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
See also
* Listed buildings in Cockerham
* , her childhood home was Crookhey Hall at Cockerham
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