Kirkland is a

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 ...

, located on the banks of the

River Wyre The River Wyre, in Lancashire, England, flows into the Irish Sea at Fleetwood. It is 28 miles (45 km) long and has a sheltered estuary which penetrates deep into the Fylde peninsula. Etymology The name ''Wyre'' is of pre-Roman, likely, ...

, midway between Preston and

Lancaster Lancaster may refer to: Lands and titles *The County Palatine of Lancaster, a synonym for Lancashire *Duchy of Lancaster, one of only two British royal duchies *Duke of Lancaster *Earl of Lancaster *House of Lancaster, a British royal dynasty ...

, in the English county of

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 ...

. It is also the historic name of what is now the village of Churchtown, within the parish. It is part of the Wyre district. In 2001 the parish had a population of 343, decreasing to 314 at the 2011 census. Kirkland has a long history centred on its

Grade I listed building 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, Hi ...

, St Helen's, the parish church of Garstang St Helen (or Churchtown) and once known as the ''Cathedral 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 hills to ...

''. The church features: *a "lepers' window" or "

squint Squinting is the action of looking at something with partially closed eyes. Squinting is most often practiced by people who suffer from Refractive error, refractive errors of the eye who either do not have or are not using their glasses. Squint ...

" to enable those unfortunates an opportunity to attend its services; *a grave marker for the village's only victim of the

Black Plague The Black Death was a bubonic plague pandemic that occurred in Europe from 1346 to 1353. It was one of the list of epidemics, most fatal pandemics in human history; as many as people perished, perhaps 50% of Europe's 14th century population. ...

; *a large rafter, once known as the "new beam", supposedly presented to the parish by

King Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is known for his six marriages and his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disagreement w ...

at the time of the

Reformation The Reformation, also known as the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation, was a time of major Theology, theological movement in Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the p ...

. There are significant pointers such as a circular churchyard with several yew trees to its original use as a

Druid A druid was a member of the high-ranking priestly class in ancient Celtic cultures. The druids were religious leaders as well as legal authorities, adjudicators, lorekeepers, medical professionals and political advisors. Druids left no wr ...

temple. It was believed by some that the area may have been the site where Christian missionaries from Ireland first set foot in Lancashire at the end of the navigational portion of the River Wyre which flows to the

Irish Sea The Irish Sea is a body of water that separates the islands of Ireland and Great Britain. It is linked to the Celtic Sea in the south by St George's Channel and to the Inner Seas off the West Coast of Scotland in the north by the North Ch ...

some away. St Helen's is one of only two Grade I listed buildings in the Borough of Wyre. Although known as "The Cross", the village has an 18th-century Grade II listed dialpost with a sundial at its head, at the top of Church Street. There used to be two pubs: the Punchbowl and the Horns Inn. The Punchbowl has now closed. Kirkland was once a Township (England), township in the ancient parish of Garstang. This became a

in 1866, forming part of the Garstang Rural District from 1894 till 1974. It has since become part of the Borough of Wyre. Along with Great Eccleston, Out Rawcliffe, Inskip-with-Sowerby and Upper Rawcliffe-with-Tarnacre, Kirkland forms part of the Great Eccleston#Governance, Great Eccleston Wards of the United Kingdom, ward of Wyre Borough Council.

References

External links

* - using the name Churchtown
Lancashire ChurchesLancashire parish portalA History of the County of Lancaster: Volume 7 Pages: 313-15A History of the County of Lancaster: St Helen's Church, Kirkland
{{Borough of Wyre Civil parishes in Lancashire Geography of the Borough of Wyre The Fylde

See also

References

External links