Garstang Town Hall from High Street 239-1

Garstang is an ancient market town 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 ...

within the Wyre borough 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. It is north of the city of Preston and the same distance south of Lancaster. In 2011, the parish had a total resident population of 4,268; the larger Garstang Built-up Area, which includes the adjoining settlements of Bonds and Cabus, had population of 6,779. Garstang is famous for being the world's first ever Fairtrade Town.

Etymology

Garstang 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 at the behest of William the Conqueror. The manuscript was originally known by ...

of 1086 as ''Cherestanc''. Later recordings of the name include Geresteng, Gairstang in 1195; Grestein, 1204; Gayrestan, 1236; Gayerstang, 1246; Gayrstang, 1274; Gayrestang, 1292. The original spelling of Garstang has several interpretations: "'gore by the boundary pole", "spear post", "triangular piece of land", "common land" or "meadowland". Possibly signifying the site of a meeting-space. The

Old Norse Old Norse, also referred to as Old Nordic or Old Scandinavian, was a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants ...

derivation being 'geiri', a gore, from 'geirr', with 'stang' or 'stǫng', meaning "pole" or "boundary marker". Or the Saxon derivation 'Gaerstung'. It is probable that the historic market cross is this same site.

History

Early history

A brief but comprehensive history of the parish, including the parish church of St Helen in Churchtown and Greenhalgh Castle, can be found in "The Parish of Garstang", ''A History of the County of Lancaster: Volume 7''. St. John Plessington was born at Dimples Hall, which is just outside the town. Garstang was once served by Garstang and Catterall railway station which closed in 1969, and Garstang Town railway station which closed to passengers in 1930. The town is overlooked by the ruined remains of Greenhalgh Castle, built in 1490 by

Thomas Stanley, 1st Earl of Derby Thomas Stanley, 1st Earl of Derby, KG (1435 – 29 July 1504) was an English nobleman. He was the stepfather of King Henry VII of England. He was the eldest son of Thomas Stanley, 1st Baron Stanley and Joan Goushill. A landed magnate of im ...

, at about the same time as the first stone bridge over the River Wyre. Garstang Town Hall was completed in 1764.

Modern history

Garstang's traditional market day on Thursdays dates back to the early-1300s and stretches the length of street. The Market Cross at the top of the High Street is one of the most familiar landmarks in the area. The town celebrates an

arts festival An arts festival is a festival that can encompass a wide range of art forms including music, dance, film, fine art, literature, poetry and is not solely focused on visual arts. Arts festivals may feature a mixed program that include music, lit ...

and an

agricultural show An agricultural show is a public event exhibiting the equipment, animals, sports and recreation associated with agriculture and animal husbandry. The largest comprise a livestock show (a judged event or display in which selective breeding, bree ...

(which has been continued for 200 years) every year in August. In April 2000, Garstang declared itself "the world's first Fairtrade Town", influencing many other towns, cities and counties around the United Kingdom to work towards the same goal. The Fairtrade Town status was renewed by the Fairtrade Foundation on 13 August 2003. In 2011, a wind turbine, the UK's largest, was built in the town to provide power for Dewlay, a local factory producing the award-winning Garstang Blue cheese. The local newspaper, the ''Garstang Courier'', is available on tape free of charge to blind and partially-sighted people from Galloway's Society for the Blind. Following success in winning the Small Country Town category in the 2002

Britain in Bloom RHS Britain in Bloom is the largest horticultural campaign in the United Kingdom. It was first held in 1963, initiated by the British Tourist Board based on the example set by Fleurissement de France (now Conseil national de villes et villages ...

Awards, Garstang won the Small Town category in the 2005, 2006 and 2010 and was invited to the champion of champions in 2010 also. Local

primary school A primary school (in Ireland, India, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, South Africa, and Singapore), elementary school, or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ...

s are Garstang Community Primary School, Garstang St Thomas Church of England School and SS Mary and Michael Catholic School. The local

secondary school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., b ...

is Garstang Community Academy which does not offer sixth form courses; pupils have to travel to Lancaster, Preston or

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside town in Lancashire, England. It is located on the Irish Sea coast of the Fylde peninsula, approximately north of Liverpool and west of Preston, Lancashire, Preston. It is the main settlement in the Borough of Blackpool ...

and further to sit

A-Level The A-level (Advanced Level) is a subject-based qualification conferred as part of the General Certificate of Education, as well as a school leaving qualification offered by the educational bodies in the United Kingdom and the educational ...

courses. The town has seven

public house A pub (short for public house) is in several countries a drinking establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption Licensing laws of the United Kingdom#On-licence, on the premises. The term first appeared in England in the ...

s: The Farmers Arms, the Crown, the Eagle and Child, the King's Arms, the Royal Oak Hotel, the Wheatsheaf, Th'Owd Tithe Barn, with the Bellflower (formerly the Flag) in Nateby. It has three restaurants: Pipers, Ken Ma and the Great Season, the latter two being Chinese restaurants. There is also a golf club and Country Hotel on the main A6 road. Garstang is referenced in episode 5 of the first series of the comedy ''

Phoenix Nights '' Peter Kay's Phoenix Nights'', sometimes shortened to ''Phoenix Nights'', is a British sitcom about The Phoenix Club, a working men's club in the northern English town of Bolton, Greater Manchester. The show is a spin-off from the "In th ...

''. Brian Potter (played by

Peter Kay Peter John Kay (born 2 July 1973) is an English comedian, actor, writer, and director. Born and raised in Farnworth, Kay studied media performance at the University of Salford and later began working part-time as a stand-up comedian. In 199 ...

) said ''"What have you called us? What have you called the best cabaret lounge this side of Garstang?"'' in reference to an

alternative comedy Alternative comedy is a term coined in the 1980s for a style of comedy that makes a conscious break with the mainstream comedic style of an era. The phrase has had different connotations in different contexts: in the UK, it was used to describe ...

night being run at his fictional club. The town is served by the Anglican church of St Thomas and the Catholic church of St Mary and St Michael (just outside the town's boundaries in Bonds). Until 1881, Garstang's official

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 ...

was St Helen's, away in Churchtown.

Governance

From a very early time, Garstang lay within the

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 na ...

Hundred 100 or one hundred (Roman numerals, Roman numeral: C) is the natural number following 99 (number), 99 and preceding 101 (number), 101. In mathematics 100 is the square of 10 (number), 10 (in scientific notation it is written as 102). The standar ...

of Lancashire. From 1894 until 1974, Garstang formed its own local government district in the

administrative county An administrative county was a first-level administrative division in England and Wales from 1888 to 1974, and in Ireland from 1899 until 1973 in Northern Ireland, 2002 in the Republic of Ireland. They are now abolished, although most Northern ...

of Lancashire; "Garstang

Rural District A rural district was a type of local government area – now superseded – established at the end of the 19th century in England, Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. I ...

", which extended beyond the current civil parish boundaries, including villages such as

Pilling Pilling is a village and civil parish within the Borough of Wyre, Wyre borough of Lancashire, England. It is north-northeast of Poulton-le-Fylde, south-southwest of Lancaster, Lancashire, Lancaster and northwest of Preston, Lancashire, P ...

. Since 1974, Garstang has formed part of the Wyre borough of Lancashire, although it retains an elected Town Council with limited jurisdiction. The borough ward has three councillors, including Lady Dulcie Atkins, wife of former MEP Sir Robert Atkins. The population of the ward at the 2011 Census was 4,852.

Geography

Lying on the

River Wyre The River Wyre, in Lancashire, England, flows into the Irish Sea at Fleetwood. It is 28 miles (45 km) long and has a sheltered estuary which penetrates deep into the Fylde peninsula. Etymology The name ''Wyre'' is of pre-Roman, likely, ...

, River Calder and the

Lancaster Canal The Lancaster Canal is a canal in North West England, originally planned to run from Westhoughton in Lancashire to Kendal in south Cumbria (Historic counties of England, historically in Westmorland). The section around the crossing of the River ...

, Garstang is situated close to the A6 road, the

M6 motorway The M6 motorway is the longest motorway in the United Kingdom. It is located entirely within England, running for just over from the Midlands to the border with Scotland. It begins at Junction 19 of the M1 motorway, M1 and the western end of t ...

, and the

West Coast Main Line The West Coast Main Line (WCML) is one of the most important railway corridors in the United Kingdom, connecting the major cities of London and Glasgow with branches to Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool and Edinburgh. It is one of the busiest ...

, between Lancaster and Preston. It lies on the eastern edge of the Fylde, and 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 ...

is not far to the east. Garstang and the nearby villages of Bonds, Bowgreave, Catterall and Western Claughton-On-Brock form an almost continuous built-up area, bypassed by the A6 road in 1928 (incorrectly given as 1926 in). Other nearby villages not bypassed by the A6 road include: Brock, Bilsborrow, Cabus and Churchtown form another, much larger, continuous

built-up area Buildup may refer to: * Atomic buildup In atomic physics and quantum chemistry, the Aufbau principle (, from ), also called the Aufbau rule, states that in the ground state of an atom or ion, electrons first fill Electron shell#Subshells, sub ...

which includes Garstang in the centre.

Sport

Garstang F.C. are a non-league football club and the local team within the village. Founded in 1885, they play in the North West Counties League, having won the West Lanchashire League Premier League and Richardson Cup double in 2018.

Media

Local news and television programmes are provided by

BBC North West BBC North West is the BBC English Regions, BBC English Region serving Cheshire, Greater Manchester, Lancashire, Merseyside, as well as parts of North Yorkshire (western Craven District, Craven), Derbyshire (western High Peak, Derbyshire, High ...

and

ITV Granada ITV Granada, formerly known as Granada Television, is the ITV (TV network), ITV franchisee for the North West of England and Isle of Man. From 1956 to 1968 it broadcast to both the north west and Yorkshire on weekdays only, as ABC Weekend TV, ...

. Television signals are received from the Winter Hill TV transmitter. Local radio stations are

BBC Radio Lancashire BBC Radio Lancashire is the BBC's local radio station serving the county of Lancashire. Originally launched as BBC Radio Blackburn, in 1981 it expanded to cover the whole county and was renamed BBC Radio Lancashire. It broadcasts on FM, DAB ...

, Heart North West,

Smooth North West Smooth North West is a regional radio station owned by Communicorp UK and operated by Global as part of the Smooth network. The station broadcasts to the North West of England from studios at Spinningfields in Manchester. History GMG Radio ...

, Capital Manchester and Lancashire, Greatest Hits Radio Lancashire and Central Radio North West. In 2014, the town's local newspaper was the ''Garstang Courier'', which has since been absorbed into the '' Lancashire Evening Post''.

People

The following people have lived, or were born, in Garstang: * Isaac Ambrose (1604–1664), a

Puritan The Puritans were English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries who sought to rid the Church of England of what they considered to be Roman Catholic practices, maintaining that the Church of England had not been fully reformed and should b ...

vicar * Sir Robert Atkins,

Member of the European Parliament A member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been Election, elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament. When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the European Coal and S ...

for the

North West England North West England is one of nine official regions of England and consists of the ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial counties of Cheshire, Cumbria, Greater Manchester, Lancashire and Merseyside. The North West had a population of 7,4 ...

region and vice president of

Lancashire County Cricket Club Lancashire Cricket Club represents the Historic counties of England, historic county of Lancashire in Cricket in England, English cricket. The club has held first-class cricket, first-class status since it was founded in 1864. Lancashire's ho ...

* Dicky Bond (1883–1955), footballer noted for his time at Preston North End and Bradford City * Harry Dean (1884–1957),

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

er who played three test matches for England *

George Benson George Washington Benson (born March 22, 1943) is an American jazz fusion guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He began his professional career at the age of 19 as a jazz guitarist. A former child prodigy, Benson first came to prominence in the ...

(1893–1974), a

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

noted for his time at Accrington Stanley *

Mary Anne Hobbs Mary Anne Hobbs (born 16 May 1964) is an English DJ and music journalist from Lancashire, England. She currently hosts on BBC Radio 6 Music. She is also a performer and curator of live events. In 2024 she created a ground-breaking collaboration ...

(1964–), a

BBC Radio 6 Music BBC Radio 6 Music is a British digital radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It primarily plays a wide range of alternative music, from established and emerging artists and bands. In 2002 it was the first national music radio station t ...

disc jockey A disc jockey, more commonly abbreviated as DJ, is a person who plays recorded music for an audience. Types of DJs include Radio personality, radio DJs (who host programs on music radio stations), club DJs (who work at nightclubs or music fes ...

* Adam Phillips, footballer * Jason Robinson (1974–), an England rugby player (both league and union) * Robert Terrill Rundle (1811–1896), a Methodist

missionary A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group who is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thoma ...

noted for his work in

Western Canada Western Canada, also referred to as the Western provinces, Canadian West, or Western provinces of Canada, and commonly known within Canada as the West, is a list of regions of Canada, Canadian region that includes the four western provinces and t ...

* Paul Swarbrick (born 1958), Roman Catholic bishop * John Woolrich (1954–), composer, lived in Garstang from 1955 to 1972

References

External links

Official Garstang website
Garstang website operated by Garstang and District Chamber of Trade and Commerce.
Independent Garstang website
Garstang information and entertainment site.
Garstang website
Garstang Town Council website.
Garstang
GENUKI article.
Garstang Fair Trade Town
{{authority control Towns in Lancashire Market towns in Lancashire Civil parishes in Lancashire Geography of the Borough of Wyre