Winckley Square

Winckley Square is situated near the centre of Preston, Lancashire, England, at the west end of Avenham.

The square was first established in 1801, around Town End Field owned by Thomas Winckley, as an exclusive residential area for the town's gentry. It is now occupied mostly by insurance, legal and other business offices, although some residential developments have recently been made. The square's gardens, now an open public park, originally consisted of private plots, each owned by a resident. A statue of Sir Robert Peel stands on one side of the central gardens opposite Cross Street, erected by public subscription in 1852.

An Italian-style villa was built in 1850 on the south corner of Cross Street (number 11), which was later used as a County Court office from the 1940s. It was demolished in 1969. On the opposite corner (number 10) was the Winckley Club, a gentlemen's club, and next to it, in Cross Street, the Literary and Philosophical Institution (later called Dr Shepherd's Library and Museum), both built in 1846 and both now demolished.

Winckley Street lies between Winckley Square and Preston's main street of Fishergate. Today it is home to mainly professional and religious service providers, including solicitors practices, a translation company, a Jesuit presbytery (taking up the majority of the northern buildings adjacent to St Wilfrids Church) as well as restaurants.

Winckley Square has been the home of several schools.

Preston Grammar School dated back to the 15th century. In 1841 it moved to new premises in Cross Street next to the Philosophical Institution. In 1913 it relocated to Moor Park, and closed in 1967. It is not to be confused with the former Preston Manor County Grammar School in London.

Preston High School for Girls once occupied 5 Winckley Square. It was superseded in 1907 by the Park School for Girls, which educated younger girls in Winckley Square and older girls in Moor Park Avenue. It closed in 1967.

Preston Catholic College was a Jesuit school for boys, which opened in 1865 and closed in 1978, when its sixth form merged with Winckley Square Convent School and Larkhill Convent Grammar School to form Cardinal Newman College. At its peak in 1970, it occupied most of the west side of Winckley Square. Alumni include television football pundit Mark Lawrenson and head of the Royal Shakespeare Company, Gregory Doran.

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