Kirkham, ENG - Postcode - PR4 2SS

Description of Kirkham, Lancashire

Midway between Blackpool and Preston (11 miles/18 km west of Preston), and near to the smaller town of Wesham, lies the town and civil parish of Kirkham (formerly Kirkam-in-Amounderness) in the Borough of Fylde in Lancashire, England. Carr Hill, on which it stands, was the site of a Roman fort, and is responsible for the city's very existence. They counted 7,194 residents there in 2011.

History of Kirkham

"Possibly the earliest inhabited locality in the Fylde district," as John Porter put it in his 1878 History of the Fylde of Lancashire, referred to Kirkham as “perhaps the earliest inhabited locality in the Fylde district."

 An elk skeleton with two harpoons inserted was discovered in the 1970s near Carleton, indicating that the Fylde may have been inhabited as far back as 8,000 B.C. The name of the city, which comes from the Danish kirk (church) and -ham, suggests that it was established before the place was conquered by the Romans (Saxon for settlement, or "home"). Carr Hill, upon which the town was established and which previously housed a Roman fort, is largely responsible for the development of the community Known in 1086 as Chicheham in the Domesday Book, the town was located on the Roman road between Ribchester (Bremetennacum) and the River Wyre. In 1269–70, King Henry III granted the town a market license. Kirkham stayed a modest market town through the 15th and 16th centuries. It wasn't until the latter half of the 1700s, however, that the town truly took off as a major textile hub. From 1830 on, local homes and eventually John Birley's Flax Mill (completed in 1861) were used to weave sailcloth. Established in 1549, the original structure of Kirkham Grammar School has since been demolished.

Local teacher John Willacy unearthed a Roman brass shield boss in the Dow Brook at Mill Hill Field in 1792. After being purchased by a Scotsman from Willacy, the shield ended up in the Charles Townley collection in Burnley and eventually made its way to the British Museum. The sitting human figure on the shield, which was roughly 8 inches (20 cm) in diameter, was flanked by an eagle and an athlete.

Town End was the location of a memorial dedicated to celebrating Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee in 1887. After some time, the memorial was relocated to its current location next to the United Reformed Church.

The city's weaving industry flourished from the 1850s until 2003. Progress Mill, erected in 1915, was the last of the town's eleven mills. Kirkham's "The Last Loom" is permanently on exhibit at the bottom of Station Road. The tappets on the sides of this cross-rod type loom from the 1920s allowed it to weave a wide variety of textiles, such as velvets, twills, and Bedford cord. Pendlebury artist L. S. Lowry drew Church Street with pencil and paper in 1925.

Later, in 1935's "A Lancashire Village," he repainted the picture, but this time the street was broader and there was a home in front of the church. 

Carr Hill Secondary Modern, currently known as Carr Hill 11–18 High School and Sixth Form Centre, was established on the grounds of Carr Hill House and a former racetrack in 1957 in response to a demand for more secondary schools following World War II. The Duchess of Kent formally opened it in 1958. In the latter half of the twentieth century, several suburban communities sprung up on the outskirts of town.

When it comes to agriculture, Kirkham is right in the middle of it. However, the town's flax-weaving and sail-cloth manufacturing industries took off by the middle of the 18th century. By the turn of the century, the town had expanded significantly in prominence, with multiple companies employing almost 1,000 people in the cotton and other industries.