Historic Maps of Crawford Village
This is a 17th-century map from around 1646, depicting Lancashire and surrounding counties in an early cartographic style.
The map shows towns, forests, rivers, and coastal features with hand-drawn embellishments, reflecting how the region was understood at the time. Place names such as Liverpool, Preston, and Wigan appear in early spellings, and large wooded areas and moorlands are prominently marked, highlighting a landscape that was far less urbanised than today.
This 1849 map shows the area at the dawn of the railway age, with a newly built railway cutting across a patchwork of fields, farms, and country lanes. Small rural settlements and collieries are scattered across the landscape, illustrating how transport links were beginning to reshape what was still largely agricultural countryside.
This 1903 map shows the growth of Crawford village as mining activity expanded in the area. Rows of terraced housing cluster around the main road, closely linked to Holland Colliery, with chapels, farms, and schools nearby. It reflects the transition from scattered rural farms to a more settled mining community shaped by industry and local infrastructure.
This 1908 map shows Crawford and the surrounding countryside as a settled mining village, with rows of housing aligned along the main road and open farmland extending in all directions. The nearby railway and colliery infrastructure underline the continued importance of coal mining, while the wider landscape remains largely rural.
This 1927 map shows Crawford as a mature mining village, with established housing clustered along the main road and extensive railway sidings serving the nearby colliery. The surrounding fields remain largely unchanged, highlighting how industrial development was concentrated around transport routes while the wider landscape stayed rural.
This 1948 map shows Crawford in the post-war period, with the village still intact but the Holland Colliery marked as disused, signalling the decline of mining in the area. Housing, the school, and places of worship remain at the heart of the community, while former industrial land begins to fade back into the surrounding rural landscape.
This 2018 map shows Crawford as a quiet rural settlement, with the former mining and railway landscapes fully absorbed into farmland and open countryside. The village remains centred along the main road, reflecting continuity of place despite the complete disappearance of the industrial activity that once shaped the area.