The name Ulverston, first noted as Ulurestun in the Domesday Book of 1086, consists of an Old Norse personal name, Úlfarr, or the Old EnglishWulfhere, with the Old English tūn, meaning farmstead or village.[3] The personal namesÚlfarr and Wulfhere both imply "wolf warrior" or "wolf army",[4] which explains the presence of a wolf on the town's coat of arms. The loss of the initial W in Wulfhere can be linked to Scandinavian influence in the region.[5] Locally, the town has traditionally been known as Oostan.[6] Other variants include Oluestonam (1127), and Uluereston (1189).[5] The name was spelled "Ulverstone" until at least 1888.[7]
The market charter granted in 1280 by Edward I[8] was for a market on Thursdays. The town retains its market-town appearance; market days are now Thursdays and Saturdays.[9] The charter also allowed public houses to open from 10:30 am to 11:00 pm, regardless of other statute on the books. The present Saturday market includes in the summer craft stalls, charity stalls and locally produced ware on "Made in Cumbria" stalls.
Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy statue; Stan Laurel was born in Ulverston in 1890, and named Arthur Jefferson.Laurel and Hardy Museum
The High Carley Hospital and Ulverston Joint Hospital Board built an infectious disease hospital at High Carley, Pennington, in 1884. It was initially a fever hospital for paupers. In 1916 a second hospital, run by Lancashire County Council, was built to treat tubercular patients. From 1949 a children's annexe was built. In the 1950s, as the number of tubercular patients decreased, the hospital was run as an acute hospital. In 1984, after the building of the new Furness General Hospital, High Carley was closed.[13]
On 28 April 2009, Ulverston was near the epicentre of an earthquake measuring 3.7 on the Richter magnitude scale. Tremors were felt across south Cumbria and parts of north Lancashire at 11.22, but virtually no damage was caused. A spokesman for the British Geological Survey stated that earthquakes of such magnitude occur roughly once a year in Britain.[15] Regionally, it was the strongest seismic event since a magnitude 4.4 earthquake struck Lancaster in 1835.[16][17]
The town is in the wider civil parish of Ulverston. This is bounded in the east by the Leven estuary, the River Crake, Coniston Water and Yewdale Beck. To the west the boundary follows a chain of hills, and beyond lie the towns of Kirkby-in-Furness and Askam and Ireleth. To the south is relatively low land that rises quickly. In the north are hills such as Coniston Old Man. The parish settlements are mainly in the eastern part.[5]
The Roxy Cinema opened on 21 June 1937 with 'Rose Marie' starring Nelson Eddy and Jeanette Macdonald. It was designed by Drury and Gomersall for the James Brennan circuit.[22]
The Victoria Concert Hall (now premises of Emmanuel Christian Centre) opened in 1850 as an opera and dance hall.[23] It is now a Grade II listed building.[24] In 1909 it became Ulverston's first cinema and was formerly the location of the County Court sessions.[25][26][27] It served various religious uses until being refurbished in 1986 by Ulverston's oldest evangelical community to open as Emmanuel Christian Centre.[27]
Education
Entrance to Croftlands Infant School
Ulverston Victoria High School (UVHS), the town's secondary school, with some 1,200 pupils, includes a sixth form college with about 400.[28] There are four main primary schools; Croftlands Junior (secular), St Mary's (Catholic), Church Walk (Church of England) and Sir John Barrow (secular)[29] and a special education school, located on the site of former Todbusk building on UVHS site.[30]
The town's several bus services include the X6 between Kendal and Barrow-in-Furness via Grange-over-Sands, the X12 to Coniston and Spark Bridge, and the 6A and 6 to Barrow-in-Furness.
Local media
Regional TV news comes from Salford-based BBC North West and ITV Granada. Television signals are received from the Winter Hill TV transmitter,[31] and the Lancaster relay transmitter.[32]
Ulverston is twinned with Albert in France.[36] They meet alternately at Easter each year to play football for the Cyril Barker Shield.[37]
In July 2016 Ulverston, as the birthplace of the film comedian Stan Laurel, was officially twinned with Harlem, Georgia, United States, birthplace of Laurel's screen partner Oliver Hardy.[38]
Festivals
The Dickensian Festival, held the final weekend of November, sees a range of Christmas stalls and attractions visit Ulverston.[39] People often dress up for it in Victorian attire.
The many festivals held at Ulverston include:
Another Fine Fest,[40] celebrating Ulverston and the birth of Stan Laurel.
Ulverston Amateur Rugby League Football Club plays home games at Dragley Beck, it belongs to the North West Counties Rugby League. It has produced several professional rugby players, including Derek Hadley.
Other sports
The town's two field hockey clubs, South Lakes and Ulverston, are based at Ulverston Leisure Centre. The town regularly has events run by Lakeland Orienteering Club. A parkrun event has been held every Saturday at Ford Park since 2018.[45]
International links
The Royal Norwegian Honorary Consulate in Barrow-in-Furness, one of the numerous consulates of Norway, is actually located on the outskirts of Ulverston.[46]
The town of Ulverstone in Tasmania, Australia is named after Ulverston and likewise built at the mouth of a River Leven.
Ulverston is where George Fox and Margaret Fell established the Religious Society of Friends (Quaker) movement in 1652 at Swarthmoor Hall just outside of Ulverston. One of the founders of the Quaker movement Margaret Fell resided in Swarthmoor Hall and was lady of the hall from 1641. Swarthmoor Hall became a Quaker rest house and later became a Grade II listed building.
Stan Laurel (1890–1965), actor born at 3 Argyle Street, Ulverston,[57] the home of his grandparents, George and Sarah Metcalfe, who had previously lived at 32 Oxford Street in the town[58]
Out of a coronet composed of four roses Gules barbed and seeded Proper set upon a rim Or a demi wolf Sable breathing flames and gorged with a leather collar Proper buckled and pendent therefrom by a chain an escutcheon Gold charged with a ray of lightning throughout in bend also Gules surmounted of an ankh Vert and supporting a garb also Gold.[59]
Escutcheon
Argent two bars Gules a pale Sable fretty of the first between two abbots' crosiers addorsed also Sable on a chief Azure an anchor between two fleurs-de-Lys Or.
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