LS Lowry statue at Knott End

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 –

Google map
Google map

Knott End – Over Wyre

This the largest village in the area known as Over Wyre.

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

Many thanks to our friend Quadographer13 for an excellent piece of aerial footage of this lovely spot –

The video starts at Cockersands Abbey which was founded before 1184. All that’s left now is the Chapter House which was added in 1230 and used as a mausoleum by the Dalton family until 1861. Just a few stones from the Abbey remain.

The quadcopter turns to show Plover Scar lighthouse in the distance, sometimes known as Abbey Lighthouse. Built in 1847 it marks the Lune Estuary, you can its in a beautiful landscape.

The clip travels south to Cockerham, Pilling and Preesall sands, and then on to Knott End.

Explore the area

The above video flies over the golf course, the coastguard station and ferry slipway.

Knott End Ferry on the River Wyre with Fleetwood Lower Lighthouse beyond
Knott End Ferry on the River Wyre with Fleetwood Lower Lighthouse beyond

The film continues to the golden sands of the beach and the seafront salt marshes, with the village behind.

You might recognise the soundtrack. It’s Ghostriders in the Sky, played by Andy J, the blind guitarist from Fleetwood who is a star at events like Tram Sunday.

Knott End in Photos

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.

Knott End seafront footpath
The seafront footpath
Knott End seafront
Salt marsh on the seafront
Knott End seafront
Knott End seafront

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

Knott End Ferry Point and Coastguard Station
Ferry Point and Coastguard Station
Knott End cafe and coastguard building
Knott End cafe and coastguard building

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.

Ferry to Fleetwood
Ferry to Fleetwood

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

Ferry Point, cafe, RNLI and Coastguard station
Ferry Point, cafe, RNLI and Coastguard station

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.

Shops in the village

Knott End Village

Knott End Village

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

The community library

Statue of LS Lowry

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

LS Lowry statue at the slipway
LS Lowry statue

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

Lowry Statue at the slipway
Lowry statue and coastguard station at the slipway
Knott End and Preesall Millennium Clock at Knott End Village
Knott End and Preesall Millennium Clock
Memorial Stone
Memorial Stone to mark 70th anniversary of the Battle of Britain

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3 thoughts on “Knott End”

  1. Bevan Ridehalgh

    I think Juliette is a little wrong about the St Bernard’s-on-sea bit. I believe the attempted change of name was made by one or two of the builders who were building the houses on the prom. They thought the posher name would help with sales. By the way, officially there is no such place as Knott End which is truly the name given to the riverside tip of Preesall with Hackensall.

  2. Knott End – was going to be called St Bernards on sea … they decided not. In the delightful little book ‘The Lancashire Coastal Way And The Wyre Way’, by Ian & Krysia Brodie, we are enlightened about the possible meaning of Knott End: “The large sandbank off Knott End is called Bernard’s Wharf – reputedly after St Bernard. Many small birds, including knot and dunlin, feed here in the nutrient-rich mud. One story says Knott End derives from these birds, another that the Norse marked the channel of the Wyre with a chain of knots or cairns, the final one being the Knott End!” There is a church named for St Bernard on Hackensall Road.

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