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Goosnargh
Village
Goosnargh Parish Church, St Mary the Virgin
GoosnarghVillage shown within the City of Preston districtShow map of the City of Preston districtGoosnarghLocation within LancashireShow map of Lancashire
Population	1,072
OS grid reference	SD557367
Civil parish	Goosnargh Whittingham
District	Preston
Shire county	Lancashire
Region	North West
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	PRESTON
Postcode district	PR3
Dialling code	01772
Police	Lancashire
Fire	Lancashire
Ambulance	North West
UK Parliament	Ribble Valley
List of places UK England Lancashire 53°49′26″N 2°40′26″W / 53.824°N 2.674°W / 53.824; -2.674

Goosnargh (/ˈɡuːznər/ GOOZ-nər) is a village and civil parish in the City of Preston district of Lancashire, England.

The village lies between Broughton and Longridge, and mostly lies in the civil parish of Whittingham, although the ancient centre lies in the civil parish of Goosnargh. The parish of Goosnargh had a population of 1,204 recorded in the 2001 census, increasing to 1,316 at the 2011 Census. The village population in 2011 was 1,072.

Toponymy

The name, meaning "Gosan's or Gusan's hill pasture", derives from Gosan or Gusan (an Old Irish personal name) and erg (Norse for "hill pasture"). The name appeared in the Domesday Book as Gusansarghe but by 1212 had changed to Gosenargh, closer to today's pronunciation. However, one reference suggested Gusansarghe was from Old Norse gudhsins hörgi (related to hörgr), meaning "at the idol's (god's) temple."

Goosnargh village

The Anglican parish church of St Mary the Virgin is situated on Church Lane. Trinity Methodist Church, originally dating from the early 1880s, is situated on Whittingham Lane.

Goosnargh has two public houses, The Grapes located on Church Lane and The Stags Head on Whittingham Lane. The Bushells Arms, also located on Church Lane, closed in 2010 and is now a private residence.

There is also a Post Office, hairdresser, pharmacy, village hall, florists and a fish and chip shop in the village. There used to be a gift shop and an estate agent in the village but these have closed down. The village is also the location of the Whittingham and Goosnargh Social Club.

The village holds an annual festival on the first Saturday after the Spring Bank Holiday Monday during which there is a procession through the village. The procession includes decorated floats, fancy dress, maypole dancing and marching bands.

Goosnargh Cornfed Chicken and Duck is championed by chefs including Gordon Ramsay.

The oldest house in Goosnargh is Stone Cottage on Goosnargh Lane. It is now 339 years old. The beams in the 900-year-old local church have traces of sea salt in them. People believe they were from old Viking long boats.

The village itself has a population of 1,540, much of which is included in the civil parish of Whittingham.

There are two bus services to Goosnargh, numbered 45 and 46, with an hourly service on each route. The 45 connects the village with Preston city centre, Fulwood, Longridge, and Blackburn, while the 46 goes to Preston, Cottam, and Longridge. There are also a number of school buses which run through the village (584, 585 and 678).

Goosnargh village has a primary school: Goosnargh Oliversons C of E. Broughton High School, Longridge High School and St Cecilia's RC High School are the three high schools whose catchment areas include Goosnargh.

The footballers Lily Parr and Peter Corr both died in Goosnargh.

Bushell House, formerly known as Bushell's Hospital, on Mill Lane, is a retirement home and a Grade II listed building dating from 1722.

Goosnargh cake

The village gave its name to the Goosnargh cake, a type of caraway seed shortcake biscuit. The biscuits were traditionally sold at Whitsun. On Whit Tuesday in 1846 at the Annual Club Day at Goosnargh, the Preston Chronicle reported that thousands were sold and sellers were unable to satisfy demand. According to the Preston Herald in 1896 cakes with the "real Goosnargh flavour" were only obtainable in the village. A photograph of a Mrs Davis of Goosnargh sugaring Goosnargh cakes appeared in the Daily Mirror in November 1937. The accompanying caption states the cakes were baked in her cottage oven and would be sent to Australia, New Zealand and South Africa for Christmas. It was reported that Lloyd George became partial to Goosnargh cakes after eating some at a Christening and made out an order to a Mrs Cartwright in the village.

v t e Places around Goosnargh village
Barton Inglewhite Chipping Broughton Goosnargh Longridge Fulwood Haighton Green Grimsargh

Goosnargh parish

Goosnargh
Civil parish
St. Francis Church
Country	England
Primary council	Preston
County	Lancashire
Region	North West England
Status	Parish
Settlements	Goosnargh, Inglewhite and Whitechapel
Area
• Total	33.68 km (13.00 sq mi)
Population
• Total	1,316
• Density	39/km (100/sq mi)
Website	http://www.goosnarghpc.co.uk/

• Barton
• Broughton
• Goosnargh
• Grimsargh
• Haighton
• Ingol & Tanterton
• Lea
• Whittingham
• Woodplumpton

Goosnargh parish includes the small villages of Inglewhite and Whitechapel, and Beacon Fell Country Park. The northernmost part of the parish, including Whitechapel and Beacon Fell, lies within the Forest of Bowland Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The River Brock forms part of the parish boundary on the northwest and north sides.

The parish contains the Roman Catholic church of St Francis, Hill Chapel, and an adjoining Catholic primary school of the same name. The sixteenth-century Catholic martyr George Beesley was born at the site.

Waddecar Scout Activity Centre (formerly Waddecar Scout Camp), on Snape Rake Lane on the southern bank of the River Brock, was established in the mid-20th century.

Only one side of one road in Goosnargh village, including the parish church, lies within Goosnargh parish; almost all of the village lies within adjacent Whittingham parish. This may explain why the village is sometimes referred to as "Goosnargh and Whittingham", as if there were two villages. Some road signs on entering the village display "Goosnargh and Whittingham". The website of the local "Goosnargh & Whittingham Whitsuntide Festival" refers to "the twin villages of Goosnargh and Whittingham". An article in a local newspaper also refers to "the villages of Whittingham and Goosnargh". However, no modern maps show a village marked "Whittingham" and the website of Whittingham Parish Council refers only to the village of Goosnargh.

Newsham was separated from Goosnargh parish in 1894 and transferred to the parish of Barton. The parish was part of Preston Rural District throughout its existence from 1894 to 1974. In 1974 the parish became part of the Borough of Preston, which became a city in 2002.

Local businesses

Five of the ten Lancashire cheese dairies listed on the British Cheese Board's website in 2009 are located in Goosnargh parish: Butler's, Greenfields, Mrs Kirkham's, Shorrocks and Carron Lodge.

The parish is the home of Goosnargh Gin which is inspired by the nearby Bowland Fells. Two miles out of Goosnargh village is Ye Horns Inn.

In July 2015 an outbreak of bird flu occurred at a poultry farm in the parish, leading to a cull and the imposition of a 6-mile (10 km) exclusion zone. The strain of flu was identified as H7N7 and Public Health England confirmed there was little risk to public health.

Fallout bunker

During the Second World War the operations bunker of RAF Barton Hall was located at a site on Langley Lane on the border of the parishes of Goosnargh and Whittingham. After the war the Royal Observer Corps 21 Group Headquarters and the Western Sector Control of the United Kingdom Warning and Monitoring Organisation took over the bunker.

In the bunker was the standby national control of the famous "four-minute warning" air-raid warning system for the UK. The ROC and UKWMO were disbanded between 1991 and 1995 and the nuclear bunker was closed. The premises are now used as a veterinary practice.

v t e Parishes adjacent to Goosnargh
Claughton Bleasdale Chipping Myerscough and Bilsborrow Goosnargh Thornley-with-Wheatley Barton Whittingham Whittingham

In popular culture

The name "Goosnargh" appears in the works of Douglas Adams. In So Long, and Thanks For All the Fish, it is a Betelgeusian word used by Ford Prefect "when he knew he should say something but didn't know what it should be."

Alternatively, in The Meaning of Liff, his comic dictionary based on British place names, it is defined as "Something left over from preparing or eating a meal, which you store in the fridge despite the fact that you know full well you will never ever use it."

See also

• Listed buildings in Goosnargh

References

1. "Parish headcount" (PDF). Lancashire County Council. Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 December 2006. Retrieved 10 January 2009.
2. UK Census (2011). "Local Area Report – Goosnargh Parish (E04005236)". Nomis. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 27 May 2019.
3. UK Census (2011). "Local Area Report – Goosnargh Built-up area (E35000119)". Nomis. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 27 August 2023.
4. Lancashire Towns and Villages Retrieved on 29 October 2008
5. Taylor, Isaac (1896). Names and Their Histories: Alphabetically Arranged as a Handbook of Historical Geography and Topographical Nomenclature. London: Rivington, Percival & Co. pp. 390.
6. "Trinity Methodist Church Goosnargh". trinitygoosnargh.org.uk. Archived from the original on 4 September 2013. Retrieved 11 April 2013.
7. "Bushells Arms, Goosnargh". whatpub.com.
8. Gordon Ramsay's Claridge's menu, retrieved on 29 October 2008
9. Office for National Statistics : Census 2001 : Urban Areas : Table KS01 : Usual Resident Population Archived 8 February 2007 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 2009-08-26
10. "Goosnargh – bustimes.org". bustimes.org. Retrieved 12 February 2023.
11. June 2001, "Tributes to a star - and a devoted family man", Lancashire Evening Post, accessed 27 June 2009
12. Stuff, Good. "Bushells Hospital, Goosnargh, Lancashire". britishlistedbuildings.co.uk.
13. "Goosnargh Cake". Slow Food in the UK. Retrieved 7 April 2024.
14. "Goosnargh". Preston Chronicle. No. 1762. 6 June 1846. p. 5. Retrieved 28 August 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
15. "An afternoon at Goosnargh". Preston Herald. No. 3512. 14 November 1896. p. 10. Retrieved 28 August 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
16. "Her cakes go round the world". Daily Mirror. No. 10590. 11 November 1937. p. 16. Retrieved 28 August 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
17. "Octogenarians' Diamond Wedding". Burnley Express. No. 6658. 14 April 1934. p. 15. Retrieved 28 August 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
18. Camm, B. (1907), "Ven. George Beesley", The Catholic Encyclopedia, New York: Robert Appleton Company, retrieved 27 June 2009
19. Waddecar Activity Centre official website
20. Ordnance Survey (2017). Whittingham (PDF) (Topographic map). 1:6,000. Preston City Council. Archived (PDF) from the original on 27 August 2023. Retrieved 27 August 2023.
21. Goosnargh & Whittingham Whitsuntide Festival: 2008 Festival Archived 14 May 2008 at the Wayback Machine, accessed 5 November 2007
22. "Sports association up off the blocks", Longridge News, 3 May 2007, accessed online 6 November 2007
23. Lancashire Parish Portal: Whittingham Parish Council Archived 27 June 2009 at the Wayback Machine, accessed 5 November 2007
24. Farrer, William; Brownbill, J (1912). Township:Barton in A History of the County of Lancaster: Volume 7. London: Victoria County History. pp. 190–206. Retrieved 29 August 2023 – via British History Online .
25. Preston RD, Vision of Britain, accessed 9 June 2014
26. The Lancashire Dairies Archived 26 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine, British Cheese Board, accessed 27 June 2009
27. Barker, PHOTOGRAPHY: Glynn Ward & Elizabeth. "Goosnargh Gin - the spirit of Bowland". Lancashire Life.
28. "How Richard and Rachel created a new artisan Goosnargh Gin". www.lep.co.uk.
29. "Bird flu confirmed at Goosnargh farm". The Caterer. 13 July 2015. Retrieved 3 February 2024.
30. Hunt, D. (2003), The Wharncliffe Companion to Preston — An A to Z of Local History, Wharncliffe Books, Barnsley, ISBN 1-903425-79-4, p.151
31. Subterranea Britannica: Royal Observer Corps: Preston, accessed 6 November 2007

External links

• Whittingham Hospital
• Guild Lodge
• Goosnargh & Whittingham Whitsuntide Festival
• Goosnargh Parish Council

v t e Geography of the City of Preston district
Cities	Preston
Suburbs	Ashton-on-Ribble Avenham Brookfield Cadley Cottam Deepdale Fulwood Greyfriars Ingol Larches Lea Plungington Ribbleton Riversway Sharoe Green Tulketh
Villages	Barton Broughton Catforth Cumeragh Village Eaves Goosnargh Grimsargh Inglewhite Lea Town Whitechapel Woodplumpton
Parishes	Barton Broughton Goosnargh Grimsargh Haighton Ingol and Tanterton Lea Whittingham Woodplumpton
Topography	Parks and reserves Ashton Park Avenham Park Beacon Fell Brockholes Nature Reserve Miller Park Moor Park Winckley Square Woodland Beacon Fell Fernyhalgh Wood Waterways Lancaster Canal Ribble Link River Brock River Loud River Ribble Savick Brook
Preston Built-up Area PR postcode area

• Goosnargh
• Villages in Lancashire
• Civil parishes in Lancashire
• Geography of the City of Preston