| Heapey | |
|---|---|
 Parish Church of St Barnabas, Heapey | |
  Heapey Shown within Chorley Borough Show map of the Borough of Chorley | |
| Population | 1,001 (2011 Census) |
| OS grid reference | SD606201 |
| Civil parish |
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| District | |
| Shire county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | CHORLEY |
| Postcode district | PR6 |
| Dialling code | 01257 |
| Police | Lancashire |
| Fire | Lancashire |
| Ambulance | North West |
| UK Parliament | |
| |
Heapey is a village andcivil parish of theBorough of Chorley, inLancashire, England. The village is two miles fromChorley and on the western fringe of theWest Pennine Moors. In 2001 the population was 955,[1] increasing to 1,001 at the 2011 census.[2]
Heapey derives from theOld Englishheope a rose, orheap a hill andhege a hedge meaning a rose hedge or hedge on the hill. It was recorded as Hepeie in 1219.[3] There are ancient earthworks near Heapey and Roman coins were discovered in 1835.[4]
Heapey was part ofGunolfsmoors[5] an area between Leyland and Blackburn claimed by a Viking, Gunnolf, in the 10th century.[6] It emerged in theMiddle Ages as Hepay in 1260.[4] The lordship was held by the De Ollertons including Ranulph who assumed the Hepay name.
Robert de Hepay sold the lordship to the Standishes, and the manor or lordship remained with them.[7] In 1924, the principal landowners were the trustees of Mrs. Paulet and Mrs. Sumner Mayhew.[8] There were 34 hearths liable to payHearth tax in 1666, although no house had more than three. During the 19th century, many of the population were employed at bleachworks, which have long since been demolished, and quarries.[7]
TheLancashire Union Railway and theLancashire and Yorkshire Railway (LYR) built a railway line to link the mills of east Lancashire with the coal mines of Wigan. The line opened in 1869.[9]Heapey railway station closed to passengers in 1960.
In theMiddle Ages, Heapey was a township and chapelry closely associated with Wheelton in the parish andhundred ofLeyland in Lancashire.[7] In 1837, Heapey joined with othertownships (orcivil parishes) in the area to form theChorleyPoor Law Union, which took responsibility for the administration and funding of thePoor Law in that area.[10]
Heapey is part ofChorley Borough (which has headquarters at the town hall inChorley), has aparish council.[11] It is part of theChorley parliamentary constituency, which electedLindsay Hoyle as Member of Parliament for theLabour Party in the2010 general election.[12]
The ancient township covered 1,464 acres on hilly ground including about 200 acres ofmoorland rising at the eastern edge to over 1,000 feet on the western fringe of theWest Pennine Moors. The village is in the northwest corner between Chorley and Blackburn, theLeeds and Liverpool Canal crosses the north-west corner and theThirlmere Aqueduct passes through the township.[4][13]
The Heapeyreservoirs are upstream ofAnglezarke reservoir starting behindWhite Coppice cricket club. They feed Black Brook (known as Warth Brook upstream), a tributary of theRiver Yarrow. They are not part of the drinking water system. To the south isHealey Nab.
| Population in Heapey 1881–1961 | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | 1881 | 1891 | 1901 | 1911 | 1921 | 1931 | 1951 | 1961 | |||
| Population | 369 | 497 | 543 | 606 | 515 | 504 | 422 | 481 | |||
| Heapey CP/Tn[14] | |||||||||||
The chapelry covered the township ofWheelton.[7] The church ofSt. Barnabas was first built in 1552, rebuilt in 1740 and enlarged in 1829 and 1867 and restored in 1876 and 1898. The church consists of chancel, nave and transepts and is a Grade IIListed building.[15]
An ordnance factory was built in Heapey during World War II, which became part ofBAE Systems and had an "ammunitions storage facility"[16] and part ofROF Chorley.[17] Although the base was closed in 1990s some planning applications were refused on the basis that the area was within a blast zone.[18] The railway line had sidings that served the site and closed in the 1960s.
A myth grew about a strategic reserve of steam locomotives as at that time the sidings were used to store redundant steam engines.[9][19] and the site was speculated to be connected with the ordnance site atEuxton.
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