Market town in Lancashire, England
Town in England
Ormskirk
is a
market town
in the
West Lancashire
district of
Lancashire
, England. It is located 13 miles (21 km) north of
Liverpool
, 11 miles (18 km) northwest of
St Helens
, 9 miles (14 km) southeast of
Southport
and 18 miles (29 km) southwest of
Preston
. Ormskirk is known for its
gingerbread
.
[2]
[3]
In 2011 it had a population of 24,073.
Geography and administration
[
edit
]
Ormskirk lies on sloping ground on the side of a ridge, whose highest point is 81 metres (266 ft) above sea-level,
[4]
at the centre of the
West Lancashire Plain
, and has been described as a "planned borough", laid out in the 13th century.
[5]
Ormskirk is an
unparished area
, surrounded by the
parishes
of
Bickerstaffe
,
Aughton
,
Scarisbrick
,
Burscough
,
Lathom
and
Lathom South
.
[6]
[7]
The town is located in the
district
of
West Lancashire
and is the site of the headquarters of West Lancashire Borough Council.
Since Ormskirk does not have a
parish council
, a
voluntary association
, Ormskirk Community Partnership, was created in 2009, with the support of the West Lancashire Borough Council, to act as a voice for Ormskirk.
[8]
Ormskirk is home to
Edge Hill University
.
[9]
History
[
edit
]
The name is
Old Norse
in origin and is derived from
Ormres kirkja
, from a personal name,
Ormr
(which means
"serpent"
or
dragon
), and the Old Norse word
kirkja
for
church
.
[5]
Ormr may have been a
Viking
who settled here, became a Christian and founded the church but there are no other records or
archaeological
evidence to support this and Ormr's identity is unknown.
There is no reference to Ormskirk in the
Domesday Book
of 1086, but it has been suggested that it may have been part of
Lathom
at that time.
[10]
In about 1189, the lord of Lathom granted the church of Ormskirk to
Burscough Priory
, which does suggest that Ormskirk had been subordinate to Lathom before that date.
[5]
An open market is held twice weekly, on Thursdays and Saturdays, in the pedestrianised centre of Ormskirk. The location was originally the junction of the main roads to
Preston
, Liverpool and
Wigan
, and was marked by a
market cross
going back to medieval times. During the 18th and 19th centuries the Cross, as the junction was known, was the location of a large lamp mounted on an obelisk with a circular drinking fountain for both people and animals around the base. This was moved to the junction of St Helens Road and Moor Street to make room for the erection of the clock tower in 1876.
The fountain was then moved again to opposite the Drill Hall down Southport Road in the 1890s when space was needed to site the Disraeli statue. The market was established by a
royal charter
that was granted by
Edward I
in 1286 to the monks of
Burscough Priory
. Thursday has been market day in Ormskirk since at least 1292. The King also granted a borough charter to Ormskirk at about the same time, but this seems to have become extinct by the end of the 15th century.
[5]
The Ormskirk
Poor Law Union
was established in 1837, covering 21 parishes and townships from
Tarleton
to
Simonswood
, and from
Birkdale
to Skelmersdale. Ormskirk Union Workhouse was built in 1853 on Wigan Road and later became
Ormskirk District General Hospital
.
[11]
With its weekly markets, the town became a focal point for local farmers and their agricultural workers, cottagers, cow-keepers etc. to trade their goods and obtain necessities from the markets and from the retail establishments which were established along with public houses and inns. An engineering industry, based on making and mending agricultural machinery also developed.
The town became known for its gingerbread over the years when local women would bake the gingerbread in their own homes and then take it to the staging inns to sell to passengers. When the railway arrived in the mid 19th century, the local gingerbread sellers found a new market. They were allowed to sell their product to passengers travelling through the railway station. One particular customer
Edward, Prince of Wales
, later Edward VII, enjoyed the local gingerbread so much he sent orders to the town. The baking of gingerbread became part of the retail history of the town, with several local bakers claiming to have the original gingerbread recipe. A well known local woman, Sally Woods, was a recognisable figure on the market selling her gingerbread.
Parish Church of St Peter and St Paul
[
edit
]
The
Parish Church of St Peter and St Paul
is believed to be on the site of the original kirk, on a
sandstone
outcrop, and is the oldest building in the town. Its exact age is unknown; the building does contain some fragments of
Norman architecture
.
The parish church has many connections with the
Earls of Derby
and the
Stanley
family. Many family members are buried in the church's Derby Chapel, including
Thomas Stanley
, the first Earl, who caused
Richard III
to lose his crown by changing sides at the
Battle of Bosworth
in 1485, and the
Royalist
James Stanley
, the seventh Earl, who was beheaded at
Bolton
in 1651 after the
Civil War
. His body is buried in one coffin and his head in a separate casket.
This is one of only three
parish churches
in England to have a tower and a separate spire, and is unique in that it has both at the same end of the building. (The other two are
St Mary's Church, Purton
and
St Andrew's Church, Wanborough
, both near
Swindon
, in
Wiltshire
). Legend has it that Orme had two sisters, one who wanted a tower, and one who wanted a spire, and Orme built both to please both.
The 'steeple' in fact dates from the early 15th century, but the original blew down in 1731 and was rebuilt between 1790 and 1832. The large west tower was added to the church around 1548 to house the bells of nearby Burscough Priory following the
Dissolution of the Monasteries
. One of these bells can still be seen in the church.
Transport
[
edit
]
The
A59
is the main road, with
Preston
to the north and
Liverpool
to the south. The
A570
, from
Southport
, crosses the town from west to east and provides a link to the national motorway network at junction 3 of the
M58
, about three miles from the town centre. It then continues to
St Helens
before reaching the
M62
at Junction 7, Rainhill Stoops. The town has its own bus station,
Ormskirk bus station
.
The town's
railway station
, which was refurbished at a cost of £1 million in 2009, is a northern terminus of
Merseyrail
, and the line continues, with a change from electric to diesel multiple units, through to
Preston
, after the direct service was partitioned in 1970. This line was promoted by the
Liverpool, Ormskirk and Preston Railway
in August 1846, but was completed by the
East Lancashire Railway
. The route and Ormskirk station opened on 2 April 1849, the undertaking being merged into the
Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway
on 13 May 1859.
The Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway built the
Skelmersdale Branch
line to
Skelmersdale
and
Rainford Junction
, which opened on 1 March 1858. Passenger services ended on 5 November 1956, goods to Rainford Junction finished on 16 November 1961 and to Skelmersdale on 4 November 1963.
Local economy
[
edit
]
There is a
Morrisons
on Park Road, which was converted from a
Safeway
in 2005. The building was formerly home to the local gasworks, and the local
Rover
/
Morris
car dealership (
Balmforths
). The
Two Saints
is a modest retail park which opened in 2000 and contains a number of retailers including
McDonald's
,
Argos
,
Mobility Store
,
Poundland
,
Aldi
and a gym. In December 2013, when
Blockbuster
entered administration, its store at
Two Saints
closed.
[12]
Ormskirk had an indoor market situated on Moorgate, but it closed in 2021 and was re-opened as a food and drink market in 2022.
[13]
A
Tesco Metro
was located on Church Street, but it closed in April 2015.
[14]
An out of town business park,
The Hattersley Centre
, opened in February 2008, with a
Home Bargains
,
Howdens
, Tile Giant,
Magnet
,
Jewson
,
Halfords
(which closed in 2020) and a
Plumbase
. After
Focus DIY
went into administration, its store on the Hattersley Centre closed. The unit which it occupied was split into three, two being occupied by Home Bargains and
The Food Warehouse by Iceland
.
[15]
An application for
Asda
to open in the unit was rejected in February 2011, after the application was submitted in August 2009.
[16]
The centre was never fully occupied, and had been struggling since its completion.
[17]
Netto closed down in August 2016, after the firm pulled out of the United Kingdom.
[18]
The store had opened in November 2014.
[19]
2019 saw the Hattersley Centre expand with new units being built on adjacent unused land and occupied by Lidl and Toolstation.
[20]
The expansion followed funding of £6.2M being secured from the Royal Bank of Scotland to clear the adjacent land and build new units.
[21]
2019 also saw Magnet vacate one of the units, but this was quickly occupied by Screwfix.
[22]
One of the last significant manufacturing businesses remaining in Ormskirk were Atkinson & Kirby, who make
hardwood
floors and employed 80 people.
[23]
They relocated in September 2015 after operating from Ormskirk for over 100 years.
[24]
Businesses in the town are mainly professional and financial services, such as solicitors,
estate agents
, and accountants.
Education
[
edit
]
Ormskirk School
(ages 11?18) is on Wigan Road in the east of the town, situated on a site formerly home to the demolished Cross Hall High School. The school is now part of the Endeavour Learning Trust. Ormskirk School is the result of a merger between
Ormskirk Grammar School
and Cross Hall High School.
St Bede's Catholic High School
(ages 11?16) is on St Anne's Road next to the A59 and Prescot Road, and opposite St Anne's Church.
Edge Hill University
is on the A570
St Helens
Road heading east.
West Lancashire College
, a
further education
college, used to have a site in the town centre on Hants Lane but its students now have to travel to Skelmersdale.
[25]
Ormskirk is also home to a public library.
[26]
Media
[
edit
]
The
Ormskirk Advertiser
, a
Reach plc
title, is the local newspaper; it shares a website with the
Liverpool Echo
.
[27]
The town was formerly also served by the
Champion
, which closed in 2022.
[28]
Sandgrounder Radio
and Radio Heartbeat broadcast to patients at the
Ormskirk District General Hospital
.
[29]
[30]
Parks and open spaces
[
edit
]
The town has three main parks and a number of other smaller play areas and open spaces. The main parks are:-
- Victoria Park, named after
Queen Victoria
, is Ormskirk's oldest park, established towards the end of the 19th century. It contains a monument to local heroes of the
Boer War
and
Crimean War
.
[31]
[32]
It is located on the triangle of land between Knowsley Road, St Helens Road and Ruff Lane.
- Coronation Park,
[33]
a large park in the town centre on Park Road, which has children's play areas, skateboard area, games area for football and basketball, fitness equipment, duck pond, bowling green, bandstand and wildlife meadow. The Park was established in about 1905 by the former
Ormskirk Urban District
to commemorate the coronation of
King Edward VII
. In 2012 the Ormskirk War Memorial was relocated here from its original site in front of the former Comrades' Club on Southport Road.
[34]
- Ruff Wood,
[35]
a countryside park on the edge of the town, on Ruff Lane.
Notable people
[
edit
]
- See
Category:People from Ormskirk
Other connections
[
edit
]
- Robert Harkness
(born), Professor of Geology and Mineralogy, FRS FRSE FGS., Queen's College, Cork.
- Tom Pearce (footballer)
(football player for
Wigan Athletic
, born in Ormskirk and went to
Ormskirk School
)
- Billy Ayre
(lived and died), football player and manager
- Mark Bonner
(born), footballer
- Kieran Dowell
(born), footballer at Rangers F.C and England U'20 World Cup Winner
- Wes Fletcher
(born), footballer at
York City
- Joseph Brandreth
(born), physician
- Alexander Critchley
(born) M.P. for
Liverpool Edge Hill
1935?1945.
- Jon Culshaw
(born), impressionist
- Vickey Dixon
(born), hockey player and bronze medal winner at the
1992 Summer Olympics
- Richard Drummie
, musician
- Duncan Ferguson
(lives), footballer
- Marianne Faithfull
, singer
[36]
- Alexander Goss
(1814-1872), was a Roman Catholic Bishop, Bishop of Liverpool
[37]
- Helen Hayes
(raised), MP for
Dulwich and West Norwood (UK Parliament constituency)
since 2015
[38]
- Gavin Griffiths
(born) Leicestershire County cricket player
- William Edward Heaton
(born), recipient of the
Victoria Cross
- James Hopwood Jeans
(born), physicist, astronomer and mathematician
- Stuart Maconie
(student), TV presenter
- Stephen James Bennett
(born), Academic, musician and writer
- Edward Peck (academic administrator)
,(school) Vice Chancellor of Nottingham Trent University
- Tom Middlehurst
, former Welsh AM and Education Minister.
- William Moorcroft
, veterinary surgeon, horse breeding expert, explorer
- Nicholas Monsarrat
(lived), novelist, author of
The Cruel Sea
- Tony Morley
(born), England and Aston Villa footballer, European Cup winner in 1982
- Jimmy O'Neill
(lived), Irish international footballer
[39]
- Les Pattinson
(born), former member of
Echo & the Bunnymen
- Jonathan Pryce
(student), actor
- Jack Renshaw
, far-right activist and convicted terrorist
- John Rimmer
(born), athlete and winner of two gold medals at the
1900 Summer Olympics
- Robbie Slater
(born), Australian footballer
- John Souch
(born), seventeenth-century painter
- Stephen Warnock
(born), England and Liverpool footballer
- Nicole Webster
(born), Australian marine scientist
- Helen Whitaker
Girl Guide leader and Commissioner for British Guides Abroad
- The Ormesher Sisters
, Victims of an unsolved double murder in 1956
Gallery
[
edit
]
-
The Beaconsfield monument on Moor Street
-
The Buck i'th' Vine Inn on Burscough Street
-
Memorial to Sergeant-Major Nunnerly in Victoria Gardens
-
The old water tower on Tower Hill
See also
[
edit
]
Notes
[
edit
]
- ^
UK Census
(2011).
"Local Area Report ? Ormskirk Built-up area (E34002061)"
.
Nomis
.
Office for National Statistics
. Retrieved
26 March
2021
.
- ^
Hawthorne, Nathaniel.
Works of Nathaniel Hawthorne: (150+ works) Incl: The Scarlet Letter, Twice Told Tales, The House of the Seven Gables, The Blithedale Romance, Tanglewood Tales for Girls and Boys & more. (Mobi Collected Works)
.
ISBN
1605011517
.
- ^
Moule, Thomas (1837).
The English Counties Delineated, Volume 2
. Virtue. p. 359.
- ^
Southport & Chorley
(Map). 1:25,000. Explorer.
Ordnance Survey
. Retrieved
16 November
2017
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
Lancashire County Council
, Ormskirk historic town assessment, Lancashire County Council, 2006
- ^
Mariolancashire.gov.uk
, Map of Lancashire parishes
- ^
[1]
Lathom South Parish Council
- ^
Westlandsdc.gov.uk
Archived
7 July 2011 at the
Wayback Machine
Ormskirk Community Partnership
- ^
Edgehill.ac.uk
Archived
24 August 2008 at the
Wayback Machine
, Edge Hill's 'how to find us' page
- ^
Open Domesday: Lathom
- ^
Workhouses.org.uk
Archived
28 June 2009 at the
Wayback Machine
, Ormskirk Workhouses
- ^
McCoid-Sou, Sophie (12 December 2013).
"A blockbuster of a sale at Ormskirk's Blockbusters"
. www.ormskirk.gb.com
. Retrieved
3 March
2017
.
- ^
"Ormskirk Food & Drink Market"
. Retrieved
2 August
2023
.
- ^
McCoid-Sou, Sophie (28 January 2015).
"Ormskirk shoppers shocked at Tesco closure plan"
. www.southportvisiter.co.uk
. Retrieved
3 March
2017
.
- ^
"The Food Warehouse Store Details - Store Locator"
.
- ^
Blaxall, Roger (8 February 2011).
"It Asda be perfect news for Ormskirk..."
ormskirk.qlocal.co.uk
. Retrieved
3 March
2017
.
- ^
"An Ormskirk BID could be set up to improve town centre"
.
Southport Visitor
. Southport Visitor. 11 October 2017.
- ^
McCoid-Sou, Sophie (4 July 2016).
"Ormskirk Netto to close in August"
. www.southportvisiter.co.uk
. Retrieved
3 March
2017
.
- ^
Butler, Sarah (6 November 2014).
"Venture with Sainsbury's has less than year to work, says Netto chief"
. theguardian.com
. Retrieved
3 March
2017
.
- ^
"Groundbreaking news as new Lidl opens in November"
.
ormskirk
. Retrieved
14 November
2019
.
- ^
Media, Insider (27 June 2016).
"£6.2m funding for Ormskirk retail park"
.
Insider Media Ltd
. Retrieved
14 November
2019
.
- ^
"Screwfix Ormskirk | Screwfix Website"
.
www.screwfix.com
. Retrieved
14 November
2019
.
- ^
Akirby.co.uk
Archived
8 June 2007 at the
Wayback Machine
, Atkinson & Kirby home page
- ^
McCoid-SOU, Sophie (10 March 2015).
"Ormskirk's Atkinson & Kirby flooring to leave town later this year"
.
southportvisiter
. Retrieved
8 February
2019
.
- ^
Lopez, Jamie; Baron, Olivia (11 September 2019).
"Derelict Lancashire college faces demolition after council Local Plan is axed"
.
accrington
. Retrieved
22 December
2019
.
- ^
"Ormskirk Skelmersdale and Parbold libraries reduce opening hours"
.
Visiter
. 5 March 2016
. Retrieved
14 September
2023
.
- ^
"Ormskirk - get the latest news, views and more from the Advertiser team"
.
Liverpool Echo
. 21 December 2023
. Retrieved
21 December
2023
.
- ^
Roberts-Haslam, Benjamin (30 August 2022).
"Southport Champion newspaper collapse 'due to trading conditions'
"
.
Liverpool Echo
. Retrieved
21 December
2023
.
- ^
"North West Radio Stations"
. Retrieved
19 December
2023
.
- ^
"Hospital Radio"
. Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust
. Retrieved
19 December
2023
.
- ^
British Listed Buildings
[2]
accessed 27 January 2012
- ^
Photo from the Francis Frith collection
[3]
accessed 27 January 2012
- ^
West Lancs BC web site
[4]
accessed 27 January 2012
- ^
"Ormskirk Comrades of the Great War Memorial"
.
War Memorials Register
. Imperial War Museums
. Retrieved
1 November
2020
.
- ^
West Lancs BC web site
[5]
Archived
12 October 2011 at the
Wayback Machine
accessed 27 January 2012
- ^
Greenstreet, Rosanna (22 April 2011).
"Q&A: Marianne Faithfull"
.
The Guardian
.
- ^
Catholic Hierarchy: Alexander Goss
- ^
"Southport - latest news pictures and video from the seaside town from the Visiter team"
.
- ^
"Tributes as ex-Everton goalie dies, aged 76",
Ormskirk Advertiser
, Issue 13,698, 20 December 2007, p. 12
References
[
edit
]
- Duggan, Mona (1998)
Ormskirk, the Making of a Modern Town
. Stroud: Sutton
ISBN
0-7509-1868-3
External links
[
edit
]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to
Ormskirk
.
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