Manchester
& the Northwest Region of England
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Virtual Encyclopaedia of Greater Manchester
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The
County of Lancashire - 5
The Townships
of Lancashire
Including Lancashire cities, boroughs, towns and major villages
Note: Some
of the towns listed below are now in the Greater Manchester Metropolitan
County and others in Merseyside and therefore (technically) no longer
in Lancashire.
Alphabetical
order:
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.
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.
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.
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.
