Up Holland (or Upholland) is a village close to Skelmersdale 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 ...

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 110,68 ...

district, in the county 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, 4 miles west of

Wigan Wigan ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, on the 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 north-east and Warrington ...

. The population at the 2011 census was 7,376.

Geography

The village is on a small hill 89m above sea level that rises above the West Lancashire Coastal Plain. There are views towards St Helens and

Liverpool Liverpool is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the List of English districts by population, 10th largest English district by population and its E ...

in the south west,

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 administ ...

and

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 Iris ...

in the north-west and towards

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The ...

and on to the High Peak of

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southern end of the Pennine range of hills and part of the National Forest. It borders Greater Manchester to the nor ...

in the east. The parish includes the Pimbo industrial estate.

Etymology

The place-name is first attested in 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 ...

of 1086, where it appears as ''Hoiland''. It appears as ''Upholand'' in a Lancashire Inquest of 1226. This is 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 settlers in the mid-5th ...

, meaning 'land on or by a hoe or spur of a hill'. The name Up Holland differentiates it from another place locally called

Downholland Downholland is a civil parish in Lancashire, England, on the West Lancashire Coastal Plain. The population at the 2011 census was 913. The area contains several villages including Haskayne, Barton and Downholland Cross, and the Leeds and Liverp ...

, 10 miles to the west (on the other side of Ormskirk). The manor of Holland was a possession of the

Holland family The Holland family was a medieval-era English noble family. Many Hollands were Earls, Dukes, Knights and Barons in medieval England, and they played significant roles in the struggles for the crown in fourteenth and fifteenth century. Origin and ...

until 1534, whence it may be presumed they derived their name.

Notable claims

George Lyon, reputed to be one of the last English

highwaymen A highwayman was a robber who stole from travellers. This type of thief usually travelled and robbed by horse as compared to a footpad who travelled and robbed on foot; mounted highwaymen were widely considered to be socially superior to fo ...

, is said to be buried in the churchyard of the

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of t ...

Church of St. Thomas the Martyr. The truth of the matter is that Lyon was little more than a common thief and receiver of stolen goods. The grave can be found under the concrete parapet opposite the White Lion pub. A burial place of greater historical significance can be found at the south east corner of the church. Here, in a railed enclosure is the grave of

Robert Daglish Robert Daglish (1779-1865) was a colliery manager, mining, mechanical and civil engineer at the start of the railway era. Daglish was born in North East England. He became a member of the Institution of Civil Engineers in 1830. He died at Orrell ...

; a pioneer in

steam locomotive A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal, oil or, rarely, wood) to heat water in the loco ...

engineering and design. In 1814, when

George Stephenson George Stephenson (9 June 1781 – 12 August 1848) was a British civil engineer and mechanical engineer. Renowned as the "Father of Railways", Stephenson was considered by the Victorians In the history of the United Kingdom and the ...

was still working on his early locomotive ''Blucher'', Daglish built ''The Yorkshire Horse,'' a '

rack and pinion A rack and pinion is a type of linear actuator that comprises a circular gear (the '' pinion'') engaging a linear gear (the ''rack''). Together, they convert rotational motion into linear motion. Rotating the pinion causes the rack to be driven ...

' locomotive to haul coal wagons at a nearby

colliery Coal mining is the process of extracting coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron from ...

. This proved to be a great success. Daglish went on to construct other locomotives and work on railway systems both in Great Britain and America.

Community

Up Holland has its own art society known as Upholland Artists' Society that consists of a group of amateur and professional artists that live in or near Up Holland. They hold regular exhibitions and paint a wide range of subjects from local scenes to contemporary abstract pieces.

Upholland railway station Upholland railway station serves the small town of Up Holland in the southern Lancashire/Wigan boundary area of England. It is on the Kirkby branch line from and means the service (which is provided by Northern Trains, who also manage the stat ...

is on the Kirkby Branch Line.

Religion

The church was previously a

Benedictine , image = Medalla San Benito.PNG , caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal , abbreviation = OSB , formation = , motto = (English: 'Pray and Work') , foun ...

monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer whic ...

, the Priory of St. Thomas the Martyr of Up Holland. A

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 ...

seminary A seminary, school of theology, theological seminary, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called ''seminarians'') in scripture, theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as clergy ...

, St Joseph's College, used for training Catholic priests, was once based in Up Holland. The college closed down in 1987 after over 150 years of serving the northern Catholic dioceses of England, and its extensive buildings are now derelict. Notable former students include the historian

Paul Addison Paul Addison (3 May 1943 – 21 January 2020) was a British historian known for his research on the political history of Britain during the Second World War and the post-war period. Addison was part of the first generation of academic historia ...

, Tony Brindle-Wills, comedians Tom O'Connor and

Johnny Vegas Michael Joseph Pennington (born 5 September 1970), better known as Johnny Vegas, is an English comedian, actor, writer, and director. He is known for his thick Lancashire accent, husky voice, overweight appearance, angry comedic rants, and us ...

, the libel lawyer

George Carman George Alfred Carman, QC (6 October 1929 – 2 January 2001) was an English leading barrister during the 1980s and 1990s. In 1979, he successfully defended the former Liberal leader Jeremy Thorpe after he was charged with conspiracy to murde ...

, pop musician Paddy McAloon of

Prefab Sprout Prefab Sprout are an English pop band from Witton Gilbert, County Durham who rose to fame during the 1980s. Formed in 1978 by brothers Paddy and Martin McAloon and joined by vocalist, guitarist and keyboard player Wendy Smith in 1982, they re ...

, the editor of the Jerusalem

Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus ...

, and former British

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

John Battle.

Literature

Up Holland and its surrounding countryside its described in the English novel ''

The War Hero ''The War Hero'' is a novel written by Michael Lieber. Background ''The War Hero'' features many rural areas drawn from travels around Britain, Some of the locations used to describe the English countryside in the novel include Aylesbury Vale an ...

'' by Michael Lieber.

People

Actor

Ian Bleasdale Ian Bleasdale (born 1950, in Upholland, Lancashire) is an English actor and television presenter. He divides his time between Haworth in West Yorkshire and Bristol. He started off life as a teacher before deciding that he wanted to become an actor ...

and Musician

Richard Ashcroft Richard Paul Ashcroft (born 11 September 1971) is an English singer and songwriter. He was the lead singer and occasional rhythm guitarist of the alternative rock band The Verve from their formation in 1990 until their original split in 1999. So ...

(of

The Verve The Verve were an English rock band formed in Wigan in 1990 by lead vocalist Richard Ashcroft, guitarist Nick McCabe, bass guitarist Simon Jones and drummer Peter Salisbury. Guitarist and keyboard player Simon Tong later became a member in ...

) both come from Up Holland. Richard's mother, Louise, is the daughter of Reg and Lilian Baxter. The Baxters were a prominent family in Up Holland throughout the 20th century. The comedian Ted Ray (born Charles Olden), spent his childhood in the village, his father being the licensee of the Bull's Head public house, which used to stand in School Lane. The

life peer In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the peerage whose titles cannot be inherited, in contrast to hereditary peers. In modern times, life peerages, always created at the rank of baron, are created under the Life Peerages ...

Catherine Ashton Catherine Margaret Ashton, Baroness Ashton of Upholland, (born 20 March 1956), is a Labour Party (UK), British Labour politician who served as the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of ...

, appointed as the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are located primarily in Europe, Europe. The union has a total area of ...

's High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy in 2009, was born in Up Holland.Lady Ashton: Principled, charming ... or just plain lucky
Nicholas Watt, Brussels, guardian.co.uk, Friday 20 November 2009 19.58 GMT The phonetician

John C Wells John Christopher Wells (born 11 March 1939) is a British phonetician and Esperantist. Wells is a professor emeritus at University College London, where until his retirement in 2006 he held the departmental chair in phonetics. Career Wells ear ...

, who was president of the

International Phonetic Association The International Phonetic Association (IPA; French: ', ''API'') is an organization that promotes the scientific study of phonetics and the various practical applications of that science. The IPA's major contribution to phonetics is the Inter ...

between 2003 and 2007, was born in Up Holland to the vicar of the parish, Philip Wells. He has commented on the accent of the area and how it contrasted with the

Received Pronunciation Received Pronunciation (RP) is the accent traditionally regarded as the standard and most prestigious form of spoken British English. For over a century, there has been argument over such questions as the definition of RP, whether it is geo ...

that was spoken in his home. Prof

Richard James Arthur Berry Richard James Arthur Berry FRSE FRCSE (1867–1962) was a British-born surgeon and anatomist who was well-known in Australia. He was author of several internationally recognised books in his field. Early life Berry was born on 30 May 1867, in ...

, eminent surgeon and brain surgeon, was born in Up Holland. Dr Simon Ross Valentine, journalist, lecturer and writer, author of the first book ever published on Peshmerga (Kurdish army fighting ISIS); writer of the only biography of John Bennet (1714-1759), pioneer Methodist preacher; the Ahmaiyah Jamaat, reform in Islam and the Globe Award-winning book on Wahhabism, in Saudi Arabia. Spent his early years in UpHolland, attending the primary school in Roby Mill and UpHolland Grammar School.

Gallery

File:Holland_Windmill,_Upholland_-_geograph.org.uk_-_1028637.jpg, Up Holland Windmill File:The_Old_Dog_-_geograph.org.uk_-_1534088.jpg, The Old Dog pub (formerly The Talbot, now a private residence) File:The_Church_of_St_Thomas_the_Martyr,_Upholland_-_geograph.org.uk_-_2056849.jpg, St. Thomas Church

References

External links

Exploring St. Josephs Seminary, Catholic Seminary, Up Holland

Up Holland Parish Council

Up Holland Library

The Baxter Family

St Teresa's, Catholic Church, Up Holland

St Teresa's, Catholic Primary School, Up Holland
{{authority control Villages in Lancashire Geography of the Borough of West Lancashire Civil parishes in Lancashire