History of Lancashire

The History of Lancashire begins with its establishment as a county of England in 1182, making it one of the youngest of the historic counties of England, although there is evidence that the boundaries of the county were settled as early as 1100.Fact|date=February 2007

Early history

In the Domesday Book, some of its lands had been treated as part of Yorkshire. The area in between the Mersey and Ribble (referred to in the Domesday Book as "Inter Ripam et Mersham") formed part of the returns for Cheshire. [Morgan (1978). pp.269c–301c,d.] Sylvester (1980). p. 14.] Although some have taken this to mean that, at this time, south Lancashire was part of Cheshire, it is not clear that this was the case, and more recent research indicates that the boundary between Cheshire and what was to become Lancashire remained the river Mersey. [Harris and Thacker (1987). write on page 252: quotation|Certainly there were links between Cheshire and south Lancashire before 1000, when Wulfric Spot held lands in both territories. Wulfric's estates remained grouped together after his death, when they were left to his brother Aelfhelm, and indeed there still seems to have been some kind of connexion in 1086, when south Lancashire was surveyed together with Cheshire by the Domesday commissioners. Nevertheless, the two territories do seem to have been distinguished from one another in some way and it is not certain that the shire-moot and the reeves referred to in the south Lancashire section of Domesday were the Cheshire ones.] [Phillips and Phillips (2002). pp. 26–31.] [Crosby, A. (1996). writes on page 31: quotation|The Domesday Survey (1086) included south Lancashire with Cheshire for convenience, but the Mersey, the name of which means 'boundary river' is known to have divided the kingdoms of Northumbria and Mercia and there is no doubt that this was the real boundary.] Once its initial boundaries were established, it bordered Cumberland, Westmorland, Yorkshire, and Cheshire.

Lancashire, which takes its name from the city of Lancaster, which itself is derived from the River Lune, was established some time after the Norman conquest when William the Conqueror gave the land between the Ribble and the Mersey, together with Amounderness, to Roger de Pitou. In the early 1090s Lonsdale, Cartmel and Furness were added to Roger's estates to facilitate the defence of the area south of Morecambe Bay from Scottish raiding parties, which travelled round the Cumberland coast and across the bay at low water, rather than through the mountainous regions of the Lake District.

The county was divided into the six hundreds of Amounderness, Blackburn, Leyland, Lonsdale, Salford and West Derby. Lonsdale was further partitioned into Lonsdale North, which was the detached part north of Morecambe Bay (also known as Furness), and Lonsdale South.

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Map_of_mid-Lancashire,_c._400.Image:North.Lancashire.1610.jpg|North_Lancashire_in_1610.Image:Southwest.Lancashire.1610.jpg|Southwest_Lancashire_in_1610.

Boundary changes

The modern county is now rather smaller than that of the historic county due to significant local government reform. On April 1, 1974 the Furness exclave was transferred to the new county of Cumbria,George, D., "Lancashire", (1991)] the south east went to Greater Manchester and the south west became part of Merseyside.Jones, B. et al, "Politics UK", (2004)] Warrington and surrounding districts including the villages of Winwick and Croft and Risley and Culcheth were annexed to Cheshire. A part of the West Riding of Yorkshire near Clitheroe, was transferred to Lancashire also.

In 1998 Blackpool and Blackburn with Darwen became independent of the county as unitary authorities, but remained in Lancashire for ceremonial purposes, including the provision of fire, rescue and policing.

For centuries the seat of Lancashire County Council was found at Lancaster, and in this capacity is considered to be the county town of Lancashire. However today the county council is seated at the city of Preston.

ee also

* History of England
* Friends of Real Lancashire
* House of Lancaster

Notes and references

Bibliography

*Crosby, A. (1996). "A History of Cheshire." (The Darwen County History Series.) Chichester, West Sussex, UK: Phillimore & Co. Ltd. ISBN 0850339324.
*Harris, B. E., and Thacker, A. T. (1987). "The Victoria History of the County of Chester. (Volume 1: Physique, Prehistory, Roman, Anglo-Saxon, and Domesday)." Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0197227619.
*Morgan, P. (1978). "Domesday Book Cheshire: Including Lancashire, Cumbria, and North Wales". Chichester, Sussex: Phillimore & Co. Ltd. ISBN 0850331404.
*Phillips A. D. M., and Phillips, C. B. (2002), "A New Historical Atlas of Cheshire". Chester, UK: Cheshire County Council and Cheshire Community Council Publications Trust. ISBN 0904532461.

External links

* [http://www.lantern.lancashire.gov.uk/index.html Lancashire Lantern] , The Lancashire Life and Times E-Resource network
* [http://www.hslc.org.uk/ The Historic Society of Lancashire and Cheshire]
* [http://www.lancashire.gov.uk/environment/oldmap/others/hundreds.jpgMap of the Lancashire County Hundreds]
* [http://www.british-history.ac.uk/catalogue.asp?type=&gid=20 The Victoria County History of Lancashire] , (seven volumes, as part of British History Online)