Ulverston

For the town in Tasmania, Australia, see Ulverstone, Tasmania.

Ulverston is a market town and civil parish in Westmorland and Furness, Cumbria, England. In the 2001 census the parish had a population of 11,524,^[2] increasing at the 2011 census to 11,678.^[1] Historically in Lancashire, it lies a few miles south of the Lake District National Park and just north-west of Morecambe Bay, within the Furness Peninsula. Lancaster is 39 miles (63 km) to the east, Barrow-in-Furness 10 miles (16 km) to the south-west and Kendal 25 miles (40 km) to the north-east.

Ulverston
Town and parish
Market Street, Ulverston
Ulverston Location on Morecambe Bay Show map of Morecambe Bay Ulverston Location in the former South Lakeland district Show map of the former South Lakeland district Ulverston Location within Cumbria Show map of Cumbria
Population	11,678 (2011)^[1]
Demonym	Ulverstonian
OS grid reference	SD2878
Civil parish	Ulverston
Unitary authority	Westmorland and Furness
Ceremonial county	Cumbria
Region	North West
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	ULVERSTON
Postcode district	LA12
Dialling code	01229
Police	Cumbria
Fire	Cumbria
Ambulance	North West
UK Parliament	Barrow and Furness
List of places UK England Cumbria 54°11′35″N 3°05′24″W / 54.193°N 3.090°W / 54.193; -3.090

History

 

Hoad Hill and the Hoad Monument, a near replica of the third Eddystone Lighthouse

The name Ulverston, first noted as Ulurestun in the Domesday Book of 1086, consists of an Old Norse personal name, Úlfarr, or the Old English Wulfhere, with the Old English tūn, meaning farmstead or village.^[3] The personal names Úlfarr and Wulfhere both imply "wolf warrior" or "wolf army",^[4] which explains the presence of a wolf on the town's coat of arms. The loss of the initial W in Wulfhere can be linked to Scandinavian influence in the region.^[5] Locally, the town has traditionally been known as Oostan.^[6] Other variants include Oluestonam (1127), and Uluereston (1189).^[5] The name was spelled "Ulverstone" until at least 1888. ^[7]

The market charter granted in 1280 by Edward I^[8] was for a market on Thursdays. The town retains its market-town appearance; market days are now Thursdays and Saturdays.^[9] The charter also allowed public houses to open from 10:30 am to 11:00 pm, regardless of other statute on the books. The present Saturday market includes in the summer craft stalls, charity stalls and locally produced ware on "Made in Cumbria" stalls.

The parish church is a listed building and was founded in the 12th century. Historically, the parish included chapelries and townships that later became separate civil parishes: Blawith, Church Coniston, Egton with Newland, Lowick, Mansriggs, Osmotherley, Subberthwaite and Torver. From 1894 to 1974 the town served as an urban district in the administrative county of Lancashire. Under the Local Government Act 1972 it became a successor parish in the Cumbria district of South Lakeland.^[10]

Town Bank Grammar School was founded in 1658 from a benefaction by Thomas Fell.^[11] The Victoria Road drill hall opened in 1873.^[12]

 

Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy statue; Stan Laurel was born in Ulverston in 1890, and named Arthur Jefferson.

 

Laurel and Hardy Museum

The High Carley Hospital and Ulverston Joint Hospital Board built an infectious disease hospital at High Carley, Pennington, in 1884. It was initially a fever hospital for paupers. In 1916 a second hospital, run by Lancashire County Council, was built to treat tubercular patients. From 1949 a children's annexe was built. In the 1950s, as the number of tubercular patients decreased, the hospital was run as an acute hospital. In 1984, after the building of the new Furness General Hospital, High Carley was closed.^[13]

In 2009, the comedian Ken Dodd unveiled a statue of Laurel and Hardy (by Graham Ibbeson) outside Coronation Hall in the town centre.^[14]

Earthquake

On 28 April 2009, Ulverston was near the epicentre of an earthquake measuring 3.7 on the Richter magnitude scale. Tremors were felt across south Cumbria and parts of north Lancashire at 11.22, but virtually no damage was caused. A spokesman for the British Geological Survey stated that earthquakes of such magnitude occur roughly once a year in Britain.^[15] Regionally, it was the strongest seismic event since a magnitude 4.4 earthquake struck Lancaster in 1835.^[16][17]

Governance

Ulverston falls within the Westmorland and Furness unitary authority area in the ceremonial county of Cumbria. Until 2023 it was within South Lakeland District. Ulverston Town Council covers some parochial matters.^[18]

The town is in the wider civil parish of Ulverston. This is bounded in the east by the Leven estuary, the River Crake, Coniston Water and Yewdale Beck. To the west the boundary follows a chain of hills, and beyond lie the towns of Kirkby-in-Furness and Askam and Ireleth. To the south is relatively low land that rises quickly. In the north are hills such as Coniston Old Man. The parish settlements are mainly in the eastern part.^[5]

Places of interest

 

Ulverston Town Hall

The Laurel & Hardy Museum is situated in Ulverston.^[19]

The limestone Hoad Monument (proper name: the Sir John Barrow Monument), which offers views that include Morecambe Bay and parts of the Lake District, was built in 1850 in honour of the statesman Sir John Barrow.^[20]

Ulverston Town Hall was completed in 1825.^[21]

The Roxy Cinema opened on 21 June 1937 with 'Rose Marie' starring Nelson Eddy and Jeanette Macdonald. It was designed by Drury and Gomersall for the James Brennan circuit.^[22]

The Victoria Concert Hall (now premises of Emmanuel Christian Centre) opened in 1850 as an opera and dance hall.^[23] It is now a Grade II listed building.^[24] In 1909 it became Ulverston's first cinema and was formerly the location of the County Court sessions.^[25][26][27] It served various religious uses until being refurbished in 1986 by Ulverston's oldest evangelical community to open as Emmanuel Christian Centre.^[28]

Education

 

Entrance to Croftlands Infant School

Ulverston Victoria High School (UVHS), the town's secondary school, with some 1,200 pupils, includes a sixth form college with about 400.^[29] There are four main primary schools; Croftlands Junior (secular), St Mary's (Catholic), Church Walk (Church of England) and Sir John Barrow (secular)^[30] and a special education school, near Sandside.^[31]

Transport

Ulverston railway station, a short walk from the town centre, lies on the Furness Line between Barrow-in-Furness and Lancaster, which leads on to Manchester Airport. Some trains continue along the Cumbrian Coast line to Carlisle.

The town's several bus services include the X6 between Kendal and Barrow-in-Furness via Grange-over-Sands, the X12 to Coniston and Spark Bridge, and the 6A and 6 to Barrow-in-Furness.

Local media

Regional TV news comes from Salford-based BBC North West and ITV Granada. Television signals are received from the Winter Hill TV transmitter, ^[32] and the Lancaster relay transmitter.^[33]

Local radio stations are BBC Radio Cumbria on 96.1 FM, Heart North West on 96.9 FM, Smooth Lake District on 100.1 FM and community based radio stations Cando FM ^[34] on 107.3 FM and Bay Trust Radio, a DAB station. ^[35]

The town's local newspapers are The Westmorland Gazette and North West Evening Mail. ^[36]

Twin towns

Ulverston is twinned with Albert in France.^[37] They meet alternately at Easter each year to play football for the Cyril Barker Shield.^[38]

In July 2016 Ulverston, as the birthplace of the film comedian Stan Laurel, was officially twinned with Harlem, Georgia, United States, birthplace of Laurel's screen partner Oliver Hardy.^[39]

Festivals

 

The Dickensian Festival, held the final weekend of November, sees a range of Christmas stalls and attractions visit Ulverston.^[40] People often dress up for it in Victorian attire.

The many festivals held at Ulverston include:

• Another Fine Fest,^[41] celebrating Ulverston and the birth of Stan Laurel.
• Dickensian Festival.^[42]
• Furness Tradition.^[43]
• Retro Rendezvous^[44]

Sport

Football

Ulverston Rangers association football team has existed since 1945.^[45] It currently plays in the West Lancashire Football League and the Furness Football League.

Rugby League

Ulverston Amateur Rugby League Football Club plays home games at Dragley Beck, it belongs to the North West Counties Rugby League. It has produced several professional rugby players, including Derek Hadley.

Other sports

The town's two field hockey clubs, South Lakes and Ulverston, are based at Ulverston Leisure Centre. The town regularly has events run by Lakeland Orienteering Club. A parkrun event has been held every Saturday at Ford Park since 2018.^[46]

International links

The Royal Norwegian Honorary Consulate in Barrow-in-Furness, one of the numerous consulates of Norway, is actually located on the outskirts of Ulverston.^[47]

The town of Ulverstone in Tasmania, Australia is named after Ulverston and likewise built at the mouth of a River Leven.

Religion

Christianity

 

Swarthmoor Hall, the manor that Margaret Fell and George Fox established the Quaker movement

 

Manjushri Kadampa Meditation Centre, the international headquarters of the New Kadampa Tradition.

Ulverston is where George Fox and Margaret Fell established the Religious Society of Friends (Quaker) movement in 1652 at Swarthmoor Hall just outside of Ulverston. One of the founders of the Quaker movement Margaret Fell resided in Swarthmoor Hall and was lady of the hall from 1641. Swarthmoor Hall became a Quaker rest house and later became a Grade II listed building.

Buddhism

The New Kadampa Tradition is headquartered in the Manjushri Kadampa Meditation Centre whom purchased Conishead Priory in 1976. Buddhism is Ulverston's second largest religion after Christianity.

Freedom of the Town

The following people and military units have received the Freedom of the Town of Ulverston.

Individuals

• Peter Winston: 15 May 2019.^[48]
• Les Tallon: 21 November 2022.^[49]

Military units

• The Duke of Lancaster's Regiment: 7 May 2011.^[50][51]
• 2223 (Ulverston) Squadron Air Training Corps: 18 April 2015.^[52]

Notable people

In alphabetical order:

• Ella Blaylock Atherton (1860–1933), physician
• Cuthbert Bardsley (1907-1991), Anglican bishop of Coventry, was born in Ulveston
• Amelia Edith Huddleston Barr (1831–1919), novelist, was born in Ulverston.
• Sir John Barrow (1764–1848), statesman, was born at Dragley Beck, he was the Admiralty's Second Secretary. A monument to him; a replica of the third Eddystone Lighthouse, stands on Hoad Hill overlooking the town.
• Norman Birkett, 1st Baron Birkett (1883–1962), judge, politician and preacher who served as alternate British judge in the Nuremberg Trials, was born in Ulverston.^[53]
• Norman Gifford (born 1940), international cricketer^[54]
• Jess Gillam (born 1998), saxophonist^[55]
• Maude Green, mother of the Rock and Roll music legend, Bill Haley^[56]
• Francis Arthur Jefferson (1921–1982), a Victoria Cross-winning soldier born in Ulverston^[57]
• Stan Laurel (1890–1965), actor born at 3 Argyle Street, Ulverston^[58]
• Kate Lister (born 1981), historian and blogger
• Selina Martin (1882–1972), suffragette
• Christine McVie (1943–2022), singer and songwriter born in the nearby village of Bouth
• James Penny (1741–1799), slave-ship owner, who became a prominent anti-abolitionist
• Bob Shaw (1931–1996), science fiction writer, lived in Ulverston.
• William Basil Weston (1924–1945), a Victoria Cross-winning officer, was born in Ulverston. There is a memorial to him in the town's Catholic Church.

Arms

Coat of arms of Ulverston

Crest Out of a coronet composed of four roses Gules barbed and seeded Proper set upon a rim Or a demi wolf Sable breathing flames and gorged with a leather collar Proper buckled and pendent therefrom by a chain an escutcheon Gold charged with a ray of lightning throughout in bend also Gules surmounted of an ankh Vert and supporting a garb also Gold.^[59] Escutcheon Argent two bars Gules a pale Sable fretty of the first between two abbots' crosiers addorsed also Sable on a chief Azure an anchor between two fleurs-de-Lys Or. Motto Optimum Sufficit (Only The Best Is Enough)

See also

•  Cumbria portal

• Listed buildings in Ulverston
• Ulverston Canal

References

1. UK Census (2011). "Local Area Report – Ulverston Parish (E04002655)". Nomis. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 13 May 2021.
2. UK Census (2001). "Local Area Report – Ulverston Parish (16UG072)". Nomis. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 13 May 2021.
3. A. D. Mills (2003). Dictionary of British Place Names. Oxford University Press. p. 475.
4. Viking Answer Lady. "Viking Answer Lady Webpage – Old Norse Men's Names". Retrieved 4 November 2007.
5. Eilert Ekwall (1922). The Place-Names of Lancashire. Manchester University Press.
6. W. Rollinson, (1997), The Cumbrian Dictionary of Dialect, Tradition and Folklore, Smith Settle Ltd, p. 115.
7. "Index to the Parishes, Townships, Hamlets, and Places Contained Within the Districts of the Several County Courts in England and Wales. H.M. Stationery Office, 1888, p. 243". 21 October 1888.
8. "Ulverston, Cumbria". Visit Cumbria. Retrieved 9 July 2010.
9. "Ulverston Street Markets". South Lakeland District Council. Retrieved 21 September 2008.
10. Frederic A. Youngs. Guide to the Local Administrative Units of England, Volume 2. Boydell & Brewer.
11. "Ulverston". Cumbria County History Trust. Retrieved 12 August 2018.
12. "Former drill hall including sergeant's house, administration and entrance blocks and boundary walling". Historic England. Retrieved 5 July 2017.
13. Cumbria Archives High Carley Hospital
14. "Statue honours Laurel and Hardy". BBC News. 19 April 2009. Retrieved 19 April 2009.
15. "Tremor strikes north-west England". BBC News. 28 April 2009. Retrieved 28 April 2009.
16. . North-West Evening Mail. 30 April 2009. Archived from the original on 10 August 2011. Retrieved 30 April 2009.
17. "Earthquake Shakes Buildings in Cumbria". Sky News. 28 April 2009. Retrieved 30 April 2009.
18. "Ulverston Town Council".
19. "Laurel and Hardy Museum". lakedistrictletsgo.co.uk. Retrieved 1 February 2008.
20. UK Attraction Hoad Monument
21. "Former Ulverston Town Hall, Queen Street, Ulverston". Greenlane Archaeology. Retrieved 30 January 2024.
22. "History of the Cinema". Northern Morris Cinemas. Retrieved 30 January 2024.
23. "Rare posters of Victorian opera at Ulverston". The Mail. 8 May 2017. Retrieved 6 May 2024.
24. "VICTORIA CONCERT HALL (NOW PREMISES OF EMANUEL CHRISTIAN CENTRE AND SHOP), Ulverston - 1270209 | Historic England". historicengland.org.uk. Retrieved 6 May 2024.
25. "Old Vic Cinema in Ulverston, GB - Cinema Treasures". cinematreasures.org. Retrieved 6 May 2024.
26. "Theatres in Ulverston, Westmorland and Furness, Cumbria". www.arthurlloyd.co.uk. Retrieved 6 May 2024.
27. "Church History | Ulverston | Emmanuel Christian Centre". EmmanuelCC. Retrieved 6 May 2024.
28. "Church History | Ulverston | Emmanuel Christian Centre". EmmanuelCC. Retrieved 6 May 2024.
29. . Ofsted. 29 November 2007. Archived from the original on 29 May 2009. Retrieved 21 September 2008.
30. "Furness LPG – Ulverston primary schools list" (PDF). Cumbria County Council. (PDF) from the original on 1 October 2011. Retrieved 17 December 2020.
31. Schools Insight. Retrieved 5 July 2020.
32. "Winter Hill (Bolton, England) Full Freeview transmitter". May 2004.
33. "Lancaster (Lancashire, England) Full Freeview transmitter". May 2004.
34. https://candofm.co.uk/
35. "About – Bay Trust Radio".
36. "Local Newspapers for Cumbria and the Lake District".
37. "Ulverston-Albert Twinning Association | Ulverston Town Council". www.ulverstoncouncil.org.uk. Retrieved 2 July 2019.
38. "Bonjour from Blackpool Airport!". News Powered by Cision. 30 January 2012. Retrieved 2 July 2019.
39. AP, Chris Thelen / (3 October 2008). "Ga. town keeps Laurel and Hardy's legacy alive". msnbc.com. Retrieved 2 July 2019.
40. "Ulverston Dickensian Christmas Festival". Retrieved 9 October 2008.
41. "Another Fine Fest 2020 | 20th -21st June | Ulverston". www.anotherfinefest.co.uk.
42. "Ulverston Dickensian Christmas Festival is proud of their #dickfest". The Poke. 27 November 2015.
43. "Festival 2020". Furness Tradition.
44. "Retro Rendezvous – The Lake District Vintage Festival". Retrieved 8 January 2022.
45. "Football | GSK Sports". Retrieved 2 July 2019.
46. "First Ulverston Parkrun gets off to perfect start". The Mail. 12 August 2018. Retrieved 29 September 2019.
47. "The Norway Portal - Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs". Norgesportalen.
48. Thomas, Michael (15 May 2019). "Peter Winston makes history as first winner of Freedom of the Town award in Ulverston". The North West Evening Mail. Retrieved 13 December 2021.
49. "Awarded for their service to the Community". The Mail. 22 November 2022. Retrieved 6 May 2024.
50. Tunningley, Allan (10 June 2010). "Regiment gets 'yes' in Ulverston freedom vote". The Westmorland Gazette. Retrieved 13 December 2021.
51. "The Duke of Lancaster's regiment receives town honour". BBC News. 7 May 2011. Retrieved 13 December 2021.
52. Tunningley, Allan (21 April 2015). "Freedom of the Town honour for Air Training Squadron". The Westmorland Gazette. Retrieved 13 December 2021.
53. Norman Birkett: The Life of Lord Birkett of Ulverston. ASIN 0140113452.
54. "Norman Gifford". cricinfo.com. Retrieved 1 February 2008.
55. Ovens, Eleanor (27 April 2019). "Sax prodigy Jess Gillam returns to Ulverston to celebrate album launch". The Mail. Barrow-in-Furness. Retrieved 30 April 2019.
56. "Bill Haley and his Comets". Classic Bands. Retrieved 18 January 2006.
57. "Feature Page of Francis Arthur Jefferson VC". Lancashire Fusiliers. Retrieved 1 February 2008.
58. "Stan Laure l". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved 1 February 2008.
59. "Ulverston Town Council (Cumbria)". Civic Heraldry of England. Retrieved 7 May 2022.

External links

•   Media related to Ulverston at Wikimedia Commons
•   Ulverston travel guide from Wikivoyage
• Cumbria County History Trust: Ulverston (nb: provisional research only – see Talk page)
• Official website
• Ulverston history at GENUKI
• Heritage First (formerly Ulverston Heritage Centre)