Bickerstaffe is a village and civil parish

Civil parish

In England, a civil parish is a territorial designation and, where they are found, the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties...

 in the West Lancashire

West Lancashire

West Lancashire is a non-metropolitan district with the status of a borough in Lancashire, England. Its council is based in Ormskirk. The other town in the borough is Skelmersdale....

 district of Lancashire

Lancashire

Lancashire is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in the North West of England. It takes its name from the city of Lancaster, and is sometimes known as the County of Lancaster. Although Lancaster is still considered to be the county town, Lancashire County Council is based in Preston...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

. According to the 2001 Census

United Kingdom Census 2001

A nationwide census, known as Census 2001, was conducted in the United Kingdom on Sunday, 29 April 2001. This was the 20th UK Census and recorded a resident population of 58,789,194....

 the population of the civil parish was 1,196, although the population of the electoral ward was slightly greater at 2,013.
The village is near junction 3 of the M58 motorway

M58 motorway

The M58 is a motorway passing through Merseyside and Lancashire, terminating in Greater Manchester, England. It is 12 miles long and provides a link between the M6 motorway and the area north of Liverpool.-Route:...

, and is about four miles west of Skelmersdale

Skelmersdale

Skelmersdale is a town in West Lancashire, England. It lies on high-ground on the River Tawd, to the west of Wigan, to the northeast of Liverpool, south-southwest of Preston. As of 2006, Skelmersdale had a population of 38,813, down from 41,000 in 2004. The town is known locally as Skem.The...

.

Its name may come from Anglo-Saxon bïcera stæþ = "the beekeeper

Beekeeper

A beekeeper is a person who keeps honey bees for the purposes of securing commodities such as honey, beeswax, pollen, royal jelly; pollinating fruits and vegetables; raising queens and bees for sale to other farmers; and/or for purposes satisfying natural scientific curiosity...

s' landing-place".

In the seventeenth century, Bickerstaffe was an important local centre of the Quakers

Religious Society of Friends

The Religious Society of Friends, or Friends Church, is a Christian movement which stresses the doctrine of the priesthood of all believers. Members are known as Friends, or popularly as Quakers. It is made of independent organisations, which have split from one another due to doctrinal differences...

 in West Lancashire.

The local church is Holy Trinity.

Public houses and restaurants in the area include The Stanley Gate, The Sandpiper, Quattros and My Elephant.

The grounds of Bickerstaffe AFC are at Hall Lane next to Bickerstaffe C.E school.

An annual music festival

Music festival

A music festival is a festival oriented towards music that is sometimes presented with a theme such as musical genre, nationality or locality of musicians, or holiday. They are commonly held outdoors, and are often inclusive of other attractions such as food and merchandise vending machines,...

, Bickerstock, takes place in the summer season, featuring local and international artists, and drawing in increasingly large crowds.

Bickerstaffe is the home of a listed building, namely stocks which are of historical importance to the village.