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Warrington is a large town and borough in the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. Historically part of Lancashire, and now a Unitary Authority, the population of the Warrington borough, including its 18 civil parishes, is 191,084 (2001 Census). 158,195 of these live in the Warrington Urban Area, defined by the ONS, and of these, 80,661 live in the core area.
Geography and administrationWarrington is bordered by Halton, Trafford, Salford, Wigan and St. Helens boroughs, and Vale Royal and Macclesfield districts in the County of Cheshire.[2]
The M6 runs to the east of the borough until the interchange with the M62, after which it bisects the northern outskirts of the town. The M62 passes through the north of the town, and the M56 skirts the south of the borough, only serving the outer limits of the borough. Warrington remains a major transport centre, sitting at the intersection of three of Britain’s biggest motorways, the M56, the M6 and the M62. It also sits on the West Coast Main Line, one of Britain's busiest railway lines. Civic history
Warrington acquired county borough status on reaching a population of 50,000 in 1900. Between 1889 and 1974, Warrington formed the County Borough of Warrington. As part of proposed local government reforms in England, in 1969 the Redcliffe-Maud Report suggested merging Warrington with either the Merseyside or Greater Manchester metropolitan counties. Lobbying by the borough council prevented this, though because Warrington would have been non-contiguous with Lancashire, as part of local government reforms of 1974, it, together with Lymm Urban District and part of Runcorn Rural District from Cheshire, and part of Warrington Rural District, was made a borough of Cheshire. The current borders of Warrington Borough cover the former County Borough of Warrington, Lymm Urban District, Warrington Rural District and part of Golborne Urban District, part of Runcorn Rural District and part of Whiston Rural District. On April 1, 1998 Warrington became an independent unitary authority, exempt from county council control, though it is still served by Cheshire Police and Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service, and forms part of Cheshire for ceremonial purposes. Political representationWarrington has two constituencies: Warrington North, whose MP is Helen Jones, and Warrington South, represented by Helen Southworth. Both seats are held by the Labour Party. These are in turn represented by various wards in Warrington, of which:
HistoryEarly historyIn Roman times, Warrington was a centre of industry and was founded as a crossing place of the River Mersey for Roman soldiers to go north from their base at Deva (modern Chester). Some Roman remains have been found at Wilderspool. In mediaeval times Warrington's importance was as a bridging point on the River Mersey, and it was a fulcrum in the English Civil War. The armies of Oliver Cromwell and the Earl of Derby both stayed near the old town centre (the parish church area). Popular legend has it that Cromwell lodged in the building which survives on Church Street as The Cottage Restaurant, though it is likely that the actual place was nearby, possibly next door. The Marquis of Granby public house bears a plaque stating that the Earl of Derby 'had his quarters near this site'. Dents in the walls of the parish church are rumoured to be have been caused by the cannons used in the Civil War. The bridging point at Warrington was vital to the town's future growth. The Red Lion Inn on Bridge Street is an example of a building built exclusively for people using the bridge. Industrial historyWarrington was a centre of steel (particularly wire), textiles, brewing, tanning and chemical industries. Heavy industry declined in the 1970s and 1980s but the growth of the new town around Warrington led to a great increase in employment in light industry, distribution and technology. Travel-to-work patterns are unusual, with many residents working outside the borough and many employees living elsewhere. IRA bombingOn the March 20 1993, the IRA exploded two bombs in Warrington town centre. The blasts killed two children: three year old Jonathan Ball died instantly, and twelve year old Tim Parry died five days later in hospital. Their deaths provoked widespread condemnation of the organisation responsible. The blast followed a bomb attack a few weeks earlier on a gas storage plant in Warrington. Tim Parry's father founded The Peace Centre (formerly the Tim Parry Jonathan Ball Peace Centre) as part of a campaign to reconcile communities in conflict. The centre opened on the seventh anniversary of the bombing in 2000. Other historyWarrington is notable in political history for being the first place to field a candidate for the then newly-formed SDP-Liberal Alliance; former Home Secretary Roy Jenkins stood for Parliament in 1981 but lost to Labour candidate Doug Hoyle by a small number of votes. However, many people, particularly Americans, will remember Warrington best as the location of Burtonwood RAF base, one of (if not the) largest RAF bases in England and the largest US Air Force base outside the United States. During World War II, Burtonwood was visited by major celebrities like Humphrey Bogart and Bob Hope who arrived to entertain the GIs. The base was closed in 1993. There was a further RAF training camp at Padgate, a Royal Naval air base at Stretton and an army base at the Peninsula Barracks in O'Leary Street, now used by the Territorial Army. LandmarksImage:Warrington town hall.jpg Warrington town hall and gates Sites of interest in Warrington include:
DemographicsBased on ONS statistics Population
Ethnicity
Housing and social situationHousing
Social situation
Employment and educationEmployment
Education
EconomyThis is a chart of trend of regional gross value added of Halton and Warrington at current basic prices published (pp.240-253) by Office for National Statistics with figures in millions of British Pounds Sterling.
TransportImage:Warrington - 1851 - Project Gutenberg eText 13721.jpg Warrington after the coming of the railway, 1851 The town has two main railway stations: Bank Quay on the London to Glasgow and Chester - Warrington - Newton-le-Willows - Manchester lines, and Central on the Liverpool - Widnes - Manchester line and the Transpennine route. Bank Quay is much altered, but Central (built 1873) is of some architectural merit, featuring polychromatic brickwork. Both main railway stations have suffered from years of underinvestment but have undergone some refurbishment. There are also railway stations in the suburbs at Padgate, Sankey and Birchwood. The town lies close to the M62, M6 and M56 motorways and midway between Liverpool and Manchester airports. Warrington Borough Transport, one of the few municipal bus companies to survive in public ownership, runs most bus services within the town. First Group and Arriva Northwestern provide bus links to surrounding towns and cities such as Manchester, the Trafford Centre, Liverpool, St Helens, Runcorn, Widnes and Chester. A new real-time passenger information system has been installed. A new bus station known as Warrington Interchange opened in 2006 at the Golden Square Shopping Centre. The River Mersey runs through the heart of the town dividing it in two. There are only two main thoroughfares crossing the Mersey in Warrington: at Bridge Foot and at the Kingsway Bridge. The Manchester Ship Canal runs through the south of the town; three swing bridges and a high-level cantilever bridge provide crossing points, and another high-level crossing is planned downstream nearer to Runcorn. Although shipping movements on the ship canal are far less frequent than in years past, they can cause severe delay to local road traffic. The picturesque Bridgewater Canal runs through the borough from the scenic village of Lymm to Walton Hall and Gardens, a local park/leisure area. Present dayArts and entertainmentWarrington has a concert hall (the Parr Hall), an arts centre (the Pyramid), a museum, an art gallery, and various public libraries throughout the borough. Warrington Central Library was the first rate-supported library in the UK. The Victorian swimming baths closed in July 2003. There is a cinema at Westbrook, and another is being considered as part of a town centre redevelopment. There are several parks (see also Parks in Warrington) and designated nature reserves at Woolston Eyes, Risley Moss, Rixton Claypits, and Paddington Meadows. There is also indoor bowling located at Winwick Quay, and indoor paintball. An indoor karting centre is located near to Bank Quay. A Laser Quest arena and a snooker club can also be found in Warrington. CultureA number of festivals, carnivals, and walking days are held annually in the Warrington area. Warrington Walking Day - originally a Sunday School festival - is held on the closest Friday to the last day of June, and the town centre is closed to traffic as churches walk together through the streets. Other festivals, besides the many walking days, include:
EducationImage:Sir Thomas Boteler High School.jpg Sir Thomas Boteler High School Warrington is home to two colleges: Priestley College, and Warrington Collegiate. The University of Chester has a campus at Padgate that was formerly part of Warrington Collegiate. Most of the high schools have their own post-16 provision (sixth-form). There are high schools throughout the borough. They are located in: Birchwood, Culcheth, Appleton (known as Bridgewater High), two in Latchford (Sir Thomas Boteler Church of England High School and Cardinal Newman Roman Catholic High School), Sankey (Great Sankey High School), Lymm, Padgate, Penketh, Westbrook (St. Gregory's Roman Catholic High School), Orford (William Beamont High School), and Woolston[7]. There are also 74 primary schools in the borough, all of which feed into at least one of the above.[8]. Warrington is also home to the Peace Centre, built after the IRA bombings which occurred in the town centre in 1993. This was a feature of Warrington's bid for city status, calling itself a "City for Peace". ShoppingIn spite of its proximity to significant retail areas in Manchester, Liverpool, Chester and the out-of-town Trafford Centre, Warrington continues to have one of the larger shopping centres in North West England. Despite this competition, Warrington has seen an increase in its customer trade, due in part to the modernisation of the town centre. It has a shopping mall (Golden Square) first opened in 1974, which is being extended to include a Debenhams store, and a new bus station. The old Cockhedge Textile Mill was demolished and replaced by another shopping mall. The main shopping streets are Buttermarket Street, Horsemarket Street, Sankey Street and Bridge Street. Where these four streets intersect at Market Gate, there is an award-winning redevelopment with a large fountain and "guardians" (known locally as "the skittles") designed by Howard Ben Tré. The town also has a large indoor market, and several other small shopping malls, such as Hatters Row. In the surrounding modern suburbs, there are several shopping areas, from small groups of shops to malls such as Birchwood Mall. IKEA chose Warrington as the location for their first store when they came to the UK, which is located next to the large out-of-town shopping area of Gemini, which has a large Marks and Spencer (the biggest outside London) , Toys "R" Us, and Next outlets. SportThe town's premier sports team is the Warrington Wolves Rugby League club, formerly nicknamed "The Wire" because of Warrington's history of wire making. The club moved in 2003 to the Halliwell Jones Stadium, leaving its home for over a century, Wilderspool. Football is represented by Warrington Town FC at Cantilever Park, next to the Manchester Ship Canal. Warrington Athletic Club are based at Victoria Park, where a new eight-lane synthetic track was built in 1998, after the original track was destroyed in a fire the previous year. Warrington Wasps are the representative Basketball team for the 12 Secondary Schools in Warrington. http://www.warringtonwasps.piczo.com Notable residents
Divisions and suburbs
Civil parishesApart from the former County Borough of Warrington which remains unparished, the Borough of Warrington includes eighteen civil parishes. Districts
Electoral wardsCouncil meetings are chaired by the Mayor of Warrington. New wards were introduced for the 2004 elections. The 2006 local elections left Labour with 26 seats, Liberal Democrat 25 and Conservative 6, a total of 57 members who represent 22 wards. A "shared administration" of Lib Dem / Conservative members took control of the council. One Labour member has since resigned the party whip.
Twin towns
See alsoReferences
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