Chorley
Template:Infobox England place with map Chorley is a market town in Lancashire, Great Britain, south of Preston and at the foot of the West Pennine Moors. It is the seat for the borough of Chorley and has been twinned with the former Hungarian capital, Székesfehérvár since 1991. Chorley has a population of 101,991 according to the last census.
Chorley is bordered with and splits from each other the towns of Bamber Bridge, Blackburn, Bolton, Leyland, Ormskirk and Wigan.
The current mayor is councillor Marie Gray whilst the Member of Parliament (MP) is Lindsay Hoyle.
Chorley today is small town located in the borough of Chorley which is made up of the town and the surrounding villages. The town today is home to several business's included BAE, RAC's lease company LEX and the holday firm Pontins. It has several train stations with the main being Chorley rail station located in town centre. The town's wealth mainly came from the cotton industry and remnants in the form of the Morrisons chimney still exist. Today Chorley exists as a serious town but it acts mainly as a satillite of towns like Bolton and Preston.
History
The name Chorley means the "Ley" - an opening in the woods, not quite a field - by the "Chor" a small stream that has it's source to the north east of Chorley and is a tributary of the River Yarrow. A settlement has existed at Chorley since at least the bronze age. A farmer at Astley Hall Farm found a pottery burial urn from this period in 1963. This find was followed up with further excavations, with further artifacts being found. Objects from these excavations are on display at the hall's museum.
By the 11th century villages such as Heath Charnock and Adlington were settlements with several halls around the area with a large manor at the foot of winter hill. Hill on the heath which now belongs to Chorley Golf Club is the only remaining reminent of this settlement.
A market charter was granted to the town in the 1250s, and there is evidence from 1498 that the market was actually taking place. Nowadays, the town has two markets, the Flat Iron Market and the Covered Market. For one weekend each year, French market traders sell their produce in the town, with Chorley's merchants returning the favour in France. The market has a number of specialist cheesemongers who purvey the local Lancashire cheese in various forms. Also sold is the famous Chorley Cake.
According to the apocryphal story, Sirloin steak was officially knighted by James I at Hoghton Tower, a large stately home on the outskirts of the town, where William Shakespeare once worked. Astley Hall is a more central stately home, set in the middle of the town's largest park, Astley Park. Oliver Cromwell visited here on his trek through the region.
Chorley like most Lancashire towns gained its wealth from the industrial revolution of the 19th century which was also responsible for the town's growth. The town was also vital during World War II as it was home to the Royal Ordnance Factory, a large munitions factory in the village of Euxton, now part of the town.
In the 1970s, Chorley was designated as part of Central Lancashire new town, together with Preston and Leyland. The original aim of this project was to combine the three settlements into a single city with a population of around half a million. Although this never came to pass, and the project has since been abandoned, Chorley benefited from the urban renewal commonly associated with new towns. Examples include a bypass of the town centre, and the Market Walk shopping centre.
As the 21st Century progresses, Chorley will grow significantly in size as the new Buckshaw Village gets built on the former explosives area of the ROF Chorley site, the old munitions factory at Euxton.
2000 saw the building of the largest Mormon temple outside Salt Lake City in Chorley, known as the Preston Temple.
Industry
In days gone by, as with most towns in Lancashire, Chorley was a mining town, evidence of which can be seen by the various abandoned quarries on the outskirts of the town. One of the most beautiful of these is Anglesarke quarry, found between Chorley and Horwich.
Chorley today still does have some clothing factories but far fewer than it had in the 19th century. Chorley is now mainly a service town but is home to a Leyland Trucks factory, BAE Systems factory and a brewery.
In 2000 Chorley's richest son Trevor Hemmings bought Pontins; the firm is located in nearby Eccleston.
In 2005 it was announced that part of the former ROF will become a facility for the RAC firm LEX. The previous facility was on a former Leyland Trucks factory.
Education
Chorley is home to numerous primary schools both council and church supported.
Chorley has these 6 high schools:
- Albany County High School
- Bishop Rawstorne CE High School
- Holy Cross RC High School
- Parklands County High School
- Southlands County High School
- St. Michael's CE High School
Most Chorley residents attend the nearby Runshaw College in Leyland. Runshaw College has also expanded into the former Administration site of ROF Chorley, and is using, amongst others, the main Administration Building.
Sport
Chorley is home to the semi-professional football team, Chorley F.C., also known as the magpies due to their black and white strip. Founded as a rugby team in 1875, they switched to playing football eight years later. Since then they have had limited success, with their most memorable moments being two appearances in the second round of the FA Cup, and two seasons in the Football Conference in the late 1980s. They currently play in the Northern Premier League First Division.
Until 2004, Chorley also boasted a rugby league side, Chorley Lynx, who played in league two of the national league. However, the club was forced to close in 2004 due to small crowds and the withdrawal of funding by backer Trevor Hemmings. Many of the club's players and staff joined the newly formed Blackpool West Coast Panthers, operating out of nearby Blackpool.
Media
Chorley has two local newspapers: the Chorley Guardian and the Chorley Citizen.
A British comedy television show, Phoenix Nights, cited Chorley's radio station, Chorley FM, whose slogan was "Coming in your ears". The station based in Chorley originally broadcast for only a few weeks, but in 2005 received a licence to broadcast from Chorley community centre.
Divisions
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Places of interest nearby
- Astley Hall
- Camelot Theme Park
- Chorley Mormon Temple
- Heskin Hall
- Leeds & Liverpool Canal
- Park Hall
- Yarrow Valley Park
- Winter Hill TV Mast which is visible from most points in the town.
- Rivington Pike
Chorley also has a number of large parks, including Astley Park to the north and Duxbury Park, to the south of the town.
Famous residents
- Kathleen Ferrier (Opera Singer)
- Paul Mariner (England International Footballer)
- Steve Pemberton (comedian)
- Dave Spikey (comedian)
- Jason Queally (olympic cyclist)
- Kevin Simm from Liberty X (pop group)
- Ken Morley (actor)
- Michael Jennings (boxer)
- Phil Cool (comedian)
- Bill Beaumont (former England rugby captain)
- Starsailor (pop group)
- Myles Standish (former of the Pilgrim Fathers)
- Charles Lightoller (Highest ranking crew member to survive the RMS Titanic)
- Sir Henry Tate (sugar magnate and founder of the Tate Gallery in London)
- David Unsworth (footballer)
- Paul Grayson (England rugby union player)