remains ofRoman forts exist atBurscough,Manchester,[14]Lancaster,[15]Over Burrow,[16]Ribchester,[17]Kirkham[18] andCastleshaw.[19] A number of Roman roads are known to have existed including one between Manchester and Carlisle, via Ribchester and Burrow.[20] It is thought that a cluster ofRomano-Britishfarmsteads existed to the east ofBurnley[21][22][23]
The land that would become the ancient county of Lancashire had been part of theKingdom of Northumbria. TheRiver Mersey, and further east, its tributary theRiver Tame,[24] was considered the border withMercia. TheAnglo-Saxon Chronicle records that in 923,Edward the Elder brought an army to Mercia and ordered the repair of the defences at Manchester in Northumbria.[25] It seems that from this time the area south of theRibble became associated with Mercia.[26]
After theNorman Conquest,William the Conqueror gave toRoger de Poitou, lands spanning eight ancient counties, which included the area between the River Ribble and the Mersey andAmounderness.[27] However, by the time of theDomesday survey, most of his lands are recorded to be under the king's control.[28] In the Domesday Book, some of its lands had been treated as part ofYorkshire. The area in between the Rivers Mersey and Ribble (referred to in the Domesday Book as "Inter Ripam et Mersam") formed part of the returns forCheshire.[29][30][28] Although some have taken this to mean that, at this time, south Lancashire was part of Cheshire,[30] it is not clear that this was the case, and more recent research indicates that the boundary between Cheshire and what was to become Lancashire remained the river Mersey.[31][32][33] South of the Ribble was surveyed as sixhundreds:Blackburn,Derby,Leyland,Newton,Salford andWarrington. The entries are brief, and unusually intermix theAnglo-Saxonhide with theDanelawcarucate as units of measurement. The entries for the north, consist of little more than lists ofmanors.Amounderness appears as a district, apparently stretching inland to theRiver Hodder, the hundred is thought to have been created shortly afterwards.[34] Lonsdale was also not recorded as a hundred, the name only appears apparently as a manor attached toCockerham.[35]
The town of Lancaster itself was at this time apparently administratively united (to the extent it could be administered) with Kendal, Furness and Cartmell, but not with the area south of the Ribble river. This contiguous area of relatively undeveloped highland was administered by men such asIvo de Taillebois, and a local aristocracy which still included a number of Anglo-Saxons. This is proposed by authors such as William Farrer to be the reason why the firstBarons of Kendal used the surname "de Lancaster" despite Kendal not becoming a permanent part of the later developed county of Lancaster.[36]
The lands granted toRoger de Poitou, but recorded in Domesday as crown lands, were soon returned to Roger. In the early 1090s Lonsdale,Cartmel andFurness were added to Roger's lands, thus making him responsible for the defence of the area south ofMorecambe Bay from Scottish raiding parties. In 1102 Roger forfeited all his English lands after supportingRobert Curthose in a failed rebellion against KingHenry I. TheLonsdale Hundred was created sometime during the late 11th or early 12th centuries, certainly by 1168. Place-name evidence suggests that previous district included areas within theRiver Lune's watershed, not included in the new hundred.[35]
Lancashire, like many northern counties fell prey to Scottish raids fromKing David I of Scotland with theBattle of Clitheroe in 1138 where the county was then briefly a part of Scotland, toRobert the Bruce with theGreat Raid of 1322, reaching as far south asChorley.
From 1164 until 1189 thehonour of Lancaster was held by the crown and its accounts are recorded in thePipe rolls.[37] It was usually included under Yorkshire or Northumberland, as when the first reference to aCounty of Lancaster occurs in 1168 in the accounts of the sheriff.[38] In 1182 Lancaster recorded as a separateshire,[39] with a note stating "because there was no place for it in Northumberland".[40]
After 1194 the honour was again in the possession of the crown, but in 1267Edmund Crouchback (father of theHouse of Lancaster) the son ofKing Henry III was created the 1stEarl of Lancaster.Henry de Lacy theEarl of Lincoln at this time held the baronies ofClitheroe,Penwortham andHalton and the lordships ofRochdale andBury in this area. With his death in 1311, ownership passed to Crouchback's sonThomas, 2nd Earl of Lancaster who had been married to Henry's daughter,Alice.[41] Thomas was executed as a rebel and replaced by his younger brotherHenry, 3rd Earl of Lancaster. In 1351 Henry's son,Henry of Grosmont, became the firstDuke of Lancaster withpalatine jurisdiction within the county.[42] This placed the administration of justice in the county under control of the duke and he appointed his ownjustices to hear pleas of the Crown and all othercommon law pleas. He also appointedthe Sheriff,coroners and other local officers including anescheator. He also appointed a Chancellor and established aChancery to issue thewrits required for the administration of the Palatinate.[43]
The powers had been granted only for Henry's lifetime and after the duke's death in 1361 the palatinate (and title) ceased to exist. One of Henry's daughter's was married toJohn of Gaunt, the son ofEdward III and the dukedom was recreated for him the next year. Before his death in 1377, the king also granted the palatine powers to his son. In 1390 John obtained an extension of this grant fromRichard II, enabling his male heirs to inherit control of the palatinate. After John's death in 1399, his exiled son Henry of Bolingbroke returned to England, deposing Richard II and becoming king asHenry IV. Henry IV maintained the duchy separately from the other possessions of the crown and the palatinate's independent judicial system continued, although administered consistently with the rest of the country.[43]
Once its initial boundaries were established, it borderedCumberland,Westmorland,Yorkshire, andCheshire. The county was divided into the six hundreds ofAmounderness,[44]Blackburn,[45][46]Leyland,[47]Lonsdale,[35]Salford,[48][49] andWest Derby.[50][51] Lonsdale was further partitioned into Lonsdale North, which was the detached part north ofMorecambe Bay (also known asFurness), and Lonsdale South. Each hundred was sub-divided intoparishes. As the parishes covered relatively large areas, they were further divided into townships that were more similar in size to parishes in counties in the south of England. Outside of the administration of the hundreds were theboroughs.
In 1461Edward IV decreed that the county palatine should become part of theDuchy of Lancaster and from 1471 the offices ofChancellor of the Duchy and Chancellor of the Palatinate were held by the same person. The administrative centre moved to London, while Lancaster remained the legal centre.[43]
After theRevolution of 1688 that deposed the last Stuart king,James II and VII, Lancashire saw conflict with two mostly Scottish pro-Stuart rebellions. TheJacobite rising of 1715 was defeated at theBattle of Preston in 1715. In 1745Bonnie Prince Charlie marched through Lancashire andDerbyshire, gaining recruits especially fromManchester andDerby. Faced with a larger English army, the Jacobites retreated back to Scotland. The final defeat came at theBattle of Culloden in Scotland the following year.
| Districts and county boroughs of Lancashire in 1961 | |
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Lancashire was one of the homes of modern industrialisation. This started with small scale experiments, for example in the automation of weaving. Lancashire had a long history of supplying wool to skilled weavers in Europe and southern England, as well as having many cottager weavers itself by the 18th century. But the advent of increased imports of cotton needing processing was a trigger to innovation.John Kay,Richard Arkwright,Samuel Crompton, andJames Hargreaves were from Lancashire.[citation needed]
Around 1700, ablast furnace thought to be the first built in Lancashire, was constructed in theCliviger gorge.[52]
Prior to theMunicipal Corporations Act there were relatively few boroughs in the county. But following the act,22 towns were incorporated up to 1862 as the county became more populous due to the continuingindustrial revolution.
Under theSupreme Court of Judicature Act 1873 thecommon law andcriminal jurisdictions at Lancaster's courts (including the jurisdiction of theCourt of Common Pleas)[53] transferred to the newHigh Court of Justice and the jurisdiction of theCourt of Appeal in Chancery of the County Palatine of Lancaster transferred to theCourt of Appeal established by that Act.[54] After November 1875 the palatinate consisted only of theCourt of Chancery and the Chancellor's right to appointjustices of the peace and other local officers.[43]
County Hall in Preston was built as a home for the county administration, theQuarter Sessions andLancashire Constabulary) and opened on 14 September 1882.[55][56]Blackpool Tramway opened in 1885 and is one of the oldest electric tramways in the world.[57]
In 1889, theadministrative county of Lancashire was created, covering thehistorical county except for thecounty boroughs such asBlackburn,Burnley,Barrow-in-Furness,Preston,Wigan,Liverpool andManchester.[58]
During the 20th century, the county became increasingly urbanised, particularly the southern part. To the existing county boroughs ofBarrow-in-Furness,Blackburn,Bolton,Bootle,Burnley,Bury,Liverpool,Manchester,Oldham,Preston,Rochdale,Salford,St Helens andWigan were addedBlackpool (1904),Southport (1905), andWarrington (1900). The county boroughs also had many boundary extensions. The borders around the Manchester area were particularly complicated, with narrow protrusions of the administrative county between the county boroughs –Leesurban district formed a detached part of the administrative county, between Oldham county borough and the West Riding of Yorkshire.[59]
By thecensus of 1971, the population of Lancashire and its county boroughs had reached 5,129,416, making it the most populous geographic county in the UK.[60] The administrative county was also the most populous of its type outside London, with a population of 2,280,359 in 1961. In 1972, under theCourts Act 1971, the remaining major element of legal system, theCourt of Chancery of the County Palatine of Lancaster also merged with the High Court.[43]
On 1 April 1974, under theLocal Government Act 1972, the administrative county was abolished, as were the county boroughs. The urbanised southern part largely became part of twometropolitan counties,Merseyside andGreater Manchester.[61]
The boroughs of Liverpool,Knowsley,St Helens andSefton were included in Merseyside. In Greater Manchester the successor boroughs wereBury,Bolton, Manchester,Oldham (part),Rochdale,Salford,Tameside (part),Trafford (part) andWigan. Warrington andWidnes, south of the new Merseyside/Greater Manchester border were added to the new non-metropolitan county ofCheshire. Theurban districts ofBarnoldswick andEarby,Bowland Rural District and the parishes ofBracewell and Brogden andSalterforth fromSkipton Rural District in theWest Riding of Yorkshire became part of the new Lancashire. One parish,Simonswood, was transferred from the borough ofKnowsley in Merseyside to the district ofWest Lancashire in 1994.[62]In 1998Blackpool andBlackburn with Darwen became independent of the county as unitary authorities, but remained in Lancashire forceremonial purposes, including the provision of fire, rescue and policing.
In March 2005, under theCourts Act 2003, the power to appoint magistrates in Lancashire, Greater Manchester and Merseyside transferred to theMinistry of Justice.[63]
Certainly there were links between Cheshire and south Lancashire before 1000, when Wulfric Spot held lands in both territories. Wulfric's estates remained grouped together after his death, when they were left to his brother Aelfhelm, and indeed there still seems to have been some kind of connexion in 1086, when south Lancashire was surveyed together with Cheshire by the Domesday commissioners. Nevertheless, the two territories do seem to have been distinguished from one another in some way and it is not certain that the shire-moot and the reeves referred to in the south Lancashire section of Domesday were the Cheshire ones.
The Domesday Survey (1086) included south Lancashire with Cheshire for convenience, but the Mersey, the name of which means 'boundary river' is known to have divided the kingdoms of Northumbria and Mercia and there is no doubt that this was the real boundary.
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