St Michael's on Wyre is a village on

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 to ...

, in the

Borough of Wyre Wyre is a local government district with borough status on the coast of Lancashire, England. The council is based in Poulton-le-Fylde and the borough also contains the towns of Cleveleys, Fleetwood, Garstang, Preesall and Thornton, along w ...

, in

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

, England; it lies on the

River Wyre The River Wyre, in Lancashire, England, flows into the Irish Sea at Fleetwood. It is 28 miles (45 km) long and has a sheltered estuary which penetrates deep into the Fylde peninsula. Etymology The name ''Wyre'' is of pre-Roman, likely, ...

. The village is centred on the church of St Michael, which was founded before 640 AD. It is in 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. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

Upper Rawcliffe with Tarnacre Upper Rawcliffe-with-Tarnacre is a civil parish on the Fylde, in the Borough of Wyre, in Lancashire, England. It had a population of 604 in 2001, increasing to 629 at the 2011 Census. The only settlements in the parish are the village of St Micha ...

, which had a population in 2001 of 604.

Location

St Michael's on Wyre is situated on

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 to ...

, between

Lancaster Lancaster may refer to: Lands and titles *The County Palatine of Lancaster, a synonym for Lancashire *Duchy of Lancaster, one of only two British royal duchies *Duke of Lancaster *Earl of Lancaster *House of Lancaster, a British royal dynasty ...

, Preston and

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside town in Lancashire, England. It is located on the Irish Sea coast of the Fylde peninsula, approximately north of Liverpool and west of Preston, Lancashire, Preston. It is the main settlement in the Borough of Blackpool ...

History

In 1835 the parish of St Michael's contained the townships of

Out Rawcliffe Out Rawcliffe is a village and civil parish on the north bank of the River Wyre in the Over Wyre area of the Fylde in Lancashire, England. The population of the civil parish taken at the 2011 census was 626. It is the location of the medieva ...

, Upper Rawcliffe, Elswick, Great Eccleston, Inskip-with-Sowerby, Newsham and

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 ...

. In 1984, 16 people were killed by a gas explosion in the Abbeystead disaster, during a visit by a party from St Michael's to a waterworks up the

. Following severe flooding in 2015 which resulted in the evacuation of the villagers,

Prince Harry Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, (Henry Charles Albert David; born 15 September 1984) is a member of the British royal family. As the younger son of King Charles III and Diana, Princess of Wales, he is fifth in the line of succession to ...

visited the village to meet with residents affected and reopen the refurbished village hall.

Today

The small village has its own pub, car garage, school, village hall (with a post office), tennis club, bowling club and nearby

Myerscough College Myerscough College (pronounced as ''Myers-coe'') is a Higher and Further Education college near Bilsborrow on the Fylde in Lancashire, England. Origins Myerscough College was founded on 15 March 1894 as the ''Lancashire County Institute of ...

. The parish church of St Michael is the village's most prominent landmark. The nave and chancel date from the 14th century, and the tower from the 16th. It is one of two Grade I

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

s in the Borough of Wyre.

Death of Nicola Bulley

On 19 February 2023, the body of 45-year-old Nicola Bulley was found in the Wyre about downstream of the village, where she had disappeared while walking her dog on 27 January. An inquest into her death determined that she had accidentally drowned.

Lancashire Constabulary Lancashire Constabulary is the territorial police force responsible for policing the ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Lancashire in North West England. The force's headquarters are at Hutton, Lancashire, Hutton, near the cit ...

were criticised for their handling of the case, including releasing private details of Bulley's health, and users of social media were criticised for travelling to the area during the search and were described as " layingprivate detectives".

Transport

St Michael's

microlight Ultralight aviation (called microlight aviation in some countries) is the flying of lightweight, 1- or 2-seat fixed-wing aircraft. Some countries differentiate between weight-shift control and conventional three-axis control aircraft with ailer ...

airfield is about southeast of the village, south of St Michael's Road. It has three grass runways, and its airport code is GB-0398. It is the home of Northern Microlight School, founded in 1982. Queen

Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 19268 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. ...

visited the airfield in May 2015.

References

Notes

External links

St Michael's Village Hall
Villages in Lancashire Geography of the Borough of Wyre The Fylde {{Lancashire-geo-stub