| Wrightington | |
|---|---|
 | |
  Wrightington Location in West Lancashire Show map of the Borough of West Lancashire | |
| Population | 2,886 (2011 census) |
| OS grid reference | SD536126 |
| Civil parish |
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| District | |
| Shire county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | WIGAN |
| Postcode district | WN6 |
| Dialling code | 01257 |
| Police | Lancashire |
| Fire | Lancashire |
| Ambulance | North West |
| UK Parliament | |
| |
Wrightington is acivil parish inWest Lancashire, England, with an area of 3,915½ acres. The surface is hilly, rising to over 400 ft. at Harrock on the border ofParbold, and then falling to the north, northeast and southeast. On the southern border, the boundary atAppley Bridge touches theRiver Douglas. Wrightington Hall is to the north of this point. Tunley and Broadhurst lie to the north of the park, and Fairhurst, to the west of Harrock, reaches down to theRiver Douglas. At the 2001 census, Wrightington had a population of 4,055,[1] falling to 2,886 at the 2011 Census.[2]
Boar's Den Tumulus
Boar's Den,[3] thought to be aBronze Ageround barrow, is relatively undisturbed and consists of an earth and stone mound 73 yards (67 m) (E/W) by 68 yards (62 m) (N/S) with a maximum height of 8 feet (2.4 m) that suffered some plough damage in the past and is now used only as grazing land. If this round barrow were not marked on a map, despite being fairly extensive, it might be missed on the ground, mistaken as a natural lump in the middle of the field.[4]
In 1691, the first church in Wrightington was built. The curate, Jonathan Scholefield, ejected from Douglas Chapel,Parbold, in 1662 for hisPuritan beliefs, found refuge at Tunley, where a group ofPresbyterians started meeting regularly for worship at South Tunley Hall, the home of Thomas and Elizabeth Wilson. Twenty-two years after his death in 1667, the passing of theToleration Act 1688 alloweddissenters to worship openly. For the free exercise of their Divine worship, Thomas Wilson of "Tunley within Wrightington " erected a chapel forProtestants dissenting from theChurch of England. About a century later the congregation becameUnitarian before the building was given to theScottish Presbyterians. It now belongs to thePresbyterian Church of England. The original church building is believed to be the oldest building in England that was built as aPresbyterian church.[5]
St. James the Great[6] was built in 1857 byE. G. Paley for the services of theChurch of England. In November 2000, to commemorate themillennium, a new stained glass window was added combining traditional imagery and contemporary elements. The church is set in lovely countryside, commanding views stretching fromSouthport to theLake District. The central theme, theNativity of Jesus, is surrounded by finely drawn landscapes and well known buildings from the surrounding area: the famousWrightington Hospital, the church and the 400-year-old Heskin School.
Founded before 1893, the Carr House LanePrimitive Methodist Church was an early 19th century (1807) secession from theWesleyan Methodist church. It was particularly successful in evangelising agricultural and industrial communities at open meetings. In 1932, thePrimitive Methodists joined with the Wesleyan Methodists and theUnited Methodists to form the Methodist Church of Great Britain. The chapel is now closed.
Fairhurst Hall was at one time a place of worship forRoman Catholicism and a priest had been maintained at Wrightington Hall from the 1680s and a private chapel dedicated to St. Joseph was provided for the family, tenantry and employees until the building of St. Joseph's in 1892 by Charles Clifton Dicconson.
Wrightington has aparish council which consists of two wards, Mossy Lea and Appley Bridge each represented by three councillors.[7] Hilldale, formerly a ward of Wrightington, became a separatecivil parish in 1999.[8]
For several centuries, Wrightington Hall was the home of the Wrightington family, who are said to have been descended from Fitz Orm, the son of Orm, a powerful noble in this part ofLancashire in the 12th century, credited with the founding of theChurch of St Peter and St Paul,Ormskirk'sparish church.[9]
When Sir Edward Wrightington died in 1658, his heir, Hugh Dicconson, erected a very fine tomb for Sir Edward in St Wilfred's Parish Church,Standish.[9]
Two of Hugh Dicconson's sons, William and Roger, became Roman Catholics and were implicated in a plot to overthrow the government of the day underWilliam III andMary II and bring back the exiledKing James II.[9]
William, along with several other Catholic Lancastrians, was put on trial in Manchester fortreason in 1694. They were acquitted for lack of sufficient evidence to convict them. However, immediately afterwards, William fled toFrance to join James II in exile, where he was appointed "governor" (tutor) toBonnie Prince Charlie, and his wife became "Maid of Honour" to the exiled Queen,Mary of Modena.[9]
William's brother, Roger, was living at Wrightington Hall and supported theOld Pretender in the abortive 1715 rebellion. Surprisingly, the estate did not suffer for his part in it.[9]
The ancient hall was then a typicalTudormanor house no longer survives: the present structure was constructed in 1748[10] and extended in 1860.[11]
In 1918 the hall was acquired by Lancashire County Council who converted it into a health facility now known asWrightington Hospital.[12]
Peter Lathom ofBispham was a great-grandson of Richard Lathom ofAllerton Hall (1563-1602) Lancashire, England- whose family's lands and hereditaments were confiscated for treason in 1652 (fn. 20) and ordered to be sold by Parliament. His family now poor, Peter took to the roads and became a beggar, relying on the goodwill of the surrounding villagers for occasional jobs, food and shelter. In his will (1700), he left money for the children of these villages, including Wrightington:
Peter Lathom's life (1651–1701) was cast in very stormy times. He grew up during some of the most disturbed periods of English history. He saw the confiscation of the Parbold. Wrightington and Allerton estates; he witnessed the extremes of poverty into which this Confiscation had thrown the Lathom family; he saw some of them with not the value of 5/- (25p) either in goods or lands, and constantly harried by religious and civil strife; and seeing all these things it is hardly surprising that he leaves money for the benefit of the poor – among whom the Lathoms of Parbold were now to be numbered; that he remembers the St. John Roman Catholic Mission in which Christopher Lathom, the priest and a possible relative, is interested; that he bequeaths £40 to the children of another possible relative, Mistress Katherine Lethem; that he forbids any public officer to be employed in the distribution of his charity- an understandable family dislike of the officialdom which had oppressed the Lathoms of Parbold- and that he does not forget even the poor prisoners in Lancaster Castle, in which again he may have had some family interest.
From his will, which he signed in his own handwriting and other legal sources we learn that he called himself Peter Lathom, yeoman, of Bispham; that the Will was dated 2 April 1700, with a codicil dated 19 February 1701; that the "Testator departed this life October, 1701," and finally that the will was proved in the Consistory Court of Chester on 11 February 1702.
An English paper says: — "The trustees of the charity of Peter Lathom, once a beggar, ofMawdesley, nearPreston, have just met. It was reported that the property, which originally cost a few hundreds, was now worth £570,000 - One block had recently been sold for £87,000, the fabulous advance in value being owing to the discovery of coal on the land. Lathom left the land for the benefit of the thirteen townships through which he begged, to keep and apprentice four lads, to further education, and other philanthropic uses."[13]
Today, the key objectives of the charity are to provide financial assistance for the education and training of persons under the ages of 25 years.[14]
There are five churches in Wrightington Parish. Wrightington has two primary schools, Mossy Lea Primary School and St. Joseph's Catholic Primary School, a hairdresser and two service stations. There are three pubs along the main road through the centre of the village and country pubs and restaurants in the outlying part of the village.
Wrightington is a rural community of farms and equestrian establishments. Dairy, sheep and fish farming together with stables contribute to the agricultural economy.
Established in 1976, Ainscough Crane Hire has since grown through expansion and acquisition to become the UK's largest crane hire operator.
The parish council working in partnership withLancashire College now offers Mossy Lea Village Hall as a learning facility with computer courses, family learning courses,tai chi andyoga classes. There is also a village hall atAppley Bridge.[15]
There are twobowling greens.
Sports facilities at the Wrightington Country Club include: a state of the artgymnasium, an eighteen-metreswimming pool, an aromatic fibre litsteam room, toning tables, asolarium, ajacuzzi, a dance studio andsquash courts.
