Ulverston

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Ulverston

Statistics

Population:

11,210 (2001 census)

Ordnance Survey

Administration

Other

Services

Post office and telephone

Post town:

ULVERSTON

Postal district:

LA12

Dialling code:

01229

Politics

Ulverston is a market town in the South Lakeland district of Cumbria in north-west England. Historically part of Lancashire, the town is set on the Furness peninsula, close to the Lake District, and just north of Morecambe Bay.

Arms of Ulverston Town Council

It is thought that the name of the town originates from the old Norse meaning Ulfers stone. It has been suggested that it was one of the first West of England Viking settlements settled directly from the Viking homelands rather than from their spread East to West.

Over the years the town has been the birthplace of several famous people. Sir John Barrow, born at Dragley Beck, Ulverston, was the Admiralty's Second Secretary: a much more important position than First Secretary. A monument to him - a replica of the third Eddystone Lighthouse - stands on Hoad Hill overlooking the town. Famous 'Ulverstonians' include Comedian Stan Laurel of Laurel and Hardy fame; Norman Birkett, who represented Britain at the Nuremberg Trials; Maude Green, the mother of Rock and Roll music legend, Bill Haley [1] and Norman Gifford, the England Test cricketer.

In the Domesday Book, the town was referred to as 'Ulvreston' and was of sufficient note to receive a Market Charter in 1280. This was for a market every Thursday; modern Ulverston keeps its old market town appearance, and market days are now held on both Thursdays and Saturdays. The charter also allowed for all public ale houses to open from 10:30 am until 11:00pm irrespective of any other statute on the books.

Ulverston railway station, which serves the town, is located on the Furness Line from Barrow-in-Furness to Lancaster.

Historically the ancient parish included several other chapelries or townships which later became separate civil parishes: Blawith, Church Coniston, Egton with Newland, Lowick, Mansriggs, Osmotherley, Subberthwaite and Torver. From 1894 to 1974 the town constituted an urban district in the administrative county of Lancashire. It became a successor parish in the Cumbria district of South Lakeland under the Local Government Act 1972.^[1]

Ulverston Victoria High School (UVHS) is the town's secondary school with approximately 1300 students.

1 Festival town
2 Gallery
3 Twin Towns
4 See also
5 References
6 External links

[edit] Festival town

Ulverston calls itself a 'Festival Town' in reference to the many and varied festivals which take place in Ulverston over the course of a year. The most renowned being the Lantern Festival, which involves hundreds of Ulverstonians creating lanterns out of willow and tissue paper and parading them through the town. The event each year culminates in a lively display of theatrical performance and fireworks in Ford Park.

Other popular festivals include:

Flag Festival
Dickensian Festival
Beer Festival
Charter Festival
International Music Festival
Folklore Festival
Comedy Festival
Word Market — including 'Pub Scripts'
Walking Festival
Spring Buddhist Festival
Print Fest
Summer Buddhist Festival
Ulverston Carnival Parade
Furness Festival of Tradition
Summer Music Festival
Festival of Fashion

[edit] Gallery

Market Street, Ulverston	View over to Hoad Hill	Side door of Ulverston Church	Town Clock of Ulverston, 1845
Lanternhouse, headquarters of Welfare State International, a "company of artists"