Chorley
Chorley is a town in the traditional county of Lancashire, England. In 2020, the town has an estimated population of 36,682. It is roughly halfway between Preston and Wigan, with those towns being around 9 miles to the north and south respectively.
There is an administrative, non-metropolitan borough named after the town; this area has a population of around 119,000, is administered by Chorley Borough Council and also covers the nearby settlements Adlington, Buckshaw Village, Croston, Eccleston, Euxton and Whittle-le-Woods. Chorley also lends its name to a parliamentary constituency (whose boundaries are different to the like-named borough). It is known for having been the constituency of UK Parliament Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle. A G7 speakers' summit was held in the town in 2021.[1]
Among Chorley's best-known landmarks is the Preston England Temple, one of the earliest Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints temples built in Europe, completed in May 1998.
History
There was likely a church on the site now occupied by St Laurence's Church (largely built 14th-19th centuries) in the Anglo-Saxon era, as a daughter church of Croston which was established in the 7th century and once included Chorley in its parish.
Chorley was not mentioned by name Domesday Book of 1086, though it is believed to be one of the twelve berewicks of the Leyland Hundred.[2]
St Laurence's Church, the town's oldest surviving building, was consecrated in 1362. It is believed that the church was named for Laurence O'Toole, a 12th century saint from Ireland who died in Normandy.
Chorley sits on the northern fringe of the Lancashire Coalfield and, around 2 miles south of Chorley town centre was Ellerbeck Colliery, near the villages of Adlington and Coppull. The first shaft at the colliery was sank in 1876 by Hilton House and Red Moss Coal Company. By 1923 Ellerbeck Nos. 1 & 2 pits employed 892 underground workers and 156 on the surface. The colliery was closed completely in 1965.
Chorley Town Hall was constructed in 1879. The building was designed by John Ladds of Ellington, Huntingdonshire and William Henry Powell of Lewes, Sussex in the then-popular Italianate style.
George V and Queen Mary visited Chorley in July 1913 as part of an eight-day tour of industrial Lancashire.
In 1939, the Royal Ordnance Factory was opened in the town by George VI.[3]
Transportation
The M6 and M61 motorways are close to the town centre. Historically, the main road in Chorley was the A6 London-Carlisle trunk road.
References
- ↑ US Speaker of the house Nancy Pelosi to be offered butter pie on trip to Lancashire this week
- ↑ Jim Heyes (1994). A History of Chorley. Lancashire County Books. , p.6
- ↑ Platinum Jubilee: We look back at Chorley's many royal visits and connections