Cockerham is a small 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. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

within the

City of Lancaster The City of Lancaster, or simply ''Lancaster'' (), is a non-metropolitan district, local government district with City status in the United Kingdom, city status in Lancashire, England. It is named after its largest settlement, Lancaster, Lanca ...

district in

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

, England. It is south of Lancaster and north-northwest of Preston. Lying on the River Cocker, at the estuary of the

River Lune The River Lune (archaically sometimes Loyne) is a river in length in Cumbria and Lancashire, England. Etymology Several elucidations for the origin of the name ''Lune'' exist. Firstly, it may be that the name is Brittonic languages, Brittonic ...

, the parish had a population of 671 at the 2011 Census. Cockerham has lain within the historic county boundaries of Lancashire since the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

, having previously formed a

township A township is a form of human settlement or administrative subdivision. Its exact definition varies among countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, this tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, Canad ...

and parish within the hundred of Lonsdale. Between 1894 and 1974, Cockerham lay within the Lancaster Rural District. Medieval life of Cockerham manor has been recorded in the ''Custumal of the Manor of Cockerham'', compiled in 1326–1327 and revised in 1463. The

custumal A custumal is a medieval-English document that stipulates the economic, political, and social customs of a manor or town. It is common for it to include an inventory of customs, regular agricultural, trading and financial activities as well as l ...

, a record of rents and services owed by the tenants to their landlord, combines a local code of laws with an inventory of all resources of the land, from

peat Peat is an accumulation of partially Decomposition, decayed vegetation or organic matter. It is unique to natural areas called peatlands, bogs, mires, Moorland, moors, or muskegs. ''Sphagnum'' moss, also called peat moss, is one of the most ...

fuel, cattle and sheep to shoreline

mussel Mussel () is the common name used for members of several families of bivalve molluscs, from saltwater and Freshwater bivalve, freshwater habitats. These groups have in common a shell whose outline is elongated and asymmetrical compared with other ...

s. The tenants were forbidden to trade local fuel to the "strangers" who collected mussels on the shore. The local church is St. Michael's. The original parish church was in the middle of the village but was resited on higher ground due to frequent flooding. Close by are the remains of Cockersand Abbey. The village has a pub, the Manor Inn.

Airfields

Cockerham Airfield (also known as Patty's Farm) is west of Cockerham and south of Hillam Lane. It is home to the Black Knights Parachute Centre. In 2023, former footballers Jamie Carragher,

Roy Keane Roy Maurice Keane (born 10 August 1971) is an Irish football pundit, former coach, and former professional player. He is best known for his career in the Premier League, in particular his captaincy of Manchester United. He is the joint most ...

and

Gary Neville Gary Alexander Neville (born 18 February 1975) is an English football pundit, former coach and player, and co-owner of English Football League club Salford City. As a player, Neville was a right-back and spent his entire career with Manches ...

skydived at the facility for an episode of

Sky Sports Sky Sports is a group of British broadcasting of sports events, subscription sports channels operated by the satellite television, satellite pay television company Sky Group (a division of Comcast), and is the dominant subscription television ...

' ''The Overlap''. Tarn Farm Airfield (also known as Rossall Field) is two miles south-west of Cockerham, on Gulf Lane. It is home of The Bay Flying Club, West Lancashire Microlight School. Its airport code is GB-0440.Tarn Farm
– UK Airfield Guide

Gallery

File:Microlight Over Tarn Farm - geograph.org.uk - 1204938.jpg,

Microlight Ultralight aviation (called microlight aviation in some countries) is the flying of lightweight, 1- or 2-seat fixed-wing aircraft. Some countries differentiate between weight-shift control and conventional three-axis control aircraft with ailer ...

above Tarn Farm Airfield File:Black Knights Parachute Centre (geograph 6430815).jpg, Black Knights Parachute Centre at Patty's Farm

Notes

References

* Bailey, Mark (2002).
The English Manor, c. 1200-1500
'. Manchester medieval sources series. Manchester University Press. .

External links

Cockerham Parish Council
– Rosalind Davies
Cockerham
at GENUKI {{authority control Villages in Lancashire Geography of the City of Lancaster Civil parishes in Lancashire Populated coastal places in Lancashire Morecambe Bay

Airfields

Gallery

See also

Notes

References

External links