Euxton

Euxton
Euxton Balshaw Lane Railway Station
Euxton  Euxton shown within Lancashire
Population	8,318 (2001 Census)
OS grid reference	SD555186
Civil parish	Euxton
District	Chorley
Shire county	Lancashire
Region	North West
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	CHORLEY
Postcode district	PR6,PR7
Dialling code	01257
Police	Lancashire
Fire	Lancashire
Ambulance	North West
EU Parliament	North West England
UK Parliament	Chorley
List of places UK England Lancashire

Euxton (/ˈɛkstən/ EX-ton) is a village and civil parish of the Borough of Chorley, in Lancashire, England. The village is situated just to the south of Leyland, and to the west of Chorley.

History

Euxton's original village settlement in Pincock was based near the ford over the River Yarrow, along the route of the old Roman road (A49) that runs through the length of the village.

The manorial seat was Euxton Hall owned first by the Molyneux family and later by the Anderton family and the centre of the village later moved from the old ford to be closer to Euxton Hall and its chapel (now Euxton Parish Church).

Early Industry

Euxton Hall, which was a significant stately residence, now acts as a private hospital and is half its former glory, with the second storey being removed in the latter half of the twentieth century along with its grand colonnade. Euxton Hall Gate house can be seen at the bottom of the brow, near the parish church. Balshaw Lodge, which has recently been redeveloped, was originally built as guest lodgings for the hall.

There was a large Royal Ordnance Factory (ROF Chorley) built here in the build up to World War II (Nevell et al., 1999). At its peak the factory employed over 40,000 people, and had its own railway station. It was probably the biggest munitions filling factory in the world, and it is said that the bouncing bombs used in the Dambusters Raid were made there. ROF Chorley later came under the ownership of British Aerospace, and in subsequent years was closed down with the land being sold. In the early 2000s the former ROF Chorley site was effectively flattened and sanitised, so that the land could be transformed into the new Buckshaw Village.

Modern Industry and transport

Plans by Tarmac to operate a sand quarry near the village were approved in August 2008 by a planning inspector. The quarry, to be located between Runshaw Lane and Dawbers Lane, had been proposed for ten years and is opposed by the village council, and by local residents, some of whom set up an action group, Euxton Residents Against Sand Extraction (ERASE), due to its impact on health, traffic and environment locally. The quarry has permission to operate for 15 years.^[1]

In 1997, Euxton Balshaw Lane railway station was re-opened after a gap of some 30 years. It is on the Preston - Wigan West Coast Main Line. The nearby station, Buckshaw Parkway was opened in 2011 to serve the new Buckshaw Village development, and is on the Preston - Manchester line.

Sport

The former ROF Chorley sports ground is now used by English Championship football team Bolton Wanderers F.C. as its training headquarters.

The village is also home to Euxton Corinthians FC, Euxton Villa FC, Euxton Girls FC and Euxton Cricket Club.

References

• Nevell, M., Roberts, J. and Smith, J. (1999) A History of Royal Ordnance Factory, Chorley, Lancaster : Carnegie Publishing, ISBN 1-85936-063-7

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Euxton.

• Euxton on chorley.gov.uk
• Quarry battle call to arms Chorley Guardian article
• Google maps overlay of area impacted by the quarry proposal (Area of quarry proposal in Light Red)