Historic county of England
Lancashire
Lancs / County Palatine of Lancaster
Mersey south, Pennines east, Irish Sea west — and Furness beyond Morecambe Bay.
Lancashire stretches from the Mersey northwards through the great industrial and agricultural plain to Morecambe Bay, then continues across the bay into Furness and the southern Lake country. Liverpool and Manchester anchor the densely urban south; Preston stands on the Ribble; Lancaster lies near the bay; and northern Lancashire rises into the Furness Fells.
The county is therefore not one landscape but a powerful sequence: Mersey estuary, industrial towns, Pennine valleys, Ribble and Fylde, Lancaster plain, tidal bay and northern mountain country. Morecambe Bay is not merely an interruption in that geography: its sands provide the living geographical connection between the main body of Lancashire and Furness.
- Formed of ancient lordships
- Duke of Lancaster palatinate powers 1351
- Heart of the Industrial Revolution
- Area: 1,909 sq miles
- Population: 4,942,364
- County Top: Coniston Old Man
County geography
Current Census
Contemporary Census profile
England and Wales Census 2021. Detailed contemporary statistics are available in the Geographic County Census Explorer.
- Population density
- 2,749.8 people per sq mi (1,061.7 people per km²)
- Population
- 5,221,051
Pennines and industrial valleys
Eastern Lancashire rises into the Pennines, where valleys carrying rivers such as the Irwell, Calder and Ribble became centres of textile manufacture and engineering.
Industrial towns developed densely along these natural corridors, creating the landscape most strongly associated with Lancashire during the nineteenth century. Yet the hills and valleys existed long before the mills and continue to organise the eastern county.
Ribble, Fylde and western plain
Westwards the county opens dramatically. The Ribble reaches the Irish Sea through a broad estuary, while the Fylde forms a low coastal plain extending towards Morecambe Bay.
Preston, Blackpool, the agricultural plain and the lower Lune country belong to a more open Lancashire than the Pennine valleys only a relatively short distance east.
Furness and Morecambe Bay
Furness is a substantial northern portion of Lancashire, not an ordinary small detached part. It is united with the rest of the county across the Sands of Morecambe Bay, an ancient route which remains a living connection through organised Guide Over Sands crossings.
Beyond the bay, Furness rises from coastal and estuarine country into the Lake District fells. The sands are dangerous and should only be crossed as part of properly organised guided crossings.
County questions
Questions about Lancashire
Why does Lancashire continue north of Morecambe Bay?
Because Furness forms a substantial northern portion of the geographic county. Morecambe Bay unites as well as separates the two parts, and the historic route across the sands remains in use today.
Did Greater Manchester or Merseyside replace Lancashire?
No. Those names belong to later administrative and lieutenancy geographies. They did not abolish geographic Lancashire or transfer its towns into new geographic counties.
County record
Names and continuity
- Formal name
- County of Lancaster
- Alternative name
- Lancs
- County day
- 27 November
- Foundation
- 1182
Lancashire, County of Lancaster and County Palatine of Lancaster reflect different aspects of the same county identity. Lancashire emerged as a recognised shire in the Middle Ages and later acquired palatine status.