England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Upholland St Thomas

The Parish

The chapelry of Upholland, its mother parish being Wigan, lies in southwestern Lancashire roughly 4 miles west of Wigan. Upholland is often rendered as two words Up Holland, apparently to distinguish it from Down Holland in Halsall parish. Upholland sits on the A577 road which links Wigan to Skelmersdale. Much of Upholland lines the A577, which erforms a rather elaborate "U" turn through the settlement. and adjacent north or southward running lanes, the settlement lines the A577 for well over a mile of its length. At one time Upholland was of sufficient importance to be a market town but that status has lapsed over the centuries. Upholland's origins are rather early, the Benedictine priory, part of which forms today's church, being founded in 1319. During the medieval era it grew towards market town status but this passed to larger centres due to their proximity. Upholland became industrialised during the 17th century through exploitation of both the underlying coal measure and also the hard sandstone which is believed to have been used as flag-stones in nearby Liverpool. These extractive industries were augmented by brick-works as clay was also abundant in the area. The wider chapelry had arable and pastoral farming in almost equal measure, according to the estimates of early gazetteers. Modern developments abound near to Upholland, a railway line linking Wigan to Liverpool passes through it land granting Upholland a station, albeit rather distant from the main centres of population. To Upholland's east runs the the modern M6 motorway whilst skimming the outskirts to the south the even more recent M58 passes through. Much of the former industry has departed leaving a rather post-industrial landscape in places with abandoned workings, designation as part of Skelmersdale New Town has brought some influx to the western end of the settlement. Upholland is drained northwards by a small tributary of the River Douglas which is soon met, the Douglas turns northwestwards and eventually meets the Ribble toward its mouth and its entry into the Irish Sea. Upholland sits upon an undulating site, its eastern end being at 75 metres above the sea, the centre at 120 whilst it falls again to 100 metres at its very western ends, local high spots top out at 171 metres on nearby Ashurst's Beacon to the north. Upholland chapelry covered an extensive portion of the vast Wigan parish, the chapelry had roughly 4,600 acres as its jurisdiction within which it would have supported a population of just over 3,100 parishioners. Domesday Book has scant coverage for this area, besides erroneously describing Upholland as being in Cheshire, it mentions it as a holding of Roger de Poitou but states there is no population or assets inherent.

The Church

St Thomas' church sits immediately south of the great curve to the north of the A577, sitting in the angle of the junction of that road with Church Street and opposite to the White Lion Inn. As mentioned above the nave of St Thomas is a remaining portion of the priory church from the Benedictine foundation of 1319, it was apparently the last medieval foundation in its county. The present nave, 14th century and Decorated in style is made from the former choir of the priory church. Whilst Decorated in style in the main the interior shows features on its piers which are more typical of the later Perpendicular era so perhaps it could be considered transitional between the two eras. The tower, which looms over Church Street at the western end, is more probably of the Perpendicular era and dates from the 15th century, scars left when work ceased, however, indicate it was originally intended to be a central crossing tower, those ambitions abandoned partway. The chancel, however, is much more modern dating from the extensive restoration completed between 1882 & 1886 and was added to the nave & tower to make a more typical layout. The inn opposite has a small parking area and street parking can be found further south along Church Street allowing an extended visit. There are neighbouring buildings rather close southwards which limit the full length view from that favoured aspect and the western tower sits rather close to the roadside and to the Upholland Village Club's building so the photographer has to employ some ingenuity to adequately capture this building.