Cockerham is a small village and civil parish

Civil parish

In England, a civil parish is a territorial designation and, where they are found, the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties...

 within the City of Lancaster

City of Lancaster

The City of Lancaster , is a local government district of Lancashire, England, with the status of a city and non-metropolitan district. It is named after its largest settlement, Lancaster, but covers a far larger area which includes the towns of Morecambe, Heysham, and Carnforth, as well as...

 in Lancashire

Lancashire

Lancashire is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in the North West of England. It takes its name from the city of Lancaster, and is sometimes known as the County of Lancaster. Although Lancaster is still considered to be the county town, Lancashire County Council is based in Preston...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

. It is 6 miles (9.7 km) south of Lancaster

Lancaster, Lancashire

Lancaster is the county town of Lancashire, England. It is situated on the River Lune and has a population of 45,952. Lancaster is a constituent settlement of the wider City of Lancaster, local government district which has a population of 133,914 and encompasses several outlying towns, including...

 and 15 miles (24 km) north-northwest of Preston. Located on the River Cocker, at the estuary of the River Lune

River Lune

The River Lune is a river in Cumbria and Lancashire, England.It is formed at Wath, in the parish of Ravenstonedale, Cumbria, at the confluence of Sandwath Beck and Weasdale Beck...

, it has a total resident population of 558.

Cockerham has lain within the historic county boundaries

Historic counties of England

The historic counties of England are subdivisions of England established for administration by the Normans and in most cases based on earlier Anglo-Saxon kingdoms and shires...

 of Lancashire since the Middle Ages

Middle Ages

The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...

having previously formed a township

Township (England)

In England, a township is a local division or district of a large parish containing a village or small town usually having its own church...

 and parish within the hundred of Lonsdale

Lonsdale (hundred)

Lonsdale was a hundred of Lancashire, England. For many decades, it covered most of the northwestern part of Lancashire around Morecambe Bay, including the detached part around Furness, and the city of Lancaster....

 and district of Lancaster. Between 1894 and 1974, Cockerham lay within the Lancaster Rural District.

Medieval life of Cockerham manor

Manorialism

Manorialism, an essential element of feudal society, was the organizing principle of rural economy that originated in the villa system of the Late Roman Empire, was widely practiced in medieval western and parts of central Europe, and was slowly replaced by the advent of a money-based market...

 has been recorded in the Custumal of the Manor of Cockerham, compiled in 1326–1327 and revised in 1463. The custumal

Custumal

A custumal is a medieval English document, usually edited and composed over time, that stipulates the economic, political, and social customs of a manor or town...

, a record of rents and services owed by the tenants to their landlord, combines a local code of laws with an inventory of all resources of the land, from peat

Peat

Peat is an accumulation of partially decayed vegetation matter or histosol. Peat forms in wetland bogs, moors, muskegs, pocosins, mires, and peat swamp forests. Peat is harvested as an important source of fuel in certain parts of the world...

 fuel, cattle and sheep to shoreline mussel

Mussel

The common name mussel is used for members of several families of clams or bivalvia mollusca, from saltwater and freshwater habitats. These groups have in common a shell whose outline is elongated and asymmetrical compared with other edible clams, which are often more or less rounded or oval.The...

s. The tenants were forbidden to trade local fuel to the "strangers" who collected mussels on the shore.

The local church is St. Michael's. Close by are the remains of Cockersand Abbey

Cockersand Abbey

Cockersand Abbey is a former abbey near Cockerham in the City of Lancaster district of Lancashire, England. It was founded before 1184 as the Hospital of St Mary on the marsh belonging to Leicester Abbey. It was refounded as a Premonstratensian priory and subsequently elevated to an abbey in 1192...

. The village is famous for Wallings Farm, which sells homemade ice cream and has the Pudding House cafe and gift shop. The village also has a pub, the Manor Inn.

Black Knights Parachute Centre‎ is based in Cockerham.

External links

• Cockerham Parish Council, Official website.
• A history of Cockerham
• Cockerham, GENUKI article.