Scotforth (parish)

Content sourced from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

Scotforth is a civil parish in the City of Lancaster district, Lancashire, England. It lies south of the city and includes areas to the west, north and north-east of Lancaster University, but it does not cover the suburb named Scotforth. The parish covers about 646 hectares (1,596 acres) and had a population of 320 at the 2021 census. The eastern edge follows the River Conder. Much of the land is used for farming and reservoirs.

The largest settlement is the small hamlet of Bailrigg in the west, which is separated from the rest of Scotforth by the M6 motorway. Bailrigg gives its name to the Bailrigg campus of the university.

There are five listed buildings in Scotforth: four houses and a bridge over the River Conder, all designated Grade II.

Two reservoirs lie in the parish: Blea Tarn Reservoir (built 1896–1901) and Langthwaite Reservoir (built 1935). In 2018 work began on a floating solar farm on Langthwaite’s surface.

Scotforth has a parish council. It was once a township and became a civil parish in 1866. The parish used to include more area; in 1900 the northern part was transferred to Lancaster, and in 1935 a further 332 acres (134 hectares) were transferred.

Historically, the parish’s population changed a lot: 1,139 in 1871, 2,263 in 1881, 1,598 in 1891, and then 251 in 1901. Scotforth is one of 14 parishes in England that still contains a detached portion.