Leyland () is a town in South Ribble,

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancas ...

, England, six miles (10 km) south of

Preston Preston is a place name, surname and given name that may refer to: Places England *Preston, Lancashire, an urban settlement **The City of Preston, Lancashire, a borough and non-metropolitan district which contains the settlement **County Boro ...

. The population was 35,578 at the 2011 Census. The name of the town is

Anglo-Saxon The Anglo-Saxons were a cultural group who inhabited England in the Early Middle Ages. They traced their origins to settlers who came to Britain from mainland Europe in the 5th century. However, the ethnogenesis of the Anglo-Saxons happened wit ...

, meaning "untilled land".

History

English Leyland was an area of fields, with

Roman roads Roman roads ( la, viae Romanae ; singular: ; meaning "Roman way") were physical infrastructure vital to the maintenance and development of the Roman state, and were built from about 300 BC through the expansion and consolidation of the Roman Re ...

passing through, from ancient

Wigan Wigan ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, on the River Douglas. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. Bolton lies to the north-east and Warrington ...

to Walton-le-Dale. It was left undisturbed for many centuries until rediscovered shortly after the

Battle of Hastings The Battle of Hastings nrf, Batâle dé Hastings was fought on 14 October 1066 between the Norman-French army of William, the Duke of Normandy, and an English army under the Anglo-Saxon King Harold Godwinson, beginning the Norman Conque ...

(1066). Leyland is mentioned in the

Domesday Book Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manusc ...

(1085). In 1066, King Edward the Confessor presided over the whole of Leyland. The manor was divided into three large ploughlands, which were controlled by local noblemen. In the 12th century, it came under the barony of

Penwortham Penwortham () is a town in South Ribble, Lancashire, England, on the south bank of the River Ribble facing the city of Preston. The town is at the most westerly crossing point of the river, with major road and rail links crossing it here. T ...

. The area of Worden, which is now

Worden Park Worden Park is a large area of parkland situated on the outskirts of Leyland, a town in the borough of South Ribble, Lancashire, England. It is less than a quarter of a mile from the town centre. History Farington family The Farington family ...

, was one of nine oxgangs of land granted to the

Knights Hospitaller The Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem ( la, Ordo Fratrum Hospitalis Sancti Ioannis Hierosolymitani), commonly known as the Knights Hospitaller (), was a medieval and early modern Catholic military order. It was headq ...

, by Roger de Lacy, in

, but the land was not assigned to any individual and a local man, who was a very close friend of de Lacy, Hugh Bussel, was assigned holder of the land in 1212. Notable features that remain include the St Andrew's Parish Church, built around 1200 AD, and the large stone Leyland Cross, thought to date back to Saxon times.

Industry and commerce

The town is famous primarily for the bus and truck manufacturer Leyland Motors, which between the 1950s and 1970s expanded and grew to own several British motor manufacturers, including

British Motor Corporation The British Motor Corporation Limited (BMC) was a UK-based vehicle manufacturer, formed in early 1952 to give effect to an agreed merger of the Morris and Austin businesses.Morris-Austin Merger Company Named. ''The Times'', Friday, 29 February ...

Standard-Triumph The Standard Motor Company Limited was a motor vehicle manufacturer, founded in Coventry, England, in 1903 by Reginald Walter Maudslay. For many years, it manufactured Ferguson TE20 tractors powered by its Vanguard engine. All Standard's tracto ...

and

Rover Rover may refer to: People * Constance Rover (1910–2005), English historian * Jolanda de Rover (born 1963), Dutch swimmer * Rover Thomas (c. 1920–1998), Indigenous Australian artist Places * Rover, Arkansas, US * Rover, Missouri, US * ...

, culminating in the massive

British Leyland British Leyland was an automotive engineering and manufacturing conglomerate formed in the United Kingdom in 1968 as British Leyland Motor Corporation Ltd (BLMC), following the merger of Leyland Motors and British Motor Holdings. It was partly ...

company. The truck business still operates today as Leyland Trucks, and is owned by Paccar. Leyland is also home to one of the leading maintenance and utility companies in the United Kingdom,

Enterprise plc Enterprise plc was a support services company originally based in Farington in Lancashire, England. Its core markets were local authorities and utility sectors. It has recently been integrated into Ferrovial's UK company, Amey plc. History T ...

on Centurion Way. The town has been home to Dr Oetkers pizza factory on Marathon Place, Moss Side, since 1989.

Transport

Leyland railway station Leyland railway station serves the town of Leyland in Lancashire, England. It was formerly "Golden Hill", the name of the street and area in which the station is based, but was renamed Leyland soon after opening. The original station was built ...

is on the West Coast Main Line and is operated by

Northern Northern may refer to the following: Geography * North, a point in direction * Northern Europe, the northern part or region of Europe * Northern Highland, a region of Wisconsin, United States * Northern Province, Sri Lanka * Northern Range, a r ...

. There is one train an hour between Liverpool Lime Street and

. There is also one train an hour between Manchester Victoria/

Hazel Grove Hazel Grove is a suburb in the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport, Greater Manchester, England, close to the Peak District national park. Within the boundaries of the historic county of Cheshire, the area was known as Bullock Smithy until 18 ...

to Blackpool North. There is a marker adjacent to the old Leyland Motors Spurrier works at the halfway point on the railway journey between

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popu ...

and London, some 198 miles in either direction.

John Fishwick & Sons John Fishwick & Sons was a bus company based in Leyland, Lancashire. History The company was formed in 1907 when John Fishwick moved from Wales to Leyland looking for business. He started with a steam propelled wagon from the local Leyland Mo ...

which served the town's public transport needs, and connected the town to

Chorley Chorley is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Chorley in Lancashire, England, north of Wigan, south west of Blackburn, north west of Bolton, south of Preston and north west of Manchester. The town's wealth came ...

and

, ceased trading in 2015 and Stagecoach Merseyside & South Lancashire took over the route.

Education

High schools

High schools in Leyland include Balshaw's CE High School near Leyland Cross, St Mary's Catholic High School, Worden Academy, a smaller high school situated to the west of the town and Wellfield Academy near the town centre.

Colleges

To the east of

is Runshaw College.

Architecture

Since July 2007, the former

Primitive Methodist Church The Primitive Methodist Church is a Methodist Christian denomination with the holiness movement. It began in England in the early 19th century, with the influence of American evangelist Lorenzo Dow (1777–1834). In the United States, the Primit ...

on Leyland Lane has been home to the

Greek Orthodox Church The term Greek Orthodox Church ( Greek: Ἑλληνορθόδοξη Ἐκκλησία, ''Ellinorthódoxi Ekklisía'', ) has two meanings. The broader meaning designates "the entire body of Orthodox (Chalcedonian) Christianity, sometimes also cal ...

of the Holy Apostles. Most of the housing in Leyland falls under the

semi-detached A semi-detached house (often abbreviated to semi) is a single family duplex dwelling house that shares one common wall with the next house. The name distinguishes this style of house from detached houses, with no shared walls, and terraced hous ...

, detached and

bungalow A bungalow is a small house or cottage that is either single-story or has a second story built into a sloping roof (usually with dormer windows), and may be surrounded by wide verandas. The first house in England that was classified as a b ...

categories. There are a few modern

housing estate A housing estate (or sometimes housing complex or housing development) is a group of homes and other buildings built together as a single development. The exact form may vary from country to country. Popular throughout the United States ...

s, but about 65% of the accommodation in the town was built in the 1970s.

Areas

Leyland is made up by six different areas, the town centre itself counts as the main retail side, with the railway station, library and shops nearby. The other areas include Broadfield, Moss Side,

, Turpin Green and the Wade Hall estate.

Geography

People

Notable people who have grown up or lived in Leyland include: * Brian Pilkington, footballer *

Fred Beardsworth Fred Beardsworth (1899 – 10 October 1964) was an English association football halfback who played in the Southern New England Soccer League and the National Association Football League. He is a member of the National Soccer Hall of Fame ...

, footballer * William Bennett, 1920s footballer * Clarke Carlisle, footballer, was educated at Balshaw's CE High School * Trevor Hemmings, multi millionaire philanthropist spent his teenage years in Leyland *

Allen Hill Allen Hill may refer to: * Allen Hill (cricketer), English cricketer and umpire * Allen Hill (scientist), professor of bioinorganic chemistry * Allen Hill (physician), American physician and politician See also * Alan Hill (disambiguation) ...

, played in the first ever cricket Test * Phil Jones, footballer * John Lawton, biologist *

Frank Moss Frank Edward "Ted" Moss (September 23, 1911 – January 29, 2003) was an American lawyer and politician. A Democrat, he served as a United States Senator from Utah from 1959 to 1977. Early life and education Frank Moss was born in Holla ...

, football manager and former player, known for his six-year contract with

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostl ...

* Danny Mayor, footballer * Mike Salmon, retired goalkeeper, who currently works as a football manager *

Kevin Simm Kevin Ian Simm (born 5 September 1980) is an English pop singer. He won ''The Voice UK'' on 9 April 2016. Simm was in the group Liberty X from 2001 until their split in 2007, and is currently the lead singer of the group Wet Wet Wet. Early li ...

, Liberty X singer grew up in the area and attended St Anne's Primary School and St Mary's High School * Chris Tuson, rugby league player * John Woodcock, executed by the Stuarts in 1646, for his Catholicism * Liv Cooke, football freestyler. * Tim Farron,

Leader of the Liberal Democrats The Liberal Democrats are a political party in the United Kingdom. Party members elect the leader of the Liberal Democrats, the head and highest-ranking member of the party. Liberal Democrat members of Parliament also elect a deputy leader o ...

2015–2017, attended Runshaw College as a teenager.

Gallery

File:Leyland Cross.jpg, Leyland Cross File:Old_Police_Station_Leyland_(1).jpg, Old Police Station File:South_Ribble_Museum_and_Exhibition_Centre_-_geograph.org.uk_-_500126.jpg, South Ribble Museum File:Balshaw's_Grammar_School_-_Leyland_-_geograph.org.uk_-_7668.jpg, Balshaw's Grammar School File:Eagle_and_Child_-_geograph.org.uk_-_118061.jpg, Eagle and Child pub

References

*BBC Online (2006a
''Schools in Lancashire''
Education\League Tables, 19 January 2006 ccessed 27 June 2007*BBC Online (2006b
''Institutions in Lancashire''
Education\League Tables, 19 January 2006 ccessed 4 May 2007* Hunt, D., (1990), ''The History of Leyland and District'', Carnegie Press, * Hunt, D. and Waring, W. (1995), ''The Archive Photograph Series: Leyland'', Chalford Publishing Company, * Smith, J., (2003), ''Then and Now: Leyland'', Tempus Publishing, * South Ribble Borough Council �
''Leyland Town Centre Masterplan''
ccessed 23 April 2008

External links

Leyland Historical Society
{{authority control Towns in Lancashire Unparished areas in Lancashire Geography of South Ribble