Author Archives: Lancashirepast.com
St Michaels on Wyre Church
St Michael’s Church is old enough to be mentioned in the Domesday Book as ‘Michelescherce’. Bounded by the River Wyre, it has been called St Michaels-on-Wyre since the 1100s. The earliest parts of the present building are Norman, as can be evidenced by the … Continue reading
St Helens Church, Churchtown near Garstang
The oval shaped graveyard of St Helens is a key indicator that a very early ‘Dark Ages’ Saxon church stood once in this place. The name ‘Churchtown’ was at one time called Kirkland, with ‘kirk’ being the Viking word for a church. The earliest parts of the present building … Continue reading
Smithills Hall, Bolton
In 1335 William de Radcliffe acquired the manor of Smithills. During the early years there would only have been the medieval Great Hall on the site, which still exists there today. It is a large rectangular stone building and in here the family and … Continue reading
Claughton Viking Burial, near Garstang
In 1822 a group of workers building a new road near Claughton Hall cut through a sandy mound in the area now known as Sandhole Wood. By doing so they discovered a Viking burial mound (or ‘hlaew’) and uncovered its grave goods a few feet below the surface. Whether the … Continue reading
Furness Viking Hoard
In 2011 in a field near the village of Stainton with Adgarley a metal detectorist unearthed a hidden Viking hoard of coins and hack silver. Most of the coins had been minted by the Anglo-Saxons but there were also Viking … Continue reading
Dalton Castle, Dalton in Furness
Dalton Castle is a 14th century Pele tower and was owned by the abbot of Furness Abbey. From here he would administer the law in the region of the Lordship of Furness, Lancashire North of the Sands. There would have been … Continue reading
Posted in Castles,, Medieval Lancashire, Medieval Monasteries,
Tagged Dalton Castle, Dalton pele tower
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Platt Hall, Platt Fields Park, Rusholme
Raphe Worsley bought the Platt estate in 1625. He’d made his money supplying yarn to local handloom weavers from Rusholme and selling the cloth they produced in Manchester. His son Charles was a high ranking officer in Oliver Cromwell’s army, raising a regiment in Manchester and later … Continue reading
Posted in Georgian Lancashire, Historic Houses,
Tagged Platt Hall, platt hall gallery of costume, platt hall manchester
St Walburge’s Church, Maudlands, Preston
By the late 1840s many of Preston’s churches had become very overcrowded, so a decision was made to found a new one dedicated to St Walburge. It was designed by the architect Joseph Hansom, the famous designer of the original two wheeled horse drawn Hansom Cab. A huge fundraising … Continue reading
Nico Ditch, Platt Fields Park, Manchester
Visitors to Platt Fields Park today may come across an unusual Dark Age relic in the form of the mysterious Nico Ditch. Tucked between the boundary wall of Manchester High School for Girls and a long set of iron railings, the scheduled … Continue reading
Radcliffe Tower, Radcliffe near Bury
After the Norman Conquest of England, Nicholas FitzGilbert de Tabois was given confiscated Saxon manor land in the present day Radcliffe area. He took the name ‘de Radclyffe’ (which means of Radcliffe) and his descendants continued to live in the area for hundreds of years. … Continue reading
