Warrington

   

Alternate uses: see Warrington (disambiguation).


Borough of Warrington
Image:EnglandWarrington.png
Geography
Status:Unitary, Borough
Region:North West England
Ceremonial County:Cheshire
Area:
- Total		Ranked 196th
180.64 km²
Admin. HQ:Warrington
ONS code:00EU
Demographics
Population:
- Total (2002 est.)
- Density		Ranked 69th
192,120
1,064 / km²
Ethnicity:97.9% White
Politics
Arms of Warrington Borough Council
Warrington Borough Council
http://www.warrington.gov.uk/
Leadership:Leader & Cabinet
Executive:Labour
MPs:Helen Jones, Helen Southworth


Warrington is a town and borough in North West England. It was traditionally in Lancashire, but was moved to Cheshire in 1974. Since April 1, 1998 it has been an independent unitary authority and administrative county.

At the last census count the population was 192,100.

It is the main town situated between Manchester and Liverpool. Landmarks of the town are Fiddlers Ferry Power Station, the Alice in Wonderland statue commemorating writer Lewis Carroll (Charles Dodgson) born in nearby Daresbury, and the Old Market Gate.

History

In Roman times, Warrington was a centre of industry and was founded as a crossing place of the River Mersey for Roman soldiers to go north from their base at Deva (modern Chester) some remains have been found at Wilderspool.

In medieval times Warrington's importance was as a bridging point on the River Mersey, and it was a fulcrum in the English Civil War. The armies of Oliver Cromwell and the Earl of Derby both stayed near the old town centre (the parish church area) at Cromwells Lodgings (now a restaurant) and the Marquis of Granby public house. Dents in the walls of the Parish church are rumoured to be have been caused by the cannons used in the English Civil War.

The bridging point at Warrington was vital to the town's future growth. The Red Lion Inn on Bridge Street is an example of a building built exclusively for people using the bridge.

By the 1890s when it acquired county borough status on reaching a population of 75,000, it was a centre of steel (particularly wire), textiles, brewing, and chemical and industries.

Heavy industry declined in the 1970s and 1980s but the growth of the new town around Warrington led to a great increase in employment in light industry, distribution, and technology.

The town was historically in Lancashire, and when local government was reformed in the 1970s, it was originally proposed to attach it to either Merseyside or Greater Manchester. Lobbying by the borough council prevented this, but since it would have been left with no geographic connection to Lancashire; it was made into a district of Cheshire instead. Due to a change in composition, the council changed its mind at the last minute, but to no avail. The borough eventually had its previous county borough status restored in another local government reform in the 1990s, when it became a unitary authority.

On the 20th March 1993, the IRA exploded two bombs in Warrington town centre. The blasts killed two children: three year old Johnathan Ball died instantly, and twelve year old Tim Parry died five days later in hospital. Their deaths provoked widespread condemnation of the Irish terrorist organisation responsible. The blast followed an unsuccessful bomb attack on the gas storage plants in Warrington.

Tim Parry's father founded The Peace Centre (formerly the Tim Parry Jonathan Ball Peace Centre) as part of a campaign to reconcile communities in conflict. The Centre opened in 1993.

Warrington is notable in political history for being the first place to field a candidate for the newly-formed SDP-Liberal Alliance. Former Home Secretary Roy Jenkins stood for MP in 1981 but lost to Labour candidate Doug Hoyle by a small number of votes.

However, many people, particularly Americans, will remember Warrington best as the location of Burtonwood RAF base, one of (if not the) largest RAF bases in England. During the war, Burtonwood was visited by major celebrities like Humphrey Bogart and Bob Hope who arrived to entertain troops. The base was closed in 1993.

Arts and entertainment

Warrington has a theatre (the Parr Hall), a new arts centre (the Pyramid), a museum and public library (the first rate-supported library in the UK), and a Victorian swimming bath (closed in July 2003, its future uncertain). There is only one Cinema at Westbrook but one is being considered for Winwick Street. There are several parks (see also Parks in Warrington) and one nature reserve area (Risley Moss). An indoor karting centre is located near to Bank Quay.

Culture

A number of festivals, carnivals, and walking days are held annually in the Warrington area. Warrington Walking Day is held on the closest Friday to the last day of June, and includes the annual fair.

Other festivals, besides the many walking days, include:

Shopping

It has a shopping mall (Golden Square) built in the 1970s, with a bus station attached. The mall is to be extended, and a new bus station provided. There is an indoor market. The old Cockhedge textile mill has been converted to another shopping mall. The main shopping streets are Buttermarket Street, Horsemarket Street, Sankey Street and Bridge Street. Where these 4 streets meet there is an attractive award-winning modern redevelopment with a large fountain and "skittles" (officially "guardians") designed by Howard Ben Tré. In the surrounding modern suburbs there are several shopping areas from small groups of shops to malls such as Birchwood Mall.

Buildings

The most interesting buildings are the Town Hall (formerly Bank Hall), the Academy, the so-called "Cromwell's Cottage" (17th century), and the 14th Century Parish Church of St Elphin, largely a Victorian rebuild, with its 280-foot spire. The impressive Cheshire Lines railway warehouse is currently derelict but may be redeveloped.

Warrington after the coming of the railway, 1851
Enlarge
Warrington after the coming of the railway, 1851

Transport

The town has two main railway stations, Bank Quay on the Chester-Warrington-Newton-le-Willows-Manchester and London to Glasgow lines, and Central on the Liverpool-Widnes-Manchester line and the Transpennine Route. There are stations in the suburbs at Padgate, Sankey and Birchwood. The town is close to the M62, M6 and M56 motorways and midway between Liverpool and Manchester airports.

Warrington Borough Transport run most bus services within the town, the First group and Arriva Northwestern provide bus links to surrounding towns and cities such as Altrincham, Manchester, The Trafford Centre, Liverpool, Runcorn and Chester. A new real-time passenger information system has now been installed but in some areas it remains to be activated.

The Manchester Ship Canal runs through the heart of the town dividing it into two and the Bridgewater Canal runs from the scenic village of Lymm through to Walton Lea Gardens, a local park/lesiure area.

Sports

The town's premier sports team is the Warrington Wolves Rugby League club. It has recently moved to the Halliwell Jones stadium, leaving its home for over a century, Wilderspool. Football is represented by Warrington Town (http://ds.dial.pipex.com/mozz) at Cantilever Park, next to the Manchester Ship Canal.

Civil Parishes

Warrington District was formed from a number of Civil Parishes which were the basic unit of local government prior to 1974. These were

Some of these parishes continued in existence and are governed by Parish Councils. The District also included a part of the Parish of Bold.

Districts

Council Wards

The council is headed by the Mayor of Warrington.

New wards were introduced for the 2004 elections. 30 Labour, 21 Liberal Democrat and 8 Conservative Councillors were elected, a total of 57 Members who represent 22 wards.

See Also

External links


Districts of England - North West England Flag of England

Allerdale | Barrow-in-Furness | Blackburn with Darwen | Blackpool | Bolton | Burnley | Bury | Carlisle | Chester | Chorley | Congleton | Copeland | Crewe and Nantwich | Eden | Ellesmere Port and Neston | Fylde | Halton | Hyndburn | Knowsley | Lancaster | Liverpool | Macclesfield | Manchester | Oldham | Pendle | Preston | Ribble Valley | Rochdale | Rossendale | St Helens | Salford | Sefton | South Lakeland | South Ribble | Stockport | Tameside | Trafford | Vale Royal | Warrington | West Lancashire | Wigan | Wirral | Wyre

Administrative counties with multiple districts: Cheshire, Cumbria, Greater Manchester, Lancashire, Merseyside


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