Warton, Lancaster
Warton, Lancaster
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1781104

Warton, Lancaster

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1781104

Warton, Lancaster

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Warton, Lancaster

Warton is a village, civil parish and electoral ward in the Lancaster district of Lancashire, England. The village is close to the boundary with Cumbria, and approximately 1.5 miles (2.4 km) north of Carnforth, which was originally part of the parish of Warton. The village had a population of 2,315 at the 2001 census, and 2,360 at the 2011 census. In 2021 its population was 2,323. The parish covers an area in excess of 11,000 acres (45 km2) and is predominantly rural.

The earliest record of the Warton is in the Domesday Book of 1086. The village contains Warton Old Rectory, the ruins of a late thirteenth- or early fourteenth-century clergyman's house. The parish church, dedicated to Saint Oswald, has links to the Washington family, the ancestors of the first president of the United States of America, George Washington.

The exact origins of St Oswald's Church (formerly Holy Trinity) and its associated parish are unknown. It is believed that the church in this parish was established well before the Norman Conquest in 1066. The oldest portion of the church is the south wall which is of 14th-century origin, though the earliest recorded incumbent dates from 1190.

By the start of the 13th century, Warton had developed into an important staging post on the route north to Carlisle, Northumbria and Scotland. So much so, it was granted a charter for a Wednesday market, gallows and ordeal pit in 1200 during the reign of King John. The grant of borough status by the town's lord, the baron of Kendal, later in the 13th century confirmed the economic importance of Warton at that period.

The oldest surviving building other than the church is the ruined rectory, built around 1267; records exist of work being carried out on the rectory until 1332. The ruins are in good condition with the gables surviving to almost their original height (around 30 ft). Now in the care of English Heritage, it is a rare survival of a large 14th-century stone house with great hall and chambers. It served as a residence and courthouse for the wealthy and powerful rectors of Warton.

Warton is the birthplace of the medieval ancestors of George Washington, the first popularly elected President of the United States. Lawrence Washington, seven generations prior to George Washington and his family, arrived in Warton around 1300, and Robert Washington, Lawrence's great-grandson, is rumoured to have helped build the clock tower of St Oswald's Church. The Washington family coat of arms, three mullets and two bars, can be found in the church and is said to have inspired the design of the flag of the United States. The flag of the United States of America is displayed on the village church flag pole every Fourth of July. The flag was donated to the village after US soldiers had visited the village during World War II and having returned to the USA contacted their state senator about the birthplace of the Washington family. The donated flag had flown above the Capitol Building in Washington DC.

The village continued to expand during the 16th and 17th century, a large number of houses being built to line the backbone of the village, Main Street, running through Carnforth, Warton, Yealand Conyers and Yealand Redmayne

Until the 18th century, Warton was a minor provider of limestone quarried from Warton Crag. With the invention of the steam locomotive this industry boomed, causing Carnforth, the small hamlet where the local railway station was placed, to expand and outgrow Warton in a matter of decades. A number of the old 17th century lime kilns can still be found dotted around Warton Crag.

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