Preston and Winckley Square - A Brief History
 
Coat of Arms
Preston Coat of Arms The lamb is the Lamb of St Wilfred, who is the Patron Saint of Preston. The letters "PP" are taken to mean "Princeps Pacis", that is, Prince of Peace, or, as some would like it to be "Proud Preston" or "Priests Town". On an earlier Coats-of Arms the lamb was standing and three letter "P's" were depicted on it. The reason for the three letters was to give a general balance to the Coat-of-Arms, which in later years was changed to two to provide a more modern theme. 
 
Time Line - A Thousand Years
1066   Battle of Hastings, Preston is “given” to Roger de Poictou.
1080’s   Doomsday book is written.
1102  Roger de Poictou is expelled. Preston again becomes the property of the crown.
1179    Preston is granted a charter by Henry II. The charter includes the right to a Guild Merchant.
1322   Robert the Bruce fired the town.
1343  Preston is recorded as “being richer than any other city or town in Lancashire." 
1565  Preston gains a system of government which remains (almost) unchanged to this day.
1566   The Charter of Elizabeth I documents the hope that Preston shall “remain the Borough of peace and tranquility for all future time”.
1630 The Great Plague arrives in Preston and claims hundreds of lives.
1644   On 27th February 1644, the ‘Committee of both Kingdoms’ laid a post from London to Preston.
1648 Royalists defeated at The Battle of Preston.
1680  First detailed plan of Preston is created by Edward Kuerden.
1684      Charles II amended Preston’s Charter.
1711     Authur Devis – Preston’s most famous painter and landscape artist is born.
1728   South Prospect of Preston is painted by Nathiel Buck.
1768     Richard Arkwright perfected the first powered spinning wheel.
1776 The Jesuit priest and popular philanthropist, Father Joseph Dunn, arrives in Preston.
1777    First cotton mill erected. Cotton will dominate the town for 150 years.
1794 Joseph Livesey is born. He founded the temperance movement in 1834 and was a philanthropist to the town, an author and pioneer.
1799 William Cross erects the first house in Winckley Square.
1803 The Tram Road took three years to construct and was open for business towards the end of 1803.
1804 The death of John Horrocks.
1815 The Preston Gas Light Company was founded. Preston was the first provincial town to install public gas lighting.
1828 'The Institution for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge' is founded.
1842 12th August - five cotton workers killed by a detachment of the 72nd Highlanders.
1852 The Peel Statue erected, by public subscription, in Winckley Square.
1853-54 20,000 cotton workers locked out of factories.
1854 Designed by Joseph Hansom, St Walburges Church opens.
1857 75 cotton mills now in use.
1865 The death of Thomas Miller.
1867 "New" Gothic Town Hall is opened.
1869 The impressive 309ft spire is added to St Walburges Church.
1870 Preston Royal Infirmary is opened on 1st January.
1888-89 Preston North End Football Club is one of the founder members of the Football League and become the first winners of the Football League.
1892 Albert Dock is opened, together with rail links. (The dock area is now called Riverway).
1893 'Harris Library and Museum' is opened.
1900 Electric carriage works in Strand Road now produce trams.
1902 The Guild displays a new dynamic phase in industrial development.
1907 Cotton begins to decline. First concerns over the viability of the dock development voiced.
1914 World War I. Preston becomes a major railway centre and key mobilisation base.
1916 "Preston Pals" almost annihilated on 23rd July, at Bazentin-le-Petite, Northern France.
1925 The first electric tram arrives, but unemployment is rising.
1930's New Housing boom - over 400 homes a year completed. 12 new schools and nearly 10 miles of sewers.
1938 Preston North End Football team win the "Wembley Cup".
1939 World War II and re-armament.
1945 15th August - the Mayor announces the end of hostilities from the Town Hall steps.
1947 The "Ides March". The Town Hall is destroyed by fire.
1950's Cotton mills continue to close after the war boom.
1963 Aircraft production includes Jaguar, Concorde and Tornado aircraft.
1979 Preston celebrated the Octocentenary, the 800th anniversary of the Guild. Preston Dock is closed.
1980's Job losses at Courtaulds and British Leyland.
1988 Marian Roberts publishes her book "A Walk Around Winckley Square".
1992 Dock development to create "Riversway".
1999 Winckley Square web site is posted.
2002 Preston is granted "City Status".
 
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