# Up Holland

Up Holland (or Upholland) is a village in Skelmersdale and is a civil parish in the West Lancashire district, in the county of Lancashire, England, 4 miles (6 km) west of Wigan. The population at the 2011 census was 7,376.

## Geography

The village is on a small hill 89m above sea level that rises above the West Lancashire Coastal Plain. There are views towards St Helens and Liverpool in the south west, Ormskirk and Southport in the north-west and towards Wigan, Manchester and on to the High Peak of Derbyshire in the east. The parish includes the Pimbo industrial estate.

## Etymology

The place-name is first attested in the Domesday Book of 1086, where it appears as Hoiland. It appears as Upholand in a Lancashire Inquest of 1226. This is from the Old English hohland, meaning 'land on or by a hoe or spur of a hill'. The name Up Holland differentiates it from another place locally called Downholland, 10 miles to the west (on the other side of Ormskirk). The manor of Holland was a possession of the Holland family until 1534, whence it may be presumed they derived their name.

## Notable claims

George Lyon, reputed to be one of the last English highwaymen, is said to be buried in the churchyard of the Anglican Church of St. Thomas the Martyr. The truth of the matter is that Lyon was little more than a common thief and receiver of stolen goods. The grave can be found under the concrete parapet opposite the White Lion pub.
A burial place of greater historical significance can be found at the south east corner of the church. Here, in a railed enclosure is the grave of Robert Daglish; a pioneer in steam locomotive engineering and design. In 1814, when George Stephenson was still working on his early locomotive Blucher, Daglish built The Yorkshire Horse, a 'rack and pinion' locomotive to haul coal wagons at a nearby colliery. This proved to be a great success. Daglish went on to construct other locomotives and work on railway systems both in Great Britain and America.
Upholland railway station is on the Kirkby Branch Line.

## Religion
### Anglican

The Anglican parish church of St Thomas the Martyr was, until the time of the Protestant Reformation, a Benedictine monastic foundation.

### Roman Catholic

The Roman Catholic parish church of St Theresa, College Road, is a fine building of 1955 by F. X. Velarde, "one of the most unusual and innovative Catholic architects of the twentieth century".
A Catholic seminary, St Joseph's College, used for training Catholic priests, was once based in Up Holland. The college closed down in 1987 after over 150 years of serving the northern Catholic dioceses of England, and its extensive buildings are now derelict.

## Literature

Up Holland and its surrounding countryside its described in the English novel The War Hero by Michael Lieber.

## People

* Richard Ashcroft (of The Verve), musician. Richard's mother, Louise, is the daughter of Reg and Lilian Baxter. The Baxters were a prominent family in Up Holland throughout the 20th century.
* Catherine Ashton, life peer, appointed as the European Union's High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy in 2009, was born in Up Holland.
* Prof Charles Bamforth (b.1952) brewing expert and football author.
* Prof Richard James Arthur Berry, brain surgeon.
* Ian Bleasdale, actor
* Ted Ray (born Charles Olden), comedian. His father was the licensee of the Bull's Head public house, which used to stand in School Lane.
* John C. Wells. Phonetician. He was president of the International Phonetic Association between 2003 and 2007. His father was the vicar of the parish, Philip Wells. John Wells wrote about the accent of the area and how it contrasted with the Received Pronunciation that was spoken in his home.
* Dorothy Wilkinson (1883-1947), Australian head teacher

## Gallery

* Up Holland Windmill
* The Old Dog pub (formerly The Talbot, now a private residence)