What is Preston?
[[File:Harris Museum ( Preston ) ( Web).jpg|thumb|The Harris Museum and Art Gallery, Preston]] [[Image:Preston town flag.svg|thumb|150px|Flag]] [[Image:Preston City Council - coat of arms.png|thumb|90px|Coat of arms]] '''Preston''' is a [[city]] in [[North West England]] which is the [[county town]] of [[Lancashire]]. It is near the [[River Ribble]]. It became a city in 2002. This was the [[50]]th year of [[Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom|Queen Elizabeth II]]'s reign. [[Chorley, Lancashire|Chorley]] and [[Leyland, Lancashire|Leyland]] are towns not far away from Preston. In 2001, a [[census]] said that there were 335,000 people living in Preston. ==History== In 1179, Preston was given a charter (document) which let the town's trader travel around the [[United Kingdom]] without paying [[Toll road|tolls]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Made in Preston {{!}} History Page 1|url=http://www.madeinpreston.co.uk/history.html|access-date=2021-05-23|website=www.madeinpreston.co.uk}}</ref> Preston Guild is held in Preston. The chief industry of Preston was formerly the making of cotton cloth. The Preston bypass (road around the city) was built in the [[1950s]]. Among the important buildings in Preston are the Harris Museum, Art Gallery and Public Library, and the county council's headquarters. Preston railway station is an importance junction on the west coast main line; the M6 motorway connects Preston to Cumbria (northwards) and Cheshire (southwards). ==Sports== The football team in Preston is [[Preston North End F.C.]] which plays at [[Deepdale]]. They were the first [[football team|team]] to be [[English Football League|English football champions]] in [[1888–89 Football League|1889]]. ==Education== Preston is home to the University of Central Lancashire, established in [[1828]] and originally being called The Institution For The Diffusion of Useful Knowledge. It is one of the largest universities in the UK, having around 38,000 staff and [[student]]s. == References == {{Reflist}}{{English Cities|nocat=yes}} {{authority co