Leyland, Lancashire

Leyland ( ) is a town in South Ribble, Lancashire, England, 6 miles (10 km) south of Preston. The population was 35,578 at the 2011 Census.

The name of the town is Anglo-Saxon, meaning "untilled land".

History

Leyland was an area of fields, with Roman roads passing through, from ancient Wigan to Walton-le-Dale. It is mentioned in the Domesday Book (1085). In 1066, King Edward the Confessor presided over the whole of Leyland. The manor was divided into three large ploughlands, which were controlled by local noblemen. In the 12th century, it came under the barony of Penwortham.

The area of Worden, which is now Worden Park, was one of nine oxgangs of land granted to the Knights Hospitaller, by Roger de Lacy, in Lancashire, but the land was not assigned to any individual and a local man, who was a very close friend of de Lacy, Hugh Bussel, was assigned holder of the land in 1212.

Notable features that remain include the St Andrew's Parish Church, built around 1200 AD, and the large stone Leyland Cross, thought to date back to Saxon times.

Industry and commerce

The town is famous primarily for the bus and truck manufacturer Leyland Motors, which between the 1950s and 1970s expanded and grew to own several British motor manufacturers, including British Motor Corporation, Standard-Triumph and Rover, culminating in the massive British Leyland company. The truck business still operates today as Leyland Trucks, and is owned by Paccar.

Leyland is also home to one of the leading maintenance and utility companies in the United Kingdom, Enterprise plc on Centurion Way.

The town has been home to the Dr. Oetker pizza factory on Marathon Place, Moss Side, since 1989.

The town centre is dominated by the large Tesco Extra supermarket and adjacent car park.

Architecture

The Anglican church of St Ambrose, on Moss Lane, is a Grade II listed building dating from 1882-85 by Charles Aldridge and Charles Deacon. It is constructed of stone and has green slate roofs with red ridge tiles. It is in a mixed Early English and early French Gothic style.

From 1962 to 1964, St Mary's Catholic Church in Leyland was built. It was founded by the Benedictines from Ampleforth Abbey and replaced a smaller church built in 1854. It was designed by Jerzy Faczynski and according to Historic England it is a "building of outstanding importance for its architectural design, advanced liturgical planning and artistic quality of the fixtures and fittings". In 1998, it was designated a Grade II listed building.

Since July 2007, the former Primitive Methodist Church on Leyland Lane has been home to the Greek Orthodox Church of the Holy Apostles.

Most of the residential dwellings in Leyland falls are semi-detached, detached and bungalows. There are a few modern housing estates, but about 65% of the accommodation in the town was built in the 1970s.

On 17 April 2025 the Grade II listed St James' Church on Slater Lane was the target of an extensive graffiti attack, on both the church and surrounding gravestones. Lancashire Police said they were treating the incident as a hate crime. On 29 April a 30-year-old Leyland man was charged with 10 offences and was due to appear at Preston Magistrates' Court.

Governance

There are two tiers of local government covering Leyland, at district and county level: South Ribble Borough Council and Lancashire County Council. The borough council is based in Leyland, at the Civic Centre on West Paddock.

Leyland was an ancient parish. In 1863 the parish was made a local government district, governed by a local board. Such local government districts were reconstituted as urban districts in 1894. Leyland Urban District was abolished in 1974 to become part of the new borough of South Ribble. No successor parish was created for the former urban district and so Leyland is directly administered by South Ribble Borough Council. Shortly before its abolition, the urban district council had built itself a new headquarters on West Paddock, which subsequently became the South Ribble Civic Centre.

Transport

Leyland railway station is on the West Coast Main Line and is operated by Northern. There is one train an hour between Liverpool Lime Street and Preston. There is also one train an hour from Manchester Victoria/ Hazel Grove to Blackpool North.

There is a marker adjacent to the old Leyland Motors Spurrier works at the halfway point on the railway journey between Glasgow and London, some 198 miles in either direction. John Fishwick & Sons which served the town's public transport needs, and connected the town to Chorley and Preston, ceased trading in 2015 and Stagecoach Merseyside & South Lancashire took over the route.

Media

Local news and television programmes are provided by BBC North West and ITV Granada. Television signals are received from the Winter Hill transmitter.

Local radio stations are BBC Radio Lancashire on 103.9 FM, Heart North West on 96.9 FM, Smooth North West on 100.4 FM, Capital Manchester and Lancashire on 106.5 FM, Greatest Hits Radio Lancashire on 96.5 FM, Central Radio North West, an DAB station and Radio Leyland, a community based station which is broadcast on 104.8 FM.

The ''Lancashire Telegraph'' and '' Lancashire Evening Post'' are main newspapers that cover the town.

Education

High schools

High schools in Leyland include Balshaw's CE High School near Leyland Cross, St Mary's Catholic High School, Worden Academy, a smaller high school situated to the west of the town and Wellfield Academy near the town centre.

Colleges

To the east of Worden Park is Runshaw College.

Geography

Leyland is made up by six different areas, the town centre itself counts as the main retail side, with the railway station, library and shops nearby. The other areas include Broadfield, Moss Side, Worden Park, Turpin Green and the Wade Hall estate.

Having been joined by Clayton Brook, draining the village of the same name to the east, after skirting Lostock Hall, the River Lostock flows south west, past Farington and through the western suburbs of the Leyland, collecting Mill Brook (from Worden Park) and Hollin's Brook (draining Runshaw Moor), before moving west towards Croston.

People

Notable people who have grown up or lived in Leyland include:
* Tom Bidwell (born February 1984), screen writer, Oscar nominated, BAFTA and EMI winner
* Fred Beardsworth (1899–1964), footballer
*William Bennett, 1920s footballer
*Clarke Carlisle, footballer, was educated at Balshaw's CE High School
*Liv Cooke, football freestyler
* Allen Hill, played in the first ever cricket Test
*Tim Farron (born 27 May 1970), Leader of the Liberal Democrats 2015–2017, attended Runshaw College as a teenager.
* Phil Jones, footballer
* Frank Moss (1909–1970), football manager and former player, known for his six-year contract with Arsenal
* Danny Mayor (born 18 October 1990), footballer
* Brian Pilkington, footballer
* Mike Salmon, retired goalkeeper, who currently works as a football manager
*Kevin Simm (born 5 September 1980), singer with Liberty X, grew up in the area and attended St Anne's Primary School and St Mary's High School
* Chris Tuson (born 25 February 1988), rugby league player
* John Woodcock (1603–1646), Franciscan priest executed by the Stuarts in 1646
* Roland Woodhouse (1897–1969), footballer

Gallery

File:Leyland Cross.jpg, Leyland Cross
File:Old_Police_Station_Leyland_(1).jpg, Old Police Station
File:South_Ribble_Museum_and_Exhibition_Centre_-_geograph.org.uk_-_500126.jpg, South Ribble Museum
File:Eagle_and_Child_-_geograph.org.uk_-_118061.jpg, Eagle and Child pub
File:St Mary's Church, Leyland.jpg, St Mary's Church

See also

* Listed buildings in Leyland, Lancashire

References

*BBC Online (2006a
''Schools in Lancashire''
Education\League Tables, 19 January 2006 ccessed 27 June 2007*BBC Online (2006b
''Institutions in Lancashire''
Education\League Tables, 19 January 2006 ccessed 4 May 2007*Hunt, D., (1990), ''The History of Leyland and District'', Carnegie Press,
*Hunt, D. and Waring, W. (1995), ''The Archive Photograph Series: Leyland'', Chalford Publishing Company,
*Smith, J., (2003), ''Then and Now: Leyland'', Tempus Publishing,
*South Ribble Borough Council �
''Leyland Town Centre Masterplan''
ccessed 23 April 2008

External links

Leyland Historical Society

{{authority control

Towns in Lancashire
Unparished areas in Lancashire
Former civil parishes in Lancashire
Geography of South Ribble