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Accrington
As
with many other Lancashire towns, Accrington grew up during the Industrial
Revolution, when it was transformed from a predominantly rural agricultural
setting into an industrial town where spinning and weaving dominated
the local development and economy. 1792 saw the establishment of its
first mill and thereafter a consistent expansion took place throughout
the 19th century. By 1911, Accrington boasted 14000 looms, 166000
spindles and more than 18000 people employed in some capacity in the
textiles industry. The town also manufactured its own spinning and
weaving machinery. Its rapid expansion meant that by 1878 Accrington
had been created as a Borough.
As the textile industry declined in the mid 20th century in the face
of cheaper foreign textile imports, as with many other surrounding
townships, mills gradually closed. Coal Mining survived in the borough
until 1968. In 1929 the borough boundaries were extended to include
Huncoat and since 1974 Accrington has been the administrative centre
of the Borough of Hyndburn.
Bacup
The
township of Bacup is located 835 feet above sea level to the east
of the Borough of Rossendale and has a population of approximately
15,000.
On its eastern edge it forms the Rossendale boundary and the County
of Lancashire boundary with Yorkshire. It was the first town in Rossendale
to have achieved Borough status which it did in 1882. Bacup is close
to the site where Saxons are said to have fought with Danish invaders
in the 10th century.
More recently its main industries have included textiles, coal mining,
quarrying and footwear manufacture. The town centre is designated
as a Conservation Area of special Architectural and Historic interest.
Blackburn
The name of Blackburn dates from the Dark Ages, and is named after
a local stream known for centuries as Blakewater. It lies on the main
south-north Roman road which linked Manchester with Ribchester. The
township has a very long and distinguished history. Situated as it
was in a key position on this road, during Saxon and Viking times,
it became an important stopover town of North East Lancashire.
During Norman times it appears in the Domesday Survey of 1086 as the
Blackburn Hundred with St. Mary's Church having stood there since
596 AD. In 1926 St Mary's became Blackburn Cathedral when the Diocese
of Blackburn was created. The town also has the old Queen Elizabeth's
Grammar School which was founded in 1509. It's first Members of Parliament
were elected when the town received its Charter of Incorporation in
1851. At this time, Blackburn had undergone extensive industrialisation,
like many other Lancashire townships and was a major centre for textile
manufacture.
However, the 20th century saw the textile industry in serious terminal
decline and other industries like engineering and electronics have
gradually replaced them.
In 1974, Local Government reorganisation brought Darwen and surrounding
villages into The Borough of Blackburn and in April 1998 the new Unitary
Authority of Blackburn with Darwen achieved independence from Lancashire
County Council.
Blackpool
See
Main
Entry.
Bolton
See
Main Entry.
Bootle
The
name of the town of Bootle comes from the Old English word "botl"
(meaning "dwelling house") which was, until the beginning
of the 19th century, a quiet little country village of 537 inhabitants.
From 1799 its clear spring water supplied the needs of the City of
Liverpool. Bootle was a fashionable coastal resort, much favoured
by the well-to-do. But, by the middle of the 19th Century the dockhands
of Liverpool had spread northwards and virtually enveloped the town
and it soon became intensely industrialised. Even today it is one
of the most important of Merseyside's working docks.
Bootle town centre has undergone an extensive programme of urban redevelopment
and renewal over recent years and now includes a traffic-free shopping
precinct with multi-storey parking for 1,000 vehicles. Nearby, the
Stanley Precinct Office Quarter with its numerous office developments
provide employment for over 8,000 people.
Burnley
Burnley
probably existed as a small hamlet as early as 800 AD, but not until
1122 is it first officially mentioned, in a charter by which one Hugh
de la Val granted the church of St Peters to the monks at Pontefract
Priory. Sometime around 1200 Geoffrey married the daughter of Roger
de Lacy and was granted land to maintain a dwelling in the area. Thereafter
the name of Towneley has closely connected with the Burnley district.
(See Towneley Hall).
Burnley was one of the possessions of the Lacys, a powerful family
who were Lords of Blackburnshire for several generations up to the
end of the 13th century. In 1294, Henry de Lacy obtained a charter
from King Edward I granting the right to hold a weekly market at his
house in the manor of 'Bruneley' and to have a three day fair
once every year, on the "...eve and morrow of the feast of the
Apostle Peter and Paul".
In 1559 Burnley Grammar School was founded by Gilbert Fairbank. The
town was once known as the greatest cotton-manufacturing place in
Britain and during its heyday at the end of the 19th century boasted
over 100,000 looms operating within the borough. With 20th century
decline in the textile industry, saw the town fall on hard times,
but now it seems to have fully recovered and to have replaced its
old industries with light engineering and other commercial ventures.
Bury
See
Main Entry.
Carnforth
Carnforth,
a small township lying just North of Lancaster, was originally settled
by invading Danes and as a result many of the place names in the district
suggest Scandinavian origin. Carnforth was once a main crossing over
the River Keer, which probably gave the town its name.
The now famous Carnforth Railway Station was immortalised the classic
1945 Noel Coward film "Brief Encounter" which starred
Celia Johnson and Trevor Howard. The first stage of its refurbishment
was completed in February 2002 and opened is open to the public -
a great tourist attraction. Carnforth the ideal base for a tour of
the area and is regarded as a gateway to the Lake District.
Chorley
Chorley,
located on the very edge of the West Pennine Moors, is famed for its
market, which has been held in the town since 1498 (albeit then without
a Charter), and this was the source of its early growth and prosperity.
It still is a thriving market town.
Close by are many tourist attractions including Camelot
Theme Park, Hoghton Tower
(where William Shakespeare is reputed to have worked as a teacher),
Astley Hall, and the beautiful countryside at Rivington
Pike and Country Park, which served as host to the Manchester
XVII Commonwealth Games Outdoor Cycling events. . The town boasts
a clean and thriving urban environment with many pretty surrounding
villages like Heskin, Croston and Mawdesley well worth the visit.
Clitheroe
Clitheroe
is a small ancient market town and borough in the parish of Whalley
and part of the old Norman Blackburn Hundred which has been represented
in Parliament since Elizabethan times. It is located about 30 miles
north west of Manchester and 20 miles north east of Preston.
Its most distinctive feature is Clitheroe Castle, a Norman edifice
dating from the reign of William the Conqueror, or his son William
Rufus. Otherwise, Clitheroe was of little importance until it developed
in the late 18th and early 19th century as a major centre cotton spinning
and textile power loom manufacturing. Its early mills were water powered
by the River Ribble and later a steam engine added. The banks of the
Ribble were were also a convenient source of natural limestone, and
its ten kilns, supplied quicklime and plaster for mortars and building
use throughout much of the county.
See
Also: Mick Pye's Local History & Families website at: www.oldclitheroe.co.uk.
Colne
Colne
is a small old market town, second largest in the Borough of Pendle
with which it has been combined since Local Government reorganisation
in 1974. It has around 19,000 inhabitants. From 1895 Colne had been
granted Borough status in 1895. Its long history dates to pre-Roman
times. After Roman withdrawal from the British Isles, there were various
continental invasions of the region, including the Angles, and this
is reflected in local place names like Trawden and Marsden. Later
Scandinavian invasions (Vikings, Norsemen or Danes), are betrayed
by words in placenames like 'gill' and 'slack'.
Viking occupation of the region came to an end when Athelstan, grandson
of King Alfred the Great of Wessex, defeated a combined army of Picts,
Scots, Welsh and Danes to become the first King of all England.
During the Norman period, after 1066, Colne included Great Marsden
and Foulridge, and the Forests of Trawden and of Pendle were created,
so as to afford deer hunting for Norman noblemen. The actual town
of Colne grew up at the top of the hill around the church, built before
1122 AD. It was in the churchyard that the weekly market was held
unofficially, without a Royal Charter, having already grown through
tradition and custom. Textiles production began here in very early
times too, with a town fulling mill in existence in 1296. Even in
Tudor times Colne's workforce were chiefly occupied in the woollen
manufacturing cottage industry.
Townships
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