Longridge

LONGRIDGE, a village and a chapelry in Ribchester parish, Lancashire. The village stands in the townships of Alston, Hothersall, and Dilworth, on the SW slope of Longridge fell, 1½ mile SW of the terminus of the Preston and Longridge railway, 2 N of the river Ribble, 3½ W by N of Ribchester, and 7 N E of Preston; is a populous and thriving place; carries on nail-making, cotton-spinning, and the manufacture of various cotton fabrics; conducts a large trade in the transport, by railway, of building-stone from neighbouring quarries; and has a post office, under Preston, a railway station, and fairs on 16 Feb., 16 March, 16 April, Holy Monday, and 5 Nov. The railway to it from Preston was opened in 1840. The chapelry was constituted in 1861. Pop., 2,057. Houses, 402. Several reservoirs of the Preston water-works are here. Longridge fell is a hill about 5½ miles in length, extending north-eastward from Longridge village to the vicinity of the river Hodder at the boundary with Yorkshire. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Manchester. Value, £170. Patrons, Hulme's Trustees. The church was rebuilt in 1823; and consists of a nave, with a tower. There are an Independent chapel, built in 1865; a Wesleyan chapel, built in 1836; a Roman Catholic chapel, built in 1864, in lieu of a previous small one; and a national school, built in 1832.