Freckleton

Freckleton is a village on the north side of the Ribble Estuary, between Preston and Lytham. The A584 now passes by the north of the village.

The centre of the village is marked by a fenced off garden with the war memorial; previously this was the village green. 

The village green is formed from three roads that make up a triangle. From here roads lead in various directions. To the south-southeast the road goes to Lytham, via Warton. To the north-northwest, there is a road to Kirkham. To the southeast in Preston Old Road, which then heads east, then northeast, at which point is crossed Freckleton Pool, and headed east-northeast to a tollhouse, and then due each towards Preston, across Freckleton Marsh. The tollhouse is still there are visible from the A584; it is now a farmhouse.

In 1920, a new road was built, now called Preston New Road, coming in to the village green from the northeast. A roundabout less than 100 m up the road makes the start of the bypass, built in 1992.

This view shows the village green - now memorial gardens - looking east.

At the west end there is a clock.

To the north of the village green, on the corner of the Kirkham Road, is a pub, the Plough.

And slightly  further up that road is the Methodist church.

The road now terminates here, truncated by the bypass.

Going west from the village green, down the Lytham Road, there is the Holy Trinity Church on the left.

A bit further along, and on the right was Balderstone Mill. A bit of wall remains, including a section with the name of the mill and another with the year it was built, 1879, but most has been levelled and is now covered in housing. There is surprisingly little about in on the internet too.

The village has developed further in this direction, until it has reached Warton, building being restricted to the south by the Ribble and Warton airport; to the north by the A584; and to the east by Freckleton Pool, a tiny tributary of the Ribble. Suburban housing is not of great interest, and I did not bother going far to the west at all.

South of the village green is the Coach and Horses. The road to the left in the image is Preston Old Road.

Heading down Preston Old Road, an interesting conversion from an old barn.

The point where Old Preston Road turns to the northeast, Bunker Road goes south.

These both run beside Freckleton Pool, and at one time this was the industrial heart of the village. There was a water-mill, and some ship-building, and rope- and sail making. The mill was shut towards the end of the nineteenth century to facilitate draining the marshm and was demolished many years later.

There are still a couple of boat yards, but I suspect the narrow width of the river finished the ship building industry. There is still a Ship Inn, possible dating from the fourteenth and the oldest pub on the Fylde, according to here.

This is the view looking east from the Ship carpark, over Freckleton Marsh, towards Preston. This was a somewhat grey day in early December...

Got to admit, there is not a lot to Freckleton. The village green has a board that lists the tourist highlights, but even that was forced to tell you about the site of where such-and-such used to be.