| Black Bull | |
|---|---|
.jpg) The building in 2013 | |
 | |
| Former names | Black Bull Inn[1] Black Bull Hotel[2] |
| General information | |
| Type | Public house |
| Address | 192 Park Lane |
| Town or city | Preesall, Lancashire |
| Country | England |
| Coordinates | 53°55′07″N 2°58′00″W / 53.9185°N 2.9667°W |
| Completed | 1762 |
| Other information | |
| Parking | on-site |
The Black Bull, formerly known as the Black Bull Inn and Black Bull Hotel, is a public house in Preesall, Lancashire, England. Dating to 1762,[3] it stands on Park Lane.[4]
The inn's first licensee was John Bamber, who ran it between 1776 and 1789.[5] Between 1853 and 1892, the role was filled by John Parkinson.[6] In 1872, during Parkinson's tenure, a "syndicate of men" from Barrow-in-Furness stayed at the inn during their search for iron ore in the area. None was to be found, but they did discover a bed of rock salt, from which they took a sample. Upon returning to the inn, Parkinson's 17-year-old daughter, Dorothy, processed the sample by dissolving, filtering and boiling it, thus creating the first example of Preesall salt.[7] In 1902, Preesall Salt Works was built to the north of the village's salt marshes, on the eastern banks of the River Wyre.[3] Dorothy married another John Parkinson and spent her life as a farmer's wife at Hackensall Hall Farm, where she raised nine children. She died in 1925.[8]
The current licensee, Lee Bowser,[9] took over in September 2022, succeeding Anthony Gills.
- ^ The London Gazette (1903), p. 3197
- ^ Proceedings at a Meeting of the Lancashire County Council, Lancashire County Council, 1936, p. 500
- ^ a b A History of Blackpool, the Fylde and South Wyre – Nick Moore (2018), p. 112
- ^ Black Bull's official website
- ^ History, Directory, and Gazetteer, of the County Palatine of Lancaster: With a Variety of Commercial & Statistical Information, Volume 2 (1825), p. 663
- ^ Sketches and Tales, Thomas Newbigging (1883), p. 38
- ^ "Early days of the Preesall salt mines: An underground industry which changed the face of Lancashire" – Blackpool Gazette, 29 November 2018
- ^ "Dangers beneath Lancashire's fields" – Lancashire Evening Post, 11 December 2018
- ^ "Lee Robert BOWSER personal appointments - Find and update company information - GOV.UK". find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk. Retrieved 12 October 2023.