Lancaster, Lancashire
Historical Description
Lancaster, a market-town, a municipal borough, a township, and a parish in Lancashire. The town stands on the river Lune, the Lancaster Canal, and the North-Western railway, 6 miles NW of the influx of the Lnne to Lancaster Bay, and 52 NW by N of Manchester, and is connected by railway with all the chief manufacturing districts and by canal with Preston and Kendal, History.-The town occupies the site of a Roman station, and has yielded a great number of Roman relics. The station is thought by some to have been Longovicum, mentioned by Antoninus; but it much more probably was Ad Alaunum, mentioned by Richard of Cirencester. The name Ad Alaunum seems to allude to the river Lune, which the Romans probably called Alaunus. The town was known soon after the Norman Conquest as Lancastre, and that name may have been derived immediately from the word Ion or lune, applied to the river, and the Saxon word ceastre, signifying "a castle" or "a fort;" but it appears manifestly to have come remotely from the Latin word centrum, signifying "a station" or " a camp," and the word Alaunum, applied to the river; so that the name was originally Castrum Alaunum, and was changed in course of time into Alauncaster, Loncastre, Laun-caster, and Lancaster. The town seems to have grown out of the Roman station, or to have been in fact a Roman town, and it is traditionally said to have had a Roman fort, either built by Adrian in 124 or by the father of Constantine in 305. It appears certainly to have had a fort of the Saxons, probably restored from the Roman one, and it was for some time the Saxon capital of the southern part of Cumbria and was desolated by the Picts and Scots. It declined greatly before the Conquest, is not mentioned as a town in the Domesday survey, and was then a part of Halton Crown Manor. It was given by the Conqueror to Roger de Poictou; became the residence of that magnate; and began to revive and to become again important under his auspices. A grand castle about the year 1094 was either reconstructed by Roger out of the old fort, or more probably was entirely rebuilt by him on its site, and this seems to have flourished without any considerable change till 1322, but in that year, and also in 1389, it was desolated and the town at the same time burned by the Scots. The castle was restored, enlarged, and beautified by John of Gaunt so as to possess much more than its original strength and splendour, and was also protected by a moat with drawbridge and portcullis. It was renovated again in the time of Elizabeth, and was then first used as a fortress against the threatened invasion by Philip of Spain, and next converted into a county prison and a seat of justice. It was further enlarged in 1788 under the Act for improving prisons, and it was still further enlarged at subsequent periods. The alterations and additions from the time of its ceasing to be a baronial residence were all done in the castellated style, on a similar model to the buildings of Chester Castle, and are computed to have cost upwards of £140, 000. Its capacities as a seat of justice afford ample accommodation to the courts, and as a prison can admit between 300 and 400 prisoners. The entrance gateway is about 66 feet high, overhung by a triple row of machicolations, flanked by two octagonal towers, and surmounted by watch turrets. Over the gateway in a niche is a statue of John of Gaunt, cut by a native sculptor in 1822, and probably had been originally an effigy of the same person. The Great Keep of the llth century is crowned by a turret, called John of Gannt's Chair, rising to the height of 88 feet, has thick walls and round windows, and contains apartments 63 feet long, 80 wide, and 30 high. Another tower, called Adrian's, is a remnant of the original castle of Roger de Poictou, and possibly includes in its walls some Roman masonry. The town was much depopulated in the wars between the houses of York and Lancaster, was a scene of contest in the wars between Charles I. and the Parliament, suffered extensive damage by an accidental fire in 1698, and shared in the agitations of the rebellion of 1745. Dr Taylor, author of the Hebrew Concordance, the first Sir Robert Peel, Professor Owen, and Professor Whewell, were natives of the town, and the Queen takes from it the title of Duchess of Lancaster.
Site and Streets.-The town consists of Lancaster Proper on the left bank of the river, and the suburb of Skerton on the right bank. Lancaster proper occupies a considerable eminence, of bold outline, crowned toward the W by the castle and the parish church. The views from it range southward over the great plain of Lancashire, westward to a distant horizon on the sea, eastward up the valley of the Lune to the hills of Lonsdale, and northward over a fine expanse of low country to the mountains of Westmorland and Cumberland. The streets for the most part are narrow and dingy, but the newer ones are spacious and neat, the marketplace is large and pleasing, the houses generally are built of freestone and roofed with slate, and the outskirts contain many handsome villas. New roads of an ornamental kind were formed in the vicinity, and waterworks were constructed at Skerton and Morecambe, partly by way of giving employment to the distressed operatives during the cotton famine; and one of the new roads was named in honour of Shakespeare, and opened at the Tercentenary Shakespeare celebration in April, 1864.
Public Buildings.-The castle has been already noticed. Parts of that structure, comprising two splendid courts, constructed at a cost of £40, 000, are entirely modern. Raised terraces also extend beneath its walls on the N and the S, and form a pleasant promenade commanding extensive views. The Town-hall, in Market Place, was built in 1783 at a cost of £1300, is an imposing structure in questionable taste, and has a pillared portico surmounted by a small clock-tower; a new wing was added to it in 1872. The new Market, erected in 1880, is well-constructed and commodious. The Barracks are a modern stone structure. The Storey Institute and Art Gallery, erected in 1891-92, has replaced the old mechanics' institution and school of art. The Merchants' Subscription Newsroom is in Market Street. The Amicable Society's Library, instituted 1769, contains 18, 000 volumes in the reference and lending departments. The Oddfellows' Hall, erected in 1844, is in Mary Street. The Public Baths and Wash-houses, in Cable Street, were built in 1863 at a cost of about £7000 by gift of Mr Samuel Gregson, and contained ten private baths for males, five private baths for females, a public swimming bath 40 feet by 25, and wash-house accommodation for twenty-four washers. These have been considerably extended, and a new swimming bath, 70 feet by 40, as well as Turkish baths, have been added. An ancient bridge over the Lune, near the present quay, was ascribed variously to the Romans and the Scandinavians; had a recess overhung by corbelled projections, and said to have been used by the Saxons as a court of justice; and remained in ruin till not many years ago, an interesting piece of antiquity, but has now completely disappeared. The new bridge, a little higher up, was erected in 1788 at a cost of £14, 000, has five elliptical arches and ornamental piers and parapets, and is regarded as one of the handsomest bridges of its size in Europe. The viaduct of the North-Western railway was a light and elegant structure with seven arches, of such high elevation as to figure prominently and beautifully in views from the upper parts of the town, but was replaced in 1866 by an iron structure. The viaduct of the Morecambe railway is an iron bridge about 590 feet long. The aqueduct of the Lancaster Canal over the Lune, about three-quarters of a mile NE of the town, was constructed at a cost of £48, 000; has five arches, each 70 feet in span, rising 39 feet above the ordinary surface of the river; and is a splendid fabric, after designs by Rennie. The railway up the valley of the Lune passes under one of the aqueduct's arches.
Churches.-The parish church, or St Mary's, stands adjacent to the N side of the castle, harmonizes well with that structure, appears in some distant views to group with it, and occupies the site of a Norman church built by Roger de Poictou. That church was attached to a Benedictine priory, a cell to the Abbey of Sees in Normandy, and transferred by Henry V. to the Abbey of Sion in Middlesex, but it was entirely destroyed. The present church was mainly built in the 15th century, was invested by Henry VIII. with the privilege of sanctuary, has a lofty well-proportioned tower rebuilt in 1759, comprises nave, aisles, and chancel, measures 143 feet by 58, has undergone extensive alterations of a modernising kind, and contains fine screen-work and oak carvings, said to have been brought from Cockersand Abbey, a carved oak pulpit, a beautifully carved stone font, some rich stained glass windows, a marble monument to Dr Stratford by Roubiliac, a finely-carved marble monument to Sir Samuel Eyre, a number of other monuments, and several brasses. The churchyard once contained an ancient Runic cross. St John's Church, in Chapel Street, was built in 1775, and has a tower added in 1784. St Anne's Church, in Moor Lane, was built in 1796, and is a plain edifice with an open turret. St Thomas' Church, in Penny Street, is a modern structure in the Early English style, and consists of nave, aisles, and chancel, with handsome tower and spire. Christ Church, on Lancaster Moor, was built in 1857, is in the Early English style, and has two small W spires. The Roman Catholic church, in East Road, was built in 1859; cost, with priests' house attached to it, above £25, 000; is in the Geometric Pointed style, and comprises nave, aisles, transepts, chancel, and Lady chapel, with tower and spire 240 feet high. There are places of worship also for Baptists, Congregationalists, Quakers, Wesleyans, Primitive Methodists, United Free Methodists, and Unitarians. A convent of Sisters of Mercy and a cemetery are contiguous to the Roman Catholic church. The general cemetery, on Lancaster Moor, was opened in 1855, comprises 21 acres, contains three chapels for Churchmen, dissenters, and Roman Catholics respectively, and is under the control of a burial board of nine members. A Black Friary was founded in the time of Henry III. by Sir H. Harrington, and a lepers' hospital was founded by King John, but both have completely disappeared.
Schools and Institutions.-The Grammar School dates from at least the year 1482, was rebuilt in 1853 at a cost, together with the head-master's house, of about £4000, is a neat edifice in the Tudor style, and has an endowed income of £110 administered by the corporation. The Girls' Charity School dates from 1772, was rebuilt in 1849, and gives free education and clothing to sixty girls. The Boys' Blue-coat or national school dates from 1817, was rebuilt in 1850, gives free education and clothing to thirteen boys, and has accommodation for 800 boys. Ripley's Hospital for educating orphans (150 boys and 150 girls), was built in 1856-64 out of a fund of £100, 000 given by Mrs Ripley in memory of her husband, consists of a centre and advanced wings 195 feet in frontage, is in the Early Pointed style, with a clock-tower 110 feet high, and cost in the construction about £30, 000. Extensive alterations and additions were made in 1886, and a chapel was opened in 1888. There are national, British, Wesleyan, Church, and Roman Catholic schools, also a Friends' Grammar School founded in 1690. Penny's Alms houses for twelve poor persons were founded in 1715, and have now an endowed income of about £470. Gillison's Almshouses or Hospital for eight poor unmarried women were founded in 1781, and have now an endowed income of £126. Gardyner's Almshouses for four aged women were originally a chantry, founded in 1485. There are also other charities which amount to about £450. The dispensary and house of recovery date from 1781. The county lunatic asylum, on Lancaster Moor, is a handsome stone edifice with about 41 acres of ground, and, including the annexe completed in 1882, has accommodation for nearly 2000 patients. The workhouse, also on Lancaster Moor, is a large building. A great institution, the Royal Albert Asylum, for the idiots and imbeciles of the seven northern counties, was erected in 1868-73. There are also the County, Conservative, and Reform Clubs, an Athenaeum, a Law Library, and the Lancaster an½L Skerton Co-operative Societies' Library and Reading-room.
Trade, &c.-Lancaster has a head post office, two railway stations, three banks, and publishes three newspapers, one of them twice a week, and two weekly. Markets are held daily, and various fairs are held during the year. The manufacture of cabinet-work and upholstery, chiefly for exportation, has long been carried on; the manufacture of oilcloth table-covers, in fancy imitations, the spinning of silk, and the spinning and manufacturing of cotton, are also carried on, and there are very extensive railway waggon-works, large marble works, corn mills, and iron foundries. The town is a port, but in consequence of shifting sands in the channel of the Lune, it is itself reached chiefly by lighters, and has its main quay or dock at Glasson, 5 miles down the river. The number of vessels registered as belonging to the port in 1894 was 46 (6782 tons). The entries and clearances average about 700 (120, 000 tons) per annum. The customs revenue in 1893 was £92, 656.
The Borough.-Lancaster was first chartered by King John; sent members to Parliament from the twenty-third year of Edward I. till the first year of Edward II.; sent none from that year till the time of Edward VI.; sent two from that time till 1867, when it was disfranchised; and is now governed by a mayor, 6 aldermen, and 18 councillors, and has a separate commission of the peace. The municipal borough consists of the township of Lancaster and the extra-parochial place of Lancaster Castle, and by the Lancaster Corporation Act of 1888 was extended to include parts of Scotforth and Skerton. It has been divided into six wards. The town is the seat of petty sessions twice a week for the borough, petty sessions weekly for the southern division of Lonsdale hundred, a monthly comity court, the quarter sessions for the northern division of the county, and the assizes for that division; it is also a polling-place, and gives its name to one of the parliamentary divisions of North Lancashire.
The township comprises 1577 acres, of which 154 are water; population, 31, 038; of the ecclesiastical parishes (not including Scotforth and Skerton), 26, 431. Several townships are included in the parish. Lancaster Bay indents the coast; extends on the S side beyond the parish; receives the river Lune on the NE side, and the river Wyre on the SSW side; measures 9 miles across the entrance, or rather along an imaginary junction line with the sea, from Red Nose to Rossall Point, and 6½ miles from that line to its innermost reach; consists mainly of foreshore, or of alternate shallows and sands; has a depth of from 6 to 12 fathoms outside the sands; and was called by the Romans Setantiorum Portus. The following are the churches in the township:-St Mary, St John, St Anne, St Thomas, and Christ Church, to each of which an ecclesiastical district has been assigned. The livings are vicarages in the diocese of Manchester. Value of St Mary, £1300 net, with residence; of St John, £293 net, with residence; of St Anne, £110 net, with residence; of St Thomas, £210 gross, with residence; of Christ Church, £400 net, with residence. Patron of St John and St Anne, the Vicar of Lancaster.
Lancaster Parliamentary Division of North Lancashire was formed under [the Redistribution of Seats Act, 1885, and returns one member to the House of Commons. Population, 64, 279. The division includes the following;- Garstang-Barnacre- with -Bonds, Bilsbon-ow, Bleasdale, Cabus, Catterall, Claughton, Cleveleys, Eccleston (Great), Forton, Garstang, Hambleton, Holleth, Inskip-with-Sowerby, Kirkland, Myerscough, Nateby, Pilling, Preesall-with-Hacken-sall, Rawcliffe (Out), Rawcliffe (Upper) -with-Tarnacre, Stal-mine-with-Staynall, Winmarleigh, Wyersdale, Nether; Homby -Arkholme-with-Cawood, Burraw-with-Burrow, Cantsfield, Claughton, Farleton, Gressingham, Hornby, Ireby, Leek, Melling-with-Wrayton, Rocburndale, Tatham, Tunstall, Wennington, Whittington, Wray-with-Botton; Lonsdale (South) or Lancaster (part of)-Aldcliffe, Ashton-with-Stodday, Bulk, Caton, Cockerham, Cockersand Abbey, Ellel, Halton, Heaton-with-Oxcliffe, Heysham, Middleton, Overton, Poulton Bare and Torrishohne, Quernmore, Scotforth, Skerton, Slyne-with-Hest, Thurnham, Wyersdale (Over); Lancaster, municipal borough.
Administration
The following is a list of the administrative units in which this place was either wholly or partly included.
Ancient County | Lancashire | |
Ecclesiastical parish | Lancaster St. Mary | |
Hundred | Lonsdale south of the Sands |
Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.
Church Records
The Registers of Lancaster 1599-1690, are available to browse online.
Ancestry.co.uk, in association with Lancashire Archives, have images of the Parish Registers for Lancashire online.
Directories & Gazetteers
We have transcribed the entry for Lancaster from the following:
- Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Lancaster (St. Mary))
Land and Property
The Return of Owners of Land in 1873 for Lancashire is available to browse.
Maps
Online maps of Lancaster are available from a number of sites:
- Bing (Current Ordnance Survey maps).
- Google Streetview.
- National Library of Scotland. (Old maps)
- OpenStreetMap.
- old-maps.co.uk (Old Ordnance Survey maps to buy).
- Streetmap.co.uk (Current Ordnance Survey maps).
- A Vision of Britain through Time. (Old maps)
Newspapers and Periodicals
The British Newspaper Archive have fully searchable digitised copies of the following Lancashire newspapers online:
- Blackburn Standard
- Burnley Express
- Lancashire Evening Post
- Lancaster Gazette
- Burnley Gazette
- Preston Chronicle
- Burnley Advertiser
- Burnley News