Blackburn Hundred

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Hundred of Blackburn
Lancashire Hundred
Red Rose Badge of Lancaster.svg
Hundred of Blackburn.png
Blackburn Hundred depicted in John Speed's 1610 map of Lancashire
Area
 • 1831175,598 acres (711 km2) [1]
 • Coordinates 53°44′56″N2°29′06″W / 53.749°N 2.485°W / 53.749; -2.485 Coordinates: 53°44′56″N2°29′06″W / 53.749°N 2.485°W / 53.749; -2.485
History
 • CreatedBefore Domesday
 • AbolishedMid-18th century, never formally abolished
Status Ancient Hundred
 •  HQ Blackburn then Clitheroe
Subdivisions
 • Type Parish(es)
 • Units Blackburn, Whalley

Blackburn Hundred (also known as Blackburnshire) is a historic sub-division of the county of Lancashire, in northern England. Its chief town was Blackburn, in the southwest of the hundred. It covered an area similar to modern East Lancashire, including the current districts of Ribble Valley (excluding the part north of the River Ribble and east of the Hodder, which was then in Yorkshire), Pendle (excluding West Craven, also in Yorkshire), Burnley, Rossendale, Hyndburn, Blackburn with Darwen, and South Ribble (east from Walton-le-dale and Lostock Hall).

Contents

Much of the area is hilly, bordering on the Pennines, with Pendle Hill in the midst of it, and was historically sparsely populated. It included several important royal forests. In the 18th century several towns in the area became industrialized and densely populated, including Blackburn itself, and Burnley.

Early history

The shire probably originated as a county of the Kingdom of Northumbria, [lower-alpha 1] but was much fought over. In the Domesday Book it was among the hundreds between the Ribble and Mersey rivers ("Inter Ripam et Mersam" in the Domesday Book [3] ) that were included with the information about Cheshire, [4] though they are now in Lancashire and cannot be said clearly to have then been part of Cheshire. [lower-alpha 2] [lower-alpha 3] The area may have been annexed to the embryonic Kingdom of England following the Battle of Brunanburh in 937.

The Domesday Book entry shows that before the Norman conquest, the hundred had been held directly by King Edward. It mentions royal holdings in Blackburn, Huncoat, Walton-le-Dale and Pendleton, and those of a church at Blackburn and St Mary's in Whalley. Also it talks of 28 freemen holding land as manors, but gives no further details about them. After the conquest Blackburnshire was part of a large area given to Roger de Poitou and he had demised it to Roger de Busli and Albert de Gresle.

Domesday also mentions a sizable area of woodland. Two areas, the first one league long and as wide, and another six long and four leagues wide, which could be as much as 225 square miles (583 km2). [7]

Later the much the east of the hundred was established as royal hunting grounds, Known as the forest of Blackburnshire it was divided into the four forests of Accrington, Pendle, Trawden and Rossendale. [8]

Feudal period

At the start of the 12th century Roger de Poitou joined the failed rebellion against King Henry I in favor of his brother Robert Curthose, as a result losing his English holdings. In 1102 King Henry granted the whole of Blackburnshire and part of Amounderness to Robert de Lacy, the Lord of Pontefract, while confirming his possession of Bowland. [9] These lands formed the basis of the Honour of Clitheroe. Subsequently most of the ancient parish of Ribchester, except the township of Alston-with-Hothersall, and in the ancient parish of Chipping, the vills of Aighton and Dutton and part of the forest of Bowland belonging ecclesiastically to the ancient parish of Great Mitton were annexed to Blackburnshire. [8]

The separateness of the district was reinforced when it became a royal bailiwick in 1122. In 1182, it became part of the newly created County Palatine of Lancaster.

By 1243 it is believed that there were 57 manors in the hundred.

Those held in demesne [8] were Colne, Great and Little Marsden, Briercliffe, Burnley, Ightenhill, Habergham, Padiham, Huncoat, Hapton, Accrington, Haslingden, Downham, Worston, Chatburn and Little Pendleton.

Those held by thegnage [8] were: Twiston, [lower-alpha 4] Chipping, Thornley, Wheatley, Ribchester, Dutton, Dinckley, Henthorn, Wilpshire, Clayton-le-Dale, Salesbury, Osbaldeston, Samlesbury, Read, Simonstone, Oswaldtwistle, Livesey, [lower-alpha 4] Birtwistle, Church, Cliviger and Worsthorne.

Those held by knight's service [9] were: Little Mitton, Wiswell, Hapton, Towneley, Coldcoats, Snodworth, Twiston, [lower-alpha 4] Extwistle, Aighton, Great Mearley, Livesey, [lower-alpha 4] Downham, Foulridge, Little Mearley, Rishton, Billington, Altham, Great Harwood, Clayton le Moors, and Walton in le Dale.

Post medieval

Hundreds of Lancashire

The hundred of Blackburnshire continued to have administrative relevance until the abandonment of the system of hundreds in the early 19th century, long after feudalism ceased in England. As in other parts of England, the hundred was divided into parishes which were ecclesiastical parishes as well as being used for administrative purposes, like modern English civil parishes.

Early Blackburnshire had only two parishes, each covering a considerable but sparsely populated area. Whalley (now a much smaller parish) was the larger of the two, and covered the east of the hundred, while Blackburn parish covered the west. As mentioned above, the hundred was expanded to cover parts of the parishes of Chipping, Ribchester and Mitton. [8] As Blackburnshire became more heavily populated and economically developed, the parishes of Whalley and Blackburn were split into many smaller parts over the centuries.

Blackburn became a separate archdeaconry, splitting off from the archdeaconry of Manchester, in 1877, [13] and becoming the Diocese of Blackburn in 1926.

Related Research Articles

Ribble Valley Borough in England

Ribble Valley is a local government district with borough status within the non-metropolitan county of Lancashire, England. The total population of the non-metropolitan district at the 2011 Census was 57,132. Its council is based in Clitheroe. Other places include Whalley, Longridge and Ribchester. The area is so called due to the River Ribble which flows in its final stages towards its estuary near Preston. The area is popular with tourists who enjoy the area's natural unspoilt beauty, much of which lies within the Forest of Bowland.

Reedley Hallows or Reedley is a civil parish in the Borough of Pendle in Lancashire, England. It forms part of Burnley and Brierfield. It had a population of 1,994, reducing to 1,960 at the 2011 Census.

River Ribble River in North Yorkshire and Lancashire, England

The River Ribble runs through North Yorkshire and Lancashire in Northern England. It starts close to the Ribblehead Viaduct in North Yorkshire, and is one of the few that start in the Yorkshire Dales and flow westwards towards the Irish Sea.

History of Lancashire Aspect of history

Lancashire is a county of England, in the northwest of the country. The county did not exist in 1086, for the Domesday Book, and was apparently first created in 1182, making it one of the youngest of the traditional counties.

Walton-le-Dale Human settlement in England

Walton-le-Dale is a large village in the borough of South Ribble, in Lancashire, England. It lies on the south bank of the River Ribble, opposite the city of Preston, adjacent to Bamber Bridge. The population of the South Ribble Ward at the 2011 census was 3,792. To the west of Walton-le-Dale is the residential area of Walton Park.

Diocese of Blackburn Diocese of the Church of England

The Diocese of Blackburn is a Church of England diocese, covering much of Lancashire, created on 12 November 1926 from part of the Diocese of Manchester. The diocese includes the towns of Blackburn, Blackpool and Burnley, the cities of Lancaster and Preston, as well as a large part of the Ribble Valley. The cathedral is Blackburn Cathedral and the current Bishop of Blackburn is Julian Henderson.

Burnley was a rural district of Lancashire, England from 1894 to 1974. It was named after but did not include the large town of Burnley, which was a county borough.

River Calder, Lancashire River in Lancashire, England

The River Calder is a major tributary of the River Ribble in Lancashire, England and is around 20 miles (32 km) in length.

Huncoat Human settlement in England

Huncoat is a village in Lancashire, England; situated in the North West. It is located to the east of Accrington. It is a ward of Hyndburn where the population taken at the 2011 census was 4,418.

Sabden Human settlement in England

Sabden is a village and civil parish in the Ribble Valley, Lancashire, England. Sabden is located south of Pendle Hill, in a valley about three miles north west of Padiham. The parish covers 2,450.9 acres (991.85 ha), of which 103.2 acres (41.75 ha) is occupied by the village. It lies in the Forest of Pendle section of the Forest of Bowland Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

Ightenhill Parish in Burnley, England

Ightenhill is a civil parish in the Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a population of 1,975.

Pendleton, Lancashire Human settlement in England

Pendleton is a small village and civil parish in Ribble Valley, within the county of Lancashire, England. It is close to the towns of Whalley and Clitheroe. The parish lies on the north west side of Pendle Hill below the Nick o' Pendle. The village is just off the A59, Liverpool to York main road, since the construction of the Clitheroe By-Pass. Older roads through the parish include one from Clitheroe to Whalley which passes through the Standen area and another to Burnley which passes Pendleton Hall.

Mearley Human settlement in England

Mearley is a civil parish in Lancashire, England. The parish is north-west of Pendle Hill, east of Clitheroe, and is in the Ribble Valley district. It is a small parish with no villages or hamlets and a population of 25, the second smallest in Lancashire, at the 2001 census. It has no parish council, but instead has a parish meeting shared with neighbouring Worston. From the 2011 Census population information for both Mearley and Worston is included within the civil parish of Pendleton, giving a total of 349. The eastern part of the parish is included in the Pendle outlier section of the Forest of Bowland Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB).

Listed buildings in Lancashire

There are a number of listed buildings in Lancashire. The term "listed building", in the United Kingdom, refers to a building or structure designated as being of special architectural, historical, or cultural significance. Details of all the listed buildings are contained in the National Heritage List for England. They are categorised in three grades: Grade I consists of buildings of outstanding architectural or historical interest, Grade II* includes significant buildings of more than local interest and Grade II consists of buildings of special architectural or historical interest. Buildings in England are listed by the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport on recommendations provided by English Heritage, which also determines the grading.

Honour of Clitheroe

The Honour of Clitheroe is an ancient grouping of manors and royal forests centred on Clitheroe Castle in Lancashire, England; an honour traditionally being the grant of a large landholding complex, not all of whose parts are contiguous. In the case of Clitheroe, this complex was loosely clustered around the ancient wapentake of Blackburnshire.

Twiston is a village and a civil parish in the Ribble Valley District, in the English county of Lancashire. It is near the town of Clitheroe and the village of Downham. The parish is part of the Forest of Bowland Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB). It adjoins the Ribble Valley parishes of Downham and Rimington, and the Pendle parish of Barley-with-Wheatley Booth.

Hameldon Hill

Hameldon Hill is a Carboniferous sandstone hill with a summit elevation of 409 metres (1,342 ft), situated between the towns of Burnley and Accrington in Lancashire, England. It is listed as a "HuMP" or "Hundred Metre Prominence", its parent being Freeholds Top, a Marilyn near Bacup.

Forest of Pendle Hilly area in eastern Lancashire, England

The Forest of Pendle is the name given to an area of hilly landscape to the east of Pendle Hill in eastern Lancashire, roughly defining the watershed between the River Ribble and its tributary the River Calder. The forest is not identical to the modern local government district of Pendle, which is larger. And in fact the modern version of the forest has come to contain areas to the north and east of Pendle Hill which are partly in the district of Ribble Valley.

References

Notes

  1. ↑ The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle mentions a battle at Whalley in Northumbria in 768 [2]
  2. ↑ According to Harris and Thacker: Certainly there were links between Cheshire and south Lancashire before 1000, when Wulfric Spot held lands in both territories. Wulfric's estates remained grouped together after his death, when they were left to his brother Aelfhelm, and indeed there still seems to have been some kind of connection in 1086, when south Lancashire was surveyed together with Cheshire by the Domesday commissioners. Nevertheless, the two territories do seem to have been distinguished from one another in some way and it is not certain that the shire-moot and the reeves referred to in the south Lancashire section of Domesday were the Cheshire ones. [5]
  3. ↑ According to Crosby: The Domesday Survey (1086) included south Lancashire with Cheshire for convenience, but the Mersey, the name of which means 'boundary river' is known to have divided the kingdoms of Northumbria and Mercia and there is no doubt that this was the real boundary. [6]
  4. 1 2 3 4 Twiston and Livesey were held partly by thegnage and partly by knight's service. [10]

Citations

  1. ↑ "Blackburn Hundred through time". visionofbritain.org.uk. GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth. Retrieved 20 January 2016.
  2. ↑ Farrer & Brownbill 1911, p. 349
  3. ↑ Morgan (1978). pp.269c–301c,d.
  4. ↑ Open Domesday: Blackburn Hundred. Accessed 23 July 2022.
  5. ↑ Harris & Thacker 1987, p. 252
  6. ↑ Crosby 1996, p. 31
  7. ↑ "Domesday Book Online". Domesday . Retrieved 10 April 2011.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 Farrer & Brownbill 1911, pp. 230–234
  9. 1 2 Farrer and Brownbill (1906). The Victoria History of the County of Lancaster Vol 1. Full text at archive.org. pp. 282, 313–314.
  10. ↑ Farrer & Brownbill 1911, p. 232
  11. ↑ Farrer & Brownbill 1911, pp. 235–244
  12. ↑ Farrer & Brownbill 1911, pp. 349–360
  13. ↑ Farrer & Brownbill 1911, pp. 235–244, Chapter: The parish of Blackburn

Bibliography

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