Clayton Brook is a large residential estate 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 Lancas ...

, between the

city A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...

Preston Preston is a place name, surname and given name that may refer to: Places England *Preston, Lancashire, an urban settlement **The City of Preston, Lancashire, a borough and non-metropolitan district which contains the settlement **County Boro ...

and the town of

Chorley Chorley is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Chorley in Lancashire, England, north of Wigan, south west of Blackburn, north west of Bolton, south of Preston and north west of Manchester. The town's wealth came ...

. It forms part of the

Clayton-le-Woods Clayton-le-Woods (Commonly shortened to Clayton) is a large village and civil parish of the Borough of Chorley, in Lancashire, England. According to the census of 2001, it has a population of 14,528. At the 2011 census the population of Cue ...

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 authorit ...

, and is in the Clayton-le-Woods North ward of the borough of

. Lying next to the industrial estate of Walton Summit, one-time terminus of a branch of 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 compl ...

, it also neighbours Clayton Green, Hoghton and Brindle, and is not far from the small town of

Bamber Bridge Bamber Bridge is an urban village in Lancashire, England, south-east of Preston, in the borough of South Ribble. The name derives from the Old English "bēam" and "brycg", which probably means "tree-trunk bridge". The population was 13,945 a ...

. Clayton Brook Village as it is often termed, is bounded by the A6 road and the M61 and M65 motorways, and is conveniently near the

M6 motorway The M6 motorway is the longest motorway in the United Kingdom. It is located entirely within England, running for just over from the Midlands to the border with Scotland. It begins at Junction 19 of the M1 and the western end of the A14 at ...

History

The highest land point of the Clayton Brook estate found in the playing fields between Woodfield, Croft Meadow and Carr Barn Brow is the previous summit site of the now defunct Walton Summit stretch of the

. The canal summit was once linked to the Preston terminus of the said canal via the

Lancaster Canal Tramroad The Lancaster Canal Tramroad, also known as the Walton Summit Tramway or the Old Tram Road, was a British plateway, completed in 1803, to link the north and south ends of the Lancaster Canal across the Ribble valley (Barritt, 2000), pending ...

. The demise of this stretch was brought on by the onset of the M61 that now runs alongside Clayton Brook at its eastern edge. Reminders of the area's navigable past remain however, with the nearby Tramway Lane linking the estate to junction 2 of the M65 and 9 of the M61. Bridge 10 of the canal stretch also remains, albeit ruined and amongst overgrowth, It ran up behind Woodfield where skate board hill is now, that was the tramway with the terminus at the top near Carr Barn Brow where now stand Briary Court, in nearby farmland across the motorway from the summit.H. Potter, ''The Last Boat to Walton Summit'', Pp. 96-98 (Lancashire Canal Trust, 2008) The whole area was once owned by Hoghton Tower, which was a major landowner in the Chorley and South Ribble areas. Clayton Brook was built in the late 1970s and early 1980s by the Central Lancashire New Town Development Corporation, which also developed the Walton Summit industrial estate nearby. It was affected by the recession in the late 1980s to early 1990s. May 2013 was when the Clayton Brook pub started to be knocked down. Also in 2013 Clayton Brook/Community House won Community Futures for being the best self developed community out of 39 organisations in the Central Lancashire area.

Transport

Clayton Brook is served by two bus routes: the frequent 125 service operated by

Stagecoach A stagecoach is a four-wheeled public transport coach used to carry paying passengers and light packages on journeys long enough to need a change of horses. It is strongly sprung and generally drawn by four horses although some versions are dra ...

between Preston and

Bolton Bolton (, locally ) is a large town in Greater Manchester in North West England, formerly a part of Lancashire. A former mill town, Bolton has been a production centre for textiles since Flemish weavers settled in the area in the 14th ...

and the 114 service between Leyland and Chorley.

Housing

There is a good mix of residential properties. Approximately half the 4,000 plus properties are rented, with the landlord now being the

housing association In Ireland and the United Kingdom, housing associations are private, non-profit making organisations that provide low-cost " social housing" for people in need of a home. Any budget surplus is used to maintain existing housing and to help fi ...

group

Places for People Places for People (PfP) is a property management, development, regeneration company and leisure company based in the UK. History Places for People was founded by North British Housing Association in 1965. Bristol Churches Housing Association ...

. Clayton Brook was originally built in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Clayton Brook New Village Green

Amenities

It hosts several

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 ...

s, including Clayton Brook Primary School, Westwood Primary School and St Bede's Primary School. Although Westwood Primary School and St Bede's actually fall under

. There are three churches in the parish of Clayton Brook, one being Clayton Brook Community Church across from the village centre. The other being St Bede's and St John the Evangelist in Whittle-le-Woods, The village centre is only 10 minutes walk from the large

Asda Asda Stores Ltd. () (often styled as ASDA) is a British supermarket chain. It is headquartered in Leeds, England. The company was founded in 1949 when the Asquith family merged their retail business with the Associated Dairies company of Yorks ...

supermarket in Clayton Green. The local wildlife preserve is Cuerden Valley Park (the grounds of

Cuerden Hall Cuerden Hall is a country mansion in the village of Cuerden near Preston, Lancashire, England. It is a Grade II* listed building. The Hall was formerly a family home between 1717 and 1906, and used by the Army until the 1960s. In 1985 it became ...

) - and there are several public footpaths within the vicinity taking walkers to a variety of green destinations. It also hosts the 1st Clayton Brook Scouts, Cubs, Beavers all in the Clayton Brook Village Hall.

References

External links

Places for People
Chorley Borough Council {{authority control Villages in Lancashire Geography of Chorley