City Of Preston, Lancashire
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The City of Preston () is a
city A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...
and
non-metropolitan district Non-metropolitan districts, or colloquially "shire districts", are a type of local government district in England. As created, they are sub-divisions of non-metropolitan counties (colloquially ''shire counties'') in a two-tier arrangement. Non-m ...
in
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. On the north bank of the
River Ribble The River Ribble runs through North Yorkshire and Lancashire in Northern England. It starts close to the Ribblehead Viaduct in North Yorkshire, and is one of the few that start in the Yorkshire Dales and flow westwards towards the Irish Sea (t ...
, it was granted
city status City status is a symbolic and legal designation given by a national or subnational government. A municipality may receive city status because it already has the qualities of a city, or because it has some special purpose. Historically, city status ...
in 2002, becoming England's 50th city in the 50th year of
Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. She was queen ...
's reign. The City of Preston district has a population of (), and lies at the centre of the Central Lancashire sub-region, with a population of 335,000. The district, formerly known as the Borough of Preston, is named after the urban settlement of Preston which lies in the south of the district, and also contains nine
civil parishes 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. ...
.


History

In 1974, the non-metropolitan district of Preston was formed from the
County Borough of Preston Preston Municipal Borough, also known as the County Borough of Preston from 1889, was a local government district coterminate with the town of Preston in Lancashire, northwest England from 1836 to 1974. Preston was one of only a few industri ...
,
Fulwood Urban District Fulwood was an urban district of Lancashire, England. It was subject to some changes in its boundaries:http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/relationships.jsp?u_id=10137019&c_id=10001043 *1 April 1934: lost to County Borough of Preston P ...
, and a major part of
Preston Rural District Preston was a rural district in Lancashire, England from 1894 to 1974. It surrounded Preston on the north, west and east sides. The district was created under the Local Government Act 1894. It was abolished in 1974 under the Local Government A ...
. The district was granted city status in 2002.


Governance


Preston City Council

The City of Preston is divided into 16 district council wards represented by 48 councillors. In 2017 there are about 6,000 electors per ward, expected to rise to about 6,300 electors per ward by 2023. Preston City councillors serve a four-year term. Preston City Council is elected "by thirds", 16 at a time. One councillor from each ward is elected every year for three years. Every fourth year there are no Preston City Council elections,
Lancashire County Council Lancashire County Council is the upper-tier local authority for the non-metropolitan county of Lancashire, England. It consists of 84 councillors. Since the 2017 election, the council has been under Conservative control. Prior to the 2009 La ...
elections taking place instead. Like much of the United Kingdom, Preston has a ceremonial mayor, who holds the role of the first citizen of the city. The role dates back to 1327, and the current mayor is Councillor Javed Iqbal, who is the 963rd Mayor of Preston. Preston operates a Leader and Cabinet system. The current Leader is Councillor Matthew Brown. There are 48 elected councillors, who meet every two months at the full council meetings. However, most of the decisions are made by a
cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filing ...
composed of the Leader of the Council and nine Cabinet Members: * Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Resources, * Cabinet Member for Community Wealth Building * Cabinet Member for Planning and Regulation * Cabinet Member for Environment and Community Safety * Cabinet Member for Service Transformation * Cabinet Member for Climate Change * Cabinet Member for Culture and Arts * Cabinet Member for Communities and Social Justice * Cabinet Member for Health and Wellbeing These decisions scrutinised by the Overview and Scrutiny Committee, which has a cross-party composition. The city is divided into
districts A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions o ...
, which are in turn divided into wards. Following a boundary review, the May 2019 election was held on 16 new wards, with three councillors in each ward. The election resulted in 30 Labour Party councillors, 9 Conservative Party councillors and 9 Liberal Democrats councillors. The May 2020 elections were deferred until May 2021 due to the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
. After the 2021 Preston City Council election, the Council consisted of 30 Labour Party councillors, 11 Conservative Party councillors and 7 Liberal Democrats councillors. The local areas of Preston can be found at
Districts of Preston Preston is a city of Lancashire, England. The districts of Preston vary in size and shape, many of which reflect the districts developed from former villages and boroughs which now lie within the boundaries of the city of Preston. Districts of Pre ...
.


Freedom of the City

Freedom of the City The Freedom of the City (or Borough in some parts of the UK) is an honour bestowed by a municipality upon a valued member of the community, or upon a visiting celebrity or dignitary. Arising from the medieval practice of granting respected ...
has been granted to: *The
Loyal Regiment (North Lancashire) The Loyal Regiment (North Lancashire) (until 1921 known as the Loyal North Lancashire Regiment) was a line infantry regiment of the British Army that was in existence from 1881 to 1970. In 1970, the regiment was amalgamated with the Lancashire Reg ...
– 7 August 1952; this was subsequently transferred to The
Queen's Lancashire Regiment The Queen's Lancashire Regiment (30th, 40th, 47th, 59th, 81st and 82nd Regiments of Foot) (QLR) was an infantry regiment of the British Army, part of the King's Division. It was formed on 25 March 1970 at Connaught Barracks in Dover through ...
on 9 September 1972 *
Sir Tom Finney Sir Thomas Finney (5 April 1922 – 14 February 2014) was an English international footballer who played from 1946 to 1960 as a winger or centre forward for Preston North End and England. He is widely acknowledged to have been one of the sp ...
, Preston football player – 6 September 1979 *The
Duke of Lancaster's Regiment The Duke of Lancaster's Regiment (King's, Lancashire and Border) (LANCS) is an infantry regiment of the line within the British Army, part of the King's Division. Headquartered in Preston, it recruits throughout the North West of England. The Du ...
– 1 July 2006 *Ian Hall J.P., – Councillor, May 1992 *
Nick Park Nicholas Wulstan Park (born 6 December 1958) is a British animator who created ''Wallace and Gromit'', ''Creature Comforts'', ''Chicken Run'', ''Shaun the Sheep'', and '' Early Man''. Park has been nominated for an Academy Award a total of ...
, – film maker, October 1997 *
Andrew Flintoff Andrew "Freddie" Flintoff (born 6 December 1977) is an English television and radio presenter and former international cricketer. Flintoff played all forms of the game and was one of the sport's leading all-rounders, a fast bowler, middle-ord ...
, England cricket captain, – January 2006 *Ken Hudson JP MBE, Mayor 1993–1994, Leader of the City 2007–2011, admitted in recognition of his 36 years' service to the council and the citizens of Preston, August 2014.


Lancashire County Council

The City of Preston contains nine Lancashire County Council electoral divisions, with one county councillor in each district.


Parliament

The City of Preston is currently divided between three Westminster constituencies, namely Preston,
Wyre and Preston North Wyre and Preston North is a county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Created in the most recent fifth periodic review of constituencies by the Boundary Commission for England, it elects one ...
, and Fylde. The three seats are all
safe seat A safe seat is an electoral district (constituency) in a legislative body (e.g. Congress, Parliament, City Council) which is regarded as fully secure, for either a certain political party, or the incumbent representative personally or a combinat ...
s, with all Members of Parliament holding over 50% of the vote for their respective parties. Historically, Preston has been divided between such constituencies as Preston North, Preston South, and Fylde South, although until 1885 it comprised one constituency called Preston, which actually included most of West Lancashire.


Minster Church

Like numerous other major English towns granted city status since 1889, Preston has no Anglican
cathedral A cathedral is a church that contains the '' cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denomination ...
(see
City status in the United Kingdom City status in the United Kingdom is granted by the monarch of the United Kingdom to a select group of communities. , there are 76 cities in the United Kingdom—55 in England, seven in Wales, eight in Scotland, and six in Northern Ireland. ...
). Instead, following the granting of city status in the Queen's Golden Jubilee year in 2002, Preston's parish church was elevated by the Church of England to the status of
Minster Church Minster is an honorific title given to particular churches in England, most notably York Minster in Yorkshire, Westminster Abbey in London and Southwell Minster in Nottinghamshire. The term ''minster'' is first found in royal foundation charte ...
in June 2003.


Geography


Physical geography

The City of Preston district is a transitional region between
coastal plain A coastal plain is flat, low-lying land adjacent to a sea coast. A fall line commonly marks the border between a coastal plain and a piedmont area. Some of the largest coastal plains are in Alaska and the southeastern United States. The Gulf Coa ...
, river valley and
moorland Moorland or moor is a type of habitat found in upland areas in temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands and montane grasslands and shrublands biomes, characterised by low-growing vegetation on acidic soils. Moorland, nowadays, generally ...
. The west of the district lies within the flat coastal plain of
the Fylde The Fylde () is a coastal plain in western Lancashire, England. It is roughly a square-shaped peninsula, bounded by Morecambe Bay to the north, the Ribble estuary to the south, the Irish Sea to the west, and the foot of the Bowland hills ...
. The southern border is the
River Ribble The River Ribble runs through North Yorkshire and Lancashire in Northern England. It starts close to the Ribblehead Viaduct in North Yorkshire, and is one of the few that start in the Yorkshire Dales and flow westwards towards the Irish Sea (t ...
which meanders through a flood plain in a wide, steep-sided valley. The northeast of the district lies within the
Forest of Bowland The Forest of Bowland, also known as the Bowland Fells and formerly the Chase of Bowland, is an area of gritstone fells, deep valleys and peat moorland, mostly in north-east Lancashire, England, with a small part in North Yorkshire (however ro ...
Area of Outstanding Beauty. The highest point is the summit of Beacon Fell at above sea level, an isolated fell two miles south of the main range of Bowland Fells just outside the district boundaries. The lowest point lies on the River Ribble in the southwest corner of the district. The Ribble here is tidal and therefore virtually at sea level. The course of the river west of Preston was artificially straightened in the 19th century, to ease passage of shipping to the docks. The southern one-third of the district, most of which is covered by Preston and its suburbs, drains into Savick Brook running east-to-west and then turning south into the Ribble. The lowest section of the brook has been widened into the
Ribble Link The Millennium Ribble Link is a linear park, linear water park and new navigation which links the once-isolated Lancaster Canal in Lancashire, England to the River Ribble. The Lancaster Canal was never connected to the rest of the English waterw ...
which connects the
Lancaster Canal The Lancaster Canal is a canal in North West England, originally planned to run from Westhoughton in Lancashire to Kendal in south Cumbria ( historically in Westmorland). The section around the crossing of the River Ribble was never complete ...
to the Ribble. The central and northern parts of the district drain into south- and west-flowing tributaries of the
River Brock The River Brock is a river running through the county of Lancashire in England. Commencing its journey on Fair Snape Fell, the infant River Brock runs beneath the Bleasdale Circle before continuing via Claughton and Bilsborrow to St Michae ...
, itself a tributary of the Wyre whose estuary is at
Fleetwood Fleetwood is a coastal town in the Borough of Wyre in Lancashire, England, at the northwest corner of the Fylde. It had a population of 25,939 at the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 census. Fleetwood acquired its modern character in the 1830 ...
. The Brock forms part of the district boundary on the west and north sides of Beacon Fell. A small part of the district along the eastern boundary drains into the east-flowing River Loud, a tributary of the Hodder. The lowland area in the north and east of the district, between Beacon Fell and the Fylde, is a dairy farming area, particularly noted for its cheesemaking dairies. Six of the ten
Lancashire Cheese Lancashire is an English cow's-milk cheese from the county of Lancashire. There are three distinct varieties of Lancashire cheese. Young ''Creamy Lancashire'' and mature ''Tasty Lancashire'' are produced by a traditional method, whereas ''Crumbly ...
dairies listed on the British Cheese Board's website in 2011 are located in the City of Preston district (and the other four are only a few miles outside). Beacon Fell Traditional Lancashire Cheese is a
Protected Designation of Origin The protected designation of origin (PDO) is a type of geographical indication of the European Union and the United Kingdom aimed at preserving the designations of origin of food-related products. The designation was created in 1992 and its main ...
cheese named after Beacon Fell.EU Protected Food Names Scheme: Beacon Fell traditional Lancashire cheese
, DEFRA, retrieved 4 August 2011
At , Preston city centre is approximately 27 miles north west of
Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...
, 26 miles north east of
Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...
, and 15 miles east of the coastal town
Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside resort in Lancashire, England. Located on the North West England, northwest coast of England, it is the main settlement within the Borough of Blackpool, borough also called Blackpool. The town is by the Irish Sea, betw ...
. Like most of inland Lancashire, Preston receives a higher than UK average total of rainfall, and is slightly colder. On 10 August 1893 Preston entered the
UK Weather Records The United Kingdom weather records show the most extreme weather ever recorded in the United Kingdom, such as temperature, wind speed, and rainfall records. Reliable temperature records for the whole of the United Kingdom go back to about 1880. ...
, with the ''Highest 5-min total''
rainfall Rain is water droplets that have condensed from atmospheric water vapor and then fall under gravity. Rain is a major component of the water cycle and is responsible for depositing most of the fresh water on the Earth. It provides water f ...
of 32 mm. As of November 2008 this remains a record.


Areas and estates

As with many cities, Preston has developed from a number of former towns and villages.


Civic geography

The southern part of the district is mostly urbanised but the northern part is quite rural. The current borders came into effect on 1 April 1974, when the
Local Government Act 1972 The Local Government Act 1972 (c. 70) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed local government in England and Wales on 1 April 1974. It was one of the most significant Acts of Parliament to be passed by the Heath Gov ...
merged the existing
County Borough of Preston Preston Municipal Borough, also known as the County Borough of Preston from 1889, was a local government district coterminate with the town of Preston in Lancashire, northwest England from 1836 to 1974. Preston was one of only a few industri ...
with
Fulwood Urban District Fulwood was an urban district of Lancashire, England. It was subject to some changes in its boundaries:http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/relationships.jsp?u_id=10137019&c_id=10001043 *1 April 1934: lost to County Borough of Preston P ...
and part of
Preston Rural District Preston was a rural district in Lancashire, England from 1894 to 1974. It surrounded Preston on the north, west and east sides. The district was created under the Local Government Act 1894. It was abolished in 1974 under the Local Government A ...
. Preston was designated as part of the
Central Lancashire Central Lancashire is an area of Lancashire, England. Central Lancashire New Town Central Lancashire New Town was the largest of the post-war English new towns, designated in 1970 and covering : the County Borough of Preston, parts of Chorley, ...
new town in 1970. The former Preston Rural District part of the district is divided into a number of
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 ...
es: * Barton * Broughton *
Goosnargh Goosnargh ( ) is a village and civil parish in the City of Preston district of Lancashire, England. The village lies between Broughton and Longridge, and mostly lies in the civil parish of Whittingham, although the ancient centre lies in ...
*
Grimsargh Grimsargh is a village and civil parish in the City of Preston, Lancashire, England. located east of Preston. History The name Grimsargh is said to derive from an Old Norse name ''Grímr'' with Norse ''erg''. One reference lists it as comi ...
*
Haighton Haighton is a civil parish in the City of Preston, Lancashire, England. It is a rural area north east of the urban city of Preston, beyond Fulwood and Brookfield. Geography Haighton also contains the hamlets of Haighton Green and Haighton T ...
* Ingol and Tanterton (neighbourhood, created April 2012) *
Lea Lea or LEA may refer to: Places Australia * Lea River, Tasmania, Australia * Lake Lea, Tasmania, from which the Lea River flows * RAAF Base Learmonth, IATA airport code "LEA" England * Lea, Cheshire, a civil parish * Lea, Derbyshire, a set ...
* Whittingham *
Woodplumpton Woodplumpton is a village and civil parish in the City of Preston, Lancashire, England, located north of Preston. Geography It is part of the Fylde, a flat area of land between the Forest of Bowland and the Lancashire coast. Community The vi ...


Demography


Ethnicity

Preston is a diverse city, although the majority of the ethnic minorities are
South Asians South Asian ethnic groups are an ethnolinguistic grouping of the diverse populations of South Asia, including the nations of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, the Maldives, and Sri Lanka. While Afghanistan is variously considered to b ...
, in particular Indians. The ethnic makeup of Preston based on the 2011 census is as follows (With average for England in brackets): 75.8%
White British White British is an ethnicity classification used for the native white population identifying as English, Scottish, Welsh, Cornish, Northern Irish, or British in the United Kingdom Census. In the 2011 census, the White British population wa ...
(79.8%), 0.8%
White Irish } White Irish is an ethnicity classification used in the 2011 United Kingdom Census. In the 2011 census, the White Irish population was 1,105,673 or 1.7% of the UK total population. This total includes the White Irish population estimate for ...
(1.0%), 3.5%
Other White The term Other White is a classification of ethnicity in the United Kingdom and has been used in documents such as the 2011 UK Census to describe people who self-identify as white (chiefly European) persons who are not of the English, Welsh, S ...
(4.6%). 2.3%
Mixed Race Mixed race people are people of more than one race or ethnicity. A variety of terms have been used both historically and presently for mixed race people in a variety of contexts, including ''multiethnic'', ''polyethnic'', occasionally ''bi-ethn ...
(2.2%). 10.3%
Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Peoples South Asia * Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor ** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country * South Asia ...
(2.6%), 3.2% Pakistani (2.1%), 0.3%
Bangladeshi Bangladeshis ( bn, বাংলাদেশী ) are the citizens of Bangladesh, a South Asian country centered on the transnational historical region of Bengal along the eponymous bay. Bangladeshi citizenship was formed in 1971, when the ...
(0.8%), 0.9% Other Asian (1.5%). 0.6%
Black Caribbean Afro-Caribbean people or African Caribbean are Caribbean people who trace their full or partial ancestry to Sub-Saharan Africa. The majority of the modern African-Caribbeans descend from Africans taken as slaves to colonial Caribbean via the ...
(1.1%), 0.5%
Black African Black is a Racialization, racialized classification of people, usually a Politics, political and Human skin color, skin color-based category for specific populations with a mid to dark brown complexion. Not all people considered "black" have ...
(1.8%), 0.1%
Other Black A number of different systems of classification of ethnicity in the United Kingdom exist. These schemata have been the subject of debate, including about the nature of ethnicity, how or whether it can be categorised, and the relationship betw ...
(0.5%). 0.9%
Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of ...
(0.7%), 0.4%
Arab The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...
(0.4%) and 0.3% other (0.6%).


Child poverty

In 2008 a survey revealed that 50% of all children living in the city were living in families suffering from financial depression. An estimated 15,380 youngsters were part of the families on the breadline. The Campaign to End Child Poverty report defined children in poverty as children living in homes where occupants work less than 16 hours a week, or not at all, or where the full amount of tax credit is being claimed. The city was one of the most severely affected areas of the
North West The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each sepa ...
outside
Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...
and
Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...
, with 21% of children in the city living in households which were completely workless and a further 29% in families struggling to get by with
working tax credit Working Tax Credit (WTC) is a state benefit in the United Kingdom made to people who work and have a low income. It was introduced in April 2003 and is a means-tested benefit. Despite their name, tax credits are not to be confused with tax cred ...
s. The two worst affected areas of the city were the
Deepdale Deepdale is a football stadium in the Deepdale area of Preston, England, the home of Preston North End. Deepdale is "widely recognised as being the oldest 'continuously used' football stadium in the world, though this is contested". History ...
and St George's wards, where 75% and 77% of children respectively were said to be living in poverty.


Religion

The City of Preston lies in the Roman Catholic
Diocese of Lancaster The Roman Catholic Diocese of Lancaster is a Latin Church Roman Catholic diocese centred on Lancaster Cathedral in the city of Lancaster in Lancashire, England. History The diocese was erected in 1924, taking areas and parishes from the Archd ...
and the Anglican
Diocese of Blackburn The Diocese of Blackburn is a Church of England diocese, covering much of Lancashire, created on 12 November 1926 from part of the Diocese of Manchester. The diocese includes the towns of Blackburn, Blackpool and Burnley, the cities of Lancas ...
. In July 2016, St Ignatius Church in Preston, which had been gifted by the Catholic Diocese of Lancaster to the Syro-Malabar Catholic community, was raised to the status of a cathedral by
Pope Francis Pope Francis ( la, Franciscus; it, Francesco; es, link=, Francisco; born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, 17 December 1936) is the head of the Catholic Church. He has been the bishop of Rome and sovereign of the Vatican City State since 13 March 2013. ...
. It now serves as the seat of the Syro-Malabar Catholic Eparchy of Great Britain The 2001
Census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses incl ...
recorded 72% of the population as Christians, 10% as having no religion, and 8% as Muslim.Census 2001: Statistics.
. Retrieved 6 June 2006.
The Hindu and Sikh populations are smaller at 3% and 0.6% respectively, but in both cases this represents the highest percentage of any local authority area in the North West. 2% of the city's population were born in other EU countries.


References


External links

*
Preston City Council website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Preston, City Of Local government in Preston Cities in North West England Non-metropolitan districts of Lancashire Boroughs in England