The
Anglican parish
church of St Mary the Virgin is situated on Church Lane. Trinity
Methodist Church, originally dating from the early 1880s, is situated on Whittingham Lane. Goosnargh has two public houses,
The Grapes located on Church Lane and
The Stags Head on
Whittingham Lane. The
Bushells Arms, also located on Church Lane, closed in 2010 and is now a private residence. There is also a
Post Office, hairdresser, pharmacy, village hall, florists and a fish and chip shop in the village. There used to be a gift shop and an estate agent in the village but these have closed down. The village is also the location of the Whittingham and Goosnargh Social Club. The village holds an annual festival on the first Saturday after the Spring Bank Holiday Monday during which there is a procession through the village. The procession includes decorated floats, fancy dress, maypole dancing and marching bands. Goosnargh Cornfed Chicken and Duck is championed by chefs including
Gordon Ramsay. The oldest house in Goosnargh is Stone Cottage on Goosnargh Lane. It is now 339 years old. The beams in the 900-year-old local church have traces of sea salt in them. People believe they were from old Viking long boats. The village itself has a population of 1,540, much of which is included in the
civil parish of
Whittingham. There are two bus services to Goosnargh, numbered 45 and 46, with an hourly service on each route. The 45 connects the village with Preston city centre, Fulwood, Longridge, and Blackburn, while the 46 goes to Preston, Cottam, and Longridge. There are also a number of school buses which run through the village (584, 585 and 678). Goosnargh village has a primary school: Goosnargh Oliversons C of E.
Broughton High School,
Longridge High School and
St Cecilia's RC High School are the three high schools whose catchment areas include Goosnargh. The footballers
Lily Parr and
Peter Corr both died in Goosnargh. Bushell House, formerly known as Bushell's Hospital, on Mill Lane, is a retirement home and a
Grade II listed building dating from 1722.
Goosnargh cake The village gave its name to the Goosnargh cake, a type of
caraway seed
shortcake biscuit. The biscuits were traditionally sold at
Whitsun. On Whit Tuesday in 1846 at the Annual Club Day at Goosnargh, the
Preston Chronicle reported that thousands were sold and sellers were unable to satisfy demand. According to the
Preston Herald in 1896 cakes with the "real Goosnargh flavour" were only obtainable in the village. A photograph of a Mrs Davis of Goosnargh sugaring Goosnargh cakes appeared in the
Daily Mirror in November 1937. The accompanying caption states the cakes were baked in her cottage oven and would be sent to Australia, New Zealand and South Africa for Christmas. It was reported that
Lloyd George became partial to Goosnargh cakes after eating some at a Christening and made out an order to a Mrs Cartwright in the village. ==Goosnargh parish==