Coordinates: 53°39′11″N 2°37′55″W / 53.653°N 2.632°W / 53.653; -2.632

Chorley is a market town in Lancashire, in North West England. It is the largest settlement in the Borough of Chorley. Chorley is located 8.1 miles (13 km) north of Wigan 10.8 miles (17 km) south west of Blackburn, 11 miles (18 km) north west of Bolton 12 miles (19 km) south of Preston and 19.5 miles (31 km) north west of Manchester. As in much of Lancashire, the town's wealth came principally from the cotton industry, although it also became a major market town due to its central location between four other towns. As recently as the 1970s the skyline was dominated by numerous factory chimneys, but most have now been demolished: remnants of the industrial past include Morrison's chimney and a few other mill buildings, and the streets of terraced houses for mill workers. Chorley is the home of the Chorley cake. Chorley's population increased from 31,556 in 2001 to 34,667 in 2011.

History

Toponymy

The name Chorley comes from two Anglo-Saxon words, Ceorl and ley, probably meaning "the peasants' clearing".Ley (also leah or leigh) is a common element of place-name, meaning a clearing in a woodland. Ceorl refers to a person of status similar to a freeman or a yeoman.

Coordinates: 53°39′11″N 2°37′55″W / 53.653°N 2.632°W / 53.653; -2.632

Chorley is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 1997 by Lindsay Hoyle of the Labour Party.

Boundaries

Chorley constituency consists of the majority of the borough of Chorley. As well as the central market town of Chorley itself, the seat extends into southern Lancashire rural hinterland with three major villages and minor villages.

Chorley's expansion is assured with the building of Buckshaw Village, an urban development sprawling over the former Royal Ordnance Site east of Leyland in the seat.

Following their review of parliamentary representation in Lancashire leading up to the United Kingdom general election, 2010 the Boundary Commission for England created a new seat of Wyre and Preston North in the central part of the county, which caused "knock-on" effects elsewhere. Chorley constituency was one of the largest in electorate at the start of the review, which was a factor in the alterations to both its own composition and the changes to surrounding constituencies.

Chorley is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: