Lancaster, Lancashire

This article is about the historical city. For the local government district, see City of Lancaster. For other uses, see Lancaster (disambiguation).

Lancaster
Top: St George's Quay, on the River Lune
Bottom: the Ashton Memorial (left) and Lancaster Castle (right)
Lancaster is located in the City of Lancaster district
Lancaster
Lancaster
Shown within the City of Lancaster district
Lancaster is located in Lancashire
Lancaster
Lancaster
Location within Lancashire
Population52,234 [1]
DemonymLancastrian
OS grid referenceSD475615
District
Shire county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townLANCASTER
Postcode districtLA1, LA2
Dialling code01524
PoliceLancashire
FireLancashire
AmbulanceNorth West
UK Parliament
List of places
UK
England
Lancashire
54°02′56″N 02°48′05″W / 54.04889°N 2.80139°W / 54.04889; -2.80139

Lancaster (/ˈlæŋkəstər/, /ˈlænkæs-/)[2] is a city[3] in Lancashire, England, and the main cultural hub, economic and commercial centre of City of Lancaster district. The city is on the River Lune, directly inland from Morecambe Bay. Lancaster is the county town,[4] although Lancashire County Council has been based at County Hall in Preston since its formation in 1889.

The city's long history is marked by Lancaster Roman Fort, Lancaster Castle, Lancaster Priory Church, Lancaster Cathedral and the Ashton Memorial. It is the seat of Lancaster University and has a campus of the University of Cumbria. It had a population of 52,234[5] in the 2011 census, compared to the district, which had a population of 138,375.[6]

The House of Lancaster was a branch of the English royal family. The Duchy of Lancaster still holds large estates on behalf of Charles III, who is the Duke of Lancaster. The Port of Lancaster and the 18th-century Lancaster slave trade played a major role in the city's growth, but for many years the outport of Glasson Dock, downstream, has been the main shipping facility.

  1. ^ Lancaster City has nine wards: Bulk, Duke, Castle, Skerton East and West, Scotforth East and West, University and John O'Gaunt. [1] Archived 14 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine
  2. ^ Roach, Peter; Hartman, James; Setter, Jane; Jones, Daniel, eds. (2006). Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary (17th ed.). Cambridge: CUP. ISBN 978-0-521-68086-8.
  3. ^ "List of cities (HTML)". GOV.UK. Cabinet Office. 29 August 2022. Retrieved 20 March 2024.
  4. ^ Beckett, John (2008). "Lancaster becomes a city, 1937" (PDF). Transactions of the Historic Society of Lancashire and Cheshire. 157: 149–156. doi:10.3828/transactions.157.9. Retrieved 20 March 2024.
  5. ^ Evans, Jacqueline. "Lancashire's Population, 2011". Lancashire County Council. Archived from the original on 30 April 2014. Retrieved 30 April 2014.
  6. ^ UK Census (2011). "Local Area Report – Lancaster Local Authority (E07000121)". Nomis. Office for National Statistics.