Lancashire

Lancashire is a of  in the  of, bounded to the west by the. It takes its name from the city of and is sometimes known as the County of Lancaster. Its is based in, the county's administrative capital. however is still considered to be the. Commonly, Lancashire is referred to by the abbreviation Lancs, originally used by the. People from the county are known as Lancastrians. The county was subject to a significant boundary change in 1974, which removed and  with most of their surrounding conurbations to form part of the  of  and. The exercises the right of the Crown in the area known as the  of Lancaster.

Divisions and environs
The area under the control of the county council, or, is divided into a number of local government districts. They are, , , , , , , the , , , , and.

and are  which form part of the county for various functions such as  but do not come under county council control. The covers the two unitary authorities. The ceremonial county, the area including the unitary authorities, borders, , , and the metropolitan counties of , and and forms part of the  region.

Lancashire County Council
The county council, serving the shire county, is based in County Hall in, built as a home for the Lancashire county administration (including the and ) and opened on ,.

for 84 councillors from 84 divisions are held every four years. The council is currently controlled by the.

County top
The highest point of the ceremonial county is, near , which reaches a height of 627 m (2,057 ft). However, near to Gragareth has also been cited as the. The highest point within the historic boundaries is in the  at 803 m (2,634 ft).

Rivers and lakes
Lancashire drains west from the into the Irish Sea. The major rivers which discharge into the sea are the (which forms the historic border with  and is now located entirely outside the ceremonial county),,  and. Now within Cumbria are the and  (which forms the historic border with ). Major tributaries of these rivers include the, , , , , , , and.

Within the historic boundaries are the lakes of, and  in the Lake District, which now form part of Cumbria. Windermere forms the traditional border with, as does the which feeds the lake at its northern end and the  and flows into the  estuary to the south-east.

History

 * Main article: 

The county was established in 1182 and later than many other counties. In the, its lands between the and the Mersey were known as "Inter Ripam et Mersham" and were included in the returns for. Although some have taken this to mean that south Lancashire was, at that time, part of Cheshire, it cannot be said clearly to have been part of Cheshire. It is also claimed that the territory to the north formed, at that time, part of the. It bordered on, , Yorkshire, and Cheshire.

The county was divided into the six s of, , , , and. Lonsdale was further partitioned into Lonsdale North, which was the detached part north of (also known as ), and Lonsdale South.

The is the traditional symbol for the, immortalized in the verse "In the battle for England's head/ was white, Lancaster red" (referring to the 15th century ).

Lancashire is now much smaller than its historic extent due to a local government reform. In 1889 an of Lancashire was created, covering the historic county except for s such as  and. The area covered by the Lord-Lieutenant (termed now a ) continued to cover the entirety of the administrative county along with the county boroughs, and thus was expanded slightly whenever boroughs annexed areas in other neighbouring counties. Examples of this include (an area of  south of the  and historically in ), and southern. This area also did not cover the western part of, where the traditional border between Lancashire and runs through the middle of the town.

During the the county became increasingly urbanised, particularly the southern part. To the existing county boroughs of, , , , , , , , , , , , and  were added  (1904),  (1905), and  (1900). The county boroughs also had many boundary extensions. The borders around the Manchester area were particularly complicated, with narrow protrusions of the administrative county between the county boroughs - urban district formed a detached part of the administrative county, between Oldham county borough and the West Riding of Yorkshire. By the of 1971 the population of Lancashire (including all its associated county boroughs) had reached 5,129,416, making it then the most populous geographic county in the UK. The administrative county of Lancashire was also the most populous of its type outside of London, with a population of 2,280,359 in 1961.

On, under the , the administrative county of Lancashire was abolished, as were the county boroughs. The urbanised southern part largely became part of two new. The south-western part became part of, the south-eastern part was incorporated into. The new county of took the Furness exclave. The boroughs of, , and  were entirely from Lancashire. In Greater Manchester the successor boroughs were, , , (part), , ,  (part),  (part) and.

and, south of the new Merseyside/Greater Manchester border, rather than become part of Greater Manchester or Merseyside were instead made part of the new non-metropolitan county of.

The urban districts of and, the  and the parishes of  and  from the  from the  became part of the new Lancashire.

One parish,, was transferred from the borough of in Merseyside to the district of  in 1994.

In 1998 the county borough system re-appeared in all but name, when and  became independent.

The City of, USA, founded in 1742, was named after Lancashire. Its neighbour city,, is located about 30 miles to the west. The tradition continued with Lancaster using as its symbol the red rose and York the white.

Northern England referendums, 2004
In 2004 the published recommendations for a new systems of  in the North West. A rejected a similar reform there and plans to hold a further reform in the North West, including Lancashire, were cancelled.

Local identity
A pressure group, the, seek to promote use of the historic borders, and raised a petition in 1994 with 30,000 signatures calling "for the restoration of Lancashire's historic boundaries" - the petition requested that the "Metropolitan Counties of Merseyside, Greater Manchester and Cumbria [sic] be abolished and the real and historic county of Lancashire be restored". There is also a long-running campaign for to be removed from  in Merseyside.

Greater Manchester was never adopted as a by the, and so places in Greater Manchester retained their Lancashire and Cheshire addresses until the abolition of postal counties in 1996. Rochdale and Wigan, for example, were classed as parts of Lancashire. Other changes to the administrative borders were reflected in the postal counties.

Lancashire has a fairly strong identity as a county. In the areas that have since been transferred into other administrative counties, attachment to Lancashire varies. In the Lancastrian parts of Greater Manchester, attachment to Lancashire is still strong, but the parts that were transferred to Cumbria have largely adopted their new county. In Merseyside, attachment to Lancashire tends to weaken as you get closer to Liverpool itself.

Duchy of Lancaster
The is one of two remaining royal duchies in the United Kingdom. It has large landholdings throughout the region and elsewhere, and operates as a property company, but also exercises the right of the Crown in the County Palatine of Lancaster. The Duchy's website now describes the County Palatine as comprising of "the counties of Lancashire, Greater Manchester, Merseyside and the Furness area of Cumbria". These new counties include areas formerly in and  and it is unclear as to whether this is a reference to the whole of the new counties or just the parts that comprised the Palatine prior to the 1974 boundary changes. However, in it was stated by the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster,  that the "boundaries of the county palatine are the same as the county boundaries which existed prior to local government reorganisation in 1973"

High Sheriffs for Lancashire, Greater Manchester and Merseyside are appointed "within the Duchy and County Palatine of Lancaster".

The Duchy administers within the County Palatine, receiving the property of persons who die intestate, and where the legal ownership cannot be ascertained.

There is no separate Duke of Lancaster, the title having merged in the Crown many centuries ago - but the Duchy is administered by the Queen in Right of the Duchy of Lancaster. A separate court system for the county palatine was finally abolished by. A particular form of the is still in regular local use: 'The Queen, Duke of Lancaster'.

Industry and commerce
Lancashire in the 19th century was a major centre of industrial activity and hence of wealth. Activities included mining and textile production (particularly ), though on the coast there was also fishing. Historically, the docks in were an industrial port, though are now disused for commercial purposes. Lancashire was historically the location of the Mersey Ports (now on Merseyside) while (now in Cumbria) is famous for.

Today Lancashire is home to firms such as (which has four factories in Lancashire including  and, major centres of production for the Eurofighter Typhoon and F-35 Joint Strike Fighter), ,  cars,  Trucks and  telecoms.

Economic output
This is a chart of trend of regional gross value added of the non-metropolitan county of Lancashire at current basic prices published (pp.240-253) by Office for National Statistics with figures in millions of British Pounds Sterling.

Education
Lancashire has a mostly comprehensive system with four state grammar schools. Not including s, there are 77 state schools (not including Burnley's new schools) and 24 independent schools. The Clitheroe area even has secondary modern schools. Sixth form provision is limited at most schools in most districts, with only Fylde and Lancaster districts having mostly sixth forms at schools. The rest (most schools) depend on FE colleges and sixth form colleges, where they exist. South Ribble has the largest school population, with Fylde the smallest (only three schools). Burnley's schools have had a new broom and have essentially been knocked down and started again in 2006. There are many catholic secondary schools in Lancashire, which as ever tend to do sterling work. At GCSE, the England average of pupils achieving grades A-C including English and Maths is 45.8%; for Lancashire LEA's 13500 pupils taking GCSE at 16, it is 45.9%. The best state comprehensive at GCSE is the in, just south west of Preston, followed by the  in Preston and the  in. The worst is the Skerton Community High School in Lancaster. Blackpool does particularly badly at GCSE. At A level, Lancashire does better than it does at GCSE, being well above the England average, as is Blackpool. Blackburn however, is well below the England average. All the grammar schools do extremely well, with the best being the. Both Lancaster grammar schools are in the top five in at A level, and all four grammar schools get better results than the best independent school in Lancashire, although not the best  in Blackpool. The best comprehensive is (actually a sixth form college so not a typical comprehensive) in Preston, which gets excellent results.

GCSE results by district council (%)
2006 GCSE results with % of pupils at state schools with grades A-C including English and Maths. Burnley results not included as Burnley's schools have been rebuilt. Compare to average house price by district.
 * Ribble Valley 60.5
 * Fylde 55.1
 * Chorley 55.0
 * Lancaster 51.6
 * South Ribble 49.5
 * Wyre 49.2
 * Rossendale 44.8
 * Pendle 43.3
 * West Lancashire 42.4
 * Preston 42.0
 * Hyndburn 39.8
 * (Blackburn with Darwen Unitary Authority 38.6)
 * (Blackpool Unitary Authority 34.2)

Transport
Lancashire has a well-developed transport infrastructure with an extensive network of motorways covering the county. The provides direct rail links with  and other major cities, with stations at  and. The county has many other railway stations. The county is served by, however in Greater Manchester is the main airport in the region. , on Merseyside is also nearby.

and offer ferry services to  and the. As part of its industrial past, Lancashire gave rise to an extensive network of canals, which extend into neighbouring counties. These include the, , , , and.

Demographics
The major settlements in the ceremonial county are concentrated on the coast (the ), and a belt of towns running west-east along the  -, , , ,  and. South of Preston are the towns of and  - the three  formed part of the  New Town designated in 1970. The north is generally sparsely populated, with and  forming a small conurbation.

Settlements

 * ''Main article:.

The table below has divided the settlements into their local authority district. Each district has a centre of administration; for some of these correlate with a district's largest town, while others are named after the geographical area.


 * This table does not form an extensive list of the settlements in the ceremonial county. More settlements can be found at Category:Towns in Lancashire, Category:Villages in Lancashire, and Category:Parishes of Lancashire.

Some settlements which were historically part of the county now fall under the counties of, , , and :

Note: are in bold † - part of the until 1974

Boundary changes to occur before 1974 include:


 * (split between Lancashire and Yorkshire) entirely to West Riding of Yorkshire in 1889
 * (split between Lancashire, Yorkshire and Cheshire) entirely to Lancashire in 1889
 * , entirely to Cheshire in 1889
 * the former county boroughs of Manchester and Warrington both extended south of the Mersey into historic Cheshire (areas such as and )
 * correspondingly, the former county borough of Stockport extended north into historic Lancashire, including areas such as and the  (,,  and ).

Sport
Lancashire is one of Britain's most successful sporting counties.

Cricket
, based at the, has been one of the most successful teams, particularly in the  game. It is home to members,  and.

Historically important local cricket leagues include the and the, both of which were formed in 1892. These league clubs hire international professional players to play alongside their amateur players.

Football
Six of the twelve clubs which founded the were from Lancashire.

Based in ceremonial Lancashire are team,  teams ,  and  and from :.

Based in other ceremonial counties are Premiership teams, , , , and. play in League One and and  play in League Two. All of these teams are part of the  a county under which they have played for the majority of their history.

Together these teams have achieved 51 / titles, 7 s and 42 s.

Rugby
Several successful teams are based within the historic boundaries of Lancashire, mainly in the south of the county:


 * One:, ,
 * National League Two:, ,,
 * National League Two:, ,,

Of these only Blackpool Panthers are based within the ceremonial county.

teams include, , and.

Other
Two of the nine courses on the  rota are in historic Lancashire:  at  and  near.

Lancashire has a long history of, developing its own style called with many clubs that over the years have produced many renowned wrestlers. Some of these have crossed over into the mainstream world of, including , , and.

Cuisine
Lancashire is widely-known for its eponymous, a dish traditionally made with  and for , reputed to be the best toasting  in the world. Other traditional foods from the area include:


 * , also known as parched peas: popular in and.
 * long associated with the town of.
 * cross between a fruitcake and a biscuit. Eaten on Simnel or.
 * Butter Cake - slice of bread and butter.
 * Clapbread:.
 * s: from the town of.
 * faggots as in savoury ducks.
 * s: from the town of.
 * Fag Pie: pie made from chopped dried figs, sugar and lard.  Associated with  and  where it was the highlight of Fag Pie Sunday.
 * first fish and chip shop in northern England opened in near Oldham around 1863.
 * Frog-i'-th'-'ole pudding: now known as.
 * sweet porridge. Once a popular dish at Lancashire festivals like Christmas and Easter Monday.
 * Cakes: Small flat biscuits with coriander or  seeds pressed into the biscuit before baking.  Traditionally baked on feast days like.
 * Jannock: cake or small loaf of oatmeal. Allegedly introduced to Lancashire (possibly  by.
 * Nettle Porridge: a common starvation diet in Lancashire in the early 1800s. Made from boiled stinging nettles with perhaps a handful of meal.
 * Gingerbread: local delicacy which were sold all over South Lancashire
 * Pobs, Pobbies: bread and milk.
 * Potato Hotpot, a variation of the Lancashire Hotpot without meat also known as fatherless pie.
 * Ran Dan: barley bread. Food of last resort for the poor at the end of the 18th Century and beginning of the 19th Century.
 * Traditional Suet Pudding filled with Minced Meat and Onions.
 * Sad Cake: A traditional cake, perhaps a variation of the more widely known cake, once common around.
 * , a type of stew popular in (historically part of Lancashire).
 * a traditional breakfast food of.

Famous Lancastrians
As one of the most populous counties Lancashire has produced many famous names. See people from Lancashire.

Places of interest
The following are places of interest in the ceremonial county:
 * [[Image:UKAL icon.png|Accessible open space]]
 * [[Image:HH icon.png|Historic house]]
 * [[Image:CP icon.png|Country park]]
 * [[Image:AP Icon.PNG|Cathedral]]
 * [[Image:Themepark uk icon.JPG|15px|Theme Park]]
 * [[Image:Zoo icon.JPG|20px|Zoo]]
 * [[Image:Themepark uk icon.JPG|15px|Theme Park]]
 * [[Image:HH icon.png|Historic house]]
 * [[Image:HR icon.png|Heritage railway]]
 * [[Image:UKAL icon.png|Accessible open space]]
 * , [[Image:HH icon.png|Historic house]] [[Image:NTE icon.png|National Trust]]
 * [[Image:Museum icon.png]]
 * [[Image:HH icon.png|Historic house]]
 * [[Image:AP Icon.PNG|Cathedral]]
 * [[Image:AP Icon.PNG|Capel]], site of, seat of the
 * , nature reserve,
 * [[Image:UKAL icon.png|Accessible open space]]
 * [[Image:Museum icon (red).png]]
 * [[Image:Museum icon.png
 * [[Image:UKAL icon.png|Accessible open space]]
 * [[Image:CP icon.png|Country park]]
 * The [[Image:UKAL icon.png|Accessible open space]], provide great opportunity for
 * is popular with the area having some 6,600+ routes to climb many of which are in disused.
 * [[Image:HH icon.png|Historic house]] [[Image:NTE icon.png|National Trust]]
 * [[Image:HH icon.png|Historic house]]
 * - a Manor House dating back to 1592, now an English public school, run by the
 * , [[Image:HH icon.png|Historic house]]
 * [[Image:HR icon.png|Heritage railway]]
 * [[Image:UKAL icon.png|Accessible open space]]
 * and the
 * [[Image:CP icon.png|Country park]]
 * [[Image:CP icon.png|Country park]]
 * [[Image:HH icon.png|Historic house]]
 * - a Manor House dating back to 1592, now an English public school, run by the
 * , [[Image:HH icon.png|Historic house]]
 * [[Image:HR icon.png|Heritage railway]]
 * [[Image:UKAL icon.png|Accessible open space]]
 * and the
 * [[Image:CP icon.png|Country park]]
 * [[Image:CP icon.png|Country park]]
 * [[Image:CP icon.png|Country park]]