Coppull is a village and

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 authority ...

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 Lancashi ...

, England. It is part of the

Borough of Chorley The Borough of Chorley is a local government district with borough status in Lancashire, England. The population of the Borough at the 2011 census was 107,155. It is named after its largest settlement, the town of Chorley. History The non-met ...

, lies around above sea level. Its population is around 8,000, having been counted at 7,959 in the 2011 Census. It is bounded by Whittle Brook, Clancutt Brook, the River Yarrow, Eller Brook, Hic-Bibi Brook and Stars Brook. Coppull is located between

Chorley Chorley is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Chorley in Lancashire, England, north of Wigan, south west of Blackburn, north west of Bolton, south of Preston and north west of Manchester. The town's wealth came pr ...

and

Standish, Greater Manchester Standish is a small town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. Within the boundaries of the historic county of Lancashire, it is on the A49 road between Chorley and Wigan, near Junction 27 of the M6 motorway. The p ...

, to the east of the

A49 road The A49 is an A road in western England, which traverses the Welsh Marches region. It runs north from Ross-on-Wye in Herefordshire via Hereford, Leominster, Ludlow, Shrewsbury and Whitchurch, then continues through central Cheshire to Warrin ...

near

Charnock Richard Charnock Richard is a small village and civil parish in the borough of Chorley, Lancashire, in England. The population of the civil parish taken at the 2011 census was 1,748. History The village was named in the early 13th century by the local ...

History

It is possible that a

Roman road Roman roads ( la, viae Romanae ; singular: ; meaning "Roman way") were physical infrastructure vital to the maintenance and development of the Roman state, and were built from about 300 BC through the expansion and consolidation of the Roman Re ...

between

Wigan Wigan ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, on the River Douglas, Lancashire, River Douglas. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. Bolton lies to the nor ...

and Walton-le-Dale passed over Coppull Moor according to the Chorley and District Historical and Archaeological Society after excavating a site there in 1959 and 1985. The settlement has an

Anglo Saxon The Anglo-Saxons were a cultural group who inhabited England in the Early Middle Ages. They traced their origins to settlers who came to Britain from mainland Europe in the 5th century. However, the ethnogenesis of the Anglo-Saxons happened wit ...

name describing its topography derived from the

Old English Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain, Anglo ...

''copp'' a hill top and ''hyll'' a hill. The township was variously recorded as Cophull and Cophulle in 1277, Copphull in 1351, Copthull in 1374 and Coppull from 1444. The township was originally held by the lords of

Worthington Worthington may refer to: People * Worthington (surname) * Worthington family, a British noble family Businesses * Worthington Brewery, also known as Worthington's * Worthington Corporation, founded as a pump manufacturer in 1845, later a dive ...

until the manor of Coppull was granted to a family of that name under them. Richard of Coppull granted land to

Burscough Priory Burscough Priory, at Burscough, Lancashire, England, was an Augustinian foundation, established in around 1190 and dissolved in around 1536. Some remains of the church survive. History The priory was founded in c. 1190 by Robert Fitz-Henry, Lord ...

. In the reign of

Edward IV Edward IV (28 April 1442 – 9 April 1483) was King of England from 4 March 1461 to 3 October 1470, then again from 11 April 1471 until his death in 1483. He was a central figure in the Wars of the Roses, a series of civil wars in England ...

, Sir Thomas Stanley bought the manor and it descended with the Stanley property at

Lathom Lathom is a village and civil parish in Lancashire, England, about 3 miles (5 km) northeast of Ormskirk. It is in the district of West Lancashire, and with the parish of Newburgh forms part of Newburgh ward. The population of the civil par ...

until 1600 when William, Earl of Derby sold it to Edward Rigby of

Duxbury Duxbury (alternative older spelling: "Duxborough") is a historic seaside town in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, United States. A suburb located on the South Shore approximately to the southeast of Boston, the population was 16,090 at the 20 ...

. In 1755 the owners were named Livesey and John Hodson of Ellerbeck bought it in 1820. The Worthingtons were

recussant Recusancy (from la, recusare, translation=to refuse) was the state of those who remained loyal to the Catholic Church and refused to attend Church of England services after the English Reformation. The 1558 Recusancy Acts passed in the reign ...

s who kept the old faith, Roman Catholicism. Thomas Worthington became a priest at the

English College, Douai The English College (''College des Grands Anglais'') was a Catholic seminary in Douai, France (also previously spelled Douay, and in English Doway), associated with the University of Douai. It was established in 1568, and was suppressed in 1793. ...

and was sent to the

Tower A tower is a tall Nonbuilding structure, structure, taller than it is wide, often by a significant factor. Towers are distinguished from guyed mast, masts by their lack of guy-wires and are therefore, along with tall buildings, self-supporting ...

in 1584. Chisnall was held by a family of that name. Roger and John de Chisnall are mentioned in 1277 and 1292. Roger de Chisnall settled land and property on Roger and his brothers Robert, John and Thomas in 1347. John Chisnall, when he died in 1525, held land and property in Coppull and Worthington of the Earl of Derby. Richard Worthington was a Member of Parliament for Wigan between 1688 and 1689 and sat for Preston as a

Tory A Tory () is a person who holds a political philosophy known as Toryism, based on a British version of traditionalism and conservatism, which upholds the supremacy of social order as it has evolved in the English culture throughout history. Th ...

in 1690. Blainscough belonged to the Worthingtons who lived there until after the Civil War.

Industrial Revolution

A water mill at Birkacre was leased by

Richard Arkwright Sir Richard Arkwright (23 December 1732 – 3 August 1792) was an English inventor and a leading entrepreneur during the early Industrial Revolution. He is credited as the driving force behind the development of the spinning frame, known as t ...

for cotton spinning in 1778 but was set on fire by machine wreckers in 1779. The mill was rebuilt and used for calico printing, dyeing and bleaching. Water power was replaced by steam. Birkacre Colliery opened in 1880 to supply the works which employed more than 800 people in 1883. The works and colliery closed in the 1930s and many of the buildings demolished in the 1960s. The

North Union Railway The North Union Railway was an early British railway company, operating in Lancashire. It was created in 1834, continuing independently until 1889. Formation The North Union Railway (NUR) was created by an Act of Parliament on 22 May 1834 whic ...

between Wigan and Preston opened in 1838. Coppull Colliery was owned by John Hargreaves. On 20 May 1852 was an explosion of

firedamp Firedamp is any flammable gas found in coal mines, typically coalbed methane. It is particularly found in areas where the coal is bituminous. The gas accumulates in pockets in the coal and adjacent strata and when they are penetrated the releas ...

, found to be caused by a lighted candle, 90 men suffering from

chokedamp Blackdamp (also known as stythe or choke damp) is an asphyxiant, reducing the available oxygen content of air to a level incapable of sustaining human or animal life. It is not a single gas but a mixture of unbreathable gases left after oxygen is ...

or burns escaped but 36 men and boys died. The colliery was renamed Hic Bibi Colliery in the 1860s. It had several owners and after it closed in the 1880s,

fireclay Fire clay is a range of refractory clays used in the manufacture of ceramics, especially fire brick. The United States Environmental Protection Agency defines fire clay very generally as a "mineral aggregate composed of hydrous silicates of alumin ...

was used at a brickworks started and operated by the Ellerbeck Collieries Company until it closed in 1959. Chisnall Hall Colliery on Coppull Moor was owned by Pearson and Knowles Coal and Iron Company in 1896 when it employed 135 underground and 48 surface workers. After 1850 Coppull grew rapidly, many rows of houses were built to house coal miners and factory workers. There were several collieries and deep shafts were sunk for the John Pit, Springfield Pit, Blainscough, Hic Bibi, Darlingtons,

Ellerbeck Colliery Ellerbeck Colliery was a coal mine located on the border of Coppull and Adlington in the Borough of Chorley in Lancashire, England. The Hilton House and Red Moss Coal Company sank the first shaft in 1876 and the colliery closed in 1928. In 189 ...

, Birkacre and Pearsons mines. Mineral lines carried coal tubs to the main railway. Two large red brick spinning mills,

Coppull Mill Coppull Mill is a former cotton spinning mill in Coppull, Chorley, Lancashire. It was opened in 1906 by the Coppull Ring Spinning Co, followed by its sister mill, Mavis Mill in 1908. Together they employed 700 workers. The mill was taken over ...

in 1906, and Mavis Mill were built in the early 20th century. Coppull Mill has been converted for other uses and is a Grade II

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

. The last surviving collieries were Chisnall Hall and Ellerbeck.

Governance

Coppull was a township in the

ecclesiastical parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish priest ...

of St Wilfrid, Standish in the

Hundred 100 or one hundred (Roman numeral: C) is the natural number following 99 and preceding 101. In medieval contexts, it may be described as the short hundred or five score in order to differentiate the English and Germanic use of "hundred" to de ...

of Leyland. It was a member of the Chorley Poor Law Union formed in 1837 that took responsibility for the administration and funding of the

Poor Law In English and British history, poor relief refers to government and ecclesiastical action to relieve poverty. Over the centuries, various authorities have needed to decide whose poverty deserves relief and also who should bear the cost of hel ...

. Coppull became part of Chorley Rural

Sanitary District Sanitary districts were established in England and Wales in 1872 and in Ireland in 1878. The districts were of two types, based on existing structures: *Urban sanitary districts in towns with existing local government bodies *Rural sanitary dis ...

from 1875 to 1894, and part of

Chorley Rural District Chorley Rural District was a rural district in the administrative county of Lancashire, England from 1894 to 1974. The district was created by the Local Government Act 1894 as the successor to the Chorley Rural Sanitary District. It comprised an a ...

from 1894 to 1974. Since 1974, it is a

and

electoral ward A ward is a local authority area, typically used for electoral purposes. In some countries, wards are usually named after neighbourhoods, thoroughfares, parishes, landmarks, geographical features and in some cases historical figures connected to t ...

in the

Economy

Since the decline in manufacturing and the end of the coal industry, the village has been converted into a satellite town for commuters to Chorley and Wigan. Notable industries today include The Yew Tree Dairy, Morris's Bakery and Staveley's egg producer.

Transport

Intersecting the village is the B5251 road, which connects Chorley to the Wigan-Preston Road. The village's closest motorway connections are the M6 Junction 27 at Standish and the M61 Junction 8 at Chorley. Coppull is served by regular

Arriva Arriva plc is a British multinational public transport company headquartered in Sunderland, England.Stagecoach A stagecoach is a four-wheeled public transport coach used to carry paying passengers and light packages on journeys long enough to need a change of horses. It is strongly sprung and generally drawn by four horses although some versions are draw ...

bus services to Chorley.

Network Chorley Stagecoach North West was a major operator of bus services in North West England. It was a subsidiary of the Stagecoach Group, and had its origins in the purchase of Cumberland in 1987 and Ribble Motor Services in 1988 from the National Bus Com ...

service operates within the village. The village was previously served by the Blackpool to Liverpool Line which stopped at Coppull railway station but the station was closed in 1969. Recently there has been a campaign from locals to re-open the station.

Religion

There was a chapel in Coppull before the

Reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...

. After it fell into ruin, it was replaced in 1654 and was probably served from the parish church in Standish but was later used by Presbyterians. It was closed in 1715 and secured for the Church of England. A grant from

Queen Anne's Bounty Queen Anne's Bounty was a scheme established in 1704 to augment the incomes of the poorer clergy of the Church of England, and by extension the organisation ("The Governors of the Bounty of Queen Anne for the Augmentation of the Maintenance of the ...

in 1716 led to the appointment of a perpetual curate. It was rebuilt in 1758 and again in 1861. The village has several places of worship, Coppull Parish C of E Church, St John the Divine C of E Church, St Oswald's Roman Catholic Church, Spendmore Lane Methodist Church and Preston Road Methodist Church.

Sport

Owing to Coppull's coal mining history and proximity to Wigan, the sport of

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...

has had a strong presence in the village. Chorley Panthers is a successful youth and amateur club based at Chisnall playing fields. Coppull is also home to Coppull United F.C, an amateur football team who currently play in the West Lancashire Premier Division. An amateur and professional boxing club is based at Coppull Mill. Coppull also has a long tradition of

Martial Arts Martial arts are codified systems and traditions of combat practiced for a number of reasons such as self-defense; military and law enforcement applications; combat sport, competition; physical, mental, and spiritual development; entertainment; a ...

with both

Karate (; ; Okinawan language, Okinawan pronunciation: ) is a martial arts, martial art developed in the Ryukyu Kingdom. It developed from the Okinawan martial arts, indigenous Ryukyuan martial arts (called , "hand"; ''tii'' in Okinawan) under the ...

and

Kung Fu Chinese martial arts, often called by the umbrella terms kung fu (; ), kuoshu () or wushu (), are multiple fighting styles that have developed over the centuries in Greater China. These fighting styles are often classified according to common ...

clubs in the district. Red Sun

Shotokan is a style of karate, developed from various martial arts by Gichin Funakoshi (1868–1957) and his son Gigo (Yoshitaka) Funakoshi (1906–1945). Gichin Funakoshi was born in Okinawa and is widely credited with popularizing "karate do" throu ...

Karate Club has been based at St. John's Church Hall in Coppull since 1986 and was founded by P.A.J. Handyside, 9th Dan. Coppull is also home to Springfield Park Leisure Centre which holds classes for all age groups including freestyle, trampolining and indoor rock climbing.

Notable people

Amanda Roocroft Amanda Jane Roocroft (born 9 February 1966) is an English operatic soprano, who in the course of her career has sung leading roles in the opera houses of Europe and North America. She is also a voice professor at London's Royal College of Music ...

(born 1966),

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a librett ...

singer * John Barry Mason (1935–2021), songwriter known professionally as

Barry Mason John Barry Mason (12 July 1935 – 16 April 2021) was an English singer and songwriter. A leading songwriter of the 1960s, he wrote the bulk of his most successful songs in partnership with Les Reed. Mason gained many gold and platinum awar ...

References

Notes Footnotes Bibliography *

External links

A History of Coppull by Hubert Walsh
{{authority control Geography of Chorley Villages in Lancashire Civil parishes in Lancashire