Chorley is a market town in Lancashire, in North West England. It is the largest settlement in the Borough of Chorley. Chorley is located 8.1 miles North of Wigan and 19.5 miles north west of Manchester. As with the Lancashire and Greater Manchester region, the town’s wealth came principally from the cotton industry. As recently as the 1970s the skyline was dominated by numerous factory chimneys, but most are now demolished: remnants of the industrial past include Morrison’s chimney and a few other mill buildings, and the streets of terraced houses for mill workers. Chorley is known as the home of the Chorley cake. Chorley, like most Lancashire towns, gained its wealth from the industrial revolution of the 19th century which was also responsible for the town’s growth. Chorley was a vital cotton town with many mills littering the skyline. Today only three mills still remain working. Also, Chorley in its location on the edge of Lancashire Coalfield was vital in coal mining. Several pits existed in Duxbury Woods, the Gillibrand area and more numerously in Coppull. Chisnall Hall Colliery at Coppull was considered the biggest Lancashire pit outside of Wigan and one of many located in the Chorley suburb. The last pit in the area to close was the Ellerbeck Colliery in 1987 which was located south of Chorley, between Coppull and Adlington. The town played an important role during the Second World War, when it was home to the Royal Ordnance Factory, a large munitions manufacturer in the village of Euxton about 2 miles (3.2 km) from the town centre. A smaller factory was also built near the Blackburn-Wigan railway line in Heapey. In the 1970s Chorley was designated as part of Central Lancashire new town, together with Preston and Leyland. The original aim of this project was to combine the three settlements into a single city with a population of around half a million. Although this never came to pass, and the project has since been abandoned, Chorley benefited from the urban renewal commonly associated with new towns. Examples include a bypass of the town centre, and the Market Walk shopping centre. Chorley town centre is the main location of shopping facilities in the town. Shops such as W.H. Smith, Argos, Massa’s Ice Cream Parlour, Rebel Cause and The Blue House to name a few have a presence in the town. The town centre in recent years has seen the new Market Walk development and the building a new town centre Booths supermarket. The town is also famous for its market heritage and is quoted as “Lancashire’s market town”. The outdoor market which has run for over 200 years, takes place every Tuesday on the Flat Iron. There is also a covered market place in the Market Square. As well as these, Chorley has seen development out of town including retail parks which have seen the addition of Currys and B&Q to name a few. Chorley is also home to three of the four big supermarkets, including Asda, Morrisons and Tesco. Further to this Chorley was the starting point for The Chorley Group with their flagship dealership Chorley Nissan. The motor group now boasts eight dealerships across the North West with the newest addition appearing in the form of Chorley Fiat in Blackpool. The Chorley group are continuing to promote the Chorley name across the Country and beyond. A £20m development, Market Walk Phase Two, is planned to add four shop units and a multi-storey car park to the existing Market Walk shopping centre. As of January 2008 this is on hold until the council finds another developer. Chorley has two historical societies, the Chorley Historical and Archaeological Society and the Chorley and District Natural History Society. It also has a civic society. Chorley Little Theatre was built as one of the town’s first electric cinemas in 1910, it has been owned and operated by volunteers from Chorley Amateur Dramatic and Operatic Society (CADOS) since 1960. The society put on at least six productions a year (typically four plays, a pantomime, and a musical) and shows by Chorley Youth Theatre and big-screen films from Chorley Empire Community Cinema. It underwent refurbishment in 2010 and hosts touring comedy and music shows from old and new acts. Astley Park, the town’s urban, town centre park includes the Grade I listed, Astley Hall and also the renovated and refurbished Coach House Gallery and Walled Garden. The Coach House Gallery presents a seasonal programme of visual arts exhibitions from local and regional artists alongside an outdoor cultural events programme in the Walled Garden. These events include live music, theatre, dance and community arts events. The Arts Partnership is a youth arts charity that operates from their own venue on Railway Street in the town centre. They run a number of arts and creative schemes with a diverse range of young people. The murals at the railway and bus stations were produced as part of projects from the registered charity. Cedar Farm Galleries in Mawdesley houses a number of artist’s studios, retail stores and an on site restaurant. Notable Chorley residents:
Chorley’s proud history.
