Barton is a

linear village In mathematics, the term ''linear'' is used in two distinct senses for two different properties: * linearity of a '' function'' (or '' mapping''); * linearity of a ''polynomial''. An example of a linear function is the function defined by f(x)= ...

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. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

in the

City of Preston, Lancashire The City of Preston, or simply ''Preston'' (), is a non-metropolitan district, local government district with city status in the United Kingdom, city status in Lancashire, England. It lies on the north bank of the River Ribble and has a populati ...

, England. The parish had a population of 1,150, of whom 552 were male and 598 were female, according to the 2011 census.

Geography

The village is about north of Preston and north of Broughton. The parish is bound by the

A6 road This is a list of roads designated A6. * A006 road (Argentina), a road connecting Las Cuevas with the Christ the Redeemer monument in the border between Argentina and Chile * ''A6 highway (Australia)'' may refer to : ** A6 (Sydney), a road conn ...

to the west. A bridge carries the A6 over the

West Coast Main Line The West Coast Main Line (WCML) is one of the most important railway corridors in the United Kingdom, connecting the major cities of London and Glasgow with branches to Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool and Edinburgh. It is one of the busiest ...

railway north of the village hall. 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 motorway, M1 and the western end of t ...

also passes through the parish, splitting the village, west of the motorway, from the rest of the parish. Barton Brook flows north east to south west through the parish and is so named from the point where Sparling Brook joins Westfield Brook south of Barton Old Hall. A marker for the parish boundary with Broughton is on the A6 at Cardwell Bridge over the brook. The bridge was rebuilt in 1921 after being damaged by floods. Barton Grange was built as the country residence for John Healey, a local mill owner and was later the home of Levi Collison MP. In 1940 it was requisitioned by the

War Office The War Office has referred to several British government organisations throughout history, all relating to the army. It was a department of the British Government responsible for the administration of the British Army between 1857 and 1964, at ...

and is now a hotel. Barton is named on the base of three milestones along the Garstang Road. One is now in Broughton after parish boundary changes. All three are listed by

Historic England Historic England (officially the Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England) is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. It is tasked with prot ...

History

The parish church of St Lawrence was re-built in 1895 to a design by Richard Knill Freeman. It is a

Grade II listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, H ...

building. It is part of the Fellside Team of parishes. The Boar's Head public house on the Garstang Road near St Lawrence's was part of village life for two hundred years. Its external appearance was described in 1872; rails at the front, little white stones all round bordered by bright flowers, "scrupulously clean" front steps with roses blooming above, and a "fierce yet faded representation of a wild animal's head, with savage tusks, and a tongue swinging beautifully to the left". The public house closed in 2017, the building was severely damaged by a deliberately started fire two years later and demolished in 2022 to make way for a housing development. Barton and Broughton railway station at Newsham, ¾ mile to the south of Barton, opened in 1840 and closed to passenger traffic in 1939.

Amenities

Barton St Lawrence CofE Primary School is on Jepps Avenue. The village hall on the northern edge of the village was built in 1924. Barton Bowling Club and Barton and Myerscough Tennis Club each have facilities next to the hall.

Newsham

Newsham was added to Barton parish in 1894; it was previously a detached part 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 ...

parish. St Mary's Newhouse Catholic Church in Station Lane, Newsham was consecrated in 1906, the building replacing earlier ones. St Mary & St Andrew's Catholic Primary School, previously known as Newhouse School, also on Station Lane, is a 1988 amalgamation on the existing site of St Mary's with St Andrew's, Cottam. The school buildings date from 1857. A. Hewitson who wrote regular columns for the ''Preston Chronicle'' in the 1870s under the nom de plume Atticus failed to be stirred by the views from the catholic chapel, saying, "nothing very picturesque can be seen . . . ".

Governance

Barton is within the City of Preston electoral ward of

Preston Rural North Preston Rural North is an electoral ward in the City of Preston, Lancashire, England. The ward is the largest by area in the city, containing the smaller and smallest villages from the northern areas of Preston, from Woodplumpton bordering the ...

, and the Preston Rural electoral division of

Lancashire County Council Lancashire County Council is the upper-tier local authority for the non-metropolitan county of Lancashire, England. The non-metropolitan county of Lancashire is smaller than the ceremonial county, which additionally includes Blackburn with Dar ...

. The civil parish of Barton was part of

Preston Rural District Preston was a rural district in Lancashire, England from 1894 to 1974. It surrounded Preston, Lancashire, Preston to the north, west and east. The district was created under the Local Government Act 1894. It was abolished in 1974 under the Lo ...

throughout its existence from 1894 to 1974.Preston RD
''Vision of Britain'', accessed 9 June 2014 In 1974 the parish became part of the

Borough of Preston The City of Preston, or simply ''Preston'' (), is a local government district with city status in Lancashire, England. It lies on the north bank of the River Ribble and has a population of (). The neighbouring districts are Ribble Valley, South ...

, which became a city in 2002.

References

Gallery

File:Barton_Village_Hall_-_geograph.org.uk_-_209798.jpg, Barton Village Hall File:Milestone_near_Barton_-_geograph.org.uk_-_1792082.jpg, "6 miles to Preston milestone File:Barton_Cross_-_geograph.org.uk_-_485325.jpg, Barton Cross File:A_field_of_young_vegetables_north_of_Heathy_Lane_-_geograph.org.uk_-_1394531.jpg, Vegetable field near Barton File:Brickwork_pattern_-_geograph.org.uk_-_637358.jpg, Unique style barn near Barton

External links

{{authority control Villages in Lancashire Geography of the City of Preston Civil parishes in Lancashire