Kirkham, Lancashire

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article does not adequately cite its references or sources.
Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. (help, get involved!)
Any material not supported by sources may be challenged and removed at any time. This article has been tagged since December 2006.

Kirkham

Coordinates: 53.7822° N 2.8704° W
Population	22,291
OS grid reference	SD426321
Shire county	Lancashire
Region	North West
Constituent country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Postcode district	PR4
Dial code	01772
Police	Lancashire
Fire	Lancashire
Ambulance	North West
European Parliament	North West England
List of places: UK • England • Lancashire

Kirkham, or as it once was known, Kirkam-in-Amounderness is a town in the Fylde district of Lancashire, England, midway between Blackpool and Preston (11 miles west of Preston).It owes it's existence to Carr hill which it was built upon and where the Roman fort lay.

The town is pre-Roman in its origin. The name originates in the Danish word kirk (church) and -ham (Saxon for settlement): it appears in the Domesday Book of 1086 under the name of Chicheham, lies on the Roman road between Ribchester and the River Wyre. The town's market has one of the oldest charters in the United Kingdom, having been granted in 1269-70 by King Henry III. The parish church is dedicated to St Michael.

Kirkham lies in the centre of an agricultural area. By the mid 18th century however the manufacture of sail-cloth, and the flax-weaving industry had been established here; and by the end of the century the town had grown in importance. By the 1876 there were several factories employing almost 1000 workers in the cotton and other industries.

Kirkham station was opened in 1844, four years after the Preston and Wyre Railway and Harbour Company had opened its line to Fleetwood. It now also serves the nearby village of Wesham.

The town's football team Kirkham & Wesham FC play in the West Lancashire League, and were Premier Division Champions in the 2005-06 season.

South of the town is [Kirkham] open prison, built on part of the site of the Royal Air Force base, closed in 1957.

The two main schools in the town are Carr Hill and Kirkham Grammar.