Preston A Chronology Of The City History

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A summary of key events in the history of Preston, many of which will be covered in more depth in future articles. A list like this gives me a framework to hinge my study of the city upon. Preston population 114,300 + me. Named Prestune in the Domesday Book. Preston means Priest’s Settlement. 1086 The Domesday Book lists Preston as the wealthiest area of the county of Amounderness (the entire region between the Ribble and Cocker rivers). 1179 – Preston attained Guild status, being officially designated a market town, an event celebrated every 20 years. The next Guild Fest is in 2022. No other market town retains this traditional festival. 1260 The Grey Friars (Franciscan Monks) arrived in the city. There is a Greyfriars Street and a Grey Friar pub named in their honour. 13th Century – Textiles produced from homes in the town. Middle Ages – The town had a major leper colony. 14th Century – Preston gets a grammar school 1539 – The Grey Friars friary closed under orders from Henry 8th as part of his Protestant anti-Catholic Reformation. 1631 The city faces a severe plague 1642 – Start of The English Civil War – Preston pledges allegiance to the King’s cause 1643 – Preston attacked and captured by the Roundheads. The mayor is killed. 1648 – Battle of Preston – A Royalist defeat in the English Civil Wars 1715 – Jacobite rising – the last officially recognized battle on English soil. 23rd December 1732 – Sir Richard Arkwright born in Preston. He created the Water Frame. 1771 – Preston’s first cotton mill opens 1815 – Preston becomes the first town outside London to have its streets and wealthier properties lit by gas. 1824 – The opening of the town corn market. 1832 and 1848 – Major outbreaks of cholera in the city 1832 – Piped water reaches Preston for the first time 1838 – Preston receives a railway line 1841 The first museum is opened in the city 1842 Major strike action, leading on the 13th August to four men being shot dead by soldiers in a desperate attempt at crowd control. A statue on the spot commemorates the tragedy. I have used part of for the photo accompanying this feature. 1854 – January – Charles Dickens visited Preston, and later used it as an inspirational basis for Coketown in his novel, Hard Times. 1864 Miller Park opens 1862 Moor Park opens 1870 The opening of Preston Royal Infirmary hospital. 1879 – Horse drawn trams start operating in Preston 1879 Preston opens its first free public library 1885 – Farringdon Park opens 1891 The town gets its first telephone exchange 1901 The Leyland Steam Wagon Company begins trading, and becomes Leyland motors in 1907. 1918 – Aircraft manufacture begins in Preston 1926 – The city’s main war memorial cenotaph is unveiled 1939 Courtald’s Rayon factory opens for the first time – see events in 1979. 1939-1945 – Though the city received sporadic bombing from the Luftwaffe in World War Two no one in the city died in any air raids here. 1944 – A USAF plane crashed into a school near its airfield, killing 61, mostly infant children. 1958 – The Preston bypass is opened. 1860's - Avenham Park opened 1966 – The opening of the St. George’s Shopping Centre 1979 Courtald’s factory, a major employer in the town, closed down, throwing 3,000 onto unemployment welfare overnight. 1981 The Ribble docks closed for the last time. 2002 – Preston is granted city status. 2016 – July – The Church Of St Ignatius is officially designated the city’s Cathedral. 2016 – 9th August – I arrived in Preston. Arthur Chappell