Black Bull, Preesall

Black Bull
The building in 2013
Map
Former namesBlack Bull Inn[1]
Black Bull Hotel[2]
General information
TypePublic house
Address192 Park Lane
Town or cityPreesall, Lancashire
CountryEngland
Coordinates53°55′07″N 2°58′00″W / 53.9185°N 2.9667°W / 53.9185; -2.9667
Completed1762 (262 years ago) (1762)
Other information
Parkingon-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.

  1. ^ The London Gazette (1903), p. 3197
  2. ^ Proceedings at a Meeting of the Lancashire County Council, Lancashire County Council, 1936, p. 500
  3. ^ a b A History of Blackpool, the Fylde and South Wyre – Nick Moore (2018), p. 112
  4. ^ Black Bull's official website
  5. ^ History, Directory, and Gazetteer, of the County Palatine of Lancaster: With a Variety of Commercial & Statistical Information, Volume 2 (1825), p. 663
  6. ^ Sketches and Tales, Thomas Newbigging (1883), p. 38
  7. ^ "Early days of the Preesall salt mines: An underground industry which changed the face of Lancashire"Blackpool Gazette, 29 November 2018
  8. ^ "Dangers beneath Lancashire's fields"Lancashire Evening Post, 11 December 2018
  9. ^ "Lee Robert BOWSER personal appointments - Find and update company information - GOV.UK". find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk. Retrieved 12 October 2023.