Knott End

The small village of Knott End is across the estuary of the River Wyre, opposite Fleetwood. It’s on the southern side of Morecambe Bay – but still in the administrative borough of Wyre.

Click here and on the map to explore –

Knott End – Over Wyre

This the largest village in the area known as Over Wyre. But you won’t find ‘Over Wyre’ on a map. It’s the collection of rural villages which are over the other side of the River Wyre, which includes Hambleton and Pilling. Knott End is in the Civil Parish of Preesall, the nearby village, and is served by Preesall Town Council.

An Aerial View

Thanks to Dave Berry for this aerial footage of this lovely spot –

Explore the area

This coastal village has a beautiful seafront promenade and golden sandy beaches. The natural salt marsh/seafront grassland habitat. It’s a perfect spot for walking and watching wildlife.

The Coastguard Station overlooks the ferry slipway, and next to it is the seafront cafe.

Fleetwood to Knott End Ferry

The Ferry operates from its berth at the side of Fleetwood RNLI station across the River Wyre to the slipway at Knott End.

Find out more about Fleetwood Ferry here.

With a five minute boat ride across the River Wyre, the ferry connects the villages of Over Wyre to Fleetwood.

To travel to Knott End by car from the Fylde Coast you first leave the ever-busy A585 to cross Shard Bridge. Then follow winding country roads in a journey which takes about an hour from the point of the Ferry at Fleetwood.

Knott End Village

In the Village you’ll find a wide range of local shops. They include food retailers, homewares, chemists, fish and chips (of course!) and more besides.

The Library (below) is an important community building, spared the axe in the funding review of September 2016.

Statue of LS Lowry

The famous Lancashire artist LS Lowry, who painted ‘matchstick men and dogs’, often visited this seaside village in the 1940s and 50s. The locality features in a number of his paintings.

His favourite spot seems to have been the top of the Ferry Slipway. He painted several depictions of people scurrying along here, in his recognisable style. It’s fitting then that this is the position chosen in 2015 for the statue of LS Lowry. 

The Name ‘Knott End’

There are three good theories as to how the place got its name.

1. The ‘Knot’ is a seabird which can be seen flying in large flocks on local sands of the Fylde Coast. They swoop and dive in a similar way to a murmuration of starlings. They appear to float like a cloud above the edge of the beach.

2. The area has Norse roots, with occupation of this general area known to date back to the early Bronze Age. One theory is that when these early Norse seafarers entered the dangerous Wyre Estuary they used knotted ropes to aid their navigation, with the knots marking the distance. Knott End was at the end of the rope.

3. The third theory believes that there were two large mounds of stones or ‘knotts’ that lay out in the bed of the river, until they were displaced in the building of the entrance to the Wyre Dock.

Links to External Websites

Over Wyre and Knott End, History and Topography

Preesall Town Council website

Knott End Coastguard Rescue Team Facebook page

Knott End and Preesall – a little bit of history Facebook page

Interested in a memorial bench? Wyre Council installs memorials along the sea front at Fleetwood and to the boundary with Blackpool at Cleveleys. The frontage at Knott End does not form part of Wyre Council land. You can contact the Environment Agency or Lancashire Council for more details. For the Environment Agency ring 03708 506 506 and the contact number for LCC is 0300 123 6701.