Wrea Green

Wrea Green

The duck pond - 'The Dub'
Wrea Green
 Wrea Green shown within Lancashire
OS grid referenceSD397315
Civil parishRibby with Wrea
DistrictFylde
Shire countyLancashire
RegionNorth West
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post town PRESTON
Postcode district PR4 2
Dialling code 01772
Police Lancashire
Fire Lancashire
Ambulance North West
EU Parliament North West England
UK ParliamentFylde
List of places
UK
England
Lancashire

Coordinates: 53°46′34″N 2°54′50″W / 53.776°N 2.914°W / 53.776; -2.914

Wrea Green is a village in the Fylde borough of Lancashire, England. It lies about 2 miles west of Kirkham. Along with the village of Ribby, it forms the civil parish Ribby with Wrea.[1]

Wrea Green has approximately 1,600 residents, many of whom work at the nearby Warton Aerodrome 2 miles away, where BAE Systems is a major local employer. Uniquely for the Fylde Coast, Wrea Green, as described by its name, surrounds a large common land space at one side of which is a duck pond, known locally as 'The Dub'.

Wrea Green has won "Lancashire's Best Kept Village" award 15 times - 1959, 1965, 1966, 1968, 1972, 1980, 1986, 1987, 1993, 1996, 2001, 2005, 2009, 2010 and 2012.

History

A part of the village of Wrea Green (actually as a separate hamlet) existed before the time of the Domesday Book, with the name of Ricksby. The name was changed along the way to Rigbi. In this guise it was mentioned in Domesday, as was the neighbouring hamlet of Wra (which became Wray). The name of the village eventually, through misspellings and a growing population became Ribby with Wray. As there was already a Wray in the county of Lancaster (Lune Valley) the spelling of the village name was changed to Wrea. As the village has the largest village green in the county and to distinguish it further from the other Wray, the name "Wrea Green" was born.

Between 1846 and 1961, the village was served by Wrea Green railway station. In 1897 Wrea Green suffered a plague of sparrows and the Parish Council agreed to pay a halfpenny for every sparrow, sparrow's egg or rat’s tail that was collected.[2]

The property at the northern end of Church Row was for many years the office of J. Wareing & Son (Wrea Green) Ltd, a long established farm-building construction company[3] but before this was a sub-branch of the District Bank Ltd.

Religion

St Nicholas' Church, from the south

The large Grade II listed Anglican parish church is dedicated to St Nicholas. The original small church on the site was licensed for services in 1722 and was consecrated by the Bishop of Chester in 1755. This was eventually demolished and on 13 May 1848 the new vicar, G. L. Parsons, laid the foundation stone for the present structure.[4]

It was rebuilt in 1848–49 by the Lancaster architects Sharpe and Paley.[5] In 1884 the tower and spire were added by the successors in the same practice, Paley and Austin.[6]

The church is active, has regular weekly services and is a popular wedding venue. An extension was built in the late 2000's.

Local businesses

The village has a few small businesses and eating places. These include an artificial grass supplier and installer, a hair salon, a construction design services consultancy, a pub (The Grapes), a holiday hotel, sports and conference centre, a tearoom, a Thai restaurant, a post office with shop, a hotel with restaurant and a dentist. There is also the Wrea Green Institute, a members club with a community room.[7] J. Wareing & Son Ltd has now relocated from the village centre and the site re-used for a small development of detached houses.

The Grapes dates back to the 19th Century and was originally known as The Letters Inn because it provided postal services before the arrival of the village post office and later The Pudding Inn. The pub is now owned by Chef and Brewer.

Community Events

Wrea Green Field Day, or Club Day, is a large festival held in Wrea Green including a fancy-dress parade, special event, a three-day visit by a large travelling fair and special stalls on the village green. Local children/teenagers are involved in the parade around the Green and the highlight of the day is the de-crowning of the previous Queen, the "Retiring Queen" (from the year before) and the crowning of a new Queen, the "Rose Queen".[8] People with some local prominence usually crown the Queens, for example, the head teacher of the primary school in 2006 etc.

The Wrea Green Horticultural Society is hosting its first show in September 2016 which will include classes, exhibits and a beer festival.[9]

Education

School House

The school (Ribby-with-Wrea Endowed C.E.) was founded by James Thistleton in 1693. A second school was founded by Nicholas Sharples in 1715. The two trusts were united in 1750. It moved to the current site in 1845, when the church of St Nicholas[10] replaced the Sharples school. The oldest part of the present school building dates from 1898.

Twin towns

Since November 2005 the village has been twinned the small picturesque French village of Saint-Bris-le-Vineux in Burgundy. A delegation of Wrea Green residents travelled to St Bris to make the twinning official, but the first large exchange came when, at Easter 2006, 43 French people came to stay in Wrea Green. After the major success of July 2007's trip to France by 40 Wrea Green residents, a return exchange took place in August 2008, when a similar number of French guests came to the UK.

Recent Development

In 2010 plans for a new housing estate, comprising 55 houses on land on Richmond Avenue in the village, were announced by developer Les Blanc Bois Holdings Ltd. Additionally, Fylde businessman David Haythornthwaite announced plans to create the "Greenland Sports Village", featuring a football stadium for non league A.F.C. Fylde, at Greenlands Farm on Ribby Road. Both plans have met opposition from some villagers[11] and plans to build the A.F.C Fylde stadium in the village have since been abandoned and the proposed stadium has since been built north of Wesham.[12] However, the houses on Richmond Avenue have since been built. A "Save Wrea Green Action Group" was formed.[13]

Places of Interest

Wrea Green has several place of interest. The school, the pub and the church which are located next to each other have long been focal points in village life

See also

References

  1. ↑ "GENUKI: Ribby with Wrea, Lancashire genealogy". Retrieved 17 January 2015.
  2. ↑ "Brief History of Wrea Green - Wrea Green". Retrieved 17 January 2015.
  3. ↑ "Industrial Agricultural Buildings Manufacturers Erectors - Wareing Buildings". Retrieved 17 January 2015.
  4. ↑ Porter, J. MRCS, LSA (1878) History of the Fylde of Lancashire, Fleetwood and Blackpool, W. Porter and Sons Publisher, Chapter III - Ecclesiastical History (continued)
  5. ↑ Price, James (1998), Sharpe, Paley and Austin: A Lancaster Architectural Practice 1836–1942, Lancaster: Centre for North-West Regional Studies, p. 71, ISBN 1-86220-054-8
  6. ↑ Hartwell, Clare; Pevsner, Nikolaus (2009) [1969], The Buildings of England. Lancashire: North, New Haven and London: Yale University Press, p. 571, ISBN 978-0-300-12667-9
  7. ↑ "WHAT'S ON". WREA GREEN INSTITUTE. Retrieved 2016-08-20.
  8. ↑ "Field Day | Wrea Green". www.wreagreen.com. Retrieved 2016-08-20.
  9. ↑ "Wrea Green Show". www.wreagreenshow.co.uk. Retrieved 2016-08-20.
  10. ↑ "St Nicholas Church of England, Wrea Green, Lancashire genealogy". Retrieved 17 January 2015.
  11. ↑ 24 February 2010, "Rural fears over 'city of Fylde'", Lytham St Annes Express, retrieved 19 October 2011
  12. ↑ "Building work kick starts football stadium project". www.lep.co.uk. Retrieved 2016-08-20.
  13. ↑ Save Wrea Green Action Group
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