Winckley Square is the genteel old quarter of Preston — a Georgian residential square laid out from 1799, with a small park in the centre and elegant brick townhouses around the perimeter. Many of the houses were the homes of nineteenth-century cotton barons; today most are converted to offices for solicitors and accountants, but the square itself remains a quiet place to sit with a coffee.
The southern side gives onto Avenham Park, which slopes down towards the Ribble. The combined walk through square and park is the obvious half-hour break from the busier city centre.