Coordinates: 53°23′30″N 2°38′18″W / 53.3918°N 2.6383°W / 53.3918; -2.6383

Great Sankey
Great Sankey  Great Sankey shown within Cheshire
Population	24,211 [1]
OS grid reference	SJ575885
Unitary authority	Warrington
Ceremonial county	Cheshire
Region	North West
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	Warrington
Postcode district	WA5
Dialling code	01925
Police	Cheshire
Fire	Cheshire
Ambulance	North West
EU Parliament	North West England
UK Parliament	Warrington South
List of places: UK • England • Cheshire

Great Sankey is a civil parish and suburb of Warrington town in the west of the Borough of Warrington, in the north-west of England. It is about 2 miles to the West of Warrington town centre. According to the 2001 census, its population was 24,211.^[1]

[edit] History

The village of Great Sankey was originally a chapelry in Prescot parish in Lancashire. It became formally a separate civil parish in 1866, and it was transferred to Cheshire in 1974.^[2] There was industrial growth along the banks of the Sankey Canal at Sankey Bridges during the 19th century but otherwise the area was rural.^[3] RAF Burtonwood was built on the outskirts in 1939. Since then, the area transformed into a residential suburb for Warrington New Town.^[3]

[edit] Governance

Great Sankey forms part of Warrington South constituency of the United Kingdom Parliament. It is also divided into three council wards for the election of councillors to Warrington Borough Council: Great Sankey North, Great Sankey South and Whittle Hall.^[4] Great Sankey North has two Liberal Democrat councillors, Great Sankey South has three Liberal Democrat councillors and Whittle Hall has one Liberal Democrat and one Labour councillor.

The civil parish is governed by a parish council consisting of fifteen elected members.^[3]

St Mary's Church, Sankey

[edit] Religion

The Parish Church of the Church of England is in the Diocese of Liverpool and dedicated to St. Mary.^[5][6] The nearest Roman Catholic church is in Penketh (St. Joseph's).^[6][7] Similarly, the nearest Methodist Church is also in Penketh.^[6][8]

[edit] Demographics

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Note: Statistics expressed as percentages may not add up to 100%

Data are based on official 2001 census figures,^[9] and also on that of Great Sankey North Ward and Great Sankey South Ward.^[10][11]

[edit] Population and ethnicity

The district of Great Sankey has a total population of 16,960 residents, of which 49.5% are male and 50.5% are female. The average age of the population at the 2001 census was 24.3 years. Of the 16,960 residents, 98.05% describe their racial origin as white. Other major majorities are mixed (0.55%), black (0.15%) and Asian origin (0.75%). Other race accounts for 0.50%.

[edit] Housing and social situation

At the last count (2001), there were 6,381 households in Great Sankey, of which 87.10% are owner occupied, 9.55% are social accommodation, 2.70% are rented from private landlords and 0.70% have residents who live rent free. The average house price is £136,409. Of the 6,381 houses, 2.80% are classed as overcrowded. The population density is 43.75 residents per hectare. The majority of residents describe Sankey as a "comfortably well-off" area. On the Index of Multiple Deprivation, Great Sankey was described as one of the most affluent areas of Warrington, in spite of this, 2.80% of residents are on benefits.

[edit] Employment and education

66.20% of all resident in the Great Sankey wards are employed while unemployment stands at 2.25%. Of the population 2.50% of residents are students in full time education. 26.44% of residents are economically inactive (due to retirement, disability or acting as a full time carer). In terms of education, 24.05% of residents have no qualifications whatsoever (mainly down to dropping out of school early or failing end of school examinations). 49.70% of residents only have level one or two qualifications (at least 1 GCSE pass (A*-G) or equivalent), and 18.25% have at least level three qualiffications (at least 2 A-levels (A-E) or 4 AS levels (A-E) or equivalent).

[edit] Education

The secondary school is Great Sankey High School.^[12] This site also contains facilities for its sixth form under the name of Barrow Hall College.^[13] Five primary schools serve Great Sankey.^[14]

There is also numerous primary schools which are linked to Great Sankey High School. They are spread around the parish and between them cover all races, religions and sexes.

[edit] Transport

Sankey railway station is on the Liverpool to Manchester line and served by an hourly service of stopping trains run by Northern Rail.^[15][16] Public transport buses link Sankey with Warrington bus station and the shopping/cinema complex at Westbrook and the Gemini Retail Park.^[17] Great Sankey is on the A57 road linking Warrington with the M62 motorway at junction 7.^[18] The nearest airport is Liverpool John Lennon Airport.^[19]

[edit] Notes and references

[edit] Notes

[edit] Bibliography