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Kirkham

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KIRKHAM, a small town, a township, and a sub-district, in Fylde district, and a parish partly also in Preston and Garstang districts, Lancashire. The town stands near the Preston and Wyre railway, 3 miles N of Naze Point on the Ribble estuary, and 8 WNW of Preston; has been regarded as the capital of the Fylde country; comprises several well built streets; has a good supply of water, and fair sanitary arrangements under a local board of health; is a seat of petty sessions and county courts; and has a post office under Preston, a railway station, a magistrates' office, a church, Independent and Wesleyan chapels, a Roman Catholic chapel, a reading room and library, a free grammar school, a girls' charity school, a national school, a workhouse, and some charities. The church succeeded a Norman one, which was given by Roger de Poitiers to Shrewsbury Abbey, and by Edward I. to Vale-Royal abbey; comprises a nave of 1822, a tower and spire of 1844, and a chancel of 1853, together with a N transept; and is convenient and spacious. The Roman Catholic chapel is at the Willows, ½ a mile from the town; was built in 1845, after designs by Pugin; is in the early English style; and consists of nave, aisles, chancel, and porch, with tower and octagonal spire. The grammar school was founded in 1658; affords both an English and a classical education; and has £596 a year from endowment, and two exhibitions of £60 a year to Cambridge. The workhouse is that of the Fylde district; has attached to it large garden ground; and, at the census of 1861, had 110 inmates. Fairs are held on 4 and 5 Feb., 28 and 29 April, and 18 and 19 Oct.; and there are flax mills in the town, and cotton mills in the adjoining township of Medlar-with-Wesham. The town and the township are regarded as conterminate. Acres, 840. Real property, £7,450; of which £162 are in gas works. Pop. in 1851, 2,799; in 1861, 3,380. Houses, 616. The sub-district contains also the townships of Freckleton, Warton, Bryning-with-Kellamergh, Ribby-with-Wrea, Westby-with-Plumpton, Weeton-with-Preese, Greenalgh-with-Thistleton, Cliftonwith-Salwick, Newton-with-Scales, Medlar-with-Wesham, Little Eccleston-with-Larbreck, Treals, Roseacre, and Wharles, and Elswick. Acres, 31,464. Pop. in 1851, 8,464; in 1861, 9,141. Houses, 1,740. The parish contains all the sub-district, except Elswick township; and contains also the townships of Whittingham, Goosnargh-with-Newsham, Great and Little Singleton, and the chapelry of Hambleton. Acres, 48,530. Real property, £73,737. Pop. in 1851, 10,926; in 1861, 11,445. Houses, 2,191. The living is a vicarage in the diocese o Manchester. Value, £1,080.* Patron, Christ Church, Oxford The p. curacies of Goosnargh, Great Singleton, Hambleton, Lund, Ribby-with-Wrea, Treales, Weeton, Whitechapel, and Warton-with-Freckleton, are separate benefices.

John Marius Wilson, Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (1870-72)

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Archives & Libraries

Kirkham Library,
Station Road,
Kirkham
Preston
PR4 2HD

Additional Local Studies information is held at St. Annes Library.

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Bibliography

The following books contain useful information about the history of Kirkham and the surrounding area.

  • The History of the Fylde of Lancashire. John Porter 1876, reprinted by S.R. Publishers Ltd. 1968 SBN 85409 532 2.
  • Fylde Folk. Kathleen Eyre 1970. SBN 9501373 0 8. J.Brewer & Son.
  • Windmill Land. Allen Clarke 1933. W. Foulsham & Co. Ltd.
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Census

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Church Records

St John the Evangelist, The Willows (Roman Catholic)

The LFH&HS have published marriages 1837-1995, baptisms 1855-1970 and burials 1839-1993.

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Civil Registration

The Register Office covering the Kirkham area is Blackpool & Fylde.

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Description & Travel

You can see pictures of Kirkham which are provided by:

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Gazetteers

Topographical Dictionary of England, Samuel Lewis - 1831

KIRKHAM, a parish in the hundred of AMOUNDERNESS, county palatine of LANCASTER, comprising the market-town of Kirkham, the chapelries of Goosnargh, Hambleton, Ribby with Wrea, Singleton, and Warton, and the townships of Bryning with Kellamergh, Clifton with Salwick, Little Eccleston with Larbreck, Freckleton, Greenhalgh with Thistleton, Medlar with Wesham, Newsham, Newton with Scales Treales, with Roseacre and Wharles, Weeton, Westby with Plumptons, and Whittingham, and containing 11,925 inhabitants, of which number, 2735 are in the town of Kirkham, 22 miles (S. by W.) from Lancaster, and 226 (N.W. by N.) from London. This place, which is of Saxon origin, derived its name from its church, which, soon after the Conquest, was given by Roger de Poictou to the abbey of St. Peter and St. Paul in Shrewsbury, from which it was, by Edward I., .transferred to the monks of Vale Royal in Cheshire, in whose patronage it remained till the dissolution. The town, which may be considered as the capital of a surrounding district called the Fylde country, though small, is neatly built, and the houses in general respectable. The manufacture of sail-cloth, sacking, and cordage, originally formed the principal source of employment, and is still carried on to a limited extent; the manufacture of cotton has been recently introduced, and a considerable number of handlooms is employed in the town and neighbourhood. At Wardless, within eight miles of the town, a small port on the north-east bank of the river Wyre, which is accessible to vessels of three hundred tons, several of the principal manufacturers have warehouses for supplying the town with the produce of the countries bordering on the Baltic. The Lancaster canal passes at the distance of about three miles from the town, which suffers from the want of a more varied and extensive course of inland navigation.

The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland - 1868

"KIRKHAM, a parish, post and market town, in the hundred of Amounderness, county Lancaster, 8 miles N.W. of Preston, 10 E. of Blackpool, and 5 N.E. of Lytham. It is a station on the Preston and Wyre railway. The parish is very extensive, embracing 13 townships and chapelries, the principal of which are, Freckleton, Goosnargh, Hambleton, Newton-with-Scales, &c. The town, which is ancient, is a polling place for the county elections. Petty sessions are held fortnightly, and county courts monthly. It contains a police station, market-place, and savings-bank. The inhabitants are principally engaged in the cotton and flax mills. The houses are in general well built, and the town, though small, may be considered as the capital of the surrounding district called the Fylde country. Within 3 miles of the town is the estuary of the river Ribble, and at Wardless, within 8 miles, is a small port on the N.E. bank of the river Wyre, which is navigable for vessels of 300 tons. The Preston and Wyre railway and the Lancaster canal pass through the parish. A constable and other officers are appointed annually at the court-leet of the lord of the manor. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Manchester, value £750, in the patronage of the Dean and Canons of Christ Church, Oxford. The parish church, dedicated to St. Michael, is a modern stone edifice with a square tower crowned by a lofty spire, and containing eight hells. It occupies the site of a very ancient one which was given by Roger de Poitiers to the abbey of Shrewsbury, and afterwards bestowed by Edward I. on Vale Royal Abbey. In addition to the parish church, there are eleven district churches at Goosnargh, Hambleton, Lund, Ribby-with-Wrea, Great Singleton, Treales, Warton, Freckleton, Weeton, and Whitechapel, the livings of all which are perpetual curacies, except Freckleton, varying in value from £382 to £90. There are chapels for Wesleyans and Independents. The Roman Catholic church, dedicated to St.

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Maps

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View maps of Kirkham and places within its boundaries.

A map of Kirkham east and west around 1890.

View a map of the boundaries of this town/parish.

You can see maps centred on OS grid reference SD419319 (Lat/Lon: 53.780514, -2.883906), Kirkham which are provided by:

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Probate Records

For probate purposes prior to 1858, Kirkham was in the Archdeaconry of Richmond, in the Diocese of Chester. The original wills for the Archdeaconry of Richmond are held at the Lancashire Record Office.

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Societies

You can also see Family History Societies covering the nearby area, plotted on a map. This facility is being developed, and is awaiting societies to enter information about the places they cover.