Pilling 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 authorit ...

within the Wyre borough 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 Lancas ...

, England. It is north-northeast of Poulton-le-Fylde, south-southwest of Lancaster and northwest of

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 ...

, in a 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 hi ...

known as Over Wyre. The civil parish of Pilling, which includes the localities of

Stake Pool Stake may refer to: Entertainment * '' Stake: Fortune Fighters'', a 2003 video game * ''The Stake'', a 1915 silent short film * "The Stake", a 1977 song by The Steve Miller Band from ''Book of Dreams'' * ''Stakes'' (miniseries), a Cartoon Netwo ...

Scronkey Scronkey is a small rural hamlet in the county of Lancashire, England. It is on the Over Wyre region of the Fylde, west of Garstang near Pilling. The combined population of Scronkey and Eagland Hill Eagland Hill is a rural hamlet in the civ ...

and

Eagland Hill Eagland Hill is a rural hamlet in the civil parish of Pilling, in the county of Lancashire, England. It lies in a part of the Fylde, west of Garstang, known locally as Over Wyre. The church, dedicated to St Mark, dates from 1870. The area attrac ...

, had a total resident population of 1,739 in 2001, increasing to 2,020 at the 2011 Census. Populations in the 19th century ranged from 1,281 in 1851 to 1,572 in 1871.

Etymology

Eilert Ekwall Bror Oscar Eilert Ekwall (born 8 January 1877 in Vallsjö (now in Sävsjö, Jönköpings län), Sweden, died 23 November 1964 in Lund, Skåne län, Sweden), known as Eilert Ekwall, was Professor of English at Sweden's Lund University from 1909 t ...

suggests the name is

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foo ...

, linking it with the Welsh place-name element "Pîl" (rendered as Pyl in

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 settlers in the mid-5th ...

). This etymology would suggest the settlement started as a tidal inlet used as a harbour. Ekwall suggested the geography of Pilling may be "accurately described as a pill". The name appears as ''Pylin'' in 1246 and, if the name is indeed Celtic in origin, the termination is almost certainly the same as the common Welsh diminutive suffix "-yn", giving the meaning of "small harbour or inlet".

History

Pilling is an ancient settlement, founded on what was essentially an "island" with the sea on one side and marsh on the others. From artefacts finds, there is evidence of spasmodic human activity within this territory dating back to the

Neolithic The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several pa ...

period. Some of the materials that went into the extension of the Garstang railway from to came from Richard Fleetwood's first

charity school Charity schools, sometimes called blue coat schools, or simply the Blue School, were significant in the history of education in England. They were built and maintained in various parishes by the voluntary contributions of the inhabitants to ...

at Preesall. The school had gradually become more and more dilapidated so the contractors knocked it down and used the stones for the railway.

Damside Windmill Damside Windmill (also known as Pilling Windmill and The Old Mill) is a tower windmill in the English village of Pilling, Lancashire. It was built in 1808 by Ralph Slater, builder of similar structures in the area, such as Marsh Mill. An earl ...

, on Taylors Lane, was built in 1808.A Short History of Pilling Windmill : 1808–2007
accessed 16 October 2011 "Pilling in Bloom" was a competition held in 2004.

Geography

Pilling is an extensive mossland parish covering 3,387 hectares situated on the southern corner of

Morecambe Bay Morecambe Bay is a large estuary in northwest England, just to the south of the Lake District National Park. It is the largest expanse of intertidal mudflats and sand in the United Kingdom, covering a total area of . In 1974, the second largest ...

. Bus routes link Pilling to Lancaster,

Knott End Knott End-on-Sea is a village in Lancashire, England, on the southern side of Morecambe Bay, across the Wyre estuary from Fleetwood. Knott End has a pub, the Bourne Arms, county library and golf club. Buses run regularly from Knott End and t ...

and Fleetwood.

Governance

Since 1974, Pilling has formed part of the Wyre borough of

served by both Wyre Borough Council and

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 L ...

, having previously (from 1894) lain within the Garstang

Rural District Rural districts were a type of local government area – now superseded – established at the end of the 19th century in England, Wales, and Ireland for the administration of predominantly rural areas at a level lower than that of the a ...

of Lancashire. Pilling has its own Parish Council. The population of Pilling

electoral ward A ward is a local authority area, typically used for electoral purposes. In some countries, wards are usually named after neighbourhoods, thoroughfares, parishes, landmarks, geographical features and in some cases historical figures connected to ...

in 2011 was 2,293. Pilling is within the constituency of Lancaster and Fleetwood which returned

Cat Smith Catherine Jane Smith (born 16 June 1985) is a British politician who has served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Lancaster and Fleetwood since 2015. A member of the Labour Party, she was a member of the shadow cabinets of Jeremy Corbyn and K ...

Labour Party (UK) The Labour Party is a political party in the United Kingdom that has been described as an alliance of social democrats, democratic socialists and trade unionists. The Labour Party sits on the centre-left of the political spectrum. In all ...

as M.P. in 2019.

Places of interest

Pilling has two

pubs 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 ...

: The Elletson Arms in Stakepool and The Golden Ball in the village. There is a community area in the village, equipped with a pathway to Pilling Sands. There are also several churches, including St John the Baptist Church (

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 Brit ...

) in the village, St William's Church (

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

) in Stakepool, and the Pilling

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's ...

Church in the village. There are two primary

school A school is an educational institution designed to provide learning spaces and learning environments for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is sometimes co ...

s: Pilling St John's Church of England Primary SchoolPilling-st-johns.lancs.sch.uk
/ref> and St William's, both associated with the respective churches.

Notable people

* Ralph Slater,

millwright A millwright is a craftsperson or skilled tradesperson who installs, dismantles, maintains, repairs, reassembles, and moves machinery in factories, power plants, and construction sites. The term ''millwright'' (also known as ''industrial mecha ...

References

External links

Official parish websitePilling
at

GENUKI GENUKI is a genealogy web portal, run as a charitable trust. It "provides a virtual reference library of genealogical information of particular relevance to the UK and Ireland". It gives access to a large collection of information, with the emph ...

Pilling St. John's Church of England Primary SchoolSt. William's Catholic Primary SchoolGolden Ball Hotel
{{authority control Villages in Lancashire Civil parishes in Lancashire Geography of the Borough of Wyre The Fylde Populated coastal places in Lancashire Morecambe Bay