Skelmersdale is a town in West Lancashire, England. It lies on high-ground on the River Tawd, 12.7 miles (20.4 km) to the northeast of Liverpool, 15 miles (24.1 km) south-southwest of Preston and 22.8 miles (37 km) west-northwest of Manchester. As of 2006, Skelmersdale had a population of 38,813, down from 41,000 in 2004. The town is known locally as Skem. The first recorded use of the name Skelmersdale appears in the Domesday Book of 1066. It was under the rule of Uctred as part of the hundred of West Derby. The urbanisation and development of Skelmersdale largely coincided with the Industrial Revolution. Industrial scale coal mining began in the early 1800s and continued to expand during that century to give rise to Skelmersdale as an important colliery village. By the late-19th century, Skelmersdale had acquired a reputation as "a particularly bare, unpleasing district" owing to its coal mines and brickworks. Skelmersdale was designated as a new town in 1961.