Grimsargh 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 east of Preston.

History

The name Grimsargh is said to derive from an

Old Norse Old Norse, Old Nordic, or Old Scandinavian, is a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and t ...

name ''Grímr'' with Norse ''erg''. One reference lists it as coming from 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 ...

's ''Grimesarge'', "at the temple of Grimr" (a name for

Odin Odin (; from non, Óðinn, ) is a widely revered Æsir, god in Germanic paganism. Norse mythology, the source of most surviving information about him, associates him with wisdom, healing, death, royalty, the gallows, knowledge, war, battle, v ...

Oliver Cromwell Oliver Cromwell (25 April 15993 September 1658) was an English politician and military officer who is widely regarded as one of the most important statesmen in English history. He came to prominence during the 1639 to 1651 Wars of the Three Ki ...

Roundhead Roundheads were the supporters of the Parliament of England during the English Civil War (1642–1651). Also known as Parliamentarians, they fought against King Charles I of England and his supporters, known as the Cavaliers or Royalists, who ...

army came through Grimsargh en route to what is now Walton-le-Dale in Preston, on what became known as the Battle of Preston on 17 August 1648. In 1868 by E. G. Paley was contracted to rebuilt the

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

and added a tower to an existing chapel in the village. Known today as St Michael's Church it is in

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

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. ...

roofs, and consists of a nave, a north

aisle An aisle is, in general, a space for walking with rows of non-walking spaces on both sides. Aisles with seating on both sides can be seen in airplanes, certain types of buildings, such as churches, cathedrals, synagogues, meeting halls, parl ...

, a

chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may terminate in an apse. Ove ...

, a northeast

vestry A vestry was a committee for the local secular and ecclesiastical government for a parish in England, Wales and some English colonies which originally met in the vestry or sacristy of the parish church, and consequently became known colloquiall ...

, and a west tower. The tower is in three stages, and has a southeast stair turret, angle

buttress A buttress is an architectural structure built against or projecting from a wall which serves to support or reinforce the wall. Buttresses are fairly common on more ancient buildings, as a means of providing support to act against the lateral (s ...

es, an

embattled A battlement in defensive architecture, such as that of city walls or castles, comprises a parapet (i.e., a defensive low wall between chest-height and head-height), in which gaps or indentations, which are often rectangular, occur at interva ...

parapet A parapet is a barrier that is an extension of the wall at the edge of a roof, terrace, balcony, walkway or other structure. The word comes ultimately from the Italian ''parapetto'' (''parare'' 'to cover/defend' and ''petto'' 'chest/breast'). Whe ...

, and a pyramidal roof. The parish was formed on 1 April 1934 from the merger of the parish of Elston with half of the parish of Grimsargh-with-Brockholes, both of which were formed in 1866. 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 ...

until its abolition in 1974, and in turn part of the much larger

Amounderness The Amounderness Hundred () is one of the six subdivisions of the historic county of Lancashire in North West England, but the name is older than the system of hundreds first recorded in the 13th century and might best be described as the name ...

hundred 100 or one hundred (Roman numeral: C) is the natural number following 99 and preceding 101. In medieval contexts, it may be described as the short hundred or five score in order to differentiate the English and Germanic use of "hundred" to de ...

, in which Preston was also included. 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 Ci ...

, which became a city in 2002.

Transport

Railway

The village was once served by

Grimsargh railway station Grimsargh railway station was on the single track Preston and Longridge Railway. It served the village of Grimsargh in Lancashire, England. When the line first opened in 1840, wagons carrying quarried stone ran downhill from Longridge to Pres ...

on the now dismantled Preston to Longridge railway line. The station closed to passengers in May 1930, before being closed completely in 1967. A junction and platform to the north east of the station allowed passengers to board trains to the nearby

Whittingham Hospital Whittingham Hospital was a psychiatric hospital in the parish of Whittingham, near Preston, Lancashire, England. The hospital opened in 1873 as the Fourth Lancashire County Asylum and grew to be the largest mental hospital in Britain, and pionee ...

via the private

Whittingham Hospital Railway The Whittingham Hospital Railway (W.H.R.) was a private light railway operated by Lancashire County Council to serve Whittingham lunatic asylum. Opened in 1889, it carried goods and passengers between Grimsargh on the Preston and Longridge Ra ...

, which closed in 1957.

Bus

The village is served by #1 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 draw ...

with frequent services to Preston and

Longridge Longridge is a market town and civil parish in the borough of Ribble Valley in Lancashire, England. It is situated north-east of the city of Preston, at the western end of Longridge Fell, a long ridge above the River Ribble. Its nearest neigh ...

. #99 & #842 also serve the village, but only operate a limited service.

Industry

The village has one public house, The Plough, situated in the village centre. The pub has won several county-wide awards for its food and service but has since changed owners. There is also a private members social club in the village.

Demography

According to the 2001 census the parish had a population of 2,164, increasing to 2,653 at the 2011 census.

Community

Grimsargh now contains a

bowls Bowls, also known as lawn bowls or lawn bowling, is a sport in which the objective is to roll biased balls so that they stop close to a smaller ball called a "jack" or "kitty". It is played on a bowling green, which may be flat (for "flat-gre ...

club,

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

club and pavilion. The cricket club has 5 senior teams. 1 playing on Wednesdays in the Boddington's Village Cricket League. 3 playing on Saturdays in the Moore & Smalley Palace Shield league structure (Divisions 3,4 & 6), and also a Sunday XI playing in the Moore & Smalley Palace Shield Sunday League. Training is held on Tuesdays at the club's home ground on the village green, and the club welcomes new players of all abilities and ages. Grimsargh St. Michael's Church, St. Michael's Primary School and pre-school are all located near the

village hall A village hall is a public building in a village used for various things such as: United Kingdom In the United Kingdom, a village hall is usually a building which contains at least one large room (plus kitchen and toilets), is owned by a local ...

. Grimsargh Village Hall is a popular and thriving venue for public activities and private events, run by the Grimsargh Village Community Association. The hall also hosts the monthly Grimsargh Farmers' Market which is a well-established and popular market offering a wide range of local produce and crafts.

Governance

The Village is part of the constituency of

Wyre and Preston North Wyre and Preston North is a county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Created in the most recent fifth periodic review of constituencies by the Boundary Commission for England, it elects one ...

. Prior to 2010 the village of Grimsargh was part of the Lancaster and Wyre constituency represented first by

Hilton Dawson Thomas Hilton Dawson (born 30 September 1953) is a British politician who was the Labour Party Member of Parliament (MP) for Lancaster and Wyre from 1997 until 2005. Dawson became the chairman of the North East Party in 2014, and was the par ...

, a Labour Party MP And from 2005 Ben Wallace

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...

MP. As a result of boundary revisions for the 2010 general election the Lancaster and Wyre constituency was abolished, being merged with the another part of Wyre borough, over the

River Wyre The River Wyre is a river in Lancashire, England, United Kingdom, which flows into the Irish Sea at Fleetwood. It is approximately 28 miles (45 km) in length. The river is a County Biological Heritage Site and has a sheltered estuary ...

to the fishing port of Fleetwood, the western parts of the former Blackpool North and Fleetwood constituency, which was also abolished, to form the new Wyre and Preston North constituency which is represented by the

MP Ben Wallace. For elections to

Lancashire County Council Lancashire County Council is the upper-tier local authority for the non-metropolitan county of Lancashire, England. It consists of 84 councillors. Since the 2017 election, the council has been under Conservative control. Prior to the 2009 La ...

the village of Grimsargh is within the Preston district and is represented by County Councillor Yousuf Motala The parish is part of the electoral ward of

Preston Rural East Preston Rural East is an electoral ward in the City of Preston, Lancashire, England. The ward is in the eastern and northeastern part of the city near the M55 motorway moving out towards Sherwood and Grimsargh. The population of the ward at the ...

, which returns two councillors (both currently

. Unlike many other districts of Preston, the ward of Preston Rural East is parished, in that it has within it parish councils with their own structure and elected councillors. The parishes within Preston Rural East are along with Grimsargh, Haighton, and Broughton-in-Amounderness. Grimsargh has an active parish council, with nine councillors and a clerk.

Religious Sites

The Village has one Church * St Michael's Church - Church of England - Preston Road

Geography

The village lies between Preston and

, and south east of

Goosnargh Goosnargh ( ) is a village and civil parish in the City of Preston district of Lancashire, England. The village lies between Broughton and Longridge, and mostly lies in the civil parish of Whittingham, although the ancient centre lies in ...

. Notable features include

St. Michael's Parish Church ST, St, or St. may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Stanza, in poetry * Suicidal Tendencies, an American heavy metal/hardcore punk band * Star Trek, a science-fiction media franchise * Summa Theologica, a compendium of Catholic philosophy an ...

(CE) and a large parkland area to the west of the village. Several large reservoirs can be found to the east and these were previously used extensively by local anglers.

Savick Brook Savick Brook is a watercourse in Lancashire, England, which runs from the outskirts of Longridge westward north of Preston to the River Ribble. Overview The brook is a tributary of the lower Ribble, with its source on the outskirts of Lon ...

flows just north of the village. The village is also along the route of the

Ribble Way The Ribble way is a long-distance walk between the Lancashire coast and the Yorkshire Dales National Park largely following the course of the River Ribble. The route begins in Longton and ends at the source of the Ribble at Gayle Moor near Ribbl ...

Gallery

File:Grimsargh_Field_Day_Parade_-_Steam_Engine.jpg, Field Day Parade File:River_Ribble_near_Elston_-_geograph.org.uk_-_701998.jpg, River Ribble near Elston Lane File:War_Memorial_-_geograph.org.uk_-_35049.jpg, Grimsargh War Memorial

References

External links

Genealogy of GrimsarghThe Plough, Grimsargh (Public House)Grimsargh Village HallGrimsargh Parish Council
{{authority control Villages in Lancashire Civil parishes in Lancashire Geography of the City of Preston