Dolphinholme

In the 18th and 19th centuries the village played an important part in the Industrial Revolution. Slave trader Thomas Hinde founded a mill in Lower Dolphinholme in 1795. This worsted mill prospered and the lower village was amongst the first in the United Kingdom to have gas lighting.[1] Pollution was fed away from the village underground to the mill's chimney which was located in a nearby field.

The village, designated as a historic conservation area, is split into two parts – a higher village and a lower part, called Lower Dolphinholme, situated on the River Wyre. The river is the boundary between the Lancaster and Wyre districts. Dolphinholme sits on the edge of the Forest of Bowland and is less than five miles away from Lancaster.

The village has a school (Dolphinholme Church of England Primary School), a village hall, a parish church (St Mark's C of E), a Methodist chapel, a pub (the Fleece Inn), a recreational ground, a tennis court and a bowling green. A Post Office visits the village hall on Tuesday and Thursday mornings from 10:00am to midday.

Most of the historic lower village is still intact, the remains of the mill are in what is now a private garden but the chimney is still standing, in a nearby field. A warehouse, associated with the mill has been converted into housing although it has been (somewhat confusingly) named 'The Mill'.

There is a village show that takes place on the second Saturday of September each year in the village hall. It features vegetables, flowers, cooking, photography and a children's section.

A village breakfast takes place in the Chapel on the second Saturday or every month (except July and August) from 8:30am to 10:30am and is open to all without booking. The Chapel also hosts a coffee morning every Tuesday from 10:00am until midday which is also open to all without booking.

• St Mark's Church, Dolphinholme

Media related to Dolphinholme at Wikimedia Commons