Up Holland (or Upholland) is a village in

Skelmersdale Skelmersdale is a town in the West Lancashire district of England. It sits on the River Tawd, west of Wigan, north-east of Liverpool and south-west of Preston, Lancashire, Preston. In 2006, it had a population of 38,813. The town is known l ...

and is a

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

West Lancashire West Lancashire is a local government district with borough status in Lancashire, England. The council is based in Ormskirk, and the largest town is Skelmersdale. The district borders Fylde to the north, over the Ribble Estuary; South Ribbl ...

district, in the county 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, west of

Wigan Wigan ( ) is a town in Greater Manchester, England. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. It is the largest settlement in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan and is its ad ...

. The population at the 2011 census was 7,376.

Geography

The village is on a small hill 89m above sea level that rises above the

West Lancashire Coastal Plain The West Lancashire Coastal Plain is a large area in the south west of Lancashire, England. The plain stretches from the Rimrose Valley in Seaforth, near Liverpool on the Mersey, to the south, to Preston on the Ribble, to the north. To the e ...

. There are views towards St Helens and

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

in the south west,

Ormskirk Ormskirk is a market town in the West Lancashire district of Lancashire, England. It is located north of Liverpool, northwest of St Helens, Merseyside, St Helens, southeast of Southport and southwest of Preston, Lancashire, Preston. Ormski ...

and

Southport Southport is a seaside resort, seaside town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in Merseyside, England. It lies on the West Lancashire Coastal Plain, West Lancashire coastal plain and the east coast of the Irish Sea, approximately north of ...

in the north-west and towards

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

and on to the High Peak of

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It borders Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, and South Yorkshire to the north, Nottinghamshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south-east, Staffordshire to the south a ...

in the east. The parish includes the Pimbo industrial estate.

Etymology

The place-name is first attested 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, where it appears as ''Hoiland''. It appears as ''Upholand'' in a Lancashire Inquest of 1226. This is from the

Old English Old English ( or , or ), 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 developed from the languages brought to Great Britain by Anglo-S ...

, meaning 'land on or by a hoe or spur of a hill'. The name Up Holland differentiates it from another place locally called Downholland, 10 miles to the west (on the other side of Ormskirk). The manor of Holland was a possession of the Holland family until 1534, whence it may be presumed they derived their name.

Notable claims

George Lyon, reputed to be one of the last English

highwaymen A highwayman was a robber who stole from travellers. This type of thief usually travelled and robbed by horse as compared to a footpad who travelled and robbed on foot; mounted highwaymen were widely considered to be socially superior to foo ...

, is said to be buried in the churchyard of the

Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

Church of St. Thomas the Martyr. The truth of the matter is that Lyon was little more than a common thief and receiver of stolen goods. The grave can be found under the concrete parapet opposite the White Lion pub. A burial place of greater historical significance can be found at the south east corner of the church. Here, in a railed enclosure is the grave of Robert Daglish; a pioneer in

steam locomotive A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal, Fuel oil, oil or, rarely, Wood fuel, wood) to heat ...

engineering and design. In 1814, when

George Stephenson George Stephenson (9 June 1781 – 12 August 1848) was an English civil engineer and Mechanical engineering, mechanical engineer during the Industrial Revolution. Renowned as the "Father of Railways", Stephenson was considered by the Victoria ...

was still working on his early locomotive ''Blucher'', Daglish built ''The Yorkshire Horse,'' a '

rack and pinion rack and pinion is a type of linear actuator that comprises a circular gear (the '' pinion'') engaging a linear gear (the ''rack''). Together, they convert between rotational motion and linear motion: rotating the pinion causes the rack to be d ...

' locomotive to haul coal wagons at a nearby

colliery Coal mining is the process of extracting coal from the ground or from a mine. Coal is valued for its energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extra ...

. This proved to be a great success. Daglish went on to construct other locomotives and work on railway systems both in Great Britain and America. Upholland railway station is on the Kirkby Branch Line.

Religion

Anglican

The Anglican parish church of St Thomas the Martyr was, until the time of the

Protestant Reformation The Reformation, also known as the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation, was a time of major theological movement in Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the papacy and ...

, a Benedictine monastic foundation.

Roman Catholic

The Roman Catholic parish church of St Theresa, College Road, is a fine building of 1955 by F. X. Velarde, "one of the most unusual and innovative Catholic architects of the twentieth century". A

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

seminary A seminary, school of theology, theological college, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called seminarians) in scripture and theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as cle ...

, St Joseph's College, used for training Catholic priests, was once based in Up Holland. The college closed down in 1987 after over 150 years of serving the northern Catholic dioceses of England, and its extensive buildings are now derelict.

Literature

Up Holland and its surrounding countryside its described in the English novel '' The War Hero'' by Michael Lieber.

People

Richard Ashcroft Richard Paul Ashcroft (born 11 September 1971) is an English musician, singer, and songwriter. He formed the alternative rock band the Verve in 1990 and served as the lead singer and rhythm guitarist throughout the band's lifetime. Ashcroft was ...

(of

The Verve The Verve were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Wigan in 1990 by lead vocalist Richard Ashcroft, guitarist Nick McCabe, bass guitarist Simon Jones (musician), Simon Jones and drummer Peter Salisbury. Guitarist and keyboard player Sim ...

), musician. Richard's mother, Louise, is the daughter of Reg and Lilian Baxter. The Baxters were a prominent family in Up Holland throughout the 20th century. *

Catherine Ashton Catherine Margaret Ashton, Baroness Ashton of Upholland (born 20 March 1956) is a Labour Party (UK), British Labour politician who served as the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of th ...

life peer In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the peerage whose titles cannot be inherited, in contrast to hereditary peers. Life peers are appointed by the monarch on the advice of the prime minister. With the exception of the D ...

, appointed as the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

's High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy in 2009, was born in Up Holland.Lady Ashton: Principled, charming ... or just plain lucky
Nicholas Watt, Brussels, ''Guardian.co.uk'', Friday 20 November 2009 19.58 GMT * Prof

Charles Bamforth Charles William Bamforth, FRSB, FCIBD (born June 1952), known as Charlie Bamforth,Oliver, Garrett (ed.) (2012), ''The Oxford Companion to Beer'' (Oxford: Oxford University Press), p. 83 is an English scientist who specialises in malting and brew ...

(b.1952) brewing expert and football author. * Prof Richard James Arthur Berry, brain surgeon. *

Ian Bleasdale Ian Bleasdale (born 1950, in Upholland, Lancashire) is an English actor and television presenter. He divides his time between Haworth in West Yorkshire and Bristol. He started off life as a teacher before deciding that he wanted to become an ac ...

, actor * Ted Ray (born Charles Olden), comedian. His father was the licensee of the Bull's Head public house, which used to stand in School Lane. *

John C. Wells John Christopher Wells (born 11 March 1939) is a British phonetician and Esperantist. Wells is a professor emeritus at University College London, where until his retirement in 2006 he held the departmental chair in phonetics. He is known for ...

. Phonetician. He was president of the

International Phonetic Association The International Phonetic Association (IPA; , API) is an organization that promotes the scientific study of phonetics and the various practical applications of that science. The IPA's major contribution to phonetics is the International Phoneti ...

between 2003 and 2007. His father was the vicar of the parish, Philip Wells. John Wells wrote about the accent of the area and how it contrasted with the

Received Pronunciation Received Pronunciation (RP) is the Accent (sociolinguistics), accent of British English regarded as the Standard language, standard one, carrying the highest Prestige (sociolinguistics), social prestige, since as late as the beginning of the 2 ...

that was spoken in his home. * Dorothy Wilkinson (1883-1947), Australian head teacher

Gallery

File:Holland Windmill, Upholland - geograph.org.uk - 1028637.jpg, Up Holland Windmill File:The Old Dog - geograph.org.uk - 1534088.jpg, The Old Dog pub (formerly The Talbot, now a private residence)

References

External links

Exploring St. Josephs Seminary, Catholic Seminary, Up Holland

Up Holland Parish Council

Up Holland Library

The Baxter Family

St Teresa's, Catholic Church, Up Holland

St Teresa's, Catholic Primary School, Up Holland
{{authority control Villages in Lancashire Geography of the Borough of West Lancashire Civil parishes in Lancashire