Woodplumpton 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 the

City of Preston, Lancashire The City of Preston () is a city and non-metropolitan district in Lancashire, England. On the north bank of the River Ribble, it was granted city status in 2002, becoming England's 50th city in the 50th year of Queen Elizabeth II's reign. The Ci ...

, England, located north of Preston.

Geography

It is part 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 t ...

, a flat area of land between 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 ...

and the Lancashire coast.

Community

The village contains a primary school, the Wheatsheaf

pub A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...

and a church. The school is

C of E The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...

and has a strong link with the church. St Anne's Church is the location of the grave of

Meg Shelton Meg Shelton (died 1705) known as the "Fylde Hag" was an English woman accused of witchcraft. Her grave can be seen at St. Anne's Church in Woodplumpton, now part of the City of Preston district of Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ...

, the notorious Fylde Hag, who was buried there in 1705 after being accused of

witchcraft Witchcraft traditionally means the use of magic or supernatural powers to harm others. A practitioner is a witch. In medieval and early modern Europe, where the term originated, accused witches were usually women who were believed to have us ...

Parish

The parish includes the villages of

Eaves The eaves are the edges of the roof which overhang the face of a wall and, normally, project beyond the side of a building. The eaves form an overhang to throw water clear of the walls and may be highly decorated as part of an architectural styl ...

Catforth Catforth is a village in the English civil parish of Woodplumpton and the City of Preston district, in Lancashire, England. There is a village hall and the last remaining of Catforth's pubs, The Running Pump, is situated on Catforth Road, which ...

and Lower Bartle. Higher Plumpton is also included in the parish, but like Lower Bartle, is a very small

hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...

. In the 19th century Woodplumpton was known as Plumpton-Wood. The parish was 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 ...

throughout its existence from 1894 to 1974. In 1974 the parish became part of the

Borough of Preston The City of Preston () is a city and non-metropolitan district in Lancashire, England. On the north bank of the River Ribble, it was granted city status in 2002, becoming England's 50th city in the 50th year of Queen Elizabeth II's reign. The ...

, which became a city in 2002.

Demography

In 1901 the population of the parish was 1,208 and covered 4,970.5

acres The acre is a unit of land area used in the imperial and US customary systems. It is traditionally defined as the area of one chain by one furlong (66 by 660 feet), which is exactly equal to 10 square chains, of a square mile, 4,840 square ya ...

. In 2001 it had a population of 2,051, increasing to 2,154 at the 2011 Census.

Gallery

File:Woodplumpton main street.jpg, Woodplumpton's main street File:St Anne's Church, Woodplumpton.jpg, St Anne's Church File:Lancaster_Canal_at_Woodplumpton.jpg, 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 completed, a ...

at Woodplumpton File:The_boulder_over_the_grave_of_Meg.Shelton._Photograph_by_Brian_Young_2011.jpg, The boulder over the grave of Meg Shelton File:The_Stocks_in_Woodplumpton._Photograph_by_Brian_Young_2011.jpg, The village stocks File:The_Wheatsheaf,_Woodplumpton._Photograph_by_Brian_Young_2011.jpg, The Wheatsheaf Public House

References

External links

{{authority control Villages in Lancashire Civil parishes in Lancashire Geography of the City of Preston The Fylde