Heskin

Heskin
Heskin
	Heskin Hall
	Heskin Shown within Chorley Borough Heskin Location within Lancashire
Population	906 (2021 Census)
OS grid reference	SD515155
Civil parish	Heskin;
District	Chorley;
Shire county	Lancashire;
Region	North West;
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	CHORLEY
Postcode district	PR7
Dialling code	01257
Police	Lancashire
Fire	Lancashire
Ambulance	North West
UK Parliament	Chorley;
	List of places UK England Lancashire 53°37′59″N 2°44′02″W / 53.633°N 2.734°W

Heskin is a small village and civil parish of the Borough of Chorley in Lancashire, England. According to the United Kingdom Census 2001 it has a population of 883 increasing to 898 at the 2011 Census.^[1] This increased to 906 at the 2021 Census.^[2]

Etymology

The name Heskin is of Brittonic origin.^[3] As with Haskayne,^[3] the first element is hesg meaning "sedge" (c.f. Welsh hesg, Gaelic seisg).^[3] This is suffixed possibly with -īn, an adjectival and toponymic suffix.^[3]

Architecture

Heskin Hall

Heskin Hall dates back to 1548.^[4] The last people to occupy the hall as a residential home were Lord Lilford and his fourth wife in the 1960s. Since then the hall has been used commercially for antique sales, and other uses including Blackburn College who have used it for training and educational purposes. The hall is now registered as a venue for weddings and civil ceremonies and has a restaurant to cater for the visitors to the Antique Centre and Garden Centre which opened in 2010.

Ghosts

The hall is said to be haunted by a young Catholic girl, and an older man. The pair are thought to be from the time of Oliver Cromwell who stayed at the hall on his travels. The young girl is said to have been sacrificed by a Catholic priest, who hanged her as a sign that he had converted from Catholicism to Protestantism. Civil war soldiers were not convinced of his conversion so they hanged him from the same spot as the young girl. Lady Lilford's guests in the 1960s are said to have swiftly departed from the house during a dinner party after experiencing a ghostly appearance of a resident ghost during their stay.^[5]

Geography

References

^ UK Census (2011). "Local Area Report – Heskin Parish (E04005154)". Nomis. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 26 March 2021.
^ "Demography and migration data, England and Wales - Office for National Statistics". www.ons.gov.uk. Retrieved 7 November 2022.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d James, Alan G. "A Guide to the Place-Name Evidence - Guide to the Elements" (PDF). Scottish Place Name Society - The common Brittonic Language in the Old North. Retrieved 25 October 2018.
^ Heskin Hall Antique Centre (2009) "Heskin Hall History", (Taken from the History Sheet published by the owners of the property)
^ Karl, J (2006) "Haunted Places of Lancashire - Heskin Hall", Pages 43-44.