Cockerham

{{short description| Village in Lancashire, England}}

{{other uses}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2017}}

{{Use British English|date=March 2015}}

{{Infobox UK place

| official_name = Cockerham

| population = 671

| population_ref = (2011)

| country = England

| os_grid_reference = SD465525

| london_distance = {{convert|204|mi|km|0|abbr=on}} SE

| coordinates = {{coord|53.966|-2.814|display=inline,title}}

| civil_parish = Cockerham

| shire_district = Lancaster

| shire_county = Lancashire

| region = North West England

| post_town = LANCASTER

| postcode_area = LA

| postcode_district = LA2

| dial_code = 01524

| constituency_westminster = Lancaster and Fleetwood

| static_image_name = St_Michael's_Cockerham.jpeg

| static_image_caption = The north-western façade of St. Michael's Church

| pushpin_map = United Kingdom City of Lancaster#United Kingdom Morecambe Bay

| pushpin_map_caption = Location in the City of Lancaster district##Location on Morecambe Bay

}}

Cockerham is a small village and civil parish within the City of Lancaster district in Lancashire, England. It is {{convert|6|mi|km|1}} south of Lancaster and {{convert|15|mi|km|0}} north-northwest of Preston. Lying on the River Cocker, at the estuary of the River Lune, the parish had a population of 671 at the 2011 Census.{{NOMIS2011|id=E04005186|title=Cockerham Parish|access-date=27 March 2021}}

Cockerham has lain within the historic county boundaries of Lancashire since the Middle Ages,{{Citation needed|date=August 2009}} having previously formed a township and parish within the hundred of Lonsdale.{{cite web |url=http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/unit_page.jsp?u_id=10345455 |title=A Vision of Cockerham AP/CP | publisher=Lancaster RD Local Government District | accessdate=14 May 2010}} Between 1894 and 1974, Cockerham lay within the Lancaster Rural District.{{cite web |url=http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/unit_page.jsp?u_id=10153761 |title=A Vision of Lancaster RD |author=Lancaster RD Local Government District |accessdate=13 June 2007}}

Medieval life of Cockerham manor has been recorded in the Custumal of the Manor of Cockerham, compiled in 1326–1327 and revised in 1463. The custumal, a record of rents and services owed by the tenants to their landlord, combines a local code of laws with an inventory of all resources of the land, from peat fuel, cattle and sheep to shoreline mussels.Bailey, p. 61. The tenants were forbidden to trade local fuel to the "strangers" who collected mussels on the shore.Bailey, p. 66.

The local church is St. Michael's. The original parish church was in the middle of the village but was resited on higher ground due to frequent flooding.

Close by are the remains of Cockersand Abbey. The village has a pub, the Manor Inn.