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Preston

This article is about Preston in Lancashire, England. For other uses of the name see Preston (disambiguation).

City of Preston
Shown within Lancashire
Geography
Status:	City (2002)
Region:	North West England
Admin. County:	Lancashire
Area: - Total	Ranked 215th 142.22 km²
Admin. HQ:	Preston
ONS code:	30UK
Demographics
Population: - Total (2002 est.) - Density	Ranked 137th 129,991 914 / km²
Ethnicity:	85.5% White 11.6% S.Asian
Politics
Preston City Council http://www.preston.gov.uk/
Leadership:	Leader & Cabinet
Executive:	Labour
MPs:	Nigel Evans, Mark Hendrick, Michael Jack

Preston is a local government district and city in North West England. It is the county town of Lancashire, and is on the Ribble river.

Preston is famous for, among other things, its large bus station (with 79 gates), St Walburge's Church (the tallest church in England, with the third highest spire at 94 metres), and Preston North End F.C., one of the oldest Football League teams. City status was granted to Preston in 2002.

Every 20 years, a famous celebration called the Preston Guild takes place. The last Guild celebration took place in 1992 and the next is due in 2012.

Famous sons include Richard Arkwright, the inventor of the water frame that kick-started the textile industry in the late 18th century, and Francis Thompson, poet (December 18, 1859 - November 13, 1907).

Twin towns are Almelo in the Netherlands, Nimes in France, Recklinghausen in Germany and Kalisz in Poland.

Features of Preston

• Museums
  • The Harris Museum
  • St Walburge's Church
  • The National Football Museum
  • The Museum of Lancashire
  • The Lancashire Queens Regiment Museum
  • The British Commercial Vehicle Museum
• Parks
  • Miller Park, Preston
  • Avenham Park

Geography

• The River Ribble runs through the city.
• The Forest of Bowland forms an impressive backdrop to Preston.

See also

• Battle of Preston

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Districts of England - North West England
Allerdale | Barrow-in-Furness | Blackburn with Darwen | Blackpool | Bolton | Burnley | Bury | Carlisle | Chester | Chorley | Congleton | Copeland | Crewe and Nantwich | Eden | Ellesmere Port and Neston | Fylde | Halton | Hyndburn | Knowsley | Lancaster | Liverpool | Macclesfield | Manchester | Oldham | Pendle | Preston | Ribble Valley | Rochdale | Rossendale | St Helens | Salford | Sefton | South Lakeland | South Ribble | Stockport | Tameside | Trafford | Vale Royal | Warrington | West Lancashire | Wigan | Wirral | Wyre
Administrative counties with multiple districts: Cheshire, Cumbria, Greater Manchester, Lancashire, Merseyside