History

In the 18th and 19th centuries the village played an important part in the industrial revolution

Industrial Revolution

The Industrial Revolution was a period from the 18th to the 19th century where major changes in agriculture, manufacturing, mining, transportation, and technology had a profound effect on the social, economic and cultural conditions of the times...

. 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

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 to have gas lighting.

In one of the worlds first examples of green living, pollution was fed away from the village underground to the mills chimney which was located in a nearby field.

Geography

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

River Wyre

The River Wyre is a river in Lancashire, United Kingdom, which flows into the Irish Sea at Fleetwood. It is approximately 28 miles in length...

. The river is the boundary between the 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...

 and Wyre

Wyre

Wyre is a local government district with borough status in Lancashire, England. Its council is based in Poulton-le-Fylde.The district is named after the River Wyre, which runs through the district...

 districts. Dolphinholme sits on the edge of the Forest of Bowland

Forest of Bowland

The Forest of Bowland, also known as the Bowland Fells, is an area of barren gritstone fells, deep valleys and peat moorland, mostly in north-east Lancashire, England. A small part lies in North Yorkshire, and much of the area was historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire...

 and is less than five miles away from 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...

.

Community

The village has a school (Dolphinholme Church of England Primary School), a village hall, a church (St Mark's C of E), a Methodist chapel, a pub (The Fleece Inn), a recreational ground, a tennis court, a bowling green, a garage (Rogersons) and a post office and shop.

Most of the historic lower village is still intact, the mill has been demolished but the chimney is still standing.