Thornton is a village in the

Borough of Wyre Wyre is a local government district with borough status in Lancashire, England. The population of the non-metropolitan district at the 2011 census was 107,749. The district borders the unitary authority area of Blackpool as well as the distr ...

, about north of

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 ...

and south of

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 civil parish of Thornton became an urban district in 1900, and was renamed

Thornton-Cleveleys Thornton-Cleveleys is a conurbation consisting of the village of Thornton and the town of Cleveleys. The two settlements formed a joint urban district from 1927 until 1974, before becoming part of Wyre. The two settlements constitute part of ...

in 1927. In 2011 the Thornton built-up area sub division had a population of 18,941.

History

Thornton is first mentioned in 1086 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 ...

, where it was referred to as ''Torentum'' (a name preserved by Torentum Court on Lawsons Road). At the time it covered a large area including what are now Cleveleys and

, and had a very low population density. It is thought that a settlement had existed at the site since the

Iron Age The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age (Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age (Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostly appl ...

, and a

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

road passes close to the village. The area remained lightly populated until 1799, when the marshland around the village was drained and agricultural production began on a large scale.History - Thornton Through Time
A railway station was opened in Thornton in 1865. The opening of salt works at nearby Burn Naze by the

United Alkali Company United Alkali Company Limited was a British chemical company formed in 1890, employing the Leblanc process to produce soda ash for the glass, textile, soap, and paper industries. It became one of the top four British chemical companies merged in ...

in the early 1890s (later becoming ICI) led to significant expansion of the village, with new houses and community buildings constructed. Thornton became an

Urban District Council In England and Wales, Northern Ireland, and the Republic of Ireland, an urban district was a type of local government district that covered an urbanised area. Urban districts had an elected urban district council (UDC), which shared local gove ...

in 1900, surviving until 1974 when it became part of the

Wyre Borough Council Wyre may refer to: Places * Wyre, Orkney, an island in Scotland * Borough of Wyre, a local government district in Lancashire, England ** Wyre (UK Parliament constituency) * River Wyre, a river in Lancashire, England * Wyre Forest, a woodland in ...

. A notable early building,

The Illawalla Illawalla was an Edwardian single-story building in the Skippool area of Thornton, Lancashire, England. Built in 1902,''Blackpool Times'' article, 21 June, 1902 it was demolished in 1996, after lying derelict for six years, to make way for three ...

, stood in

Skippool Skippool is an area of Thornton-Cleveleys, Lancashire, England. It is situated between Little Thornton and Poulton-le-Fylde along the western banks of the River Wyre, about three miles south of its mouth between Fleetwood and Knott End. These ...

between 1902 and 1996. In 2015, the complete skeleton of a pre-historic wolf, nicknamed the Thornton Wolf, was discovered in the back garden of a home in the village.

Transport

Rail

Thornton–Cleveleys railway station was formerly the principal intermediate stop on the Fleetwood branch of the LMS/

British Rail British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most of the overground rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the Big Four British rai ...

London Midland Region The London Midland Region (LMR) was one of the six regions created on the formation of the nationalised British Railways (BR), and initially consisted of ex-London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS) lines in England, Wales and Northern Irelan ...

railway, running from

Poulton-le-Fylde Poulton-le-Fylde (), commonly shortened to Poulton, is a market town in Lancashire, England, situated on the coastal plain called the Fylde. In the 2001 United Kingdom census, it had a population of 18,264. There is evidence of human habitation ...

, but it has been years since the station was used, and with the recent fencing-over of the level crossing in Station Road/Victoria Road East in order to prevent youths from congregating on the tracks, the glory days of Thornton are long since gone. However, a decision by an action group based in Poulton means they will finance a feasibility study into bringing the railway back to Thornton and Fleetwood.

Bus

Thornton Centre's stops 1 and 2 are served by five bus routes: * Blackpool Transport routes 74 and 75, which originate at Albert Square in

and terminate at Preston bus station * Coastliner routes 24 and 660. The 24 originates in Fleetwood and terminates in

, while the weekday-only 660 originates in

Cleveleys Cleveleys is a town on the Fylde Coast of Lancashire, England, about north of Blackpool and south of Fleetwood. It is part of the Borough of Wyre. With its neighbouring settlement of Thornton, Cleveleys was part of the former urban distric ...

and terminates at

Hodgson Academy Hodgson Academy (formerly Hodgson School) is a coeducational secondary school located in Poulton-le-Fylde in the English county of Lancashire. Hodgson was inspected by the office for standards in education (OFSTED) as Outstanding, the best a s ...

in Poulton. The outbound journey arrives at Thornton Centre at 8.08 AM and the inbound return arrives at 3.07 PM * Archway Travel route 525, which also runs only on weekdays, originates at Rossall Point in Fleetwood and terminates at Saint Aidan's Church of England High School in

Preesall Preesall is a town, civil parish and electoral ward in Lancashire, England. The parish (until 1910 known as Preesall with Hackensall) covers the eastern bank of the estuary of the River Wyre, including Knott End-on-Sea, Pilling Lane and the vil ...

. The outbound journey departs Fleetwood at 7.20 AM and the inbound return departs at 3.10 PM

Amenities

Marsh Mill Marsh Mill is an 18th-century tower windmill in Thornton, Lancashire, England. It was built in 1794 by Ralph Slater for local landowner Bold Hesketh. It functioned as a corn mill until the 1920s and has been fully restored. It is a good example ...

, a large well-preserved windmill, built in 1794, is a prominent landmark. It was commissioned by Bold Hesketh, uncle of Peter Hesketh (later

Peter Hesketh-Fleetwood Sir Peter Hesketh-Fleetwood, 1st Baronet, (9 May 1801 – 12 April 1866) was an English landowner, developer and Member of Parliament, who founded the town of Fleetwood, in Lancashire, England. Born Peter Hesketh, he changed his name by ...

), who would go on to play a prominent role in the expansion of

. Tragedy struck in May 1930, when a Miss Alice Baldwin and a Mrs Mary Jane Bailey visited the windmill with an interest in purchasing it. However, when both women stepped onto the fantail platform, the platform collapsed and the women fell to their deaths. Thornton contains a number of schools, including Baines Endowed Primary School, Thornton Primary School, Stanah Primary School, Royles Brook Primary School, and Millfield Science & Performing Arts College in addition to a small public library.

Gallery

File:Thornton Station 05C318.jpg, The former site of Thornton for Cleveleys railway station File:Sacred_Heart_Roman_Catholic_Church,_Burn_Naze_-_geograph.org.uk_-_1961987.jpg, Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Church File:Christchurch,thornton,uk.jpg, Christ Church, parish church File: Thornton Library.jpg, County library, Four Lane Ends File:Row_of_Cottages_at_Stanah_-_geograph.org.uk_-_130018.jpg, Rows of cottages on Thornton's Underbank Road File:Marsh Mill.jpg, Marsh Mill

References

External links

Thornton Through TimeThornton Community News - A locally-distributed news magazine
{{authority control Villages in Lancashire Geography of the Borough of Wyre The Fylde