Freckleton is a village and

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authorit ...

on the

Fylde coast The Fylde () is a coastal plain in western Lancashire, England. It is roughly a square-shaped peninsula, bounded by Morecambe Bay to the north, the Ribble estuary to the south, the Irish Sea to the west, and the foot of the Bowland hills to ...

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 Lancash ...

, England, to the south of Kirkham and east of the seaside resort of Lytham St. Annes. In 2001 the parish had a population of 6,045, reducing to 6,019 at the 2011 Census. The village is near Warton, with its links to BAE Systems. Warton Aerodrome's runway is partly within Freckleton's boundary. Freckleton has a parish council, and is part of Fylde Borough, and Fylde constituency.

History

The name of the village appears 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 manus ...

'' as "Frecheltun" and is said to derive from 'Farmstead of a man called Frecla', with

Old English Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlers in the mid-5th c ...

tun and Nordic personal name. It was one of 62 settlements to be found in the

Hundred 100 or one hundred (Roman numeral: C) is the natural number following 99 and preceding 101. In medieval contexts, it may be described as the short hundred or five score in order to differentiate the English and Germanic use of "hundred" to des ...

of "Agemvndrenesse" (

Amounderness The Amounderness Hundred () is one of the six subdivisions of the historic county of Lancashire in North West England, but the name is older than the system of hundreds first recorded in the 13th century and might best be described as the nam ...

). Another suggested derivation is from the Anglo-Saxon word for "lusty" or "argumentative".Bevan, E. M. and Ramsbottom, M. (1994), ''A Walk Round Old Freckleton'', Hedgehog Historical Publications, . Freckleton supplied water to the Roman fort at Kirkham, and in the 19th century was a port for the

ship building Shipbuilding is the construction of ships and other floating vessels. It normally takes place in a specialized facility known as a shipyard. Shipbuilders, also called shipwrights, follow a specialized occupation that traces its roots to befor ...

industry. Rope and sailcloth, for the early boatbuilding industry, was made in the village for many years. Balderstone Mill, erected in 1880, was the first organised factory system in the village, its weaving shed had 320 looms, and the cloth it produced sold on the Manchester Cotton Exchange. These mills closed in 1980. There was a

water-mill A watermill or water mill is a mill that uses hydropower. It is a structure that uses a water wheel or water turbine to drive a mechanical process such as milling (grinding), rolling, or hammering. Such processes are needed in the production o ...

, situated on the Dow Brook, from at least as early as 1427, when it was in the possession of a William Hodelliston. It was sold for the sum of £350, in 1882, with the sole purpose of its decommission, to allow the marsh to be more effectively drained. The Quaker burial ground at

Quaker's Wood Quaker's Wood (also known as "Twill Furlong") is a Quaker burial ground in the parish of Freckleton, near Preston, Lancashire, which was established in 1725. Situated at the side of Lower Lane, about midway between the village of Freckleton and ...

, also known as "Twill Furlong", in Lower Lane, between Freckleton and Kirkham, has a single gravestone. Until the 1920s, Freckleton had a tollgate and travelers to Lytham and Preston had to pay a toll to use the turnpike road. The toll was collected at toll house bridge. The toll could be avoided by crossing the Dow brook and walking along the bridle way. In

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, American forces from the neighbouring

Warton Aerodrome Warton Aerodrome is located in Warton village on the Fylde in Lancashire, England. The aerodrome is west of Preston, Lancashire, UK. Today the airfield is a major assembly and testing facility of BAE Systems Military Air & Information. It i ...

resided in the village. The Freckleton Air Disaster occurred on 23 August 1944, when an aircraft attempting to land at Warton during stormy weather crashed onto Freckleton's Holy Trinity School. Sixty-one people lost their lives, including thirty-eight infants, their two teachers, and the three air crew. Other victims included several residents and both British and American military personnel in a snack bar across the road from the school. Annual commemorations still take place, attended by residents and US veterans. The aerodrome was subsequently purchased by English Electric, now BAE Systems, and many BAE employees live in the village. The area around the village

War Memorial A war memorial is a building, monument, statue, or other edifice to celebrate a war or victory, or (predominating in modern times) to commemorate those who died or were injured in a war. Symbolism Historical usage It has ...

, now protected by railings, was once the village green, where stood the smithy and toll house.

Landmarks

The village is the home of Holy Trinity

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britai ...

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in community activities, ...

which was founded in 1837 and of Freckleton Methodist Church which was founded in 1810. The family butcher Snape, on Kirkham Road, was established in 1864. Freckleton Library was opened in 1980 by Sir Edward Gardner, MP for Fylde South. It replaced the mobile library which used the same site. Before the new library opened, the public library was situated on Lytham Road. Freckleton Library closed in September 2016 as part of Lancashire County Council budget cuts but was reopened on 9 January 2018.

Sport

Freckleton Football Club play at the Rawstorne Sports Centre, located at Bush Lane. The club currently compete in the west lancs league division 2. Freckleton Cricket Club plays at Bush Lane; it was formed at the beginning of the 1900s. It won the Meyler Cup for the third time in 2013, following up wins in 2012 and 2002. The side currently competes in the Premier Division of the Moore & Smalley Palace Shield Competition and will be led in 2015 by Andrew Hogarth, who succeeds the charismatic James 'Jimmy' Fiddler. Freckleton stages the

Freckleton Half Marathon The Freckleton Half Marathon is an annual road running event held in Freckleton, Lancashire, United Kingdom. The event was the idea of the then chairman of the local sport committee who was inspired by Ron Hill's performance in the 1964 Summer Ol ...

each year in June. The race has been staged since 1965 and is the oldest half marathon in the UK. The first race was won by

Ron Hill Ronald Hill MBE (25 September 1938 – 23 May 2021) was a British runner and clothing entrepreneur. He was the second man to break 2:10 in the marathon; he set world records at four other distances, and laid claim to the marathon world reco ...

who participated in the 1964 Olympics marathon. It attracts over 700 entrants.

Images

Image:Freckleton - the village of music and flowers - geograph.org.uk - 199775.jpg, Entrance to the village, with floral boat display Image:The Coach and Horses Freckleton - geograph.org.uk - 92961.jpg, The Coach and Horses, known locally as "Ponky's" File:The Ship at Freckleton Creek - geograph.org.uk - 93265.jpg, The Ship at Freckleton Creek Image:Freckleton Pool - geograph.org.uk - 320986.jpg, Freckleton Pool File:Toll House Bridge and bridle way - geograph.org.uk - 590193.jpg, Toll House Bridge and bridleway File:Freckleton Methodist Church - front.jpg , Freckleton Methodist Church

References

External links