Preston Guild City

Welcome to Preston: the city in brief, and the people who came from it

The short version of the place, and the answer to the question a city reference sheet gets asked most.

Preston is a city in Lancashire, in the north west of England, on the north bank of the River Ribble. It is the administrative centre of the county, it received city status in 2002, and it holds a civic ceremony — the Preston Guild — once every twenty years that no other English town has continued. The visit sheet covers what is here; this section covers what the city is.

The question this part of the site gets asked most is who came from Preston. That is answered in famous Prestonians, and the shorter items that do not need a page of their own are in interesting facts.

The city in one paragraph

A market town that became a cotton town that became a county administrative centre and a university city. The market charter and the Guild predate all of it, the docks and the mills built the Victorian city, and the university and public administration carry the modern one. The physical evidence of each stage is still in the centre, within one twenty minute walk.

City status in 2002 makes Preston young as a city and very old as a town, which is the single most useful thing to hold in mind when reading anything about it.

Who came from here

The roll is short and unusually spread out. Sir Richard Arkwright, born in the town in 1732, invented the water frame and is one of the central figures of the industrial revolution. Nick Park, born in 1958, created Wallace and Gromit. Andrew Flintoff, born in 1977, was central to England's 2005 Ashes win. Sir Tom Finney played his entire senior career for Preston North End.

Two and a half centuries, four fields, four names. The famous Prestonians index carries them and the reason each is claimed.

What else is on this site

Visit and things to do cover the attractions, the parks and the heritage. Events covers the annual cycle. Invest covers the regeneration programme, and the journal's business strand covers the economic approach the city is cited for internationally.

Nothing anywhere on this site carries opening hours, prices or dated event listings.

Where the city sits

Preston stands on the north bank of the Ribble, at the point where the river stops being tidal and the land begins to rise towards the Bowland fells. That position is the reason for the place: it was the lowest convenient crossing, so the roads came to it, and everything since has followed the roads. The M6, M55 and M61 meet within a few miles of the centre, and the West Coast Main Line runs straight through the middle of the city.

The built city is compact. The commercial centre is a walkable grid around Fishergate and the Flag Market, with the Victorian parks dropping south from it to the river and the university sitting immediately to the north. Preston is also the administrative centre of Lancashire, which is why a city of this size carries a county's institutions: the county offices, the county records, and a museum and gallery on a scale the population alone would not explain.

The Preston skyline at sunset with the Harris tower against the sky
Fig. 01 — the skyline; the civic buildings are the tallest things in it

Questions about Welcome to Preston

Where is Preston?

In Lancashire, in the north west of England, on the north bank of the River Ribble. It is the administrative centre of the county.

When did Preston become a city?

In 2002. That makes Preston young as a city and very old as a town — the market charter and the Guild predate it by centuries.

Who is the most famous person from Preston?

Sir Richard Arkwright, born in the town in 1732, is the most historically significant. Nick Park, Andrew Flintoff and Sir Tom Finney are the other names most often claimed.

What is Preston known for?

The markets, the Preston Guild held once every twenty years, Preston North End at Deepdale, and the community wealth building approach known as the Preston Model.