City in Lancashire, England
Lancaster
Two of Lancaster's sons gave the world the words 'scientist' and 'dinosaur', and the city's castle sent the Pendle witches to the gallows.
Key information
- County
- Lancashire
- Nation
- England
- Known for
- Lancaster Castle, the Pendle witch trials, the red rose, the Ashton Memorial, Gillows furniture
- What locals are called
- Lancastrians
- Famous people
- Richard Owen, William Whewell, Robert Gillow, Lord Ashton
- Football clubs
- Lancaster City (the Dolly Blues), who play at the Giant Axe
About Lancaster
The city that gave us 'scientist' and 'dinosaur'
Lancaster has a strange talent for producing people who name things. William Whewell, born here in 1794, went on to become Master of Trinity College, Cambridge. He is credited with coining the word 'scientist' in the 1830s, and 'physicist' as well. Richard Owen, born in Lancaster in 1804, was the anatomist who invented the word 'dinosaur' in 1842. He also played a big part in founding the Natural History Museum in London. Both men were products of Lancaster Royal Grammar School. Few small cities can claim to have supplied the vocabulary of modern science.
A castle that did the king's justice
Lancaster Castle stands on the hill where the Romans built a fort, and it dominates the city's skyline. For centuries it was the seat of justice for the whole county, and it worked as a prison right up until 2011. Its most notorious chapter came in August 1612, when the Pendle witches were tried here. Ten people were condemned and hanged on Gallows Hill outside the town, among them Alice Nutter. Another accused woman, Elizabeth Southerns, known as Old Demdike, died in the castle's cells before she could be tried. The case is one of the best documented witch trials in English history. The castle also belongs to the Duchy of Lancaster, and the Shire Hall inside is covered in the coats of arms of the county's sheriffs.
Why a rose and a duke still matter here
The red rose of Lancaster is the emblem that faced the white rose of York in the Wars of the Roses. John of Gaunt was made Duke of Lancaster in 1362. His son took the throne as Henry IV in 1399, and the duchy has stayed in the monarch's hands ever since. The result is a quirk that survives in Lancashire today. Loyal toasts are traditionally made to the monarch not as king or queen but as 'the Duke of Lancaster'. Lancaster received city status in 1937, the year of George VI's coronation.
Mahogany, ships and an uncomfortable past
In the 18th century Lancaster was a busy Atlantic port, with ships unloading at St George's Quay. Some of the city's wealth came from the slave trade, in which Lancaster was one of Britain's major ports. Mahogany and other goods came in from the West Indies too. That mahogany fed one of Lancaster's proudest names. Robert Gillow set up his furniture business here around 1730, and Gillows of Lancaster became one of the great names of English cabinet-making. Their work still turns up in country houses and auction rooms. Today a memorial on the quayside recognises the people carried across the Atlantic. Nearby, at Sunderland Point on the Lune estuary, lies Sambo's Grave, a 1736 burial that has become a symbol of the same story.
A monument on the hill and a canal in the sky
The Ashton Memorial is the city's showstopper. It is a domed Edwardian folly in Williamson Park, built in the early 1900s by the linoleum magnate Lord Ashton, who had been plain James Williamson. It was a tribute to his late wife, and its green copper dome can be seen for miles around. Down in the valley, the Lancaster Canal crosses the Lune on a grand stone aqueduct by John Rennie, completed in 1797. Skerton Bridge, opened in 1788, also spans the river. The Georgian Grand Theatre dates from 1782 and is one of the oldest working theatres in England.
Students, shrimps and the Dolly Blues
Lancaster University opened in 1964 with a college system, and its students give the city a youthful buzz. Lancaster Music Festival and Litfest keep the calendar busy. Local tastes lean towards classic Lancashire fare: crumbly Lancashire cheese, hotpot, and potted shrimps from nearby Morecambe Bay. On the football pitch, Lancaster City are known as the Dolly Blues and play at a ground with one of non-league football's best names, the Giant Axe.