Kirkland, Lancashire

Kirkland

The 18th-century dial post, Churchtown
Kirkland
Shown within Wyre Borough
Kirkland
Shown on the Fylde
Kirkland
Kirkland shown within Lancashire
Population 840 (2011 Census)[1]
OS grid reference SD479438
Civil parish
  • Kirkland
District
Shire county
Region
Country England
Sovereign state United Kingdom
Post town PRESTON
Postcode district PR3
Dialling code 01995
Police Lancashire
Fire Lancashire
Ambulance North West
EU Parliament North West England
UK Parliament

Kirkland is a civil parish, located on the banks of the River Wyre, midway between Preston and Lancaster, in the English county of Lancashire. It is also the historic name of what is now the village of Churchtown, within the parish. It is part of the Wyre district.

Kirkland has a long history centred on its Grade I listed building, St Helen's, the parish church of Garstang St Helen (or Churchtown) and once known as the Cathedral of the Fylde. The church features:

  • a "lepers' window" or "squint" to enable those unfortunates an opportunity to attend its services;
  • a grave marker for the village's only victim of the Black Plague;
  • a large rafter, once known as the "new beam", supposedly presented to the parish by King Henry VIII at the time of the Reformation.

There are significant pointers such as a circular churchyard with several yew trees to its original use as a Druid temple. It was believed by some that the area may have been the site where Christian missionaries from Ireland first set foot in Lancashire at the end of the navigational portion of the River Wyre which flows to the Irish Sea some 14 miles away. St Helen's is one of only two Grade I listed buildings in the Borough of Wyre.[2]

Although known as "The Cross", the village has an 18th-century Grade II listed dialpost with a sundial at its head, at the top of Church Street. There are two pubs: the Punchbowl and the Horns Inn.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Parish headcount" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 December 2006. Retrieved 2008-04-13.
  2. ↑ "Listed Buildings". Wyre Borough Council. Retrieved 5 June 2015.
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