Thornton is a village in the Borough of Wyre, about 4 miles (6 km) north of Blackpool and 2 miles (3 km) south of Fleetwood. The civil parish of Thornton became an urban district in 1900, and was renamed Thornton-Cleveleys in 1927. In 2011, the Thornton built-up area sub division had a population of 18,941.

Thornton is first mentioned in 1086 in the Domesday Book, in which it was referred to as Torentum (a name preserved by Torentum Court on Lawsons Road). At the time, it covered a large area including what are now Cleveleys and Fleetwood, and had a very low population density. It is thought that a settlement had existed at the site since the Iron Age, and a Roman road passes close to the village. The area remained lightly populated until 1799, when the marshland around the village was drained and agricultural production began on a large scale.

Marsh Mill, a large well-preserved windmill, built in 1794, is a prominent landmark. It was commissioned by Bold Hesketh, uncle of Peter Hesketh (later Peter Hesketh-Fleetwood), who would go on to play a prominent role in the expansion of Fleetwood. Tragedy struck in May 1930, when a Miss Alice Baldwin and a Mrs Mary Jane Bailey visited the windmill with an interest in purchasing it. However, when both women stepped onto the fantail platform, the platform collapsed and the women fell to their deaths.

The opening of salt works at nearby Burn Naze by the United Alkali Company in the early 1890s (later becoming ICI, with ICI Hillhouse being formed) led to significant expansion of the village, with new houses and community buildings constructed. Thornton became an Urban District Council in 1900, surviving until 1974, when it became part of Wyre Borough Council.

A notable early building, The Illawalla, stood in the Skippool area of Thornton between 1902 and 1996.

In 2015, the complete skeleton of a pre-historic wolf, nicknamed the Thornton Wolf, was discovered in the back garden of a home in the village.

A railway station, Thornton for Cleveleys railway station, was opened in Thornton in 1865. It was formerly the principal intermediate stop on the Fleetwood branch of the LMS/British Rail London Midland Region railway, running from Poulton-le-Fylde, but it has been years since the station was used, with the level crossing at Station Road now fenced over; however, a decision by the Poulton & Wyre Railway Society means they will finance a feasibility study into bringing the railway back to Thornton and Fleetwood.

Thornton Centre's stops 1 and 2 are served by three bus routes:^{[citation needed]}