Bispham Green is a village in the

West Lancashire West Lancashire is a local government district with borough status in Lancashire, England. The council is based in Ormskirk, and the largest town in the borough is Skelmersdale. At the 2011 Census, the population of the borough was 110,68 ...

district of

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancash ...

, England. It is south of

Mawdesley Mawdesley is a village and civil parish in Lancashire, England, which had a population of 1,702 at the 2011 Census. History The name Mawdesley is thought to have originated in the reign of Edward I (1272–1308). The suffix -''ley'' describe ...

and less than north of Parbold. The

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authorit ...

of Bispham is the only one in the West Lancashire district that is served by a

parish meeting A parish meeting, in England, is a meeting to which all the electors in a civil parish are entitled to attend. In some cases, where a parish or group of parishes has fewer than 200 electors, the parish meeting can take on the role of a parish cou ...

instead of a

town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an ori ...

or parish council. At the 2011 census the parish had a population of 238. The surrounding areas was once popular for osier (

willow Willows, also called sallows and osiers, from the genus ''Salix'', comprise around 400 speciesMabberley, D.J. 1997. The Plant Book, Cambridge University Press #2: Cambridge. of typically deciduous trees and shrubs, found primarily on moist so ...

growing) for the

basket weaving Basket weaving (also basketry or basket making) is the process of weaving or sewing pliable materials into three-dimensional artifacts, such as baskets, mats, mesh bags or even furniture. Craftspeople and artists specialized in making baskets ...

trade, but since the 1950s the land has reverted solely to agricultural use. There are no industrial buildings and no future planning for any extensive development.

Geography

Bispham is south of

Croston Croston is a village and civil parish near Chorley in Lancashire, England. The River Yarrow flows through the village. The population of the civil parish taken at the 2011 census was 2,917. History Croston was founded in the 7th century when ...

and

Tarleton Tarleton is a village and civil parish in the borough of West Lancashire, Lancashire, England. It situated in the Lancashire mosslands approximately 10 miles north east of Southport, approximately 10 miles south west of Preston, approximately ...

, north of Hilldale and Parbold, west of Heskin,

Wrightington Wrightington is a civil parish in West Lancashire, England, with an area of 3,915½ acres. The surface is hilly, rising to over 400 ft. at Harrock on the border of Parbold, and then falling to the north, northeast and southeast. On the so ...

and Eccleston. The River Douglas travels through Bispham and it is a tributary to the River Ribble and has two tributaries itself, the

River Tawd The River Tawd flows through Skelmersdale and Lathom in West Lancashire. Tawd Bridge carried Ormskirk Road, the main arterial road from Wigan to Ormskirk and Southport. This is well known to Upholland locals as the place where highwayman Geor ...

and the River Yarrow. It shares its local parish with Mawdesley as Bispham has no actual churches on its land. The land around Bispham is both pastoral and arable and abundant with wildlife. Bispham covers an area of approximately of grade 2 agricultural land. Rising to 80 metres above sea level at its eastern tip, it is bounded on the south side of the River Douglas, and on the north side of Bentley Brook.

Richard Durning's Endowed Primary School

It was known as Bispham Free Grammar School up until 1951. The name was changed to Richard Durning's because Richard Durning himself had funded the building of the school in his will after he died in 1692. He had set aside £100 for the school and the land (known as Higher Jacks field) was purchased for £10. He also left money of which "a yearly sum of £4 is to be paid to four or six poor people of Bispham such as by age, sickness, lameness, or any other infirmity should have need, (bastards always excepted) £2 for repairing the high lanes of Bispham Green and Grimshaw Green and the house of Peter Travis, and the high lanes of Wrightington, £5 for the binding of poor children apprentices in the townships of Bispham, Parbold, Mawdesley and Wrightington, £5 to be paid and distributed among two or more of my poor kindred, £2 towards the support of a preaching minister at Douglas Chapel." Today the Trustees of the Charity administer its assets, the income from which is used to provide special benefits to the school and to award grants towards the cost of the education and training of young people under the age of 25 who are pupils or former pupils of the school or who reside in the civil parishes of Bispham, Parbold, Mawdesley, Wrightington and Croston. Part of the school building dates back to 1693. It is located on Chorley Road, in Bispham. Richard Durning was a local

yeoman Yeoman is a noun originally referring either to one who owns and cultivates land or to the middle ranks of servants in an English royal or noble household. The term was first documented in mid-14th-century England. The 14th century also witn ...

, who was born in 1615 and died in 1692 at the age of 75. He is buried in the Chancel of St Michael an All Angels Parish Church in Croston.''The Hundred Pound School'', Robert Skipworth

References

{{authority control Villages in Lancashire Geography of the Borough of West Lancashire

Geography

Richard Durning's Endowed Primary School

See also

References