Bleasdale 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. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

in the Wyre district of

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

, England, in the

Forest of Bowland The Forest of Bowland, also known as the Bowland Fells and formerly the Chase of Bowland, is an area of gritstone fells, deep valleys and peat moorland, mostly in north-east Lancashire, England, with a small part in North Yorkshire (however ro ...

Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty An Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB; , AHNE) is one of 46 areas of countryside in England, Wales, or Northern Ireland that has been designated for conservation due to its significant landscape value. Since 2023, the areas in England an ...

. The two sources of the

River Brock The River Brock is a river running through the county of Lancashire in England. Commencing its journey on Fair Snape Fell, the infant River Brock runs beneath the Bleasdale Circle before continuing via Claughton and Bilsborrow to St Micha ...

lie within the parish. According to the 2001 census, it had a population of 147, increasing to 167 at the 2011 Census.

Landmarks

Within the parish are: * Bleasdale

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the Church (building), 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 com ...

, the only one in the United Kingdom (and possibly in the world) dedicated to Saint

Eadmer Eadmer or Edmer ( – ) was an English historian, theologian, and ecclesiastic. He is known for being a contemporary biographer of his archbishop and companion, Saint Anselm, in his ''Vita Anselmi'', and for his ''Historia novorum i ...

. * Bleasdale Circle, a

Bronze Age The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...

circular earthwork, originally with an outer ring (at ) and possibly aligned with the sunrise of the Summer Solstice. * Bleasdale Church of England Primary School (closed in August 2019). * The Parish Hall, built in 1929. * The former post office, housed in the

forge A forge is a type of hearth used for heating metals, or the workplace (smithy) where such a hearth is located. The forge is used by the smith to heat a piece of metal to a temperature at which it becomes easier to shape by forging, or to the ...

opposite Higher Brock Mill (at ) on the

, supporting

brown Brown is a color. It can be considered a composite color, but it is mainly a darker shade of orange. In the CMYK color model used in printing and painting, brown is usually made by combining the colors Orange (colour), orange and black. In the ...

and

rainbow trout The rainbow trout (''Oncorhynchus mykiss'') is a species of trout native to cold-water tributary, tributaries of the Pacific Ocean in North America and Asia. The steelhead (sometimes called steelhead trout) is an Fish migration#Classification, ...

. From 1947 to 2002 the post office housed a café for locals,

cycling Cycling, also known as bicycling or biking, is the activity of riding a bicycle or other types of pedal-driven human-powered vehicles such as balance bikes, unicycles, tricycles, and quadricycles. Cycling is practised around the world fo ...

and hiking folk to refresh, fitted with a

well A well is an excavation or structure created on the earth by digging, driving, or drilling to access liquid resources, usually water. The oldest and most common kind of well is a water well, to access groundwater in underground aquifers. The ...

, dating from about 1700, beneath the building. In the early 1900s, "Jack Custard" was renowned there for the quality of his

custard tart Custard tarts or flan pâtissier/parisien are a baked pastry consisting of an outer pastry crust filled with egg custard. History The development of custard is so intimately connected with the custard tart or pie that the word itself comes from ...

. The ancient Forest of Bleasdale is less well known than its more famous neighbour, the

but its history is recounted by Smith. Being a part of Wyresdale, Bleasdale never fell under the sway of the powerful medieval

Lordship of Bowland The Lordship of Bowland is a manorial lordship associated with the Forest of Bowland in Lancashire, England. The lordship fell into disuse between 1885 and 2008, during which time it was widely believed to have lapsed; it was revived in 2008. ...

Notable buildings

* St Eadmer's Church was rebuilt in 1835 by John Dewhurst and restored and enlarged in 1897. It has a west tower and

lancet window A lancet window is a tall, narrow window with a sharp pointed arch at its top. This arch may or may not be a steep lancet arch (in which the compass centres for drawing the arch fall outside the opening). It acquired the "lancet" name from its rese ...

s. The church retains its pews and western gallery. * Bleasdale Tower was built in the early 19th century by William Garnett. * Clough Heads Cottages was once a boy's Reformatory School.

Geodesy

"Paddy's Pole" on Fair Snape Fell in Bleasdale parish was the origin (meridian) of the 6 inch and 1:2500 Ordnance Survey maps for Lancashire.

References

External links

Photographs of Bleasdale
on Lancashire County Council website
Saint Eadmer, Admarsh-in-Bleasdale at The Fellside Team Ministry
{{authority control Villages in Lancashire Civil parishes in Lancashire Geography of the Borough of Wyre Forest of Bowland

Landmarks

Notable buildings

Geodesy

See also

References

External links