From Linen to Suburbia – A History of Clayton-le-Woods
Local government is a complicated thing. We have layers of County Councils, Borough Councils and Parish Councils, all with different voting boundaries and electoral cycles. Sometimes the system seems purposely devised to prevent us from keeping track of who is responsible for the bewildering kaleidoscope of wheelie bins, for failing to mend potholes and for avidly fining us when we stray into bus lanes. Life was simpler in olden times. Counties were divided into Hundreds and Hundreds into Townships, whose boundaries had been fixed by the Saxons. The Lord of the Manor held sway, and such local government as existed was carried out by local worthies through the Parish Vestry, the Poor Law Commission and the Magistrates Court. Thus, Clayton-le-Woods was a Township in the Hundred of Leylandshire, in the County of Lancashire. In this article, we will trace the history of this little township from a rural backwater to a traffic-filled dormitory town. Clayton-le-Woods: Facts and Figures ...