Main Street, Heysham
54°02′47″N 2°54′03″W / 54.0465°N 2.9008°W
Main Street is a thoroughfare in Heysham, a village in the City of Lancaster district in Lancashire, England. It forms an extension of Crime Well Lane, running first north-westerly past Heysham's village green, then northerly as far as the junction of Bailey Lane with Lade End, almost on the shoreline.[1][2]
It is the historic centre of the village, its houses, shops and cafes including as they do most of Heysham's 17th- and 18th-century buildings.[3][4] It also runs past two early-medieval churches, St Peter's Church and St Patrick's Chapel, which, together with their churchyards, have been described as comprising "one of the most interesting [spots] in the country from the archaeological point of view".[5] Every year Main Street hosts the Heysham Viking Festival.[6][7]
Historic buildings
[edit]
St Peter's Church, at the northern end of Main Street, is a Grade I listed building. It has some Anglo-Saxon fabric, possibly dating from as early as the 8th or 9th century, but rather more of Decorated and Perpendicular architecture from the later Middle Ages. Its south aisle boasts a pre-Conquest sculpted hogback, which has been brought in from the churchyard.[8][9] The churchyard features a 19th-century boundary wall, a sundial shaft dated 1696, a medieval stone coffin and a pre-Conquest arch which originally formed the north doorway of the church; each is individually Grade II listed.[10][11][12][13] The ruins of the nearby 8th- or 9th-century St Patrick's Chapel are Grade I listed, as are the rock-cut tombs just outside it; they are also a scheduled monument, so designated for their national archaeological importance.[14]
Outside of St Peter's and St Patrick's, many buildings on Main Street are Grade II listed; most have been stuccoed, pebble-dashed or rendered.[4] Nos 1–5 and no. 19 are 17th-century houses with later alterations, the former group having been originally built as Heysham Rectory in, according to a dated lintel, 1680.[15][16] Nos. 8, 10, 12, and 40 all substantially date from the 18th century, as in all probability does the Royal Hotel at no. 9.[17][18][19] St Patrick's Well, near the churches, may be an 18th-century reconstruction.[4] At nos. 4 and 4A are Manor House and an attached cottage, early 19th-century buildings with some older features.[20]
Other notable features
[edit]Heysham Heritage Centre, housed in a 17th-century longhouse-conversion at 24 Main Street, hosts displays and exhibitions illustrating Heysham's history.[21] Heysham Jubilee Institute is a function room located at no. 30.[22] Prominently placed on an outside wall of it is an aluminium relief sculpture by Michael Edwards entitled The Spirit of Heysham (2005–2007), which presents the eponymous figure as a sea-goddess surmounting a selection of the village's antiquities.[23]
Citations
[edit]- ↑ Ordnance Survey. "Dropped Pin. Grid reference SD 41115 61545. Lat, long 54.04650, -2.90080". OS Maps. Retrieved 1 August 2026.
- ↑ "Licensing Act 2003 - Premises Licence Register. Heysham Village Green". Lancaster City Council. Retrieved 1 August 2026.
- ↑ "Heysham Village. Lancaster Civic Vision Guide 60" (PDF). Lancaster Civic Vision. Retrieved 1 August 2026.
- 1 2 3 Hartwell & Pevsner 2009, p. 335.
- ↑ Farrer, William; Brownbill, J., eds. (1914). The Victoria History of the County of Lancaster. Volume VIII. London: Constable. p. 110. Retrieved 1 August 2026.
- ↑ "Heysham Viking Festival 2026 Dates: July 18–19". The Renlist. 2026. Retrieved 1 August 2026.
- ↑ "Viking festival in Heysham". Lancashire Post. Fulwood. 18 July 2019. Retrieved 1 August 2026.
- ↑ Historic England. "Parish Church of St Peter, Main Street (Grade I) (1279836)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 1 August 2026.
- ↑ Hartwell & Pevsner 2009, p. 333.
- ↑ Historic England. "Walling to West of Archway in Churchyard of Parish Church of St Peter, Main Street (Grade II) (1207216)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 2 August 2026.
- ↑ Historic England. "Sundial Shaft Approximately 18 Metres South of Parish Church of St Peter, Main Street (Grade II) (1207217)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 2 August 2026.
- ↑ Historic England. "Stone Coffin Approximately 12 Metres South of Parish Church of St Peter, Main Street (Grade II) (1208980)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 2 August 2026.
- ↑ Historic England. "Archway Approximately 32 Metres West South West of Parish Church of St Peter, Main Street (Grade II) (1208974)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 2 August 2026.
- ↑ Historic England. "St Patrick's early Christian chapel and associated cemetery, Lower Heysham (1020535)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 2 August 2026.
- ↑ Historic England. "1–5, Main Street (Grade II) (1208933)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 3 August 2026.
- ↑ Historic England. "19, Main Street (Grade II) (1207214)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 3 August 2026.
- ↑ Historic England. "8, 10 and 12, Main Street (Grade II) (1292896)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 3 August 2026.
- ↑ Historic England. "40, Main Street (Grade II) (1279835)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 3 August 2026.
- ↑ Historic England. "The Royal Hotel Including Adjoining Outbuildings, 9 Main Street (Grade II) (1208942)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 3 August 2026.
- ↑ Historic England. "Manor House, 4 and 4A, Main Street (Grade II) (1207213)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 3 August 2026.
- ↑ "Heysham Heritage Centre". Lancaster + Morecambe Bay. Retrieved 3 August 2026.
- ↑ "Heysham Jubilee Institute. Charity number: 1069387". Register of Charities. Charity Commission for England and Wales. Retrieved 3 August 2026.
- ↑ "The Spirit of Heysham. Michael Edwards. Main Street, Heysham, Lancashire". Art UK. Retrieved 3 August 2026.
Reference
[edit]- Hartwell, Clare; Pevsner, Nikolaus (2009). Lancashire North. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press. ISBN 9780300126679.