Warton, Fylde

Warton is a village on the Fylde in Lancashire, England.

Warton
The Pickwick Tavern public house, Warton
Warton Shown within Fylde Borough Show map of the Borough of Fylde Warton Shown within the Fylde Show map of the Fylde Warton Location within Lancashire Show map of Lancashire
OS grid reference	SD412285
Civil parish	Bryning-with-Warton
District	Fylde
Shire county	Lancashire
Region	North West
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	PRESTON
Postcode district	PR4
Dialling code	01772
Police	Lancashire
Fire	Lancashire
Ambulance	North West
UK Parliament	Fylde

The village is just a busy road 6 miles (10 km) west of Preston and 8 miles (13 km) south-east of Blackpool. It is located on the banks of the River Ribble, close to its entry into the Irish Sea. It is best known for its airfield, Warton Aerodrome and the associated aircraft manufacturing plant of BAE Systems Military Air & Information. The village is part of the borough of Fylde.

History

In 1835 Warton was a township in the parish of Kirkham. For probate purposes, prior to 1858, Warton was in the Archdeaconry of Richmond, in the Diocese of Chester.

In his 1870 Gazetteer, Wilson reports that the chapelry of Warton also included the Freckleton township, and comprised 6,598 acres, with a population 1,325 and 270 houses. The property is described as being "much subdivided". Cotton spinning and the manufacture of sacking, sailcloth, and cordage were the main occupations. There were two churches, both described as "good". There were also two Methodist chapels.[1]

One of the last sunk post mills in England was situated at the end of Mill Lane.[2] The mill is reflected in the name of the modern nearby street Post Lane, where a new housing development has been proposed.[3]

St Paul's Church

St Paul's Church

The first church, Holy Trinity on Church Road, was built in 1722 and consecrated in 1725.[4][5] Originally built as a chapel of ease to Kirkham, it eventually became a parish church with its own vicar.[6]

The present church has a sanctuary chair bearing the initials WS and MS and dated 1611. As it was William Shaw, who died in 1720, and who donated the land for the old church to be built on, it is possible that the initials are those of some of his ancestors.[7]

In his 1870 Gazetteer, Wilson reports that the living was a vicarage in the diocese of Manchester with a value of £350, the patron being Christ Church in Oxford.[1]

The present church, now dedicated to St Paul, was built in 1886. A selection of celebratory events took place for the 125th Anniversary of the church, over the weekend of 25 and 26 June 2011, including an organ recital. The church is linked with a Lutheran church in Timmerlah in the Diocese of Braunschweig in Northern Germany.[8]

On 4 August 2014 the church hosted a photographic exhibition to mark the 100th anniversary of the start of World War I.[9]

During the hours of darkness the church is floodlit. Since June 2018 the vicar has been Rev. Jane Greenhalgh. The curate is Rev. Fiona Haines.[10] Greenhalgh was criticised, in 2018, for wearing a white poppy for the annual Remembrance Day service and for by including references to white supremacy, the Ku Klux Klan and the English Defence League in her sermon.[11]

Parish council

Bryning-with-Warton Parish Council is one of fifteen such councils that serves the Borough of Fylde.[12]

Air Training Corps

Warton is home to the 967 (BAE Warton Squadron) Air Training Corps, nicknamed the Warton Wanderers. It is a member of the Cumbria and Lancashire Wing of the ATC.

Education

Bryning-with-Warton St Paul's Church of England Primary School is located on Lytham Road (A584). St Paul's was established in 1821 and is a Voluntary Aided Church of England primary school.[13] Holy Family Catholic Primary School is also located on Lytham Road.[14]

Amenities

Warton Library was situated at 156 Lytham Road [15] The library premises closed in 2010 but has since been re-furbished and is used as staging point for police community support officers. On 8 February 2013 the premises re-opened as a community library offering a book exchange service every Wednesday and Saturday.

The village has two public houses. The Birley Arms is located on Bryning Lane.[16] The Birley family were 19th century flax and cotton mill-owners in nearby Kirkham.[17] In October 2012 the public house formerly named the Pickwick Tavern became the Clifton Arms at Warton. In addition to the two public houses there is a social club, the Chequers, located on Harbour Lane. There is also a McColls on Harbour Lane and a Tesco Express on Lytham Road. The village Post Office closed in July 2012 and the premises is now for sale. In June 2015 a Post Office counter was opened in McColls, which is open from 6am to 10pm daily. The village has a number of car sales outlets. The main garage in the village, J. Townsend and Son, was largely demolished in 2017 and reopened as a Spar, including butchers and delicatessen in 2018. Fuel is now sold on the new forecourt through the Spar counters but Townsends have retained their tyre and car repair business, sharing their space with Coastal Coaches.[18] The village also attracts many tourists from the populous caravan and holiday parks in the area including Oaklands Caravan Park situated on Lytham Road which is owned by the U.K. Leisure Parks group.

Sport

National League football club AFC Fylde originally played home games at Kellamergh Park in the village, between 2006 and 2016, having previously played at the council-owned Coronation Road in Kirkham. They now play at a purpose-built stadium at the new £18m development Mill Farm Sports Village in Wesham.[19]

See also

• Listed buildings in Bryning-with-Warton

References

1. John Marius Wilson, Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (1870-72)]
2. "Extract from a newspaper article on windmills, in the "Preston Guardian" by Mr. T. Harrison Myers, 1914" at amounderness.co.uk/warton
3. Homes plan welcomed
4. "Warton St Paul's Parish Church". bryningwithwarton.org. Retrieved 18 June 2013.
5. "Church Details: WARTON St Paul". blackburn.anglican.org. 2013. Retrieved 18 June 2013.
6. Porter, J. MRCS, LSA (1878) History of the Fylde of Lancashire, Fleetwood and Blackpool: W. Porter and Sons Publisher, Chapter III - Ecclesiastical History (continued).
7. Shakeshaft, P. (2013), A History of St. Paul's Church, Warton, Lancaster: Scotforth Books, ISBN 978-1-904244-96-7, p. v.
8. St Paul, Warton
9. "Remembering the Fylde heroes of the First World War". Lytham St Annes Express. 4 June 2014. Retrieved 5 August 2014.
10. https://www.achurchnearyou.com/church/19565/about-us/
11. https://www.blackpoolgazette.co.uk/news/warton-vicar-s-apology-after-remembrance-sermon-sparks-walkout-1-9457300
12. "Parish Councils". Fylde Borough Council. Archived from the original on 8 December 2008. Retrieved 24 October 2008.
13. "Bryning with Warton St Paul's Church of England Primary School". bbc.co.uk. 6 December 2007. Retrieved 24 October 2008.
14. "Holy Family Catholic Primary School, Warton". bbc.co.uk. 6 December 2007. Retrieved 24 October 2008.
15. Warton (Fylde) Library
16. The Birley Arms, Warton
17. "The Birley Arms". bbc.co.uk. 2013. Retrieved 18 June 2013.
18. http://www3.fylde.gov.uk/online-applications/applicationDetails.do?activeTab=documents&keyVal=_FYLDE_DCAPR_44614&documentOrdering.orderBy=documentType&documentOrdering.orderDirection=descending

Further reading

• Shakeshaft, P. (2013), History of St Paul's Church, Warton, Lancaster: Scotforth Books, ISBN 1-904-2449-63

External links

• Warton at genuki.org