Cockle Hall is a historic location in Thornton-Cleveleys, Lancashire, England. Located in today's Wyre Estuary Country Park, it was the location of one of the earliest crossings of the River Wyre,[1] and was used as such until the 1930s.[2] It is also the former site of a two-storey cottage occupied by the Lawrenson family of thirteen.[3] It was located a short distance along today's footpath running from the car park at Wyre Estuary, along the western banks of the river. The ferryman who took people to and brought people from Wardleys Creek,[4] on the eastern side of the river, also lived there.[5]
As C. Allen Clarke discovered, the original tenant of the cottage called himself the Squire of Cockle Hall, and said he was "the only squire this side o' th' Wyre".[4] A former Roman road was reused in Victorian times by people walking from nearby Underbank Road to the ferry, across a hilly field. It is a public footpath today.[6]
In the late 19th century, the Fleetwood Estate Company purchased the cottage from Peter Hesketh-Fleetwood. The cottage appears on the Ordnance Survey maps from the 1840s.
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The rear of the cottage, viewed from the elevated field behind it -
The same view in 2024 -
Viewed from Wardleys Creek
References
- ^ Commons, Great Britain Parliament House of (1907). Parliamentary Papers. H.M. Stationery Office. p. 78.
- ^ "Wyre Estuary Country Park". www.northlancs.com. Retrieved 1 March 2024.
- ^ Wyre Estuary Country Park – Stanah Management Plan 2021 - 2026 – Wyre Council
- ^ a b Clarke, Allen (1918). Windmill Land: Rambles in a Rural Old-fashioned Country, with a Chat about Its History and Romance. Dent. p. 401.
- ^ "Geograph:: Cockle Hall Picnic Area © Bob Jenkins". www.geograph.org.uk. Retrieved 30 May 2023.
- ^ "Roman Roads in Lancashire". www.romanroads.org. Retrieved 11 March 2024.
External links
- "The Tale of Cockle Hall (part one)" – The Fylde & Wyre Antiquarian, 2008
- "The Tale of Cockle Hall (part two)" – The Fylde & Wyre Antiquarian, 2008
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