Lathom 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 ...
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, about 3 miles (5 km) northeast of
Ormskirk
Ormskirk is a market town in the West Lancashire district of Lancashire, England, north of Liverpool, northwest of St Helens, southeast of Southport and southwest of Preston. Ormskirk is known for its gingerbread.
Geography and administr ...
. It is in the
district
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 ...
of
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 110,685 ...
, and with the parish of
Newburgh forms part of Newburgh
ward
Ward may refer to:
Division or unit
* Hospital ward, a hospital division, floor, or room set aside for a particular class or group of patients, for example the psychiatric ward
* Prison ward, a division of a penal institution such as a pris ...
. The population of the civil parish at the
2011 census was 914. The
Leeds and Liverpool Canal
The Leeds and Liverpool Canal is a canal in Northern England, linking the cities of Leeds and Liverpool.
Over a distance of , crossing the Pennines, and including 91 locks on the main line. The Leeds and Liverpool Canal has several small branc ...
passes through Lathom.
History
Toponymy
Lathom was recorded as Latune in the
Domesday Book
Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manusc ...
in 1086, Lathum in 1200, and Lathom in 1223 after which it was the usual spelling.
Manor
In 1066 the manor of Lathom was the most important of 17 manors held by Uctred, an Anglo-Danish landowner. These manors were set up by
Æthelstan
Æthelstan or Athelstan (; ang, Æðelstān ; on, Aðalsteinn; ; – 27 October 939) was King of the Anglo-Saxons from 924 to 927 and King of the English from 927 to his death in 939. He was the son of King Edward the Elder and his first ...
in the 10th century. By 1189 Robert Fitzhenry de Lathom possessed lands throughout south Lancashire, extending to
Flixton in the barony 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 ...
.
Siward son of Dunning held the township in
thanage
The Thanage is a system of nobility, predating the modern Peerage in Scandinavia and the British Isles.
The basic title in the Thanage is the Thane, who in the Peerage is called a Baron.
Superior to the Thane is the Median-Thane, who in the Pe ...
in the reign of
Henry II. Robert de Lathom, in the reign of
Edward I was granted the right to hold a market and an annual fair. Robert Lathom founded
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 or before 1189.
[
The manor was conveyed by the marriage of Isabella de Lathom, Sir Thomas Lathom's daughter to Sir John Stanley in 1385, the reign of Henry IV.] Thomas Stanley, 1st Earl of Derby
Thomas Stanley, 1st Earl of Derby, KG (1435 – 29 July 1504) was an English nobleman. He was the stepfather of King Henry VII of England. He was the eldest son of Thomas Stanley, 1st Baron Stanley and Joan Goushill.
A landed magnate of imm ...
entertained Henry VII in his castle at Lathom.
The present West Wing of Lathom House gives a hint of the importance of Lathom and the Stanley family who became the earls of Derby
Earl of Derby ( ) is a title in the Peerage of England. The title was first adopted by Robert de Ferrers, 1st Earl of Derby, under a creation of 1139. It continued with the Ferrers family until the 6th Earl forfeited his property toward the en ...
. The village grew around the castle at Lathom.
Lathom House
Lathom is the location of Lathom House built in the Middle Ages
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...
, seat of the de Lathom and Stanley families, twice besieged during the English Civil War
The English Civil War (1642–1651) was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Parliamentarians (" Roundheads") and Royalists led by Charles I ("Cavaliers"), mainly over the manner of England's governance and issues of re ...
and subsequently bought by Sir Thomas Bootle who restored the ancient mansion. It passed through his niece to Richard Wilbraham and their son, Lord Skelmersdale. The main block was demolished in 1925.
Pilkington European Technical Centre
Pilkington
Pilkington is a Japanese-owned glass-manufacturing company which is based in Lathom, Lancashire, United Kingdom. In the UK it includes several legal entities and is a subsidiary of Japanese company NSG Group.
Prior to its acquisition by NSG ...
, the European Division of Nippon Sheet Glass Group, has its European Technical Centre in Lathom. The site was formerly the main R&D facility for Pilkington plc.
Governance
Lathom was a township in the parish of Ormskirk
Ormskirk is a market town in the West Lancashire district of Lancashire, England, north of Liverpool, northwest of St Helens, southeast of Southport and southwest of Preston. Ormskirk is known for its gingerbread.
Geography and administr ...
in the West Derby
West Derby ( ) is an affluent suburb of Liverpool, England. It is located East of the city and is also a Liverpool City Council ward. At the 2011 Census, the population was 14,382.
History West Derby
Mentioned in the ''Domesday Book'', Wes ...
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 ...
in south Lancashire.[
In 1837 Lathom became part of the Ormskirk Poor Law Union which took responsibility for administering the Poor Law in the area.
The Lathom Sanitary District was formed in 1875 and Lathom became part of the Lathom and Burscough ]Urban District
Urban district may refer to:
* District
* Urban area
* Quarter (urban subdivision)
* Neighbourhood
Specific subdivisions in some countries:
* Urban districts of Denmark
* Urban districts of Germany
* Urban district (Great Britain and Ireland) (hist ...
in 1894.
In 1931 Lathom was incorporated into the Ormskirk Urban Uistrict which lasted until 1974.
Geography
Lathom, which measured about six miles from north to south, covered an area of 8,694½ acres in west Lancashire. 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 Eller Brook flow through the township to join the River Douglas, which forms part of its northern boundary. Lathom House and park are between the brooks at the centre of the township. At the north of the township is Hoscar Moss
Hoscar is a small village in Lancashire, England. It is located 1¼ miles (2 km) east of the larger village of Burscough.
Etymology
The name Hoscar is derived from the Old Norse or Old English and (marshland), again from the Old Norse. ...
which is less than 25 feet above sea level, to the south is New Park. To the west of the Eller Brook is Wirples Moss and in the south is the hamlet of Westhead, near Cross Hall. The main roads in the north pass west to east from Burscough
Burscough () is a town and civil parish in West Lancashire in the ceremonial county of Lancashire, England. It is located to the north of Ormskirk and northwest of Skelmersdale.
The parish also includes the hamlet of Tarlscough and the Martin ...
to Newburgh, and in the south from Ormskirk to Dalton. There are roads leading north from Bickerstaffe
Bickerstaffe is a village and civil parish in the West Lancashire district of Lancashire, England. According to the 2001 Census the population of the civil parish was 1,196, reducing to 1,180 at the 2011 census, although the population of the ...
and Skelmersdale
Skelmersdale is a town in Lancashire, England, on the River Tawd, west of Wigan, northeast of Liverpool and southwest of Preston. In 2006, it had a population of 38,813. The town is known locally as Skem .
While the first record of the tow ...
.
To the west of the township the land is flat but to the east it rises to 215 feet above sea-level. To the south the land is flat and in the mid 19th century there were collieries. The geology of the western part of the township consists of the bunter series of the new red sandstone, with overlying beds of lower keuper sandstone, the eastern part lies on the Middle and Lower Coal Measures
In lithostratigraphy, the coal measures are the coal-bearing part of the Upper Carboniferous System. In the United Kingdom, the Coal Measures Group consists of the Upper Coal Measures Formation, the Middle Coal Measures Formation and the Lower Coal ...
of the Lancashire Coalfield
The Lancashire Coalfield in North West England was an important British coalfield. Its coal seams were formed from the vegetation of tropical swampy forests in the Carboniferous period over 300 million years ago.
The Romans may have been the f ...
.[
]
Religion
Lathom Chapel is a plain rectangular building constructed in about 1500 and a chantry was founded there by the second earl. The chapel, dedicated to St John the Divine, was consecrated by the Bishop of Sodor and Man
The Bishop of Sodor and Man is the Ordinary (officer), Ordinary of the Diocese of Sodor and Man (Manx Gaelic: ''Sodor as Mannin'') in the Province of York in the Church of England. The diocese only covers the Isle of Man. The Peel Cathedral, Cath ...
. The chapel was restored in 1810, at a cost of £1,200. A free school was built at the hamlet of Newburgh in 1714.[
The chapel holds regular Anglican services. Various plaques in the chapel commemorate the residents of Lathom Hall including the Bootle-Wilbraham.
]
Transport
Lathom is also served by the railway station at . The service run by Northern with good connections to Southport
Southport is a seaside town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in Merseyside, England. At the 2001 census, it had a population of 90,336, making it the eleventh most populous settlement in North West England.
Southport lies on the Irish ...
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 ...
, each having approximately one train every two hours.
See also
*Lathom South
Lathom South is a civil parish in the West Lancashire district of Lancashire, England, situated near the towns of Ormskirk and Skelmersdale. The parish council was established in 2007, and the area, which includes the hamlets of Blaguegate and ...
* Listed buildings in Lathom
*Listed buildings in Lathom South
Lathom South is a civil parish in the West Lancashire district of Lancashire, England. It contains four listed buildings that are recorded in the National Heritage List for England
The National Heritage List for England (NHLE) is England's of ...
References
*Robinson, John, ''Felling the Ancient Oaks'', Aurum Press, 2011,
External links
Lathom
Lathom House on the ''Patrons and Performances Web Site''
{{authority control
Villages in Lancashire
Civil parishes in Lancashire
Geography of the Borough of West Lancashire
Stanley family