Westhead is a village in the

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 ...

district of

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. As of 2014, the estimated population was 886.

History

Westhead was, for most of its existence, a hamlet in the

township A township is a kind of human settlement or administrative subdivision, with its meaning varying in different countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, that tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, Ca ...

Lathom Lathom is a village and civil parish in Lancashire, England, about 3 miles (5 km) northeast of Ormskirk. It is in the district of West Lancashire, and with the parish of Newburgh forms part of Newburgh ward. The population of the civil par ...

. It was located in the

West Derby Hundred The West Derby Hundred (also known as West Derbyshire) is one of the six subdivisions of the historic county of Lancashire, in northern England. Its name alludes to its judicial centre being the township of West Derby (the suffix ''-shire'' mea ...

. In 1066, the Lord of the area was Uhtred. In 1851, Westhead Church was built with land donated from Edward Wilbraham-Bootle, 1st Baron Skelmersdale, the cost of which was paid for by the

Earl 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 end ...

and the sandstone was donated by Edward Stanley of Cross Hall, who owned the Ruff Wood quarry in Lathom at the time. Westhead Halt was a request stop on the Skelmersdale to Rainford line, and evidence of the former line can be seen around the town.

Toponymy

Westhead means "western hill" and comes from the

Old English Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain, Anglo ...

''west'' + ''hēafod''. The name was recorded as ''Westheft'' c. 1190 and ''Westheved'' c. 1200, and refers to the western headland at the end of the ridge that leads towards

Scarth Hill 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 ...

Geography

Westhead is located in rural

and is part of the

unparished area In England, an unparished area is an area that is not covered by a civil parish (the lowest level of local government, not to be confused with an ecclesiastical parish). Most urbanised districts of England are either entirely or partly unparish ...

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 lies about east of Ormksirk town centre and is bordered to the north, east and south by the

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. ...

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 M ...

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 ...

and

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 ...

. Westhead is about southwest of Preston, the

administrative centre An administrative center is a seat of regional administration or local government, or a county town, or the place where the central administration of a commune is located. In countries with French as administrative language (such as Belgium, Lu ...

, and northwest of

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

Culture and community

Westhead Carnival is a popular summertime

fête In Britain and some of its former colonies, fêtes are traditional public festivals, held outdoors and organised to raise funds for a charity. They typically include entertainment and the sale of goods and refreshments. Village fêtes Village f� ...

which has been held annually since 1973. The event is typically held over three days at the start of July and hosts a variety of activities, including a carnival

parade A parade is a procession of people, usually organized along a street, often in costume, and often accompanied by marching bands, float (parade), floats, or sometimes large balloons. Parades are held for a wide range of reasons, but are usually ce ...

, funfair rides,

car boot sale Car boot sales or boot fairs are a form of market in which private individuals come together to sell household and garden goods. They are popular in the United Kingdom, where they are often referred to simply as 'car boots'. Some scientific ...

bingo Bingo or B-I-N-G-O may refer to: Arts and entertainment Gaming * Bingo, a game using a printed card of numbers ** Bingo (British version), a game using a printed card of 15 numbers on three lines; most commonly played in the UK and Ireland ** Bi ...

and

fancy dress A costume party (American English) or fancy dress party (other varieties of English) is a type of party, common in contemporary Western culture, in which many of the guests are dressed in costume, usually depicting a fictional or stock chara ...

ball. In 2014, the carnival was attended by around 3,000 people and raised over £2,000 for local community projects.

Transport

The

A577 road The A577 is an A road in England which runs from Boothstown, Greater Manchester to Ormskirk, Lancashire. Route The A577 starts at A572 in Boothstown, where it climbs uphill and over the A580 and into Tyldesley. It meets the A5082, then cl ...

runs east through Westhead for a distance of approximately , connecting the nearby towns of Ormskirk 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 ...

. There are several bus services operated by

Arriva North West Arriva North WestCompanies House extract company no 1990871

that pass along this route: the 310 is a half-hourly service between Skelmersdale and

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 ...

, while the 375 and 385 are hourly services (alternating every half hour) from

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 ...

Wigan Wigan ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, on the River Douglas, Lancashire, River Douglas. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. Bolton lies to the nor ...

. The nearest motorway link is junction 3 of the M58, about to the south at Bickerstaffe. Westhead Halt, situated on Castle Lane, was a former railway station on the

Skelmersdale Branch The Skelmersdale branch was a standard gauge railway (SKE) which connected the Liverpool, Ormskirk and Preston Railway at Ormskirk with Rainford Junction via Skelmersdale. At Rainford it connected with the Liverpool and Bury Railway and the St. ...

which connected Ormskirk with

Rainford Rainford is a village and civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of St Helens, Merseyside, England, north of St Helens. At the 2011 Census, the population was 7,779. Within the boundaries of the historic county of Lancashire, the earlies ...

. However, the station closed in 1951 and has since been demolished, the line having closed to all traffic in 1963. The nearest railway station today is

, about east, which provides passenger services to Liverpool and Preston.

Education

Westhead Lathom St James is a

Church of England 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 ...

primary school A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary e ...

associated with the nearby

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in community activities, ...

of St James. The school is located on School Lane near the village centre and provides mixed gender education for children aged four to eleven. An

Ofsted The Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (Ofsted) is a Non-ministerial government department, non-ministerial department of Government of the United Kingdom, His Majesty's government, reporting to Parliament of the U ...

report published in January 2015 gave Westhead Lathom St James an "Outstanding" rating in all categories, and in December 2015 it was ranked amongst the top 1000 primary schools in England in the

National Curriculum assessment The National Curriculum assessment usually refers to the statutory assessments carried out in primary schools in England, colloquially known as standard attainment tests (SATs). The assessments are made up of a combination of testing and teacher ...

performance tables. As of September 2019, the headteacher was Miss Helen Clark. The school building with attached master's house dates from 1889 and is a

Grade II listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

. It is made of

sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates) ...

with

crazy paving Crazy paving is a means of hard-surfacing used outdoors, most frequently in gardens. Paving stones of irregular size and shape are laid in a haphazard manner sometimes with mortar filling the gaps between. The method originated in ancient R ...

walling and a

slate Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. It is the finest grained foliated metamorphic rock. ...

roof, and is built in the

Gothic style Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

. The school has a single storey with a T-shaped plan, formed by a main range and cross wing to the left, while the house has two storeys and is attached to the right.

Religious sites

St James' Church, Vicarage Lane, Westhead

St James Church is a Grade II listed building situated on Vicarage Lane, about southwest of the village. The

ecclesiastical {{Short pages monitor