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/ 



>*•• M 




H ISTORY 



OF THE 



FOREST OF ROSSENDALE, 



SECOND EDITION, 

ILLUSTRATED. 



■ *>-■• 



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..>"*v-jr 



, .;• .1 



%l^t 



tarn 

Of THE 

TJ 



A \ 




H ISTORY 



OF THE 



FOREST OF ROSSENDSLE 



BY 



THOMAS NEWBIGGING. 



SECOND EDITION 



ILLUSTRATED. 



Printed and Published by 
J. J. Riley, at the "Rossendale Free Press" Offices, 

Rawtenstall. 

1893. 



PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION. 

Some apology or explanation would seem to be due from me to 
those who will peruse the present Work, why I, who am no native 
of the Forest of Rossendale, should have presumed to write its 
History. 

I am aware that there are those residing in Rossendale who, by 
their antiquarian and genealogical acquirements and their longer 
acquaintance with the locality, are more fitted for the duty, and 
have access, probably, to more copious sources of information than 
those of which I can boast; but I have not been able to learn that 
such have ever contemplated the undertaking, though their 
researches, if given to the public, would be of enduring interest. 
Their backwardness in this respect may, therefore, be accepted as 
one reason why I have taken it in hand. 

Again, the longer such a work is delayed the more difficult it is 
of accomplishment, and the less trustworthy many of the sources of 
information become ; and how desirable it is (applying the remark 
to any district) that the fragments of Fact and Legendary Lore 
which exist on our right hand and on our left, should be gathered 
up and strung together, however indifferently, before they become 
utterly dispersed and lost. 

And how many there are amongst us who, possessing but vague 
notions of the past History of the Forest, would rejoice in a better 
acquaintance therewith — would delight to be told the story of its 
earlier existence — to learn more than they at present know of " the 
rude forefathers" who thinly tenanted its bleak hill-sides, or 
wandered centuries ago in its wooded doughs ; where, instead of 
the noise of manufacturing Industry, the rush of the Red Deer 
through the leafy covert alone broke the prevailing stillness. 



vi Preface. 

But I have a further reason to assign for the present venture. 
A residence of nearly seventeen years has endeared me to the 
district (all the pleasanter for its rugged character) and its people; 
and should my efforts afford pleasure to the dwellers within the 
boundaries of the Ancient Forest, I shall be, in some measure, 
repaying the debt due for kindnesses received, and which I can 
neither enumerate nor forget. 

I have another and final plea to urge — the desire of personal 
gratification. The enjoyment associated with the preparation of 
any History, however limited in its range, or humble in its preten- 
sions, is only such as can be fully appreciated by those who 
undertake the pleasing labour. In following such pursuits we live 
a double life ; for, whilst enjoying the intercourse of present friends, 
we delight ourselves in the society of those who have long since 
passed away. 

A Work of this character, to be moderately complete, must 
necessarily glean its material from every available source. I have 
spared neither pains nor expense in the search for authorities. Dr. 
Whitaker*s "History of the Parish of Whalley," of which this 
district forms a part, contains many interesting particulars relating 
to Rossendale and the neighbourhood ; and I have freely dipped 
into the pages of that comprehensive work. In the ** History of 
the County Palatine and Duchy of Lancaster," by Edward Baines, 
Esq., are also some references to this locality, and of the informa- 
tion therein contained I have occasionally availed myself. The 
elaborate papers "On the Battle of Brunanburh, and the probable 
Locality of the Conflict," by T. T. Wilkinson, Esq., F.R.A.S; of 
Burnley, read before the Historic Society of Lancashire and 
Cheshire, and published in the Society's Transactions, are replete 
with information of a Local character, and have enabled me to 
supply a chapter connecting the district with the events of the most 
important period in Saxon History. 

In the early stages of the Work I received valuable assistance 
fix)m documents kindly placed at my service by the late Miss 



Preface. vii 

Maden, of Greens House, and Mr. George Howorth, of Bacup-fold. 
To George Hargreaves, Esq., J.P., of Newchurch, and to James 
Rushton, Esq., of the same place, I am indebted for much that is 
indispensable in elucidating the bygone manners and economy of 
the inhabitants. 

During the progress of the Work I have received many valuable 
oral communications from different persons ; and several unknown 
correspondents have supplied me with interesting material. 

For all the assistance received, I am sensibly obliged, and desire 
to tender my sincere thanks. Other sources of information are 
duly recognised in the body of the Volume. Lastly, to my friend, 
J. H. Redman, Esq., I am anxious to express my grateful acknow- 
ledgments for counsel in matters of Literary taste, and for his 
kindly aid in revising the proof sheets of the Work. 

Let me now crave indulgence for any mistakes or omissions 
which may have been made. These cannot always be avoided, 
even where the time at the disposal of the writer is most ample ; 
and in the work that is performed during the intervals of leisure to 
be found in the midst of other responsible duties, they may be 
expected to occur. 

T. N. 

Bacup, November i, 1867. 



I 



PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION. 

The writing of the History of the Forest of Rossendale, 
more than a quarter of a century ago (how time slips away !) was a 
great pleasure to me. Perhaps, after all, I was fairly well qualified 
to undertake the work, because my duties during the years I 
resided in the locality led me constantly to traverse the district from 
end to end. In this way its places grew very familiar to me; I 
came in contact with many of the old inhabitants, I noted their 
characteristics, and became acquainted with circumstances and 
incidents that might, and probably would, have passed into oblivion 
(as doubtless many such have really done) had I not taken care to 
preserve them. 

Besides actual observations and notes made on the spot, I 
searched original documents, and such works as were available, for 
material throwing light on past occurrences in the district, and read 
all that I could find written in books on the subject. 

In this way my notes grew, and eventually took the form of a 
regular History. The work was widely and favourably reviewed ; 
it has since become scarce, and copies of the first edition that 
find their way into the market fetch a price beyond what many 
people are willing, or can afford, to pay. These considerations 
have influenced me to undertake the revision of the work, and also 
to add to the record the further materials of interest which 
I have accumulated in the interval. 

From a few friends, some of whom have passed away of recent 
years, I received both encouragement and assistance by the loan of 
original documents, and without these the work would have been 
less attractive and valuable. My personal acquaintance with Mr. 
J. J. Riley, J. P., the present publisher, justifies me in believing 
that the production of the volume will be highly creditable to 
him and acceptable to readers. 

Thomas Newbigging. 
Manchester, September 30th, 1893. 



...I 



CONTENTS. 



BOOK FIRST. 

CHAPTEE I. 

AbseDoe of Roman remains in Rossendalo — The ancient Britons, their 
worship, mode of life, and dwellings — The natnral features of a country 
or a district asnally its most permanent monaments — The Forest of 
Bossendale once the resort of wild animals of different kinds : the 
Wild Boar, the Wolf, Wild Oxen, the Deer tribe — Names of places in 
Bossendale having reference to the Deer and its kindred — Discovery of 
antlered horns, described by Captain Aitkin — Wild animals of an 
inferior class — ^Fish formerly plentifal in the different streams — The 
great natural and prominent boundaries of the Forest — The " Watliug 
Street" of the Bomana— The " Limorsgate," one of the oldest roads 
in the locality — Derivation of the name, Bossendale, and of other place- 
names in the District, .... Pp. 1^ 

CHAPTEB II. 

The Dykes at Broadolough — Described by Dr. Whitaker and by Mr. T. T. 
Wilkinson, F.B.A.S. — Further description — Believed to be of Saxon or 
Danish origin — Mr. Wilkinson's investigations connecting the Dyke 
with the Battle of Brunanburh — The history of the period recounted 
— Ethelred— Alfred the Great— The Battle of Etbandune— Edward— 
Athelstan, King of Wessex — On the death of Sihtric he annexes the 
kingdom of Northumbria to his own dominions — Flight of Guthfred and 
Anlaf — The ambition of Anlaf to recover the kingdom of his father — 
Sails from Ireland on an expedition — Lands liis forces on the banks of 
the Mersey, the Eibble, the Wyre, and the Lune — Their advance 
through the country — The Battle of Brunanburh — Saxon Ode on the 
Battle — Discovery of relics — ^The Beacon remains on Thieveley Pike — 
Central position of the Pike— View obtained therefrom, . Pp. 9-21 



X Contents. 

CHAPTER III. 

The River Irwoll — ^Ita source in Cliviger — The original boundary between 
Cliviger and the Forest of Rossendale — Removal of the ancient meres 
or bonndry marks— Law-suit instituted by the Proprietors of Bacup 
Booth against those of Cliviger during the reign of Elizabeth — First 
mention of the Irwell — Account of the origin of the name by Mr. 
Whitakor, the historian of Manchester— The same by Dr. Whitaker, 
the historian of Whalloy— Fnrtlior conjectures as to the derivation of 
the name — Michael Drayton on the Irwell, . . Pp. 22-31 



BOOK SECOND. 

CHAPTER I. 

Pendle, Trawden, Accrington, and Rossendale Forests formerly embraced 
in the general name of the Forest of Blackbumshire — Signification of 
the term Honor — Area of the Forest of Blackbumshire — Area of Ros- 
sendale Forest — Account of the Hundred given in Domesday Book — 
Moasureiitcnt of Forests not included therein — Roger do Poictou first 
lord of the Honors of Lancaster and Clitheroo — Succeeding owners — 
The House of Lacy— Union of the Houses of Lancaster and Lacy — 
Thomas, Earl of Lancaster, beheaded — His possessions forfeited on 
account of his share in the insurrection of the barons against the De 
Sponsors — Act for reversing the attainder of his brother Thomas, 
obtained by Henry, Earl of Lancaster —Henry, Duke of Lancaster — 
John of Gaunt— Henry of Bolingbroke, afterwards Henry IV. of 
England — The Honor of Clitheroe bestowed by Charles 11. upon 
General Monk — Duke of Montague succeeds to the Honor — ^Its posses- 
sion by the Duke of Buccleuch, . . . Pp. 32-36 

CHAPTER U. 

Grant by Roger de Lacy of Brandwood to the Monastery of Stanlaw, in 
Cheshire — Brandwood the first part of the Forest cleared and culti- 
vated — The Deed of Roger de Lacy — Grant of John do Lacy to the 
same Abbey, of the right to cut Hay in the Forest — Confirmation of 
the foregoing grants to the Abbot and Monks of Whalley — Suit 
between the Abbot of Whalley and Richard de RatclifiEe, Master 



Contents. xi 

Forester, for Pature of the Forestera — Deed of Henry^ Dake of 
Lancaster, confirming previous Grants of Brandwood, &c., and 
relinqnishing his right to pasture tberoin— References to Bossendale 
in the rolls of the Dachy of Lancaster in the reign of Edward III. — 
Commission of Henrj VII. relating to the Pature Bents within the 
Forest— Character of Henry VII., . . . Pp. 37-51 

CHAPTER III. 

Bossendale a favourite Hunting-ground — Disappearance of the larger 
animals of chase — The Deans of Whalley : Mighty hunters — Liwlphus 
Cntwulph — Forest Laws — Definition of a Forest — The Constitutiones 
de Foresta of King Canute— Forest Courts — Justice-seat — Swainmote — 
Woodmote or Attachment — Officers of the Forest — Their duties — 
Sig^nification of the terms Venison and Vert — Difference between a 
Forest and a Chase — Beasts of Forest — Beasts of Park and Chase — 
Beasts of Warren — Fowls of Warren — Appropriation of Forests by the 
King — Exceptions to this rule — The Forests of Lancaster and 
Pickering — Complaint of the Earl of Lancaster, temp, of Edward II., 
of malefactors and disturbers of the peace — Saxon Forest Laws — 
Punishments inflicted comparatively mild — A stern and merciless code 
introdaced after the Conquest — Severity of punishments dariog the 
reign of William Bnfas — A milder policy inaugurated by Henry III. 
and Edward I. — Curious provision in the Carta Foresta of Henry HI. — 
Provision of Edward I. — Inquisition to be made of any Deer found dead 
or wounded — Spaniels and Greyhounds forbidden in the Forest — The 
Mastiff admitted — " Hambling,** or " Expeditation," how performed — 
Ag^ting of g^ats and sheep — Agisting of lands held by persons 
within the boundaries of the Forests — The Boundaries of a Forest of 
two kinds—*' Dog-draw "— " Stable-stand "— " Back-Bear "— « Bloody- 
hand " — The Fence-mouth — Bhymed Oath taken by the inhabitants of 
the Forest — Purlieus — Parks — Musbury, the Park or Laund of the 
Forest of Bossendale, .... Pp. 52-60 

CHAPTER IV. 

Earliest known record of any Rosscndalo Inhabitant — Henry Rossyndale, of 
Bosindalo — Granted Lands in Denbigh — Certain of his descendants — 
Humphrey Lloyd, the Antiquary — William Bosindale — The Bosindale 
Arms — Adam do Bosindale — Owner of Hnlme Hall, Manchester — 
Grotesque Wood Carving^ therein — Bossendale as a Surname — 
Examples of, in the Diary of the Bev. Oliver Heywood, . Pp. 61-66 



xii Contents. 

BOOK THIRD. 

CHAPTKR I. 

Commission for Granting of the Forests — Eleven Vaccaries in Bossendale 
in time of Edward II. — Afterwards increased to Nineteen — Then 
to Twenty — Their names and estimated valae— Particular s relating to 
property in Brandwood in the time of Henry VIII., . Pp. 67-73 

CHAPTER II. 

Freehold lands in Brandwood — Possessed by Henry YIII. after the Execu- 
tion of John Paslew, Abbot of Whalley — Granted by the king to 
Thomas Holt of Gristlehnrst — Snbseqaent descent of the Property — 
Manor of Rochdale possessed by the Byron family — Letter of Lord 
Byron— Manor purchased by James Dearden, Esq. — Action at law 
respecting the manorial rights of the Freehold in Brandwood — 
Summary of the trial — Verdict of the jury, . . Pp. 74-79 

CHAPTER ni. 
The titles to copyhold property in the Forests disputed by the Crown 
Lawyers of James I. — The land said to be only of the nature of assart 
land — Explanation of the term — Letter of Richard Towneley, Edward 
Hausthom, and others — Dr. Whitaker's comments upon the proceed- 
ings — Settlement of the dispute — Titles to Wapontake, or copyhold 
lands of the new tenure in Blackbumshire, . . Pp. 80-86 



BOOK FOURTH. 

CHAPTER I. 

The Greave of the Forest—His Duties— Fulfilment of the oflSoe not 
optional— Accounts of the Greave — Dr. Whitaker and Mr. Baines on 
the Greave of Rossendale Forest — The Reeve of Chaucer — List of the 
Greaves of Rossendale from ad. 1559 to I8I8 — Historical value of the 
list, in being an enumeration of the oldest families of the district — 
The Cause of the Parliament espoused by the inhabitants of RoBsendale 
during the Revolution — Names of Persons common to the 
locality, . . . . .Pp. 87-107 



I. 



Contents. xiii 

CHAPTER n. 

Description of the Greavos' Aocounts — Explanation of the various Rates 
for the County Palatine of Lancaster — 1. The Sabsidj — 11. The 
Fifteenth— III. The Oxley— IV. The Maimed Lay— V. The Prisoners' 
Lay — VI. The Soldiers' Lay, or Comity Lay — Extracts from the 
Greaves* Book — The Bridle or Brank for Scolding women — The 
Docking Stool — ^The Bridle formerly used in the Township of 
Pilkington— Finger or Gnide Posts- The Rebellion of 1716 — Trophey 
Money — The Rebellion of 1745 — List of the Posts for Rossendale 
Militia, 1744-5— The taking of Carlisle and Stirling— Watch and 
Ward — Stocks in the different villages in Rossendale — Sabbath- 
breaking and Profane Swearing — Old Custom of the Churchwardens — 
The Town Box — Baoup Stocks — Impressing for the Navy — Dungeons 
at Bacup — Minute respecting Dungeons at Newchurch and Groodshaw 
Chapel — Dungreon at Crawshawbooth — The war with France— 
Expenses on account of the Militia — ^Numbering the Inhabitants — 
Able-bodied men in Rossendale capable of actual service — The Peace 
of Amiens — Threatened Invasion of Great Britain — Meetings held in 
Rossendale for the Defence of the Nation— Returns made by the 
Greave — Prisoners formerly conveyed to Holmes Chapel — Public 
Notices in the Church — Cloughfold Pinfold — List of Pinders from 1747 
to 1758— Workhouse Accounts for 1784-5, . Pp. 108-187 

CHAPTER ni. 

Other Officers appointed by the Halmot Court — The Office of Ale-Taster — 
The Ale-Taster's Oath— Richard Taylor, the Rossendale Ale-Taster— 
His Eccentricities — ^His Petitions to the Court— Died, a martyr to 
duty, ...... Pp. 188-145 



BOOK FIFTH. 

CHAPTER I. 

Rough Lee — ^View of the landscape from the hill — Chapel erected there- 
Traditions respecting the Chapel — Description of the same — Fragments 
of Stones bearing inscriptions found — Conjectures respecting the 
foundation of the Chapel— The "Waste of Brendewode "— The Old 
Hall, Newhallhey, . . . .Pp. 146-149 



XIV Contents. 

CHAPTER II. 

Decree of the Obancellor of the Dachy of Lancaster relating to the Chapel 
in BoBsendale — The original Chapel at Newchnrch— Date of its 
erection — Robnilt in the third year of the reign of Qaeen Elizabeth— 
Tjegond connected with the Chnrch— Addition made to the structure 
by Mr. John Onnerod, of Tnnstead, and Mr. John Hargroaves, of 
Newchnrch, in 1753 — Memorial to the Bishop of Chester for authority 
to enlarge — Extract from Bishop GastreU's Notitia Cestriensis — Church 
rebuilt and enlarged in 1824-5 — Its Architecture and Situation — 
Newchnrch Bell-ringers — Surrender of Lands by Lettice Jackson for 
the use of the New Church — Remarks by Dr. Whitaker thereon — 
Letter from the Rev. J. B. Phillips respecting the eame — Note by 
Canon Raines on the same — Lambeth Inquisition — List of Incumbents 
from the foundation — Will of Sir George Gregory, Priest — Bees in 
Rosftendale — Contest, for the right of Patronage, betwixt Dr. Eeene, 
Bishop of Chester ; the Archbishop of Canterbury ; and Mr. Johnson, 
Vicar of Whalley — Extracts from the correspondence — Remarks 
thereon — National School, Newchnrch — Grammar School, Newchnrch — 
Endowments — Account of Thomas Sanders, Incumbent of Newchnrch, 
in parochial register— John Shorrock, A.M., Incumbent — The "Book of 
Sports" — Newchnrch Charities — Goodshaw Chapel — Deed entered 
into for the building thereof — Extract from Bishop Gastrell's Notitia 
Cestriensis — ^Note by Canon Raines — Incumbents of Goodshaw — St. 
John's Chnrch, Sunnyside — Mills* Charity, . Pp. 150-181 

CHAPTER ni. 

St. John's Church, Bacnp— "Th' Kirk Gate "—Foundation of St. John's— 
Consecration — *' The Old School," Bacup, used as an Episcopal place of 
worship — National School erected — Minister's Salary — Rev. Joseph 
Ogdcu first Incumbent — His character — Rev. William Porter, Incum- 
bent — Fees — The Parsonage — Meadowhead Farm, near Gambleside, 
purchased by the Congregation of St. John's — Character of Mr. 
Porter — Living sold to the Hulmeian Trustees — Account of the origin 
of Hulme's foundation — Names of Incumbents — Bacup made a Con- 
solidated Chapolry in 1837 — Interments in the Churchyard of St. 
John's — Erection of a New Structure — St. Mary's Church, Rawtenstall 
— Its consecration — Names of principal Subscribers to its erection — 
Incumbents thereof — Tunstead Church, built through the efforts of 
Robert Munn and George Ormerod, Esqnires — Patrons — Incumbents — 
District assigned to this Church— Lumb Church — ^Its consecration — 



Contents. xv 

Patrons — Incnmbent — Lamb constitnted an Ecolesiastioal Distriot by 
Order in Coonoil — Christ Charcb — Cost of erection — Patron — Conse* 
oration — Incnmbent — St. James's Ohnrch, Waterfoot— Date of opening 
— Of conseoration — Cost of erection — Patrons-^Incnmbent — St. 
Savionr's Church, Baonp — Date of consecration — Incumbent — 
Baptistery for Adults— School — Parsonage— Patron—St. Anne's 
Church, Edgcside — Chief contributors — Patrons and Vicar — Church of 
St. John the Divine, Cloughfold — Principal contributors — Patrons and 
Vicar, . . . .Pp. 186-196 

CHAPTEB IV. 

The New Church originally Boman Catholic — Goodshaw original Church 
the same — Dispersion of Catholics at the Reformation — The Booth 
family re-introduce Catholicism into Bossendale — Early meeting places 
of the Catholics — First resident Priest — Church at Cunstablee, Baw- 
tenstall — Opening ceremony —List of Incumbents — St. Mary*s Church, 
Bankside, Bacup— Incumbents, . . Pp. 197-200 

CHAPTEB V. 

The Baptist denomination in Bossendale — Bacup at the end of the 17th 
century — No place of worship in Bacup prior to the establishment of 
the Baptist denomination in Bossendale — William Mitchel and David 
CroBslcy — Their character and labours — Mitchel taken prisoner under 
the Conventicle Act — Crossley, the friend of Bunyan and Whitefield — 
Lawrence Britliffe executed at Lancaster — The United Congregations 
of Bacup and Cloughfold — The Old School, Bacup, erected for the use 
of the Protestant Dissenters — Trust-deed of the Building — Deed of 
admission — Eenry Lord and Joseph Piocop, successors to D. Crossley — 
Erection of the *'New Meeting House" — Extracts from the Building 
Accounts— Chapel rebuilt in 1778 — Gallery erected in 1783 — Again 
taken down and rebuilt in 1811 — Cloughfold Section of the Baptist 
Church in Bossendale — Writings belonging to the same — Endowments 
— Baptist Chapel at Lumb — Musical skill of the inhabitants of the 
Lumb and Dean Valleys — John Nuttall — Bemoval to Goodshaw — 
Other Baptist Chapels in Bossendale — Baptist Churches which have 
sprung from those in the distriot — Tabic, showing present position of 
Baptist denomination in Bossendale — Sketch of Joseph Piccop — John 
Hirst, forty. two years minister at Bacup, . . Pp. 201-213 



a. : ' 



xvi Contents. 

CHAPTER VI. 

The Methodittt denominatiou in Rossendale — William Dorney and John 
Haden — Sketch of the life of John Maden, the first Rossendale 
Methodist — Mr. Daniey preaches at Heap Barn — Formation of a 
Societj at Miller Bam, Wolfenden Booth — Mr. Maden opens his honse 
for divine service — Progress of the Society — Another house taken — 
The ose of the Baptist Meeting-house obtained — The propriety of 
Building a Chapel discussed — The work accomplished — The New 
Erection opened by John Wesley — Extracts from Mr. Wesley's Journal 
relative to visits which he paid to Rossendale — Mr. Maden*s death — 
Interred at Mount Pleasant, Bacup — Inscription on Tombstone — 
Character and labours of William Damey — Number of Methodist 
Chapels in Rossendale — The Qnakers ; their place of meeting ; decrease 
in their numbers — Unitarians — Original Unitarian Chapel at Rawten- 
vtall — The old School there— Independents at Bacup — Number of 
Places of Worship within the Forest, . . Pp. 214-221 



BOOK SIXTH. 

CHAPTER I. 

(jtimml* of iUti original inhabitants of Rossendale — Pondlo and Rossendale 
t'^fMimra^ — (ylithoroo Castle and Church — The Parish Church of 
U^fmttintUUi^TUti inhabitants of Rossendale proverbial for their shrewd, 
<;iiL4;r|;ri»iiig character — The chief men of wealth and position in the 
iii»tr{';i rimtn from the ranks — Key to the success and growing 
ii$HHtriuiiCi9 of Roisfjndalo— Table showing the annual value of the 
KiiUablo l*ro|Mjrty in oach Township from 1815 to 1892 — Increase per 
tumi ArrftMgii of «»ttch Township — Increase on the "advanced rents" 
iutnf\rm*'ti by King Jainus i. — Population of the district in 1611, 1551, 
hitti flurifig tho Conunonwoalth — Table showing the amount of the 
ro|iulMliuii in lihtiU Township, and its increase from 1801 to 1891 — 
Vtttiimn of KomahiS over the Mules in Rossendale — The Cotton Dearth — 
MIkmiIIom of many families into Yorkshire — The Municipal Boroughs 
of Miiuiiii anil Hawtenstall, . . .Pp. 222-280 

CHAPTER 11. 

||iiHHi4itilMl« fi'ily y«nirs ago— Views of Scenery in Rossendale— The Hills 
himI IIm'Ii' VMiiorabht antiquity — Wind on the Hills— Climate of 
MiiMffiiiiiliiln Kflfuut of tho Hills in bringing down tho rain— Character 



Contents. xvii 

of the Boil — The Climate not congenial to delicate constitutions — 
Bainfall — Number of days on which rain fell — Weight of rain annaally 
deposited on the area of the district — Mean temperature of Rossendale 
Its Agrionltnre — Dairy Farming — Epidemic diseases rare in Rossen- 
dale— Births and Deaths for the years 1891-2, . Pp. 231-235 



BOOK SEVENTH. 



CHAPTKH I. 

Local worthies — John Lord, schoolmaster —Traits of his character — Rhyming 
Calendar— Rey. John Bntterworth — His religions views— Author of a 
Concordance to the Holy Scriptures — His father Henry Bntterworth, 
and brothers — James Hargreaves, author of the ''Life of John Hirst " — 
Incidents in his eaurly youth — His first essay at preaching — ^Joins the 
Baptist Society at Bacup — Removes to Bolton, and afterwards to Ogden 
—Opens a Boarding-School — Accepts a Call to Wild Street Chapel, 
London — Finally settles at Waltham Abbey Cross — He is appointed 
Secretary of the Peace Society — His labours in connection therewith^ 
List of his Published Works— Lawrence Heyworth^His birth and 
parentage — Education — Commences business — His success in Portugal 
—Embarks for South America — Establishes Commission houses there — 
Resists Sir James Chamberlain in his attempts to impose a tax upon 
English goods imported into Rio de Janeiro — Founds an Establishment 
at Hamburgh — Retires from business, and invests his Capital in 
Railways — Begins to take an active part in Politics — His connection 
with the Anti-Corn Law League — Is returned to Parliament for the 
borough of Derby — His Political views — Resigns his seat in Parlia- 
ment — His Literary Labours — John Crabtree, M.D. — Birthplace — 
Early Education — Studies in Edinburgh and Dublin for the Medical 
Profession — Takes the degree of M.D. — Obtains his disploma — Begins 
to practise — Estimate of his abilities — His character^Decease — 
Sketch of the life of Robert Munn— John Aitken — ^Henry Cunliffe — 
WiUiamHoyle, ..... Pp. 236-257 



xviil Contents. 

CHAPTER II. 

Munn rtl utiililfiid dU|>Iay(}(1 by iho inhabitants of the Forost of Bossendale — 
'!'••«» •• hi.jglifi Luyrotikii" — Skotch from the pen of Edwin Waagh— 
f'ltfilifi 'riiiiMii btid (*huntH composod by the "Deighners'* — ^'Old 
hiMM'ii" IfaiiiMoom days — Anecdote of two Mosical onthasiaats — 
AfiiiUfiinury Hhi'vIcom at Lumb Chapel — Description of the Singers' 
(inllfif y 'I'litt MifiiiiU)r poruMos the Sacred Volame — His earnest prayer 
'I'lHt fihl fttMliiotiitd IiiMtrumonts at Lamb supplanted by the Organ — 
'lli«i Uiilloliijali ('honnf—Unspcakable valne to mankind of these 
ijI'.iliiMM Miihtiml IVoduotions, . . Pp. 258-265 

CIIAPTBK III. 

VirtiM '»f ll»Miuiil»i4liJi> Man L/* Uoiuiondalo— John Wesley— George Whitefield 
r).iliiUi|»liiii' l|o|i|H»r- -Willhiiii Gadsby— Fergus O'Connor — Mary 
lliiM)t«ii, iiK»iil lOH yuan* -Hhurney ford Mill— Changes in Bacnp— 
hut) )»i*lliiiM f<»i'M»*.iIy a lUiifiiiiou sport in Hossondalo— " Abb o' th' 
'r'MlM" 'I'lin 'ri.Hit«j|i Th' Ark* o' Dearden and Pike Law— Legend 
i.t,uw.iA'M wMl* ll"ll ''I'HiKh — Tho belief in Witchcraft— Tong Boggart — 
'I l.f. it>,i,iU\^ii¥t Wihili—Acroutit of tho killing of a Bossendale Witch or 
WiAMid, fMiiM lluiluiid iifi'J Wilkinson's ** Lancashire Folk- Lore *' — 
A Mfillt'f • ll<"t"<'i«'('il" Witoh W'iri Hatanic Majesty at Crawshawbooth — 
fthiiy t>t i» l«ivvlii:lit d f'ov¥ Kdwlti Waugh's references to Bossendale, 

Pp. 266-277 



HOOK KIGHTH. 

(JliArTEIi I. 

\U,*m\\ ht Milt fiilUliMiMit of tlifl di'«r«o of Henry VII.— Growth in the 
iihimImi »«f Hill riifiulHl tun - Horn Mills in Uossendule- Introduction of 
||.>. VVt.II'.m M.»mifiMJliini during tho roign of Henry VIII.— The Wool 
Ml ni'il hHUMi.d vvlllt liuMtir In liou of oil— Tbo processes of Carding, 
M|.iiMili«H. »»»«d W"MviM|f oilnlrutUy performed by hand — Invention of tho 
hliMliiii Apjillimthiii iif Watnr powor in turning the Machinery — 
ri> )uilit...»i«iMuliitl. Mill WaliM'luniod Machines — Arkwright's Inventions 
I'll M|iiiiiiiiiM l'"H"U Iiivmitloii of tho Htoam Engine— Woollen 
linnlliiH Mllli IM UHa«*iiii«lMl" fiiim forty to fifty years ago— Spinning 
himI VViMvifiii fuMiiiuly uitllt'itly domoMtio processes — Lawrence Hard- 
iiiifii. M^ Hoiitit't h|i«i(.lAud John uud James Hardman, merchants— 
I'll M !• 4 Mil* III mill III of lai'tfu fAuLorloi, tho warp and wool " put out" 



Contents. xix 

to the several hands living in the district — Description of the Sizing 
process — Drying the Warps— Jack Spinning — Hareholme Mill erected 
in 1798 — The first building in Bossendale lighted with gas — Wool 
combing — Festival in honoar of Bishop Blaize — Particulars of the 
Woollen trade of tho district at the present time — The Slipper trade — 
Silk Weaving— Manufacture of Ginghams, . . Pp. 278-293 

CHAPTER II. 

The Cotton Trade — The prosperity of the district chiefly due to its 
development — Increase in the population — Probably no Cotton goods 
manufactured in Rossendalo prior pi 1770— Fustian Weaving — The 
Deeting Frame — Early records of the Trade — The oldest Cotton 
Factory in tho district — J. & W. Glegg at Little Baltic — Handloom 
Weaving from 1815 to 1830 — Hobert and John Munn — Whitehead 
Brothers— Hardman Brothers — Trades directly dependent upon the 
Cotton Manufacture — Other Trades — Gas and Water Supply — The 
Rossendale Branch Railway — ^The Stone Trade — Coal and other Mines, 

Pp. 294-303 

CHAPTER III. 

The Co-operative Movement in Rossendale — Account of the origin of the 
Bacup Co-operative Store — Difficulties experienced by the early 
Co-operators— 'Mistakes in "buying in" — Educational appliances — 
Table of Industrial and Provident Societies in Rossendale— Population 
represented by the number of Members in the various Stores, 

Pp. 304-311 

CHAPTER IV. 

Tlie Power-loom Riots of April, 1826 — Description of tho Rioters — Progress 
of the Mob through the Rossendale valley — Names of persons in 
Rossendale charged with being concerned in the Riots — List of persons 
killed in the encounter with the Military at Chatterton — Compensation 
paid to the Manufacturers — Distress amongst the Operatives — 
Opposition of the Merchants and Woollen Manufacturers to the 
introduction of Power-looms into the district — Extract from " Scars- 
dale " — Remedies suggested to mitigate the distress — Pamphlet by "A 
Friend to the Poor '* — His arguments examined — The " Dandy-Loom " 
—The Luddite Riots of 1812— The Plug Riots of August, 1842— 
Prevailing distress of the period — Causes of the distress — The Com 
Laws abolished — Conolosion, . . Pp. 312-327 



ILLUSTRATIONS. 



THE AUTHOR 



HAREHOLME MILL 



THE RIVER IRWELL, NEAR WATERFOOT 



GOODS HAWFOLD 



HIGHER CLOUGHFOLD 



THE OLD CHURCH AT NEWCHURCH 



NEWCHURCH 



PAGE. 



29 
127 
136 



OLD HALL AT NEW HALL HEY, RAWTENSTALL I49 



156 



friends' MEETING HOUSE, CRAWSHAWBOOTH 220 



231 



PREFACE TO FIRST EDITION 



PREFACE TO SECOND EDITION 



TAHLK OF CONTENTS 



APPENDIX 



INDKX 



U«»T or SUBSCRIBERS 



. Pp. v-vii 

. Pp. viii 

Pp. ix-xix 

PP- 328-344 
PP- 34S-3S2 
PP- 353-369 



H ISTORY 



OF THE 



Forest of Rossendale. 



BOOK FIRST. 



'CHAPTER I. 

" This is the Forest primeval." 
. — Longfellow. 

ft 

rPHE ancient Chase or Forest of Rossendale has little or no 
-*• Roman history. No remains Roman in their character, 
with the exception of the road through Musbury, (a) leading to 
Ribchester, and the Beacon-remains on Thieveley Pike, so far as 
has yet been ascertained, have ever been discovered within its 
boundaries. 

(a) Musbury in past times was the laund or park of the ancient Forest 
as will appear in a future chapter. 



2 History of the 

Whilst that powerful race, the offspring of the imperial Mis- 
tress of the world, remarkable for their proficiency alike in the 
arts of war and peace, have left behind them in neighbouring 
localities abundant memorials of their former presence and posses- 
sion, it would seem as though Rossendale had held out no induce- 
ments to tempt them to its fastnesses, or to lead any of them to 
select it as their place of habitation. 

The Celtic Britons, who doubtless constituted its first inhabi- 
tants, scant in number, and barbarous in their social and domestic 
habits and in their religious customs, were probably permitted by 
the Roman invaders of the island to remain unmolested in their 
primitive retreat. 

Equally barren is Rossendale in early British relics. This, 
however, is not matter for surprise, as monuments of the British 
period are not abundant in any part of the kingdom. 

If the religious rites and ceremonies of our half-naked and 
painted ancestors were ever performed within the glades of the 
Forest, the monumental remains of their Drudical worship have 
disappeared in the long centuries which have elapsed since their 
occupation of the land. But it is safe to conclude that the 
country adjacent to the Forest was too sparsely populated for the 
latter ever to have been selected as the site of the imposing and 
often cruel religious pageants of our barbarian forefathers. Their 
dwellings, generally of the rudest construction, were not calcu- 
lated to survive the storms of time, or even the less formidable 
influences of the changeful seasons. These, therefore, have also 
perished, leaving behind th&m no trace of their existence. 

The natural features of a country are usually its most per- 
manent monuments ; and if we turn to the hills and other localities 
comprised within or bordering on the district under consideration, 
we find that many of their present names — ^as for example. Crag, 
Cridden or Cribden, Cliviger, Hameldon, &c. — are decidedly of 
British origin. 

That the Forest of Rossendale was the resort, probably for 
centuries, both before and after the Roman era, of wild animals 



^^MM^MiMaH^iMMkaaiaA^iririt 



Forest of Rossendale. 3 

of different kinds, is sufficiently attested by names which exist to 
the present time. 

To the thoughtful mind there is much food for varied reflection, 
pleasing and profitable, as it endeavours to picture to itself the 
appearance and characteristics of the dim Forest in its primeval 
existence, when the streams that tinkled through the valleys, pure 
as the air of its brown uplands, assuaged the thirst of its meaner 
inhabitants, and the umbrageous foliage afforded them kindly 
shelter from the heats of summer, and the cutting blasts of its more 
inclement seasons ; and long ere yet the busy din of manufactures 
and trade had invaded its shadowy precincts. 

The wild boar tribe has left behind it tokens of its presence, 
deeper and more ineffaceable than the marks of its warlike tusks 
upon the trees of its favourite haunts. There is no mistaking 
the parentage of such names as Boarsgreave, Sowclough, and 
Swinshaw. 

The wolf, ferocious and cowardly, has disappeared from its 
lurking-place in the Forest; but we still retain amongst us the 
evidences of its occupation in the names, Wolfenden, Wolfenden 
Booth, and Wolfstones. 

That a species of wild oxen ranged the hills and hollows where 
now our domestic animals graze, is proved by remains of horns 
and bones from time to time disentombed from the debris depo- 
sited in the valleys by the mountain-streams, whose courses have 
been diverted, or whose beds have been narrowed and appropriated 
to other uses. 

The different varieties of the deer tribe, it is well known, were 
denizens of the Forest, which they wandered at will, and no doubt 
supplied both food and raiment to the partially-clothed human 
inhabitants in this and surrounding neighbourhoods. 

At a meeting of the Manchester Geological Society, the late 
Captain Aitken exhibited a pair of antlered horns, a bone, and a 
short horn, and stated that the antlers and bone were discovered 
whilst excavating for a drain in a bed of river gravel, six feet from 
the surface, in the valley of the River Irwell, near Rawtenstall. 



4 History of the 

The gravel was very coarse, containing numerous large sandstone 
boulders, weighing from one to two hundredweight, and was prin- 
cipally derived from the carboniferous rocks of the surrounding 
hills — mixed with granite and trap pebbles. The river appeared 
to have changed its bed frequently, and had, doubtless, at one 
time flowed where the discovery was made. The antlers and leg 
bone were found at the same place, and as they did not exhibit 
any appearance of having been water-worn, it was reasonable to 
infer the animal died near the pbce where they were found. They 
appear to be the remains of red deer, which at one time were very 
abundant in the Rossendale valley. The short horn was found 
along with several others, about a quarter of a mile higher up the 
valley, and was probably the horn of Bos Primigenius, Near the 
same place two antlers were found a short time ago, resting upon 
a loamy clay, under a bed of peat, seven to eight feet deep, near 
a spring of water, in a depression of the surface, where animals 
formerly resorted for the purpose of drinking, (b) 

Names having reference to the deer and its kindred are plentiful 
throughout the district ; we have Deerplay, Stacksteads, evidently 
Stagsteads, Staghills, Harthill, Buckearth, Cridden or Cribden, 
which, says the historian of VVhalley, " is pretty obviously Ktiru 
dofty the Hill of Stags. It is precisely such an elevation as that 
animal affects during the heat of summer, while the fallow deer 
graze on the plains or slopes beneath ; and it might continue to 
merit an appellation acquired in the remotest ages of antiquity 
till within less than three centuries of the present time."(^) Bacup, 
or Baycop, the cop or hillock, according to the same authority, 
where the deer stood at bay. 

Rockliffe — or rather Roclyffe, [roe cliffe,] as it is given in ancient 
documents — the cliff that afforded shelter to the roe — the cliff 
whose base was the favourite haunt of the roebuck — or the cliff 
where that animal, in its headlong haste to escape its pursuers, 

(Jb) Transactions Manchester Geological Society vol. IV. p. 333. 
(f) History of the Parish of Whalley and Honor of Clitheroe, by Thomas 
Dunham Whitaker, L.L.D., F.S.A., 3rd edition, p. 8. 






Forest of Rossendale. 5 

may have, by a precipitate fall, met an untimely fate. This latter 
conjecture is by no means the most unlikely, because the two 
places in the neighbourhood of Bacup, bearing respectively the 
names of Roclyffe and Roclyffswood, are situated on opposite sides 
of the valley, and approaching the summit of the hill, just in the 
position where an incident of this character would be most likely 
to take place. 

Wild animals of an inferior class were also plentiful, such as the 
beaver, the badger or brock, the otter, the fox, the wild cat, and the 
weasel, some of the names being preserved in Badger cote, Broqjc- 
clough. Tod carr, Foxholes, and Foxhill, all in Rossendale; and 
in regard to the ubiquitous squirrel, it is aflSrmed that, without 
once touching terra firtna^ it could traverse the Forest, leaping 
from bough to bough of the thick intermingling trees, from Raw- 
tenstall to its extreme eastern limits at Sharneyford. 

That the streams which spring from the hill-sides to glide 
through the different valleys, swarmed with fish of many kinds, 
we may well suppose, as, even at the present day, trout, though 
stunted in their growth, are found in at least two of the unpolluted 
tributaries of the river Irwell, viz., in the small stream running 
through Broadclough, and in the Dean Valley brook. 

The great natural and prominent boundaries of the Forest of 
"Rossendale are Flour-scar, Cliviger Moor, Hameldon Hill, Cribden 
Hill, Musbury Tor (^, Cowpe Law, Brandwood Moor, and Tooter 
Hill. The western side of Musbury was traversed by the famous 
Roipan road known as "Watling Street," in the tenth iter of 
Antonine ; while on the northern limits of the Forest the pack- 
horse road, called the " Limersgate," winds along the Rossendale 
side of the Cliviger ridge, and from thence away onward over the 
hill to Yorkshire. This is one of the most ancient roads in the 
locality, and in past times was a favourite route from the west 

(</) The booths called Musbury, near Haslingden, and Yate and Pickup 
Bank, near Blackburn, though detached from the Forest of Rossendale pro- 
per, and lying outside of the boundary specified, are, nevertheless, reckoned 
as part of the Forest. 



6 History of the 

across the country to the adjoining counties; being travelled not 
only by the common people, but by the ecclesiastics and nobles of 
the land, in all the pomp of ancient dignity, and with the train of 
followers and retainers who, in bygone days more than at present, 
constantly hovered near the footsteps of those born to high estate. 
It is in the immediate vicinity of this ancient track, now so over- 
grown with grass and brown heath as scarcely to be distinguished 
from the other parts of the moor, that the river Irwell takes its rise ; 
and we may with propriety assume that its neighbourhood would 
be a familiar and welcome halting-place for man and beast. 

With respect to the derivation of the name Rossendale, the 
historian of VVhalley remarks : " I was once inclined to deduce this 
word from the British rhos^ a bottom; but the following etymology, 
for which I am indebted to Baxter, (tnde Gloss^ in voc, Carnovacoty) 
is much more appropriate : — ^Pagus iste^ de Russeo puto graminum 
colore^ Rossen dicitur, nam ejusmodi ericeum pascuum Britannorum 
vulgo Rhos dicituK^ If there was a circumstance about the place 
which would strike the observation of the first colonists above 
every other, it must have been the brown and dreary hue of its 
native herbage, which the labours of three centuries have not been 
able to overcome." {e) It may fairly be questioned whether the 
labours of the last three centuries have not aggravated rather than 
improved the hue of the native herbage. We are inclined to 
believe that such is the fact ; but in any case the name Russet-dale 
or Rossendale, is appropriate as describing the general appearance 
of the district. Bailey has * Ros-land, heathy land ; watery, moorish 
land.' In a review of the first edition of this work, the late Mr. 
H. CunlifTe remarks : " The origin and derivation of the name 
Rossendale are wrapt in obscurity ; but we are inclined to accept 
the explanation from Bailey. It is evident that at one time the 
space between Bacup and Tunstead Thrutch, was one deep pool of 
water; and so full of bogs was the distance between Waterfoot and 
Hardsough, that Camden relates how prior to entering within those 
limits, horsemen engaged in the chase dismounted and knelt in 

{e) Hist. Whalley, third edition, p. 220. 



^^^-^■^S.- ''._-.! 



^ 



Forest of Rossendale. 7 

prayer to the blessed Mary for deliverance from the sepulchral 
quicksands." 

Dr. March in his East Lancashire Nomenclature^ referring to 
local names that show traces of historical persons, has "Holen 
weold Wrosnum," Holen ruled the Wrosns, two names that are 
still found together in Hollin and Rossendale." The same authority 
suggests that "Hrotan" may be traced in Rawtenstall, and " Ded- 
win" in Dead wen Clough. (/) 

The orthography of proper names in ancient times is proverbial 
for its irregularity, and in no word is this quality more marked 
than in the spelling of Bacup, which occurs in the following dif- 
ferent forms : — Bacap, Bacop, Bacope, Bacoppe, Baccope, Baccop, 
Baccup, Baycop, Backop, Backup, Bakup, Bakcop, Baicup, and 
Bacup. With regard to the derivation of the name, Mr. James 
Hargreaves in his interesting life of John Hirst, remarks, " The 
deer in their excursions for pasture or play, would run down the 
valley from Deer-play hill as far as where the village of Bacup 
now stands, and then return, or back up again. From this circum- 
stance, it is said, the place derived its name, * Backup.' But 
modern times have dropped the k^ and so changed both the 
spelling and the pronunciation into * Bacup.'" This explanation 
of the etymology of the word does not appear to me to be the best. 
The idea is rather too far-fetched to merit acceptance. There is, 
to say the least of it, a want of dignity about it, which leads us to 
inquire if no better account of the origin of the name can be given ; 
and, indeed, the same writer, as though he had experienced a 
similar feeling, adds further — "Since the above was written, the 
writer has been informed that a certain learned gentleman of the 
law, in pleading a cause before the court at Lancaster, contended 
that the village derived its name from Bay^ red, and Cops^ earth — 
viz.. Red-earth -and that it should be spelled Baycop. This 
etymology does not appear very probable, as the soil in the vicinity 
is in general not red, but black." 

» 

(f) East Lancashire Nomenclature, by H. C. March, M.D. pp. 47,48. 



8 Histery of the 

If I may be permitted to offer a further suggestion — accepting 
the signification of bay in this connexion to be red, and cop to mean 
hill, the term may have been used metaphorically to indicate the 
large abundance of red deer frequenting the hillside, making it in 
appearance a bay copy or red hill. Mr. Wilkinson suggests " Back- 
coppice," the back clearing on the sloping sides of the valley, 
which is not very satisfactory; and "Bay-copse," with reference 
to the colour of the native herbage. In support of thfe latter, I 
have often been struck with the red appearance which the uncul- 
tivated moorlands around Bacup present in certain seasons of the 
year. Mr. Henry Cunliffe suggested that the name was not 
originally given to a hamlet, but rather to a locality, to whose 
direct approach, in the primitive state of the Forest, Coupe 
Valley would be the via media. Back Coupe, therefore, in Mr. 
Cunliffe's opinion, seems to be a more reasonable form of the 
original than any other that have been suggested. There is also 
Back Cowm within a couple of miles of Coupe, which bears the 
same relation geographically to Cowm as Bacup does to Coupe, (g). 
On the other hand. Dr. March asserts that Coupe has nothing to 
do with Bacup, and believes the latter to be either the Anglo-Saxon 
baec-cop or back-hope. He prefers the latter, and would class it 
with Widdup, Stirrup, Harrop, but the oldest spelling yet obtained, 
Bakcop, drives him to the former, {h,) 

The derivation of the other place-names, Newchurch, Water- 
foot, and Crawshawbooth, is obvious enough. 

(^) Manchester City News, Notes and Queries, vol. vi., pp 178, 194. 
(h) Ibid., p 184. See also East Lancashire Nomenclature, p. 18. 




^mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmtmatm^mmmmtmmmm^m^i^^mtammMa^^ii^ i^^^a^^i^^ 



CHAPTER II. 

*' Ho ! forth my sword ! Ho! up my men ! 
My standard's folds uprear ; 
Look out I my ancient enemies, 
The ocean thieves, are here." 

— Charlemagne and the Sea-Kings. 

" Here, Athelstan, King^f earls the lord, of barons the bracelet-giver — 
and eke his brother Edmund the Etheling, won life-long glory in battle, with 
edges of swords, near Brunanburh 

" Carnage greater has not been in this island, of people slain." — Saxon Ode 
on the Battle of Brunanburh. 

rpHERE is a well-known earthwork called the Dyke or Dykes, 
-*- situated in the neighbourhood of Broadclough, Bacup. This 
singular monument of a bygone age is well worthy of a visit. By a 
slight exercise of the imagination the spectator may cause to pass 
before his mental vision the scenes long since enacted in its vici- 
nity, and associate in spirit with the sturdy Danish warriors who in 
all prpbability manned and defended the intrenchment. 

Rossendale is not rich in relics; but for extent and importance 
the Dyke^ at Broadclough eclipse a multitude of lesser archaeo- 
logical remains to be found in other localities. This work is 
described by Dr. Whitaker, the historian, as an "intrenchment to 
which no tradition is annexed that may serve to ascertain either 
its antiquity, or the end it was designed to answer. It is cut from 
the gentle slope of a rising ground, in one direction, nearly parallel 
to the horizon, for more than six hundred yards in J?ngth, not 
exactly in a right line, but following the little curvatures of the 
surface. In one part of the line, for about a hundred^ yards, it 
appears to have been levelled, and in another, where it crosses a 



lo History of the 

dough, is not very distinct; but more than four hundred yards of 
the line exhibit a trench eighteen yards broad in the bottom, and 
of proportionate depth — a most gigantic, and at the same time 
almost inexplicable work, as it could only have been intended for 
some military purpose ; and yet, in its present state, must have 
been almost useless as a fortification — for, though it would have 
defended a great army in front, yet their flanks might have been 
turned with the greatest ease, and the whole might have been 
destroyed in their trenches from the high grounds which imme- 
diately command it. On the whole I am inclined to think it one 
side of a vast British camp, which was intended to have been 
carried round the crown of the hill, but for some reason, never to 
be recovered by us, was left in its present unfinished and useless 
state. Abating for the herbage with which it is covered, the pre- 
sent appearance of it is precisely that of an unfinished modern 
canal, though much deeper and wider in its dimensions." {a) 

The same monument of antiquity is thus alluded to by the late 
Mr. T. T. Wilkinson, in a paper read before the Historic Society of 
Lancashire and Cheshire, entitled "The Battle of Brunanburh, and 
the probable Locality of the Conflict": — " Broadclough Dyke is a 
formidable and gigantic intrenchment near Bacup. It measures 
more than one thousand eight hundred feet in length, is situated 
on the edge of a gentle slope, and has a trench at least fifty-four 
feet broad at the bottom. What can have been the object of such 
an extensive earthwork can, of course, only be a matter of conjec- 
ture. From its position it is capable of protecting a large army in 
front, but it is easily accessible from the east, and must have been 
abandoned by its defenders whenever the enemy had turned their 
flank. Its construction can only have been suggested by temporary 
necessities, since it has evidently been abandoned in an unfinished 
state." 

There are several features of interest connected with the Dyke 
at Broadclough worthy of remark, which have either escaped the 

(a) Hist. Whalley, third edition, p. 22i. 



Forest of Rossendale. ii 

observation of those who have already described it, or for some 
other reason are left unnoticed by them. 

In several parts of the Dyke, in patches throughout its entire 
length, and within twenty-four or thirty inches from the surface, 
where the herbage is worn off, the shale and soil are clearly visible 
in their natural, undisturbed layers, proving beyond question that 
the earth-wall or rampart has not been formed from the loose 
material dug from the trench, but that, as at present seen, the 
height of the Dyke (which is eleven or twelve feet in the deepest 
p^rt) corresponds to the depth of the original excavation. It 
therefore becomes interesting to inquire how the super-abundant 
soil was disposed of. Either this was originally thrown up by those 
employed in its construction, so as to form a wall throughout the 
entire extent, or it was removed to some adjacent hollow in the 
hill-side. If the former, then the original Dyke must have been 
nearly double its present height, because the hill which rises to the 
rear of the earthwork is a continuation of the gradual and regular 
slope of the land lying below, and extending to the turnpike road ; 
or else a second dyke in advance of the first was formed, and 
which, being composed of loose material, has been levelled by 
time. With respect to, and in support of, the second conjecture, 
that the soil was removed to some contiguous hollow, the intelligent 
tenant occupying the farm on which the Dyke is located informs 
me that he has repeatedly had occasion to dig trenches in its 
vicinity, a little distance below, nearer to the turnpike road ; and 
although he has gone to a depth of six, eight, and even ten feet, he 
has invariably found the soil to be of a loose and apparently filled- 
up character, largely intermixed with fragments of sticks and bark, 
and other substances foreign to the soil in its natural bed. He 
also states that the earth is of such a friable nature that, though 
only at a depth of three feet from the surface, he has had occasion 
to shore up the sides of the trench with timber to prevent them 
falling in — in short, altogether differing from the material of an 
excavation through a natiu-al deposit. The work extends from the 
farm called " Dykes-house " to the edge of " Whitaker's Clough," 



1 2 History of the 

but is not now continuous throughout its entire length, being obli- 
terated or levelled in the centre for a considerable space; — tHe 
entrance to the end farthest from Bacup being through a cleft or 
rutting in the earthwork. 

I am far from coinciding in the view taken both by Dr. Whitaker 
and Mr. Wilkinson, that " it has evidently been abandoned in an 
unfinished state, because it was not carried round the crown of the 
hill." There is nothing, in my opinion, about the work which in 
the least indicates any such intention on the part of those with 
whom it originated. To have carried it over the hill would have 
been a stupendous undertaking indeed, as any one viewing the 
ground will readily admit. But even supposing it had been so 
carried, the work, according to this theory, would still have been 
incomplete unless the rampart had been continued either along 
the summit or on the other side, and over the hill a second time 
to unite its extremities, thus forming a continuous wall. Neither 
am I prepared to agree that it was easily accessible by an attack- 
ing force from the east, thus rendering a flanking operation easy of 
accomplishment 

It should be borne in mind that the nature of the approaches to 
the work has undergone a material alteration since the time of its 
construction. It is in the' highest degree probable — amounting 
almost to a certainity — that the rising ground to the rear and at its 
extremities was protected by natural defences in the shape of trees 
and a thick undergrowth of shrubs, forming an abatis which would 
readily be strengthened by the ingenuity of the defenders, and than 
which, even at the present day, with all the appliances of modem 
warfare, few better means of protection or defence could be wished 

for or devised. 

The careful investigations of Mr. Wilkinson have invested this 
singular work with more of interest than had before been asso- 
ciated with it, by his having, with marked ability and perseverance, 
collected together a mass of exhaustive evidence, enforced by a 
ihain of argument the most conclusive, with regard to the much- 
dcUitcd locality of the great struggle between the Saxons and the 



Forest of Rossendale. 13 

Danes, which he endeavours, and most successfully, to show is to 
be found in the immediate neighbourhood of Burnley; and in 
connection with which the earthwork in question constituted, pro- 
bably, a not unimportant adjunct, (b) 

This decisive conflict, won by the Saxon king, Athelstan, against 
the confederated forces of the Danes, the Welsh, and the Scots, 
under the Danish prince, Anlaf, completely established the supre- 
macy of the former, and raised the Saxon character in the estima- 
tion of surrounding nations. In order fully to appreciate the vast 
importance of this victory to the Saxons and their ruler, and to 
invest the old Dyke with that interest to which it seems entitled, 
it is necessary briefly to recount the history of the period for some 
time prior to the occurrence of the battle. 

About the end of the eighth century, the Danes and Norwegians 
(Scandinavians) began to make their predatory incursions on the 
southern and eastern coasts of Britain, ravaging wherever they 
penetrated, and leaving destruction and desolation in their track. 
This warlike and perfidious race inhabited the shores and islands 
of the northern seas : but it was their boast that the sea itself was 
their natural home and empire, over which they reigned supreme. 
They were known by the name of " Vikings," or " Children of the 
Creeks." These bands of Vikings had leaders, whom they styled 
" king," who were chosen for their pre-eminence in skill, daring, 
and ferocity. According to their bards, he only was accounted 
worthy to be a " sea-king " who " never slept beneath a roof, nor 
quaffed the horn at the covered hearth." {c) They were, moreover, 
Pagan idolaters in their worship, and took especiaWdelight in plun- 
dering and persecuting all who bore tlie name of Christian. 

During the reign of Ethelred, (a.d. 866-871,) the Saxon king of 
Wessex and Kent, the Danes with a strong force invaded and 
nearly overran the island. A series of sanguinary conflicts be- 
tween the Saxons and their invaders, extending over a period of 

(b) See Transactions of the Historic Society of Lancashire and Cheshire, 
vol. ix. pp. 21-42. 

{c) Doyle's Chronicle of England, p. 41. 



14 



History of the 



five years, with varying success, but on the whole favourable to 
the Northmen, finally resulted in King Ethelred's death, caused by 
a wound received in battle. His brother Alfred (afterwards sur- 
named "the Great") succeeded to the vacant throne, a.d. 871. 
This wise ruler, of whom England has just reason to be proud, was 
for more than six years unable to cope successfully with his power- 
ful and treacherous foes — until at the battle of Ethandune, after a 
long and bloody conflict, the Saxons were completely victorious, {d) 
During the remaining years of the reign of Alfred, the country of 
the Saxons enjoyed — with the exception of the invasion by the sea- 
king Hasteng — comparative tranquility. 

Under Edward, the eldest son of Alfred, who succeeded his 
father, and reigned for a period of twenty-four years, the Saxons 
increased in power and military ascendancy throughout the country. 
This warlike and sagacious king devoted his energies to subjugating 
the Northmen, and consolidating the Saxon rule, by drawing into 
closer union the different states into which the country was divided. 
But we now approach that period in Saxon history, the events of 
which more immediately concern and interest us in the present 
inquiry. 

Upon the death of Edward, a.d. 925, his eldest surviving son, 
Athelstan, ascended the throne of Wessex, at the age of thirty. 
He had been a favourite of his grandfather Alfred, who directed 
his studies in the military profession, and early instilled into his 
mind an absorbing love of his country, and those principles of 
patriotism which adorned his life. 

Throughout -his vigorous and brilliant reign, by his warlike 
prowess, no less than his wise administration of the civil affairs 
of his kingdom, he reflected credit on the teaching of his noble 
ancestor. 

On the death of Sihtric, the Danish king of Northumbria, who 
had espoused a sister of the Anglo-Saxon monarch, Athelstan 
promptly extended his sway, by annexing that important kingdom 
to his own dominions. 

{d) Doyle's Chronicle of England, p. 51. 



.-.^ -« - • ^lu ■■■ 



I ll • I ^ \ 



Forest of Rossendale. 1 5 

In those days of semi-barbarisih, when might took the place of 
right, and when 

"The good old rule, the simple plan, 
That they should take who have the power, 
And they should keep who can," 

was in full force and vigour, it almost amounted to a crime to be 
unfortunate. Accordingly, Sihtric's two sons, Guthfred and Anlaf, 
fled from the country to escape the death by assassination, or at 
least the persecution, that usually awaited princes in their forlorn 
condition. Guthfred took refuge among the Scots, and Anlaf 
sought the shores of Ireland. 

It is probable, however, that Athelstan would have exercised 
clemency towards the brothers; for the elder, on surrendering 
himself some time afterwards, was received with kindness by the 
king, and might have lived in peace had not his roving Danish 
propensities led him to renounce his quiet life, and assume that of 
marauder and sea-king. 

Anlaf, who was ambitious to recover the kingdom of his royal 
parent, had vigorously employed the years of his exile in organising 
a force to depose the Anglo-Saxon ruler; and having perfected 
his plans, and secured the alliance of the Scots, the Welsh, and 
his Danish kindred, he set sail from Ireland on his expedition, with 
a fleet of six hundred and thirteen vessels. Most writers on the 
subject state that Anlaf landed the whole of his forces in the 
mouth of the Humber; but no substantial proof is^ offered in 
support of this very improbable theory. It is scarcely to be sup- 
posed that Anlaf would risk a long and dangerous voyage with the 
whole of his numerous and uncertain craft, when he was already 
almost within sight of shores where he might with greater ease, 
and- with less risk of b^ing confronted by an opposing army, dis- 
embark his hosts. 

Accepting, then, the conclusions at which Mr. Wilkinson has 
arrived in the paper previously alluded to, that a portion — pro- 
bably the largest portion-^of Anlaf 's ships sought the estuaries of 



1 6 History of the 

the Mersey, the Ribble, the Wyre, and the Lune, on the banks of 
which their human freight was landed, we may in imagination 
try to picture to ourselves the march of the grand confederate 
army that came to wrest the kingdom of Northumbria from the 
sway of the great Saxon ruler. The bowmen, the spearmen, the 
gaily-caparisoned horses ; the hosts with their battle-axes and bur- 
nished shields ; the flaunting banners, bearing the Norwegian and 
Danish insignia, and all the miscellaneous paraphernalia of ancient 
warfare, would compose a picture worthy of the canvas of a Falcone 
or a Salvator Rosa ; and having safely trod the plain of Lancashire, 
and drawn near to the mountain fastnesses where the conflict was 
to be waged which should decide the fate of Notthumbria : {e) — as 
night closed with its dark mantle upon the embattled hosts, how 
the beacon fires would flare forth their red signals from hill to hill ! 
— Cribden, Hameldon, Pendle, Thieveley Pike, Blackstonedge, 
and the rest. The grandeur of the scene would stir the indifferent, 
and inflame the patriotic to those deeds of valour which the Saxon 
bard has endeavoured to depict in that ode, (/) which time has 
spared from the oblivion that has fallen upon the writings of more 
prosaic chroniclers. 

If Saxonfield (Saxifield), near Burnley, was the scene of the 
engagement between the troops of Athelstan and Anlaf, then it is 
in the highest degree probable that one or other of the rival armies, 
most likely that of the Saxon king, forced, or attempted to force, 
a passage through the valley of the Irwell ; and that here they were 
encountered by the confederated hosts intrenched behind the vast 
earthwork at Broadclough that commanded the line of their march. 
Whether this was taken in flank or rear by the Saxon warriors, or 
whether it was successful in arresting their progress, or delaying the 
advance of a portion of their army, it is impossible to determine ; 
but that it was constructed for weighty strategical purposes, under 

{e) Northumbria, one of the most important and powerful of the Sazcn 
kingdoms under the Heptarchy, comprehended Durham, Northumberland, 
Cumberland, Westmoreland, Yorkshire, and the chief portion of Lancashire. 

(/) Saxon Ode on the Battle of Brunanburh. 



Forest of Rossendale. 17 

the belief that its position was of the last importance, so much of 
the remains of this extraordinary work which still exists, affords 
sufficient evidence. 

The battle of Brunanburh settled for the time being the position 
of the Danes in the land ; the Saxon arms were completely victo- 
rious. The battle raged from early mom till sunset, amid fearful 
carnage, the best blood of the country being shed. Five sea-kings, 
seven jarls, and many thousands of brave warriors were sacrificed 
in the strife. 

^* Here Athelstan, king, of earls the lord, of barons the bracelet- 
giver, and eke his brother, Edmund Etheling, won life-long glory in 
battle, with edges of swords, near Brunanburh. 

" They clove the board-wall, they hewed the war-Undens. Off- 
spring of Edward they, in battle oft, 'gainst every foe the land 
defended — its hoards and its homes. Such was their noble 
natures, derived from their fathers. The foe they crushed^ the 
Scottish people and the shipmen fated fell. 

" The field reek'd with warriors' blood, since the sun was up at 
morning-tide. The mighty planet, God's candle bright, the eternal 
Lord's, glided o'er the grounds, till the noble creature sank to her 
settle. There lay many a warrior by javelins strewed ; northern 
men, shot over shields ; also Scots, weary and war-sad. 

" West-Saxons onwards, in bands, throughout the day, pursued 
the footsteps of the loathed nations. They hewed the fugitives 
behind, amain, with swords mill-sharp. Mercians refused not the 
hard hand-play to any heroes who, with Anlaf, over the ocean in 
the ship's bosom, this land sought, fated to the fight 

" Five lay on the battle-stead, youthful kings, by sword in slum- 
ber laid; so seven eke of Anlaff's earls; shipmen and Scots of 
the army countless. 

" There was made to flee the Northmen's chieftain ; by need 
constrained to the ship's prow with a little band. The bark drove 
afloat. The king, outgoing on the fallow flood, his life preserved. 
So there, also, Constantine, hoary warrior, came by flight to his 



1 8 History of the 

north countr)'. He had no cause to exult in the communion of 
swords. 

" Here was his kindred band of friends overthrown on the folk- 
stead, in battle slain : and his son he left on the slaughter-place, 
mangled with wounds, young in the fight. He, the grizly-haired 
baron, the old deceiver, had no cause to boast of the bill-clashing ; 
nor had Anlaf any more with the remnant of their armies. 

" They had no cause to exult that they in war's works, the better 
men were in the battle-stead, at the conflict of banners, the meeting 
of spears, the concourse of men, the traffic of weapons — that they 
on the slaughter-field with Edward's offspring played. 

" The Northmen departed in their nailed barks ; bloody relic of 
darts, o*er the deep water, Dublin to seek — again to seek Ireland, 
shamed in mind. 

"So too the brothers, both together, King and Etheling, (g) 
their country sought, the West-Saxons* land, in war exulting. 

" They left behind them, the corse to devour, the sallow kite, 
and the swart raven with homed beak, and the dusky vulture, and 
the white-tailed heron ; the corse to enjoy came the greedy war- 
hawk, and the gray beast, the wolf of the wood. 

"Carnage greater has not been in this island ever yet, never 
before this, of people slain by edges of swords." 

Anlaf, with the scattered remnant of his forces, escaped from 
the field, and fled again to Ireland, as the ode relates ; while Athel- 
stan, the Saxon, was raised to the proud position of king of Eng- 
land, and peace was secured to the country during the remaining 
years of his life and reign. 

I am not aware that any considerable relics have been found 
within the Forest, which would connect the district more imme- 
diately with the military presence of the Saxons or Danes; but 
this may have arisen for want of the frequent use of the plough in 
our fields. So strong, however, are the probabilities in favour of 
the conjecture that the Dyke constituted a portion of the line of 

{g) Etheling or Atheling, in Saxon times, was the name or title given to 
the heir to the crown. 



Forest of Rossendale. 19 

defensive works in connection with the great battle strife, that it is 
not at all unlikely that some other memorials of the time may yet 
be discovered in the locality. 

But we are not entirely without evidence of even this direct 
confirmatory nature ; for Dr. Whitaker (h) states that, " In the Red 
Moss, a part of the two hundred and forty acres once within the 
Forest, (1*) iron arrow-heads have often been found. These, it is 
probable, had been aimed against the deer, rather than used in 
battle. In a field belonging to the author was found a Torques of 
the purest gold. It was lying upon the surface, having been turned 
up by the plough or harrow, and picked up by a reaper. The 
weight is above one ounce and a half. It was originally a complete 
circle, then bent back upon itself, and twisted round, excepting at 
the ends, which are looped, as if intended to be fastened about the 
neck by a cord. It is now in my possession." 

It is not unlikely that the learned historian, had he lived under 
the light of recent investigations, might have formed a different 
opinion with respect to the original use of the arrow-heads, and 
would rather have attributed their presence to purposes of a warlike 
character. 

The beacon-remains on the neighbouring hills which Mr. Wilkin- 
son conjectures may have been successively used by Britons, 
Romans, Saxons, and Danes, are highly interesting monuments of 
antiquity. The one on Thieveley Pike is quite distinct, and is a 
complete circle in the form of a basin, the circumference round the 
centre of the embankment being about eighty feet ; many of the 
stones within the ring, and in the immediate vicinity, bear evident 
marks of having been charred or scorched by fire. 

In earlier times, when the means of intercommunication were 
slow and uncertain, these beacons played a most important part in 
the defences of the country, being kept in readiness, and used by 
the authorities on occasions of civil broil and commotion, or 

(A) Hist. Whalley, tliird edition, p. 366. 
(i) Now in Cliviger. 



20 History 0/ Ihe 

threatened invasion by foreign powers. Accordingly, we find that 
during the times of disquiet in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, in the 
year 1588, when the great "Spanish Armada" was hourly expected 
to land its invading hosts on the Lancashire coast, a mandate was 
issued by the ([ueen's "right trustie and well-beloved the Lord 
Strange," to Henry, Earl of Derby, as Lord-Lieutenant of the 
county of Lancaster, to the eflect that the beacons in every part of 
the county were to be specially talten in charge, and kept in con- 
tinual readiness for kindling, that they might flash forth their 
telegraphic signalu, and call the country to arms on the approach of 
danger. Severe punishments were threatened to be inflicted on 
any person raisii^ a false alarm. 

The circular basin form, of which Thieveley furnishes a good 
example, was that usually adopted in the con.stniction of the beacon 
bed, the centre being hollowed or scooped out, and surrounded by 
an embankment, doubtless as a protection to the fire, to prevent 
its being extinguished when strong winds prevailed. 

On a clear day a magnificent view is obtained from the Pike, 
embracing to the west Hameldon Hill and the country stretching 
far beyond to the Irish Sea ; to the north-west, Pendle Hili, Ingle- 
borough, and Pennyghent ; while due north are Worsthom and 
Beadle Hill: to the east Black Humbledon, and inclining a little 
farther south, Stoodley Pike ; more southerly still, Tooter (/) Hill, 
below Sharneyford, and the bleak profile of Blackstonedge ; while 
nearly due south are Coujw I,aw, Cribden, Musbury Tor, Hol- 
combe Hill, and, beyond, the great plain of I^ncashire. 

(j) Toot. Dut. lo look out.—" We eftaone.s come to the rising; up of the hill 
towards ye Mount of Sion, which is called the teelyng hill, or peake, or high 
beakon place, or ufatching toure. trotn whence lo iee a ferre of." — Vdtit. 
Luke xii. 

A Correspondenl (Mr. J. R. Boyle( suggests thai the name of Tooter Hill 
may be derived from Ihe name of the Celtic god Tot, In confirmation of 
this he refers to Harland and Wilkinson's i'olk Lore, where (page 45,) il is 
pwnted out that Toland in his niitory of the Druidi speaks of Toot hills »s 
the hills dedicated lo the worship of the Cellic god Tot, or Tent, or Tetitales. 
the same wilh the Egyplian Thoth, and from which " ihe grand sscrerf fires 



Forest of Rossendale, 



21 



Occupying, as it does, a central position, the beacon lights of 
Thieveley would blazon forth their ominous signals, and answering 
fires would soon flare on every surrounding hill. This is no vague, 
unsubstantial picture of the imagination : the existing vestiges of 
occupation by one or other, or all of the primitive tribes in succes- 
sion, speak a language that can scarcely be misunderstood. 



of the Bel-Tine flamed thrice a year, at three of the great festivab of the 
Druids, in honour of Beal, or the sun, viz., on the eve of May-day, on Mid- 
summer-eve, and on the eve of the ist November." There is much relevancy 
in this suggestion. 



CHAPTER III. 

•' The mislayer of a mere stone is to blame." — Bacon. 

'• Cursed be he that removeth his neighbour's landmark. And all the 
people shall say, Amen." — Deut. xxvii. 17. 

" Men may come, and men may go, 
But I go on for ever. — Tennyson. 

fT^HE River Irwell takes its rise in Cliviger (a) in a large tract of 
-*- moorland, to the right of, and including Derplay Hill, the 
whole of which originally constituted a part of the Forest. Owing, 
however, to the carelessness or indifference of the proprietors 
residing in Bacup Booth, which at one time embraced what is now 
a portion of Cliviger, or probably to the superior cunning or 
unscrupulousness of those of the latter, this extensive tract was lost 
to Rossendale and became a part of Cliviger. 

It would appear that in the earlier years of the reign of Edward 
IV, the meres marking the boundary between Cliviger and the 
Forest had been wrongfully extended into Bacup Booth ; and 
although the proprietors of the latter during the reign of Elizabeth 
instituted a suit for the recovery of this part of the common, a 
prescriptive right was established against them. 

"The original boundary between Cliviger and the Forest of 
Rossendale " (states Dr. Whitaker) ** was unquestionably the old 
dyke which traverses the ridge of the hill nearly from east to west 
by Pikelaw. The freeholders of Cliviger, however, are now pos- 
sessed of a large tract of moor ground on the other side ; a poor 

(a) Formerly Clivacher (Anglo-Saxon), rocky field.— East Lancashire 
Nomenclature by H. C. March, M.D., p. 21. 



r-W..:* 



Forest of Rossendale. 23 

compensation for the loss of their freehold rights in all their ancient 
commons, which the acquirement of this occasioned. 

" In the earUer part of the reign of Queen Elizabeth, a suit was 
instituted by the proprietors of the vaccary of Horelaw Head, 
otherwise Bacop Booth, against those of Chviger, to recover this 
parcel of common, on the following grounds : — 

" It appeared from the evidence of several ancient persons, who 
remembered the boundaries before the disforesting of Rossendale, 
that the meres {b) lay from Tower Hill (near Beamshaw Tower) to 
Hag-gate, or the old road along the Haia Dominicalis, still called 
Old Dyke, thence to Routandclough Head, thence to Pike Law, 
and thence to Derplay Hill. And this division nature as well as 
tradition pointed out. 

" But on the other hand, it was proved on the behalf of Cliviger, 
that, about sixty years before, certain marked stones then remaining, 
and including the disputed ground, had been laid as meres by Sir 
John Townley, knight, in the presence of Sir Peter Legh, steward 
of the Honor of Clitheroe, and Sir John Booth, receiver. 

" Secondly, it appeared from court rplls, that two acres of land, 
parcel of the two hundred and forty acres in dispute, had been 
granted to Robert Whitaker, of Holme, as part of the common of 
Cliviger within Dirpley Graining, Anno 1 7 Edward IV., and two 
acres more to Thomas, his son, Anno . . . Henry VII. 

" To all these things the people of the vaccary replied, that they 
were done without their knowledge or privity. 

" On the whole, there can be no doubt that the Old Dyke had 
been the original boundary of the forest, but that the meres of 
Cliviger had been wrongfully extended at some indefinite period 
before the 17th of Edward IV., in consequence of which a prescrip- 
tion was established against the foresters. 

" Under this impression, therefore, they abandoned the suit, 
and consented to enclose along the meres which Sir John 

(b) Meres or Meers: lakes or other waters ; but the term b often applied 
to dykes or stones set up to mark the bounds ot property. 



24 



History of the 



Townley had bid ; and the outfence [hen built forms the present 

boundary," {c) 

Harrison, in his DtseripHon ef England, remarks : — " The 
Irwell is a notable water which riseth above Bacop, and goeth 
thence to Rossendale, and in the way to Aytenfielde it taketh in a 
water from Haselden. After this confluence, it goeth to Newhall, 
Brandlesham, Bury, and above Radcliffe joineth with the Rache 
water, a fair stream. Being therefore past these two, our Irwell 
goelh on to Clifiori, HolLind, Rdgecroft, Slrangways, and to Man- 
chester, where it uniteth with the Yrke, that runneth thereinto by 
Royton, Middleton, Heaton llill, and Blakeley. lleneath Man- 
chester also it meeteth with the Medlocke, that cometh thither 
from the N.E. side of Oldham, and between Clayton and Garret 
Halls, and so between two parks falling into it about Holm. 
Thence our Irwell goelh forward to Woodsall, \Vhicleawijc, Eccleg, 
Barton, and Denelham, it fallelh near unto Flixton, into the water 
of the Mersey. 

Yike. Irwell, Medlocke, and Tame, 

When the; meet wItK the Mersey, do lose their name." 

The first mention of the Irwell is to be found in the charter 
of Brandwood, by Roger de Lacy, about the year 1200. With 
respect to the origin of the name, opinions difler. 

Mr. Whitaker, the historian of Manchester, stales that the Irwell 
springs from a double fountain near the upper part of a hill 
between Broadclough and Holme ; that it carries its waters on the 
western side of Mancenion, and was therefore denominated Ir 
Gaeil, Irwell, Irwill, or the western torrent. This explanation is 
plausible, and is worthy of consideration in any investigations as to 
the origin of the name. 

Dr. Whitaker, the historian of Whalley, entirely differs from the 
conjectures of his namesake, and he elaborately endeavours to 
prove that the word is deduced " from a nearer and less venerable 
source than the British language." He stales that " Ere, in the 

(r) Hisl. Whalley, pp. 365, 366. 



Forest of RossendaU. 25 

semi-Saxon dialect of diis neighbourhood, is hoar, used as a sub- 
stantive ; and very high grounds, which are often gray with sleet 
or hoarfrost while the meadows and pastures beneath remain 
unsprinkled, are said to be in the Ere. Now this remark is strikingly 
verified in Derplay Hill, which, many times in winter, presents a 
hoary head, while the lowlands of Rossendale retain their native 
brown. Erewell, therefore, is the spring in the Ere. The neigh- 
bouring Whitewell probably derives its name from the same 
circumstance; and the very next elevation north-west of Derplay 
Hill in ancient charters (for the present coarse orthography of the 
word rests oh no authority) is styled Hor, or Horelaw." (</) 

This is ingenious reasoning, but not altogether convincing. 
The quality of whiteness in winter is by no means peculiar to 
Derplay, but is probably more or less common to every lofty 
elevation in the United Kingdom ; and that this occasional white 
appearance of the hill top— which would surely be neither un- 
usual nor unexpected in the winter season — should be the cause, 
of the origin of the name, is not satisfactorily demonstrated. Had 
the crown or summit of Derplay Hill retained its white^ppearance 
all the year round, the argument might have been indisputable ; 
but the whiteness is by far the exception, and not the rule. The 
names of the neighbouring stream, Whitewell, and Horelaw Hill 
certainly give weight to the argument of the learned historian, but 
the coincidence may be accidental, nevertheless. But further, in a 
deed in the possession of Mr. Whitaker, late of Br(»adclough, of 
the time of Henry VH., and to which reference is made by 
Baines, in his '* History of Lancashire," (e) the name of the adja- 
cent hill is spelt Harlawhead, and not Horlawhead, thus : — 

" Harlawhead, alias vocat Bacopboothe. Also there is another 
vaccherye called Harleyhead, otherwise called Bacopboothe, late 
in Ferme, at J[fi 13s. 4d. by yere, is now letten to Lawrence 
Lorde, Alexander Lorde, John Whiteacr, and Christopher Tatter- 
sall for ;£ii yere. Ex. per W. Tusser." 

(d) Hist. Whalley, third edition, p. 226. 

(e) Vol iii. p. 275. 



26 History of the 

In regard to the opinion of Whitaker; the historian of Man- 
chester, that Irwell is a British name signifying " Western torrent." 
Mr. H. Kerr, a well-known local antiquary, remarks, that "what- 
ever it is in its lower reaches, the Irwell in its upper course at least, 
is certainly a torrential stream, and has on many occasions proved 
itself a most destructive torrent, as the inhabitants of Rossendale 
know to their cost. The terrible flood of 1870, and the scarcely 
less disastrous one in July, 1881, are fresh in the memory of all 
who dwell near its banks. The rapidity of the stream when in 
flood may be estimated from the fact that within the limits of 
Rossendale it has a fall of about 800 feet in a distance of some 
eight miles." Mr. Kerr, however, inclines to the opinion of some 
other authorities that the prefix "ere" or "ire" means simply 
water, stream or river ; and that the same word in various forms 
occurs in the designation of other rivers such as the Yure, the 
Orwell, and the ^. 

The following is the account of the origin of the name, Irwell, in 
" Mamecestre," edited by the late John Harland, F.S.A., (/) 
" The Irwfll, from Ir, (Welsh), fresh, vigorous ; and Gwili (Welsh), 
a name for river, as the Gwili in Carmarthenshire ; properly that 
which turns or winds — ^a winding stream. In composition, ' gwili ' 
loses the initial G." 

■ 
• 

Other derivations have been suggested, as, for instance, that the 
name may have reference to the Chief Justice in " Eyre " of the 
Forest. 2. The HigJur Well, afterwards changed to /r^well, as 
contradistinguished from the lower well ; the two together con- 
stituting the " double fountain " spoken of by Mr. Whitaker, the 
historian of Manchester. 3. The more poetical one, that it may 
have been named after the fabulous nymph of Arcadia, " Hyrie/* 
who, it is said, in lamentation for the loss of her son, dissolved 
into a fountain. Hypothetical as these are, any one of them, in 
my judgment, is more probable than the derivation given by Dr. 
Whitaker. 

(/) Vol. i. p. 9. 



Forest of Rossendale. 27 

There can be so little of certainty in any investigations con- 
cerning the origin of the name ; and so much room for doubt and 
contention, seeing that the materials for forming an opinion are 
scarce and inadequate, that I have no desire to dogmatise on the 
subject, or unnecessarily to dispute the conclusions of previous 
writers thereon. These, however, are so unsatisfactory, that I 
hope to be excused for stating an impression which I entertain, 
that the name is, after all, one which has been handed down to us 
from our earliest British ancestors. I am fully sensible of the 
deficiencies of the argument, and it is with some diffidence that 
I advance it at all ; but it is not less plausible than those already 
put forward, and it may serve to awaken a degree of interest on a 
subject which, perhaps, has not received the attention it deserves. 

" Eire is the name of one of the ancient Celtic deities, who is 
commemorated in such words as Aldeire (Auldearn,) Strath^ire 
(Strathdearn and Stratheam.) This word is probably also the 
origin of the name Eire for Ireland ; and ^ot larinn, as generally 
supposed." (a) In the Green at Glasgow there is a celebrated well 
or spring, popularly known to the inhabitants as Eim's, or Aim's 
Well, which, no doubt, has reference to the same mythical deity. 
Is it too much to suppose that Ire in Irewell, or Irwell, is from the 
like source ? 

But again, in the charter of Roger de Lacy, in which the first 
mention of the river occurs, the name is not spelt Irwell or Irewell, 
but IrewilL In the Celtic language, Uillt, pronounced a/i7/, or 
wilt (the / at the end of the word having the liquefied sound of iia 
in Christian), is a mountain stream — a brook — a river. The 
conclusion, then, to which we are naturally led is — First, that we 
are not necessarily indebted to its source for the name of the river. 
It is by no means essential that we should trace a stream to its rise 
in order to arrive at the origin of its name. Secondly, that the 
prefix Ir, or Ire, has reference to the ancient British deity of that 
name. Thirdly, that will (Uillt), is the Celtic word for stream. It 

{a) Celtic Gleanings, by the Rev, T. M'Laughlin, A.M., F.S.A.S,, p. 130. 



28 



History of the 



therefore requires no violent effort of the imagination to believe 
that the river which takes its rise on Derplay Hill was dedicated 
to and designated after the British Deity Eire, or Ire — that it was 
known as Ire u-ill, the stream of the god — and that the name has 
survived to the present time. 

The Irwei), it should be noted, has really two sources or springs, 
separated by a few hundred yards, on Derpley Moor, down which 
the rivulets Bow, uniting near to the present boundary of Bacup 
Booth. Its five principal tributaries wiihin the confines of Rossen- 
dale are (i). Tong Brook, which rises in the moors of Tooter Hill 
and Sharneyford, flows down Greave Clough, and joins the Irwell 
at Bacup Fold. {2). Coupe Brook, rising in the Brandwood Moors 
and falling into the main stream at Waterfool. (3). The river 
Whitewell, having its source on the hill slope overlooking the 
Cliviger Valley, and not far distant from the spring of the Irwell. 
It flows down the Lumh and Whitewell valleys, and falls into the 
Irwell also at Waterfoot. (4). The Limy Wa'er, which rises in the 
moors above Dunnockshaw, and, traversing the Crawshawbooth 
valley, joins the Irwell at Rawtenstall. (5), Balladen Brook, which 
forms the boundary of Rossendale to the South West ; this, coming 
down from the adjacent heights, falls into the Irwell near to 
Townsend Fold. 

Reference has already been made to the legend that Tunslead 
bottoms at one time formed a deep lake, the only outlet for its 
waters being a narrow gorge through the rocks at what is now called 
Glen Top. In proof of this, the late H. Cunliffe vouches for the 
statement that when the present lurnpike road was cut from 
Stacksteads to Rawtenstall in the year 1S26, numerous remains 
of stags and other forest animals were dug out of the ground above 
the Thrulch, as though they bad been washed down the river, and 
had settled in the still waters of the lake. 

If Cliviger can claim the high honour of giving birth to the 
Irwell, so Rossendale is surely foster-parent to the nursling ; and 
who shall compass the honour of being the parent and nurse of 
that stream, which, while yet a mere stripling, has performed more 



Forest of Rossendale. 29 

work than a hundred rivers of greater pretensions — and which, ere 

it has discharged its vexed knd darkened waters into the Mersey, 

has accomplished labours oply paralleled by those recorded in 

fable of the mighty Hercules of old ! Fitting emblem of true 

greatness, it springs from its parent bed on the bleak hillside ; no 

enchanting scenery distinguishes the place of its rise ; it is the sole 

fruitful offspring of a sterile and uninviting tract of country. 

Neither throughout its whole course does it meander through 

delicious wildernesses of rural beauty, fringed by overhanging 

foliage, or embroidered with wide-reaching acres of velvet-lawn. 

Far other scenes the bounteous river affects : the abodes of men, 

the forests of piled stones where Labour lives and thrives, and 

where the incense of Vulcan's fires continually ascends ; where the 

busy hammer is heard to. reverberate; where the endless whir of 

the spindle and the unceasing tumult of the loom, with all their 

generous produce, bring gladness to the pale mechanic's hearth, 

and light up with cheerful glow the humble fireside of the thrifty 

operative. Having more of the useful than the ornamental in its 

composition, the Irwejl is a noble work-a-day river, with smutty 

face, winning the children's bread. 

Michael Drayton, in his Poly-Olbion published in 1622, reciting 

a contest that took place between the Irwell and the Ribble as 

to *• which of those floods deserved to have their sovereign due" of 

" the neat Lancastrian Nymphs for beauty that excel," makes the 

" lovely Erwell " say : — 

"Note, 
" As from my fountain I tow'rds mightier Mersey float, 

" First Roach, a dainty rill, from Rochdale, her dear dam, 

" Who, honoured with the half of her stern mother's name, 

" Grows proud ; yet, glad herself into my banks to get, 

" Which Spodden from her spring, a pretty rivulet, 

" As her attendants brings, when Irck adds to my store, 

" And Medlock to their much by lending somewhat more, 

" At Manchester do meet, all kneeling to my state, 

" Where brave I show myself. Then with a prouder gait, 

•' Tow'rds Mersey making on. Great Chatmosse at my fall, 

" Piles full of turf, and marie, her unctuous mineral, 



30 History of the 

" And blocks as black as pitch (with boring augurs found), 
" There at the general flood suppo§6d to be drowned. 
" Thus chief of Mersey's train, away with her I run, 
" When in her prosperous course she wat'reth Warrington, 
" And her fair silver load in Le'rpoole down doth lay. 
" A road none more renown*d in the Vergivian sea. 
" Ye lusty lasses, then, in Lancashire that dwell, 
" For beauty that are said to bear away the bell. 
" Your country's hornpipe ye so mindngly that tread, 
" As ye the egg-pye love, and apple cheery red, 
" In all your mirthful songs and merry meetings tell 
" That Erwell every way doth Ribble far excel." 

A transformation in the charms of the river has taken place 
since the poet sang the praises of the "lovely Erwell;" and 
whatever the circumstances may have been in the past, the man, 
to-day, would be a false witness who declared " That Erwell every 
way doth Ribble far excel.** 

There is an interesting reference to Rossendale as the district in 
which the river Irwell takes its rise, in a poem entitled ** Irwell," {h) 
possessing some merit. After a short introduction it proceeds : — 

But not so high my fancy soars, 
Content to roam on Irwell's shores, 
Its fleeting relics seek among, 
Fit subjects for my simple song ; 
Nor would my muse to this aspire, 
But thoughts of early days inspire 
My pen to move unfettered, free, 
Irwell, in love alone to thee ! 

Black as thou art, thou sullen stream. 
Thee have I chosen for my theme; 
For there are spots which skirt thy tide 
Full many a favoured land might pride. 
Where speed thy waters in their youth. 
As childhood bright, and pure as truth. 
So very fair, I've seen on thee 
The shadowed form of passing bee. 

(6) Irwell and other Poems by A. (Joseph Anthony), Dedicated to Charles 
Swain, 1843. 



Forest of Rossendate. 31 

Rich is the spot, in nature's worth, 
Sweet RossENDALB, that gives thee biith; 
Whoe'er from thence thy charms may trace, 
Till charms are lost in Art's embrace — ' 
Shall (having seen thy murky glooinj 
See beauty's birth and beauty's tomb. 

And SO the poem^foes on to narrate a legend of Old Kersal Hall. 

The beginning of the pollution of the Irwell is by no means of 
lecent dale, as appears by the following lines from " Knaster," a 
humourous poem written by John Ferriar, M.D. of Manchester, (r) 
a century ago, where, referring to one of his literary townsmen, he 
says,— 

Deep in a den, coDceal'd from Phccbua' beams. 
Where neighb'ring Irwell leads his sable streams, 
Where misty dye-rooms fragrant scents bestow. 
And 6res more fierce than love for ever glow. 

The scurvy way in which the Irwell has been treated all these 
years is enough to make it dry up its waters and retire to cavernous 
depths. Vex not the eplrit of the stream ! Why not a spirit in 
the waters as welt as in these dull clods of mortal bodies of ours ? 
There is a spirit ! We can hear it speak, and it looks out at us 
with a thousand appealing eyes ! 

{() Palatine Note Book, Vol. II., p. Qg. 




BOOK SECOND. 



CHAPTER I. 

" One generation passeth away, and another generation cometh : but the 

earth abideth for ever." — Eccles. i. 4. 

Wf E have now reached that point when it becomes necessary 
" ' to trace the connexion of \he present lord of the manor 
with the district. History and existing records are sufficiently full 
and explicit on this head ; and we shall experience no difficulty in 
tracing the ownership from the time of the Conqueror down to the 
present day. In order to do this clearly and satisfactorily, we must 
view Rossendale as constituting a portion of the Hundred of 
Blackburn, or Honor of Clitheroe, (a) parcel of the Duchy of 
Lancaster. 

Previous to and at the time of the Norman Conquest, (a.d. 
1066,) the four forests of Pendle, Trawden, Rossendale, and 
Accrington were embraced in the general name of the " Forest of 
Blackburnshire ; " and though the different subdivisions were pro- 
bably well known by their distinctive appellations, yet we may form 
a fair estimate of the limited extent of occupation and cultivation 

Cm) " The term Honor implied superiority over several dependent manors, 
whose proprietors were obliged to do suit and service to their superior baron 
or chief, who kept his Honor Court annually with great pomp, all the inferior 
landholders standing bareheaded in his presence, while he sat in a chair of 
ftate."-^CoRRY, Hist, of Lancashire, vol. i. p. 151. 



Forest of Rossendale. 33 

throughout this portion of the county of Lancaster in those remote 
times, from a consideration of the significant and interesting fact 
that the broad and far-extending woodlands, so branched or dove- 
tailed one into the other, as to justify the title which included them 
all in one vast, wide-reaching forest. The area of the whole was 
about 76^ square miles, or 48,945 statute acres; the superficial 
extent of Rossendale — which is the largest of the four — being about 
30^ square miles, or 19,505 statute acres. 

The forests at that time were not comprised within the limits of 
any township or other subdivision of property or estate, and being 
without paramount owner, were naturally claimed by the great 
Norman barons or other dignitaries, the favourites and followers of 
the Conqueror, who would readily endorse their title thereto in 
consideration of fealty and distinguished services. Neither in the 
latter years of William's reign, at the time of the Domesday survey, 
were they embraced within the measurement of the Hundred of 
Blackburn, as given in that authentic and valuable record. 

" William brought in his train a large body of military adven- 
turers, and the Roll of Battle Abbey, given by Ralph Holinshed, 
contains the names of six hundred and twenty-nine Normans, who 
all became claimants upon the fair territory of Britain. To satisfy 
the cravings of this rapacious host was a task of some difficulty ; 
but the new monarch did not hesitate to seize the possessions of the 
Anglo-Saxon proprietors in every direction, and to confer them 
with no parsimonious hand, upon his companions in arms." {b) 

The vast possessions which included the Honors of Lancaster 
and Clitheroe were given to Roger de Poictou, alias Roger Picta- 
vensis, the third son of Roger de Montgomery, Earl of Arundel 
and Shrewsbury. This Roger de Poictou, then, was the first Lord 
of the Honor of which the Forest of Rossendale forms a not 
unimportant part. He was the founder of the Castles of Lancaster 
and Liverpool. Owing, however, to his taking part in certain 
rebellions, his inheritance was forfeited. The Honor of Lancaster 

(Jb) Baines. 



34 History of the 

was given to Stephen, who became king of England. From this 
monarch it passed to a series of noble and royal owners in succes- 
sion — William de Blois, Earl of Montaign and Bollogne; King 
John, of Magna Charta fame ; Ranulph, fourth earl of Chester ; 
William, Earl of Ferrers. Henry III., son of King John, gave the 
Honor to his youngest son, Edmund Crouchback, and conferred 
upon him the title of Earl of Lancaster. Thomas Plantagenet, the 
next earl, afterwards became the possessor, and to him we shall 
again immediately refer. 

The house of Lacy (the first of which family in this country, 
Ilbert de Lacy, came over from Normandy with the Conqueror) 
became possessors of the Hundred of Blackburn, or Honor of 
Oitheroe, either by direct gift from William the Norman, or 
through Roger de Busli and Albert Greslet, to whom the original 
Baron, Roger de Poictou, had granted the Hundred. There is 
some obscurity about the transfer, the best authorities differing on 
the subject. The following is a translation of the account which 
is given of the Hundred in " Domesday Book : "— 

"IN BLACHEBURNE HUNDRET 
" King Edward held Blacheburne. 

" There are two hides (r) and two carucates (</) of land. The Church had 
two bovates (e) of this land ; and the Church of St. Mary's had in Whalley 
two carucates of land, free from all custom. In the same manor there is a 
wood, one mile in length and the same in width, and there was an aerie of 
hawks. 

" To this manor belonged twenty-eight freemen, holding five hides and a 
half, and forty carucates of land for twenty-eight manors. There is a wood 
six miles long and four broad, and there were the above-said customs. 

(r) Hide or oxgang of land, as much land as can reasonably be ploughed in 
a year by one yoke of oxen, the yoke consisting of two beasts. 

(<f) Canicate of land, from caruca, a plough, as much land as can reason- 
ably be cultivated in a year by one plough. 

{e) Bovate of land, as much land as can reasonably be ploughed by one ox 
in a year. 

There is some uncertainty about these several quantities, the bovate 
according to different authorities, ranging from 13 to 18 acres. 



Forest of Rossendale. 35 

" In the same hundred King Edward had Hunnicot (Huncote), with two 
carucates of land ; Waletune (Walton), with two carucates of land ; Penil- 
tune (Pendleton), half a hide. The whole manor and hundred paid to the 
king for rent thirty-two pounds two shillings. 

"The whole of the hundred was given by Rogerius Pictavenis to Rogerio de 
Busli and Alberto Greslet, and there are as many men who have eleven 
carucates and a half ; they allowed these to be exempt for three years, and 
therefore they are not rated." 

As Lords of the Hundred of Blackburn, or Honor of Clitheroe, 
the house of Lacy exercised power and authority through a series 
of generations, its members being more or less distinguished, till 
the marriage of Alice de Lacy to Thomas, the Earl of Lancaster, 
already mentioned. 

This event united the two powerful families of the county, the 
rich and vast possessions of which, from that time forth, all centred 
in the house of Lancaster. This unfortunate earl was beheaded 
for joining the insurrection of the barons against the De Spencers, 
and his estates and title devolved to his brother Henry. 

Among the records preserved in the Treasury of the Court of 
Exchequer, on a roll endorsed " Pleas of the Crown, &c., county 
of Lancaster, in the 17th year of King Edward IIL," — it is stated 
that, after the death of Thomas, Earl of Lancaster (beheaded), his 
wife Alice surrendered into the hands of King Edward IL all the 
Forest of Rossendale, with the appurtenances, at whose death it 
descended to his son, King Edward HL, who granted the same 
Forest, with its appurtenances, to Isabella, Queen of England, his 
mother, to hold for the whole of her natural life — and that during 
the time of her possession she confirmed a grant of the office of 
forester to Richard de Radeclyve. 

The ownership of the Forest is not pursued further in the roll in 
question ; but at the death of Isabella, the possession returned to 
the Earl of Lancaster, agreeably to the Act obtained by Henry, 
Earl of Lancaster, in the first year .of Edward III., for reversing 
the attainder of his brother Thomas, whose vast possessions had 
been forfeited on account of his share in the rebellion. 



36 History of the 

» 

Henry (the brother of Thomas), at his death left an only son, 
Henry, on whom was conferred the title of Duke of Lancaster by 
King Edward HI. Henry left two daughters, Maude and Blanche, 
the latter of whom was married to the great John of Gaunt, the 
fourth son of Edward HI., by the title of " John, son of the King 
of England ; Duke of Aquitaine and Lancaster ; Earl of Derby, 
Lincoln and Leicester; and Seneschal (High Steward) of England." 
At the death of John of Gaunt, his eldest son, Henry of Boling- 
broke, became Duke of Lancaster, and he afterwards ascended the 
throne of England as Henry IV. A line of sovereigns thenceforth 
possessed the Honor of Clitheroe, till King Charles H., at his 
restoration, bestowed it upon General Monk, Duke of Albemarle, 
for distinguished services rendered to the Crown. His son, 
Christopher, who became possessed of the estates, died without 
leaving issue, having bequeathed the ixjssession to his wife, the 
daughter and co-heiress of Henry Cavendish, Duke of Newcastle. 
For her second husband she married Ralph, Duke of Montague, 
whose heir, by a previous marriage, John, Duke of Montague, 
became the owner of the property, leaving at his decease two 
daughters, Isabella and Mary, the latter of whom was married to 
George Brudenel, afterwards Duke of Montague, whose daughter, 
Elizabeth, in 1767 married Henry, Duke of Buccleuch, who thus 
became the possessor of the estates, as lord of the Honor which 
includes the Forest of Rossendale, and in whose family the freehold 
still remains. 




CHAPTER II. 

" The Abbot he was a holy man, 

And eke he was an able ; 
He ruled with gentlest master han' 

The monks that graced his table. 
But woe betide th' unlucky wight 
That dared bereave him of his right !" 

• 
" I will carpe of kings that conquered full wide, 

That dwelled in this land .... 

Henry the Seventh, that sovereign. lord." 

TN the earlier stages of our enquiry we have been, as it were, 
-*- groping along in the mists of antiquity, with but few rays of 
light to guide our path ; and with scarce a finger-post to direct us 
on our way. But, leaving in our wake the times of the Ancient 
Briton, the Roman, the Saxon, and the Dane, and reaching far into 
the rule of later days, we draw near to a period in the history of the 
district possessing more substantial records, over which we can 
pace with firmer tread ; we begin to detect the sound of footsteps, 
and we descry in the hazy distance, " men as trees walking." 

The association of the Forest of Rossendale, in those early days, 
with Whalley Abbey and the Monastery of Stanlaw in Cheshire — 
the prior abode of the Cistertian monks — was so intimate as to call 
for some notice of these by way of elucidation of the history of the 
district. 

Before the erection of the religious edifice at Whalley, the 
mouldering ruins of which add an additional charm to that 
romantic and delightful locality, the abbot and his inferiors the 
monks occupied the Cistertian Monastery of Stanlaw. This 



38 History of the 

abbey was founded by John, sixth Baron of Halton, and Constable 
of Chester, in the year 1178, being the 24th of Henry II., on the 
eve of his departure for the Holy Land, where he died in the year 
1190. "The site was singularly inauspicious, and probably owed 
its selection to the austere and mortified views of the founder on 
the approach of his meditated crusade. In 1279, according to the 
Chronicle of St. Werburgh, the sea (or Mersey) broke in upon the 
house and did the Religious incredible injury. In 1287 the great 
tower of their church fell in a violent storm, and in 1289 the 
greater part of the Abbey perished in a conflagration, and the sea 
again inundated their lands. On a representation of their accumu- 
lated calamities to Pope Nicholas the Fourth, the Abbot and 
Convent obtained permission to remove to Whalley in Lancashire, 
where their munificent patron, Henry de Lacy, had given them a 
new and more fertile site. This auspicious event took place in the 
year 1296, and Stanlaw continued to be a cell to the Abbey of 
Whalley (as it had formerly been reputed a filial dependency of 
Combermere) until the suppression of that house, when it was 
granted to Sir Richard Cotton, whose son sold it, anno 13th Eliza- 
beth, to Sir John Poole, of Poole, in whose descendant it is now 
vcBtcd." (a) 

About the year 1200, during the reign of King John, Roger de 
Lacy, one of the lords of the Honor of Clitheroe, granted to the 
monaNtcry, along with other valuable donations, that portion of 
KaHdcndale known as Brandwood ; (h) and, as a result of this gift, 
the dintrict bo named, by being cleared and cultivated, was the first 
part of the Forest which was rendered suitable for the habitation of 
ttian. 

Tbe blowing ih a copy of the deed granting the land in 
ifite^tMC^, with other imi)ortant and interesting documents having a 
tuctt b^Oftt^v It is given in the ** Coucher Book " of Whalley 
3bb^ ttti£ $tk tbe (bllowing being a translation : — 

AWilMi Ctitritnsn, vol. i. pp. 82-3 (1845.) 
; Wnit. Brtniwood, firewood from the forest. 




Forest of Rossendale. 39 

{c) " The deed of Roger of Chester of 4 Bovates (d) of Land in 
Rachdale and of Brendewod. 

" Know all men, as well present as future, that I Roger de Lacy, 
Constable of Chester, having given and granted, and by this my 
present charter have confirmed to God and the Blessed Mary, and 
to my Abbot and Monks of the Blessed place of Stanlawe, 4 
Oxgangs of Land in Rachdale, in the Township which is called 
Castleton, with all their appurtenances, with common of the whole 
Township of Rachdale, free and discharged from all service, 
exaction, and custom, belonging to me or my Heirs for ever. Also, 

(e) The original is as follows :-^ 

"Carta Rogeri Constabularij de quatuor bouatis terre in Rachedale et de 
Brendewod. 

" Sciant omnes tarn presentes quam futuri quod ego Rogerus de Lascy, 
constab. Cestrie, dedi et concessi et hac present! carta mea confirmani Deo et 
beate Marie et Abbati et monachis meis Loci Benedict! de Stanlawe quatuor 
bouatas terre in Rach. in villa que dicitur Castellana cum omnib3 Ptinentijs 
suis, sell, cum communione totius ville de Rach., liberas et quietas ab omni 
seruicio, exactione et consuetudine ad me vel ad heredes meos ptinente 
imppetuum. Dedi etiam eis in foresta mea pasturam illam que dicitur 
Brendewod ad eorum animalia pascenda p diuisas subnotatas, scil. do 
Gorsichelache usq. Cuhopheued, et sic sicut Cuhope descendit in Irewil, et sic 
Irewil usq. ffulebachope, deinde ascendendo usq. Saltergat, sic usq. Ham- 
stalesclogh, et sic usq. Denesgreue, et sic p transitum muse usq. Cumbehop 
ad Gorsichelache. Habebunt autem predict! monachi in pastura ilia centum 
vaccas cum excitu duorum annorum. Et si animalia ibi habuero, eorum 
animalia pascent et ibunt in latum et in longum ubicunq. mea pascunt et 
vadunt. Et phibeo ne quis balliuorum et seruientium meorum predictis 
monachis vel eorum hominibj molestiam vel grauamen inferat, vel injuriando 
eorum animalia iniuste fatiget. Ego autem et heredes mei banc donationem 
predictis monachis meis contra omnes homines fideliter warantizabimus. Hijs 
testib3, dno Turgisio Abbate de Kyrkestall, Ric. de Cestria, Eust. de Cestria, 
fratrib3 meis, Rob. Wallensi, Willo de Lunguillers, Hug. Dispenser, Thomas 
Dispenser, Hug. de Dutton, Adam de Dutton, Galfr. fratre eorum, Hendone 
de Lunguillers, Henr. Wallensi, Galfr. Pincerna, Magistro Waltero medico, 
Roberto Clerico, Henr. Probo, et multis alijs." 

(d) For an explanation of the ternfs " bovate " and " oxgang " of land, see 
Ante, Chap. I, Book Second. 



40 History of the 

I have given to them in my Forest, that Pasture which is called 
Brendewod, to feed their Animals by the divisions undermentioned, 
to wit, from Gorischelache to Ouhopheved, and so as the Ouhope 
descends to the Irewill, and so Irewill to Fulbachope, (e) then going 
up to Saltergate, then to Hamstalesclogh, and so on to the Denes- 
greve, and so by the Top of the Moss to Cupehep to Gorischelache. 
Also the aforesaid Monks shall have in that pastmre loo Cows, 
with the Offspring of 2 years. And if I shall have Cattle there, 
their Cattle shall feed and go far and wide wheresoever mine feed 
and go. And I forbid any of my Bailiffs, or Servants, to offer to 
my said Monks, or their men, any trouble or grievance, or by 
injuring their Animals, to unjustly distress them. And I and my 
Heirs will faithfully warrant this gift to my aforesaid Monks against 
all men. To these being Witnesses. Lord Turgesius Abbot of 
Kyrkestall, Richard de Chester, Eustace de Chester, My Brothers, 
Robert Wallensis, William de Longvillers, Hugh de Spencer, 
Thomas de Spencer, Hugh de Button, Adam de Button, Jeoffrey 
their Brother, Hendon de Longvillers, Henry Wallens, Jeoffrey 
Pincerna, Master Walter the Physician, Robert the Clerk, Henry 
the Yeoman, and many others." 

A grant or gift was also made to the same Abbey by John de 
Lacy the son of Roger, of the right to cut Hay in his Forest of 
Rossendale, viz: 

" Carta lohannis de Lascy de licentia falcandi in Rossendale. 

" lohannes de Lascy, constab. Cestrie, omnib3 forestarijs et balHuis suis 
salutem. Sciatis me dedisse licentiam Abbati et monachis meis Loci 
Benedict! de Stanl. falcandi fenum in foresta mea de Rossendale, sicut antea 
solebant, ad sustentand. in hyeme aueria sua que illic habent. Hijs testib3, 
Gilberto de Notton tunc senescallo, Henr. de Nouo campo, Henr. de Tieys, 
magistro Rogero, et multis alijs.'* 



(e) Fulbachope : no doubt intended to mean Bacup-foot. In the Greaves' 
accounts for the year 1799, George Ha worth is stated to be Greave of the 
Forest for the inhabitants of Bankside within Backup-foot in Rossendale. 
This expression seems to favour the derivation of the name Bacup as 
suggested in Chap. L Baycop foot, the foot of the bay cop or red-hill. 



Forest of Rossendale. 41 

Among the records of the Court of Chancery preserved in the 
Tower of London, and in the Patent Roll of the 2d year of the 
Reign of King Edward the Third (1328), p. i. M. 24, is contained 
a confirmation of the foregoing Grants, as follows : — 

" For the Abbot and Monks of Whalley. 

" The King to all whom it may concern, Greeting. [Here is given a 
detailed enumeration of the many Gifts and Grants made to the Abbot and 
Monks when in their Abbey, at Stanlaw in Cheshire, and afterwards when 
they had removed to their new abode at Whalley, and it proceeds :]— The 
gift, also grant and confirmation, which Roger de Lacy, formerly Constable of 
Chester, made by his deed, to the said Abbot and Monks, of Four Oxgangs (/) 
of Land with the Appurtenances in Rochdale, and of the pasture which is 

called Br^ndwood in the Forest of the said Roger The gift 

also which John de Lacy, formerly Constable of Chester, made by his deed to 
the said Abbot and Monks, of cutting Hay in his Forest of Rossendale 
. . . Grant and Confirm those things for ourselves, and our heirs, as much 
as in us lies, to the aforesaid Abbot and Monks now residing at Whalley and 
their Successors. In witness, &c., the King at York.*' 

Among the Records preserved in the Treasury of the Court of 
Receipt of Exchequer, on a Roll endorsed " Pleas of the Crown 
and of Trespasses before the Justices in Eyre, in the County of 
Lancaster, in the 17th year of King Edward III.," (1343) is an 
Accoimt of a suit between the Abbot and Convent of Whalley 
and Richard de Ratcliffe, Master Forester, for puture of the 
foresters ; in which, strangely enough, the Forest of Rossendale is 
spoken of as being included within that of Pendle ; and which 
affords some glimpses of the condition of a portion of the district in 
the earlier periods of its history. In ancient Law, the term Puture 
(Putura) had reference to the custom, or privilege, which the 
Foresters had of claiming meat aad drink, gratis, for themselves, 
their horses and dogs, from the tenants within the bounds of a 
forest. The document is one of considerable length, but I shall 
extract only those portions which relate immediately to the district 
under consideration. 

(/) For an explanation of the term an " oxgang of land," see Ante, Chap. 
I., Book Second. 



42 



History of the 



" Lancashire to wit, 
" Richard de Radeclyve [Raddiffe], Master Forester of the Forest of 
Penhull, [Pendle], in the Wapentake of Blakeburnshirc. vins attached to 
answer the Abbot of Whalley of a Plea, wherefore while the said Abbot 
holds the Manor of Bryndewode, in Rossendale, in free pure and perpetual 
Alms, as belonging to the said Abbot's Church, of St. Mary of Whalley, 
without any services or other charges ihereiore payable, or to be done to any 
one, except only prayers and orisons lor the souls ol its founders and feoffers, 
the said Richard by color o! his aforesaid office, in divers manners charged 
the laid Manor, by claiming there, certain puture for himself and his fonr 
foresters, and for his horse, and one boy, to wit, for each Thursday night, and 
for each Friday during the whole year, to wit, victuals, as well meat as drink, 
at the costs of the said Abbot's afoiesaid Manor, unduly and by oppression 
against the will of the said Abbot, and against the law arrd statute in such 
case provided, to the disinheritance ol the said Abbofs Church of the blessed 
Mary of Whalley. And in that way the said Richard continued the aforesaid 
oppression, and took the aforesaid puture unjustly, and by extortion, to wit, 
on every Friday, and on the night preceding the same dny, as is aforesaid, 
Erom the feast of St. Michael the Archangel, in the sixteenth year of the 
reign of the Lord the now King of England, to the day of the delivery of this 
Bill, to wit, until Friday, on the morrrow of the feast of Corpus Christi, in the 
17th year of the reign of the said Lord the now King, to the grievous damage 
of the said Abbot, of one hundred nnarlts and wherefore he brings suit," &c. 

On the behalf of Richard de Radeclyve, the Master Forester, it 
was contended that one Henry de Lacy, formerly Earl of Lincoln, 
and his ancestors were seised of the Forest of Penhull [Pendle] 
and Rossendale, and had therein their Master Foresters and other 
under Foresters, who were seised of the puture as belonging to 
their office. That on the death of Henr)-, the Forest descended 
to Alicia his daughter, who married Thomas, Earl of I-ancaster, 
and that the latter granted and demised the office of Forester, 
together with the puture, to one Richard Mereclesdene, [Marsden,] 
for the whole of his life. But that during the reign of his then 
present majesty Edward III., this Ricliard Mereclesdene had 
granted his Estate in the office of the Forestship, and in the puture, 
to the said Richard de Radeclyve ; whose right to the office was 
afterwards ratified and confirmed by Isabella, the Dowager Queen, 
lo whom by her son King Edward III., the Forest had been 



Forest of Rossendale. 



43 



granted for the whole of her life. So that he took the puture for 
himself, and his under-foresters, as belonging to his office, justly, 
and as to him was lawfiil, 

For the Abbot it was argued, that one Roger de Lacy, former 
Constable of Chester, was seised of the Forest, with its appur- 
tenances, and of a certain piece of waste called Brendewode where 
the puture was claimed, which was parcel of the same Forest ; and 
that in the time of King John, the place of Brendewode was a 
waste, having no manor-house nor any habitation. That this 
Roger granted this piece of waste with other tenements, to God 
and the Blessed Mary, and to the Abbot of Stanlaw, in Cheshire, 
from which place, by the grant of the founders, and license of the 
Bishop, on account of the inundation of the Sea, the Abbey was 
transferred to Whalley ; in proof of which gift the original deed of 
Roger de Lacy, and the charter of 2nd Edward III. confirming the 
same, were recited. It was further urged, that the Abbot in the 
time of King Henry III,, first constructed and built a manor-house 
in the waste of Brendewode, where the puture was claimed, and 
that the Manor was held in free pure and perpetual alms freed 
from all charge, excepting only prayers and orisons for the souls of 
the founders and feoffers, and their ancestors and heirs. But, 
moreover, it was contended, that even the original Grantor, Rc^er 
de Lacy, could have had no such puture as was now claimed ; 
because when the original grant was made the place was altogether 
waste, neither was there built upon it a manor-house or any house 
whatsoever, and where houses and inhabitants were wanting, it 
follows that puture there could be none; so that even the title of 
Eoger might be annulled by plea ip Law. At intervals, from 
courtesy, and of their free will, the Abbot and his predecessors 
had fed the Foresters ; but this, it was urged, was no justification 
of the claim for puture. 

It was therefore commanded to the Sheriff" that he summon 
twelve jurors, who by consent of the parties to the suit, being 
elected and sworn, found upon their oath that in the time of King 
John the place of Brendewode was waste, not built upon, nor 



44 History of the 

cultivated, and was part of the Forest jof Penhull, (/) which place 
of Brendewode, Roger de Lacy gave to the Abbot of Stanlaw, 
predecessor of the Abbot of Whalley, and to his Church; by 
which gift the said Abbot and all his successors were seised as in 
right of their Church. Also, that John, son of Roger, Edmund 
and Henry, by deeds, granted and confirmed the gift to be held 
in free and perpetual alms. They further found that in the time 
of King Henry HI., one Abbot who then was, first constructed 
and built houses in the said waste, and brought into cultivation 
a great part of the land which was called the Manor of Brendewode ; 
at which time, one Henry.de Lacy, who was Lord of the Forest, 
and had his Foresters there, went in obedience to King Henry HL, 
into Scotland, and before his departure requested the Abbot who 
then was, and other neighbours of the County, in his absence to 
succour and help his Foresters. Wherefore the Abbot from courtesy 
and free will, fed the Foresters at intervals, when he pleased ; and 
in the same manner other Abbots, his successors, did the like by 
their own free will. In conclusion the Jurors said that neither 
Richard nor any other Forester, never of right, or by any just title 
were seised of the puture as belonging to their office, but that 
Richard de Radeclyve, by extortion and oppression, under colour 
of his office, took the puture against the will of the Abbot to the 
damage of ^^4. The Abbot therefore recovered his damages, and 
Richard was committed to Gaol. 

Just eight years after the conclusion of the trial above recounted, 
Henry, first Duke of Lancaster, (son of Henry, Earl of Lancaster, 
in whose favour the attainder of his unfortunate brother Thomas 
had been reversed, on the plea that he had not been tried by his 
peers^) as Lord of the Honor and Hundred, by Deed confirmed 
ntified the grants of previous lords,^ of Brandwood and other 
to the Abbeys of Stanlaw and Whalley, and not only 
them from all claim on account of puture for the time 
to tmut^ bol also relinquished that which had been reserved 

Kt} Evkbatly an error of description. 



Forest of RossendaU. 45 

to himself and his heirs — the right of pasturing cattle on the lands 
in question. 

In the " Coucher Book " of Whalley Abbey, leaf 409, is 
contained the Deed, of which the following is a translation : — 

"The Deed of the Lord Henry of the Pasture of 

Brendewode, &c. {g) 

" To all whom this present writing indented shall come, Henry, Earl of 
Lancaster, Derby, Leicester, and Lincoln, Steward of England, Greeting. 

" Know ye that whereas the Lord, Roger de Lacy, Constable of Chester of 
good memory, and our predecessor of the Lordship of Blackburnshire and of 
Rachedal, formerly had given and granted by his Deed, which we have seen, 
among other things, to God and the Blessed Mary, and to the Abbot and 
Monks of tbe Benedictine place of Stanlawe, the Predecessors of the Abbot 
and Convent of Whalley, that Pasture which is called Brendewode, in his 
Forest, by the divisions undermentioned, to wit, from Gorsichelache to 

{g) THe original Deed is as follows, — 

" Carta domini Henrid comitis Lancastrie depastura de Brendewod et de 
vastis approuyatis in Blakeburn. 

'' Omnibus ad quos presens scriptum indentatum puenerit Henr. comes 
Lancastrie, Derbe, Leycestr, et Lyncoln, senescallus Anglie, salutem. 
Noueritis quod cum bone memorie dnus Rogerus de Lasey constabularis 
Cestrie et predeceesor noster dnij de Blakeburnschir et de Rachedale 
dudum inter cetera dedisset et concessisset per cartam suam, quam inspexi- 
mus, Deo et beate Marie et Abbati et monachis Loci Benedicti de Stanlawe 
predecessoribz Abbatis et conuentus de Whalleye pasturam illam que 
dicitur Brendewode in foresta sua per diuisas subnotatas videlicet de 
Gorsichelache usque Couhopeheued et sic sicut riuulus de Couhope descendit 
usque in aquam de Irewell, et sic ascendendo aquam de Irwell usque ad 
Saltergate, et sic per Saltergate usque in Hamstaleclogh, et dehinc usque 
ad Denes greue, et dehinc sequendo transitum musse per Coumbehore usque 
ad primum locum de Gorsichelache, liberam et quietam ab omni seculari 
seruicio consuetudine et exaotione. Nos Henricus comes predictus dona- 
tionem et concessionem supradictas ex certa scientia et de gratia nostra 
speciali appbamus ratificamus et quantum in nobis est confirmamus. Volentes 
insuper ob donationem quam habemus ad . Dei Genetricem virginem 
gloriosam, et effectionem specialem quam habemus ad personam fratris 
Johannis de Lyndelay, Abbatis dicte domus de Whalleye sacre pagine pfessoris, 
eisdem Abbati et conuentui ac eorum successoribz gratiam ubiorem facere 
in hac parte, remisimes relaxauimus et omnino de nobis et heredibz nostris 



46 



History of the 



Cuhoptieved. and so a.% the Cuhope descends to the Irewell, and so Irewell to 
Fulbachope, then going up to Sallergate, then to Hamatalesclogh, aod so to 
the Deneagreve, and so by the Top of the Moss to Cupchep to Gorischelache, 
We, Henry, the aforesaid Earl, o( our certain knowledge, and ot our special 
favour, approve, ralify, and as much as in u; lies, conlirTn the aforesaid gift 
and grant. We willing, moreover, on account of the devotion which we have 
to the Mother of God, the glorious virgin, and the special affection which we 
bear to the Person of Brother John de Lindelayo, Abbot of the said House of 
Whalley, Doctor of Divinity, to do so to the said Abbot and Convent and 
their successors the greater favour in this behalf, have remised, released, and 
altogether have quit claimed for i3, and our heirs, to the said Abbot end 
Convent ot Whalley, and their successors, for ever, all the right and claim 
which can belong to us or our he-ira, by any title whatsoever, within the 
pasture aforesaid; so that, henceforth, the said Abbot and Convent may have 
and hold the said pasture in severality, exonerated, freed and discharged, as 
well from Future of the Foresters of us and our heirs, as from agistments {h) 
or any putting of Cattle on the Pasture aforesaid, by us or our heirs, or the 



quietuclamauimus pn 
cessotlbz imppetuum I 
quocunque titulo ptii 
predict! Abbas et 



:is Abbati et c 
im ius et cUmc 



supinductioi 



entui de Whalleye suisque suc- 
quod ad nos vel heredes nostros 
1 predicta. Ita quod de eetero 
habeant et leneant dictam 
ili, cpouEtatam llberain el solutam tam a pututa forestariorum 
heredum nostrorum quam ab agistiamenlis seu quacunque 
animalium quorumlibet in pastura ilia p nos vel heredes et 
roa ad heredum nostrorum faciend, atque ab alijs quibzcunque 
seruicija exactionibz et demandis. Liceatque dictis Abbati et conventui af 
eorum successoribi prefatnm past u ram include re ipsamque redigere in 
eulluram seu aliud quodcunque pficium suum iude facere p sua libera 
voluntste ^ine contradictione vel impedimento nostri vel heredum nostrorum. 
Saluis nobis et heredib* nostris in pastura predicta saluagio nostro seu 
venatione nostra absque dampnificationc vel moleatatione diclorum Abbatis 

dno lienr. de Walton archid, Richemundie, Hugone de Berwyk senescallo 
noBlro, Henr. do Trafford, Adam de Hoghton, Nicholao dc Boleler, Willmo 
de Clifton, militibz, Ric. de Radeclif, Willmo Lawrentz, Job. de Aluetham, 
el nlljs. Dat. npud manerium nostrum de Sauuoye iuita Londinum xx" die 
FTcbr. anno regni Regis Edw. tertij n conquesta Anglie sxv", regni vero sui 
ftrancie xij*." 

(h) Gras*, or, as the term is sometimes u»ed to mean, the right of pasturing 
cattle in the luroil. 



Forest of RossendaU. 47 

servants of us or our heirs; and from all other services, exactions, and 
demands whatsoever. Aud that it may be lawful for the said Abbot and 
Convent, and their successors, to enclose the said Pasture and to reduce it to 
cultivation, or to make any other profit thereof, at their free will, without 
contradi^ion or impediment of us or our heirs, saving to us and our heirs in 
the aforesaid Pasture our right to hunt without injury or troubling the said 
Abbot and Convent of Whalley or their successors and servants, &c. To 
these being witnesses, Master Henry de Walton, Archdeacon of Richmond ; 
Hugh de Berewick, our Steward ; Henry de Trafford; Adam de Houghton ; 
Nicholas le Botiller; William de Clifton; Knight Richard de Ratcliffe, 
William Lawrentz, John de Aluetham, and others. — Given at our Manor 
House of the Savoy, near London, the twentieth day of February, in the 
twenty-fifth year (1349) of the reign of King Edward III. from the conquest 
of England, but of his Reign of France the twelfth." 

In the Patent Rolls, 20th Edward III. (1346 Sept. 15) it is 
stated that John de Radeclyf, Robt. Gilstones, Robt. de Henclif, 
forester, Robert de Catlowe, forester, Alan, son of Adam Greyeieson 
of Staytbum, and others were purturbators of the Abbot of 
Whalley, at Castleton, Blakeboum, and Brendwood in Rossendale. 

In the Rolls of the Duchy of Lancaster, during the time of the 
same Duke Henry aforementioned, in the reign of King Edward 
III., being the period of the first ducal administration, the following 
references to Rossendale occur : — 

A Grant of a Lease of the Herbage of Musbury Park. 

In the loth year of Henry, Duke of Lancaster, there was an 
Appointment of Justices to try Malefactors for Trespasses in the 
Chases of Bowland, PenhuU, Trowden, Rochdale, Rossendale y and 
Romesgrene, After the death of Henry, Duke of Lancaster, 
which occurred March 24th, 136 1, an Inquisition was made by 
Commission of King Edward III., before Henry de Haydok and 
John Cocka3ni, of all the Lands and Tenements of which the Duke 
was seised on the day that he died. 

This document is preserved amongst the records of the Court of 
Chancery, and, along with other particulars, it is therein stated, 
that the Chase of PenhuU, [Pendle,] for herbage beyond the 
feeding the Beasts of Chase, is worth by the year ;;^2o 13s. 4d. 
That the Chase of Trogden, [Trawden,] together with herbage and 



48 History of the 

other profits, is worth by the year T04S. That the Chase of 
Rossendale, with Accrington, for herbage and other profits beyond 
the feeding of Beasts of Chase, is worth by the year ;;^2o, 2s. The 
Manor of Tottington, £,2^^ 15s. i j^d. ; and the Chase and Park 
there, £fiy 5s. Also the herbage of the Wood at Hodaesden, 
£1, 9s. 6d. 

In the Register of John of Gaunt, under date 45 th Edward III. 
(1372,) June 14th, Savoy, is a "Warrant to Richard de Radclif, 
our chief forester in Blakebournshire, to deliver to Robert Dyngeley, 
Esquire, two harts of grease, in the Chau of Rossendale^ and two 
does in the Chace of PenhuU." 

Two years later, in the same Rolls, under date " Hegham 
Ferrers, July 20th, T. Banastre " appointed forester of our Chaces 
of Penhill, Trowedon, and RossyndaV^ This Tho. Banastre, as 
appears by the same Records, was drowned at sea (" commanded 
to God by tempest in the sea") in the month of December, 1379, 
(3rd Richard II.) 

In the Calender of Rolls of the Chancery of the County Palatine 
of Lancashire, there is a precept dated the 1 2th year of Henry IV. 
(141 1 ), addressed to the Sheriff of Lancashire, requiring him to 
cause public proclamation to be made at the next ensuing Sessions 
to be held at Lancaster, against hunting and killing deer in the 
King's Forests of Bowland, Penhil, Rossyndale^ and Trauden. 

The Coucher Book or Chartulary of Whalley Abbey contains a 
quittance or release (K) for the tithes, amounting to £i\ 13s. 4d., 
of the grass land and pasturage for cattle in the closes (enclosures) 

(A) The original is as follows : — Acquietantia pro herbagio in Holland, 
Penhull, et Rossendale. Nouerint universi p presentes nos Abbatem et 
conuentum de Whalleye recepisse et habuisse die confectionis presentium de 
Thoma Stanley milite receptore dni Regis in comitatu Lancastrie undecim 
libras tresdedm solidos et quatuor denarios p decioia herbagij et agistamenti 
diuersorum clausorum in Bowland, Penhull, et Rossendale de anno ultimo 
preterito tenninat. ad festum sancti Michaelis ultim preterit. De quibz quid 
em xj. libr. xiij. sol. et iiij. denar. fatemur nobis fore solut. diet, p dnum 
Regem ac receptorem predictum inde esse quietos p presentes. In cuius rei 



Forest of Rossendale. 



49 



in BoUand, Pendle, and Rossendale forests for one year ending 
Michaelmas, lo Sir Thomas Stanley, of Knowsley, Comptroller of 
the Household, and Chamberlain to the King. This deed bears 
date the 20th November in the 23rd year (i44S) of the reign of 
Henry VI. 

Assuming, as we may fairly do, that this payment represented 
the one tenth part of the value of the cultivated lands in the three 
forests named, it would appear that in 1445 the total yearly value 
amounted to ;^ti6 13s. 4d. In the year 1311, the herbage in 
Rossendale (excluding Brandwood) was valued at only ^^5 los. 
per annum, and in 1507 it had increased to ^\ ij rgs. 6d. ; so that 
even before the disforesting, a marked progression In value is 
apparent. 

The following Commisaion of King Henry VII, relates to the 
Future Rents within the Forests, ecclusive of Brandwood, which 
was exempt from all claim for puture : — 

" To euro right Irustie and iwell-beloved Father, the Erie of Derbie ; George 
Stanley, Knt.; Lord Slrnnge; Sic Henry Halsoll, Knt.; Sir Ihon. Towneley; 
Sir R'lC. Sherburne, Knt., &c. 

" Whereas of olde use and custome the Foresters and keepers of oure 
Forests of Penhnlt, RotsingdaU, Aecrington, and Trawden, have hadde of 
verie right and dutie st c'tayne tymes and daies meate and drinke of the 
tenants therein and adjoining, the which is now called Puture, otherwise 
Forster Fee, as is sett forth in a boke, in which bohe it also appcrith, that for 
divers displesours and annoyances that ye seide Forster committed agaytist 
ye seide tenants, iher wyves, and s'vaunt^, ye seide tenaunts made complaynt 
to our p'genitors Dukes of Lancaster, whereupon ye seide tenaunts bounde 
themselves, their heyres, and tenures, to our p'genitours, to pay for tyme 
being, yerely Xil/. Xllls. IVd. to seide Foresters towards ther wages, and 
in rccompence of ther meat and drinke, called Forster Fee, ye which was paid 
to ye ist yeare of King Edward IVth. ; in which yere, by labr and meanes 
made with hym, ye seide Puture was putt in respite, soe that CXIX/, Vis. 
Vllld. is now in respite, wch, if it shod be longer delayed, wold turn to our 
disherison, and ye utter destruction of oure Forst, for lack of kepyng : 



imo die Novembris anno regni Regis Hi 
10 Sir Thomas Stanley atiove named i 
n Stanley on 20th January, 1436. 



presentibi est appensnm. 



Dat. 



9 summoned to Parliament a 



50 History of the 

" Wherefor wee will and desire, and nathless charge youe, and anie five of 
youe, to call before you, as well our tenaunts nowe in being within ye seide 
Forests, as other most ancient p'sons adjoining, as ye in your discretioun shall 
think roost convenient, and enquire which of ye seide tenaunts ought to pay 
ye seide Duties, and what some ev'y one of ym, after ye old usuage and 
custom ther, and thereupon to compel them, and evy of them to paye ye seide 
some, and for default to distreyn them and ther tenures, and for utter refusing 
thereof to seaze on ther tenures imediately, and admyt such other persons 
as will bee content to paye ye sd Duties." 

The foregoing is eminently characteristic of the grasping, lucre- 
loving spirit of the king. Henry loved money for its own sake, 
and never was known to let slip an opportunity of obtaining it. 

• 

"Indifferent enough to the rights of the people, he was always 
ready to increase his hoarded riches by cunning extortion rather 
than by parliamentary taxation." ( i ) Lord Bacon, the historian of 
his reign, observes, that, "Of nature, assuredly, he coveted to 
accumulate riches," and that " he did but traffic in the war with 
Charles VIII. of France, to make his return in money." " Even 
the king's clemency seems to have been influenced by the sordid 
motive of selling pardons ; and it has been shown that he made a 
profit of every office in his court, and received money for conferring 
bishoprics." (/) 

At the same time, it is but bXx to*admit that he appears to have 
been legally justified in enforcing the claim above set forth. Henry 
possessed business talents and administrative powers of a high 
order ; the exercise of which, though chiefly with a view to his own 
increase in wealth, tended to the advancement of his Country. 
He was accustomed to give his personal supervision to matters of 
trade and commerce usually considered as beneath the immediate 
notice of royalty. In an ancient Illumination in the Harleian 
Collection in the British Museum, the king is depicted mace in 
hand, in the Exchequer Chamber, superintending the proofs of the 
standards for testing weights and measures. 

(i) Knight's History of England, vol. II. p. 211. 
{j ) Hallam. Constitutional History, vol. i. p. 15. 



Forest of RossendaU. 51 

I have thought it well to give the somewhat ragmentary details 
contained in this Chapter, relating to the district as it actually 
existed as a Forest, because they are the only materials which a 
true forest-history can fairly be expected to offer to the enquirer. 
The narrative is somewhat disjointed, and there is doubtless an 
absence, to some extent, of purely human interest in the story ; 
but this arises from the circumstance that in those early days 
the human inhabitant was himself all but absent ; the only repre- 
sentatives of the species being the chief Forester (not necessarily 
a resident), with a few stray keepers of the deer, and here and there 
a humble cultivator of the open spaces in the higher reaches of the 
valleys. The details, also, may serve to close the mouths of 
certain ^cetious critics who have been inclined to make merry over 
the conception that Rossendale as they see it to-day, with its smoky 
factory chimneys, and straggling rows of cottages, could, at any past 
time, have been entitled to the designation of " a royal forest ; " or 
that the antlered deer and other picturesque animals could ever have 
graced the hill sides, or slaked their thirst at the streams in the 
valleys. Such critics are apparently oblivious of the fact that it is 
their own narrow mental vision and restricted knowledge which are 
at fault, and that the picture as drawn is not the mere creation of 
the fertile brain of a too fanciful historian. 



CHAPTER III. 

" Of all pleasures or pastimes ever heard or seen, 
There's none in the world like to merry Hunting." 

— Old Hunting Somg. 

" Marry ! but these be hard laws, my master." 

—Old Play. 

ROSSENDALE has, from time immemorial, been a favourite 
hunting-ground ; and there are, doubtless, still to be found in 
the Forest sportsmen as stout of heart and lithe of limb as ever 
cleared dike or ditch in the blythe days of yore ; but alas ! the 
quality of the sportsman's game has woefully degenerated from its 
pristine excellence. Gone from within its bounds is that right 
royal brute, the stag ; the wild boar, the badger and the wolf have 
given place to a civilisation which tolerates not their existence ; 
even the wily fox has disappeared from its hill-sides, and no 
thrifty house-wife now laments her spohated hen-roost The 
children's nursery rhyme records an incident which must have 
been of common occurrence in Rossendale in times past, when it 
9ltlM that— 

'< Old Mother Widdle- waddle, jump'd out of bed, 
Ami out ol tht window popped her bead : 
Oqfli^ * Jolm I John 1 John 1 the gray goose is gone, 
A«iUM Pte It away to his den, 1 ' " 

liMi sought regions more ^vourable to his depre- 

Ikn Mkd hare alone remains to kindle the huntsman's 

the ^^ voUied thunder " of the eager pack. 

off Whitteyi like other ancient and dignified 

iMflbly hunters, and enjoyed the right of 




Forest of Rossendale. 53 

chase— first, to a considerable extent in other manors adjoining to 
their own domains ; and, secondly, within the forests themselves." 
It is related that Liwlphus, one of the Deans of Whalley, while 
hmiting in the Forest of Rossendale, at a place called Deansgreve, 
cut off the tail of a wolf, and in consequence of this incident 
acquired the appellation of '^ Cutwulph,'' being afterwards known 
by the name of " Liwlphus Cutwulph." This circumstance hap- 
pened about the reign of King Canute (1016 — 1035), in whose 
time the aforementioned Dean lived. 

Any outline of the History of the Forest of Rossendale would 
be manifestly incomplete which failed to give some account of the 
Laws by which the English Forests were governed, and the 
peculiar customs and practices which prevailed therein in primitive 
times. Those particulars I propose, briefly, to supply. 

A Forest is a certain Territory of woody groimds, with occa- 
sional clearances or cultivated pastures, privileged for wild beasts, 
and fowls of Forest, Chase, and Warren, to abide and rest there, in 
the king's safe protection, and for his delight and pleasure. This 
Territory or ground so set apart, is meered and bounded with 
certain marks, meres, and boundaries, known either by matter of 
record or by prescription ; and replenished with beasts of Venery 
or Chase, and great coverts of Vert, for the succour of the various 
beasts. And that this Territory may be preserved and continued, 
along with the Vert and Venison which it contains, there are par- 
ticular Officers, Laws and Privileges, requisite for that purpose, 
proper only to a Forest, and to no other place, {a) 

The English Forests are of a very remote antiquity, the latest 
formed being the New Forest, in Hampshire, created by William 
the Conqueror, and the Forest of Hampton Court, by Henry 
Vin. Their first lawmaker was the Danish King Canute, who 
promulgated the ConstituHones de Foresia, These were super- 
seded, though in their principal features closely imitated, by a code 
of laws inaugurated after the Conquest ; and certain officers were 

(a) Manwood's Forest Laws, ed 17 17, p. 143 



54 History of the 

deputed, and courts established for their due administration. Th^ 
courts so constituted were — the " Justice-Seat," held every third 
year before the Chief Justice in Eyre of the Forest ; the " Swain- 
mote," held thrice every year before the verdurers, and a jury 
composed of twelve swains or freeholders ; and the " Woodmote," 
or "Attachment," held once in every forty days before the 
verdurers. Of the holding of the Justice-Seat, forty days' notice by 
proclamation had to be given. 

The officers of a Forest were the warden, warder, or keeper, 
rangers, verdurers, foresters, agistors, regarders, bailiffs, and bedels, 
woodwards or woodreeves. The preservation of the ** venison " 
was intrusted to the foresters ; and the " vert " was in charge of 
the woodwards or woodreeves, and the regarders. The verdurers 
or verderers are the judges of the Forest courts. The business of 
the bedel or beadle was to give notice of the time when the Courts 
of the Forest were to be kept, to make all kinds of proclamations 
in Court and out of it, and to execute all the processes of the 
Forest. 

" Venison," in the language of the Forest laws, is a technical 
term, and includes game of every kind. " Vert " has reference to 
the trees and shrubs which afford shelter to the game, and signifies 
" everything that bears a green leaf, but especially great and thick 
coverts." 

A Forest differs from a Chase in three things — in its Laws, its 
Officers, and in its particular Courts for the execution of the Laws. 
Offenders in a Chase are punishable by the Common Law, and 
not by the Laws of the Forests. The officers who are called 
Foresters in a Forest, are named Keepers in a Chase. 

Beasts of Forest are hart, hind, hare, boar, and wolf. Beasts of 
Park or Chase are the buck, doe, fox, marten, and roe. Befists of 
Warren are the hare, coney, and roe — all, legally, wild animals of 
venery. Fowls of Warren are such as the partridge, quail, rail, 
pheasant, woodcock, mailard, and heron. 

The king appropriated the Forests for his own special use and 
pleasure. With Chases and Parks it was otherwise ; these could 



^ . k^^B^L^^^_|_^.,^^Ma 



Forest of Rossendale. 55 

be constructed under a licence, and owned and held by any sub- 
ject, and were not governed by the Laws of the Forests. 

Some' exceptions there were to this rule, however ; and the 
Forests of Lancaster, in which was included the Forest of Rossen- 
dale, were of those exceptions ; for before they became the property 
of the Crown they were under the Forest Laws, and had all the 
various officers and courts appertaining thereto. *' By the 
Records of the Duchy Court of Lancaster, it appears that the 
Earl of Lancaster had a Forest in the Counties of Lancaster and 
York in the reign of Edward II. and Edward III., and did execute 
the Forest Laws there in as ample a manner as ever any king did 
before him. And even at this day (about the end of the sixteenth 
century) there are no Records extant which are of that validity 
relating to Forests as those Laws are ; and therefore it is 
necessary for him who will be learned in the Forest Laws, carefully 
to read the Assizes of the Forests of I^ncaster and Pickering, in 
which he will find many precedents of Judgments and Resolu- 
tions, and almost anything which may happen or relate to 
Forests." {b) 

In 7 Edward IL, the Earl of Lancaster makes complaint — 
" That several malefactors and disturbers of the peace, by force 
and arms have entered his free chases in Penhull, Trouden, 
Acrington, Rossindale, Hoddesden, Romesgrene, and Todinton, 
and his parks in Penhull and Todinton, in the county of Lancaster, 
and his free chases of Boweland and Marchedan, &c., without 
his leave ; and chased, taken, and carried away his wild animals, 
besides perpetrating other great enormities therein." 

In Saxon times, though the game was strictly preserved, and 
penalties inflicted for unlawful appropriation and for trespass ; yet 
the laws were comparatively mild and merciful, not, except in 
isolated cases, going beyond i>ecuniary fines or imprisonment, 
and every proprietor had the right of hunting on his own estate. 
But after the Conquest, a stem and merciless code was introduced, 

(b) Manwood, ed. 1717, p. 205. 



56 



Histofy of the 



and the severest penalties were inflicted, with the most relentless 
and savage cruelty, upon the unhappy law-breaker. 

The haughty Normans ruled with a high hand, and the Ahglo- 
Baxon and Danish population groaned under the iron despotism of 
the conquerors. The king became the sole proprietor of the 
game throughout the country, and no person might hunt even on 
his own property. The life of a human subject was accounted of 
less value than that of a buck or a doe, for the punishment of 
death was awarded upon those who were known to kill either. If 
found taking a boar, the unfortunate culprit paid the forfeit with 
his eyes, which were pulled out of his head ; the lopping of a 
limb was a common punishment for illegally hunting the roe or 
fox ; and a fine equivalent ainnost to ruin and the loss of entire 
worldly possessions was inflicted for taking a hare or other inferior 
game. 

It is impossible to read with any degree of calmness of the 
atrocities which were perpetrated under shelter of the Forest Laws 
during the reisn of William Rufus, and with the direct ci^nisance 
of that brutal king. Confiscation, castration, and hanging, were 
the familiar punishments of the time ; and such modes of punish- 
ment, varying in deSTee according to the humane or tyrannical 
disposition of succeeding princes, continued in operation during a 
period of nearly two hundred years. 

In the reign of Henry III., and to the credit of that prince and 
his successor, Edward I., who really inaugurated the milder policy, 
the inhuman laws of the earlier kings were abolished ; and it was 
ordained, " That no man from henceforth shall lose either life or 
limb for killing our Deer ; but if any man be taken therewith, and 
convicted for taking of our Venison, he shall make grievous fine, 
ifhe hath anything whereof to make fine ; and if he have nothing, 
he shall be imprisoned a year and a day, and after that, if he can 
find sufficient sureties, he shall be delivered ; and if not, he shall 
adjure the Realm." (r) Hard enough, in all conscience I 

l,() Manwood, ed. 1717, p. 404, 



Forest of Rossendale. 57 

In the Carta Foresta of Henry III. the following curious pro- 
vision appears: — "Whatsoever Archbishop, Bishop, Earl, or 
Baron coming to us at our commandment, passeth by our Forest, 
it shall be lawful for him to take and kill one or two of our Deer 
by the view of the Forester if he be present ; or else he shall cause 
one to blow an horn for him, that he seem not to steal our Deer ; 
and likewise they shall do returning from us." 

The following further provision of Edward I. is characteristic of 
the times : — " If any Deer be found dead or wounded, there shall 
be an Inquisition made by four of the next Villages to the Forest, 
which shall be written in the Boll ; the Finder shall be put by six 
pledges, and the flesh shall be sent to a Spittal House, [Hospital,] 
if, by the testimony of the Verderors and the County, there be 
any nigh : but if there be no such house near, the flesh shall be 
given to the poor and lame, the head and skin shall be given to 
the poor of the next Town ; and the Arrow, if there be any found, 
shall be presented to the Verderor, and inroUed in his Roll." 
Commenting on the foregoing, Manwood, the great authority on 
the Forest Laws, writing about the end of the reign of Elizabeth, 
says, — " All this must be intended of such Deer which are not 
sweet or fit to be eaten by the better sort of people^ for if a principal 
beast is found newly killed, 'tis not intended by this Statute that it 
should be given to an Hospital," &c. {d) 

Spaniels and Greyhounds were forbidden in the Forest, but 
the Mastiff was admitted, provided the claws and pelote of its 
forefeet were cut off, to prevent its chasing the Deer. This cutting 
off the claws was termed "hambling," or " expeditation," and was 
performed as follows : — The foot of the animal was placed upon a 
piece of wood eight inches thick, and twelve inches square ; a 
chisel two inches broad was then set upon the three claws, which 
were struck off by the skin at one blow. Dr. Whitaker states that 
in Bowland expeditation was not governed by species, but by the 
size of the dog — an iron ring being kept as a gauge, through which 
every foot that would pass escaped the operation. 

(d) Manwood, ed. 17 17, 409. 



58 History of the 

The agisting of goats and sheep within the Forest was not 
allowed, except by special license ; for they so tainted the pasture 
where they fed, that the beasts of the Forest would not depasture 
in those places where they had been. 

Any person having woods and lands within the boundaries of the 
Forest was allowed to agist his own land with his own cattle, but not 
with the cattle of strangers, for the herbage only. But for the pannage, 
(mast of trees), they were permitted not only to agist their woods 
with their own hogs and swine, but also with those belonging to a 
stranger. The reason of the difference was to prevent the crop- 
ping of the pastures so bare as to be prejudical to the deer for 
want of food. 

The Boundaries of a Forest are of two classes — inclusive and 
exclusive. Of the former are highways ; and of the latter are 
churches, churchyards, mills, houses, and trees; these, though 
bounding the Forest, are not considered to be within its limits. 
But if any person kill or hunt any of the king's Deer in an inclu- 
sive boundary, the offence is the same as if committed within the 
Forest proper. The law further provides that the Forester may 
take a man if he be found either at " Dog-draw," " Stable-stand," 
" Back-bear," or ** Bloody-hand." 

" Dog-draw," is where a man, having wounded a deer, is found 
with a hound or other dog, drawing after him to recover the deer 
so wounded. 

** Stable-stand," is where a man is found at his stand, with a 
crossbow, or longbow, ready to shoot at any deer ; or standing 
close by a tree with greyhounds in his leash ready to let slip. 

" Back-bear," is where a man has killed a deer in the Forest, 
and is found carrying him away. 

** Bloody-hand," is where a man is found in the Forest, with his 
hands or other part bloody, and under suspicion of having killed 
a deer. 

All these offenders are said, in Forest Law, to be " taken in the 
mannerP 



> 



Forest of Rossendale. 59 

The time of the Fawning of the Deer was called the Fence 
month. It b^an fifteen days before, and ended fifteen days 
after midsummer. During this month no person was suffered 
to wander out of the highway into the Forest By the ancient 
Assizes of the Lancaster Forests, it appears that this Law was 
rigidly enforced — no person being allowed to pass near the 
place where the animals resorted at this time. No cattle, 
swine, nor any description of dog whatsoever — whether ex- 
peditated or not, were allowed to feed or wander in the Forest 
during this period. If any hogs, goats or sheep were found 
in the Forest dujing the Fence-month they were forfeited to the 
king — so careful was the Law to guard the royal animal from every 
kind of disquiet 

In ancient times the following rhymed Oath was taken by every 

human inhabitant of the Forest, and being twelve years of age : — 
" You shall true Liege-man be, 
Unto the King's Majestie : 

Unto the beasts of the Forest you shaU no hurt do, 
Nor to anything that doth belong thereunto ; 
The offences of others you shall not conceal. 
But, to the utmost of your power, you shall them reveal 
Unto the Officers of the Forest, 
Or to them who may see them redrest : 
All ^hese things you shall see done. 
So help you GOD at his Holy Doom." (<;) 

Many of the laws enumerated above have been repealed ; some, 
though not abolished, have fallen into disuse ; while others are in 
operation to this day. 

The Purlieus are lands, afforested by some of the earlier kings, 
in the vicinity of the ancient Forests ; but which, in the time of 
Richard I., were disforested by a Commission appointed to make 
perambulations, and to restore the ancient and true boundaries. 
The lands in question, though severed from the Forests by these 
perambulations, did not recover their former position, but were 
made subject to distinct and particular laws. 

(e) Man wood, ed. 17 17, p. 78. 



6o History of the 

Parks were extensive enclosures of pasture land, thinly planted 
with trees, maintained for the purpose of fattening the larger ani- 
mals for the table of the king and the nobles ; for better view of 
the beasts of venery; and occasionally for the enjoyment of the 
pleasures of the hunt, with fewer of the risks and dangers which 
necessarily attended its exercise in the depth of the Forest 

In past times Musbury [the hill of moss] was the Park or 
I^und of the Forest of Rossendale, and custody of the herbage 
thereon was granted to James de Radcliffe, by John of Gaunt, in 
the eighteenth year of the reign of Richard II. (1395.) A lease 
was also granted of the same Park to Richard RadclifTe, of Rad- 
cliflfe, for twenty years, at the rent of ;^8 6s. 8d., in the ninth of 
Kdward IV. (1470,) and, at the expiration of the term, was re- 
newed to him for the like period at the old rent. (/) 

Si)eaking of the same Park, Baines remarks: — "Of the 
t<)wnHhi|M in the Parish of Bury, Musbury, at its north-western 
extremity, is in the Hundred of Blackburn. The hill of Tor, in 
thin township, is remarkable for its oval form and extensive views 
over the neighbouring wild and romantic region. From the act of 
rusiMMpiion uf the Crown possessions, passed in the first of Henry 
VI 1. (14H5,) it appears that the patent office, then existing, of 
park kceiicr (if Musbury, was held by Laurens Maderer, and that 
hlM rights und privileges were secured by that Act." {g) 

( f ) Tiiwiiloy MSS., cited by Dr. Whitaker in Hist. WhaUey, p. 222. 
('d) HniiiM'N HUl. LiinciiHhirc, vol. ii. p. 673. 




CHAPTER IV. 

" Rise, honest Muse 1 and sing the man of Ross." — Pope, 

THE following interesting note occurs in "The Sheriff's cf 
Shropshire," (a) - 

"Henry Rossyndale, of Rosindale, near Claderow, county 
Lancaster, gentleman, had lands given him and his heirs in the 
lordship of Denbigh, Anno 12, Edward I., by Henry Lacy, Earl 
of Lincoln and Lord of Denbigh, upon condition of serving, with 
a certain number of horses, certain days in the Castle of Denbigh, 
in all the wars between the King of England and the Prince of 
Wales, at his own charge and cost. This Henry of Henllan, (the 
name of the place or parish in Wales where he lived), had issue 
Robert his son, who was called Lloyd, after the manner of Wales." 
MS. at Ynysymaengwyn. 

So far as I am aware, this is the earliest known record of any 
actual Rossendale inhabitant, and the date would be 1 284, which 
is the 1 2th year of the reign of Edward L above mentioned. It 
would be the merest speculation to attempt to fix the particular 
locality of his abode in Rossendale. 

It has been recounted in a previous chapter that the house of 
Lacy, the first of which family in this country, Ilbert de Lacy, came 
from Normandy with the Conqueror, became the possessors of the 
Hundred of Blackburn or Honor of Clitheroe, of which the Forest 
of Rossendale forms a part. The Forest continued in their 
possession through a series of generations, and on the marriage of 

(a) The Sheriffs of Shropshire by the Rev. John Brickdale Blakeway, 
M.A., F.A.S., Minister of St. Mary's, Shrewsbury, 1831. 



62 History of the 

Alice de Lacy to Thomas, Earl of Lancaster, the house of Lan- 
caster became the owners. This Thomas was subsequently be- 
headed for joining the insurrection of the Barons, and at his death 
his wife Alice surrendered into the hands of Edward IL, all the 
Forest of Rossendale with the appurtenances. During the reign 
of Edward L, therefore, Rossendale belonged to the Lacys, and 
the Henry Rossyndale referred to doubtless resided here, and 
owned a portion of the Forest copyhold under a lease from the 
i>aid Henry de Lacy. 

Tliiu Henry Rossyndale was evidently a personage of import- 
fiiv:e, m is shown by the circumstance of his receiving the grant of 
Undtt in Denbighshire from Henry de Lacy, who was also lord of 
Denbigh. It is highly probable that he took his surname from 
ihtt \\u'Jt of his habitation. That is, he would be designated 
** Henry de Rossyndale," viz : Henry of Rossyndale. 

The following further particulars of this Rossendale family are 
l|IV0n in the Archotoh^ia Cambrensis^ a record of the antiquities 
nt WfiluM mA its marches, and the Journal of the Cambrian Arch- 
iMiiloulfiil Atiiio<*iation. 

*M)iiu of the descendants of this Henry Rossyndale, viz., 
WllllfOii Mnyd, ulias Kosindale, married Isabella Peake, thedaugh- 
W\ idlil liulrtsss of Kichard Peake and Alicia Tetenhall his wife, 
\m\ \m\ h^uu Mmnphrey Lloyd, the distinguished antiquary, 
y^\\\\ itlviil \\\ Ihu your 1568. The Peake family was both ancient 
m\ Mih« »MU| WilliHiu Kosindale, by virtue of this alliance, 
^i^HUwtv^tl \\\s> MW^ Ptmke, Tetenhall and Hilton with his own. 

'M^mUv* HU»mMuuht of Humphrey Lloyd, at Whitchurch, are 
\V^ \\m \\\\^^W\\\\W^ ^^i KiiHindale, alias Lloyd, impaling eight of 
\ \m\W\ \«^ ^M(^ '*'^^ ^^'^^^ ^^^ Kosindale, Tetenhall, Hilton and 
W^W V\ \\\^ \U\\' M^*' i7U«i i« a copy of the Rosindale quart- 
sv^k^^v ^^^U^^wva rt\\ Uken with the Peake alliance, impaUng 

' ^vwKv^ WvU^^m KwiuuUlo ami Isabella Peake was existing in 
va>^v. ^u Uv^Um^ *N^**J»^ V*h«vvh» the following inscription, (appar- 



Forest of Rossendale. 63 

ently on glass ; but if on brass or stone it is probably now under 
some pew) : — 

' Hie jacet Willm. Rsondall Armiger 
et dna Isabella Peeke censors suus, 
qui obiet zxx de mensis January 
an din 1414 qs aloz p' picietur 
Deus/ 

" The Rosindale arms were the first azure a roebuck rampant, 
or ; the fourth, or, a roebuck rt. azure, with a rose gules on the 
shoulder of each. It is worthy of remark that in the arms of 
Rosindale, in all MSS. in the time of Elizabeth, in Vincent, on 
Humphrey Lloyd's monument, and as quartered by the Lloyds of 
Aston (who are direct descendants of this William Rosindale), 
now, are quarterly four roebucks passant, countercharged of the 
field or and azure, in one azure and or." 

From all this it would appear without the slightest question or 
doubt, that Henry Rossyndale of Rosindale, to whom was granted 
lands in the county of Denbigh, by Henry de Lacy, in the reign 
of Edward I., was the veritable founder of an important branch of 
the family of Lloyd. 

Of another member of the same family at Rosindale, Adam de 
Rosindale, who was probably a brother of Henry, as he also 
lived during the reign of Edward L, there are interesting records 
in connection with Hulme Hall, a picturesque residence on the 
banks of the river Irwell, near Manchester, now destroyed, but of 
which there are engraved views extant. These views are to be 
found in Lancashire Illustrated. A side view of the elevation of 
the Hall, with the bridge and Manchester in the distance, is given 
in Baines* History of Lancashire, (b) A view also appears in the 
Penny Magazine {c) ; and the porch or principal entrance, forms 
the frontispiece to Vol. L of the Palatine Note Book, The same 
volume contains engravings of grotesque wood carvings contained 
in this hall, amongst which are "The Philosophic Devil," and 

(b) Vol. II. page 352. 

(c) March 2nd, 1844, page 89. 



64 History of the 

" The Bag-piper," and, as a tail-piece to the volume, " Symbolic 
Figures." In Baine^ History^ also, are two plates containing 
drawings of forty-one subjects from the sculptured panels. These 
carvings are now in Lady Ellesmere's room at the New Hall, 
Worsley. 

The ancient residence, Hulme Hall, or Holme, was, as stated, 
on the banks of the Irwell. It belonged to Adam de Rosindale in 
the time of Edward I., as is proved by a grant fh>m the said Adam 
of thirty shillings per annum to Henry de Trafford, out of his 
Manor of Hulme juxta Manchester, for life, dated 3TSt of Edw. fil 
Regis Hen. The property subsequently passed through a suc- 
cession of hands, viz:— ^the Prestwiches, the Mosleys, and the 
Blands, and in 1751 it was purchased by George Lloyd, Esq., 
and sold by him in 1764 to the Duke of Bridgewater, whose canal 
passes in the immediate neighbourhood of the site. The Duke, 
who cared little for the picturesque and much for the practical, 
divided the hall into separate tenements. It eventually fell into 
decay, and is now demolished. 

It is an interesting circumstance that the hall was bought by 
George Lloyd, Esq., of Manchester in 175 1. It is presumptive 
evidence that Lloyd was acquainted with its history, as being one 
of the ancestral homes of a relative of his Rossendale progenitor. 
The Lloyds were an important family in Manchester, Gamaliel 
Lloyd (probably the father of George) was churchwarden from 17 10 
to 1 7 18, and in 1745 he subscribed £^^o to a fund for raising 
troops to be employed against the forces of the Pretender. 

The name '^ Rossendale " as a surname, was at one time com- 
mon enough. 

In the Preston Guild Rolls, viz., in the roll of Guild Merchant 
of 3rd Henry the Fifth, 1415, appears the name of " Will de Ross- 
yndale IIIJs." The name is contained in the second list of bur- 
gesses, which consists of those whose fathers were not in the guild; 
who could not, therefore, enter the guild by birthright, but were 
admitted on payment of various stipulated fines, (i) The fine 

(i) Memorials of the Preston Guilds, by W. A. Abram. 



Forest of Rossendale. 65 

paid by the said Will de Rossyndale was 4s. as stated. Judging 
by the name, it is probable that this William was a descendant of 
the Henry or Adam de Rossnydale already referred to, both 
names having the prefix ^* de," and being spelt alike. 

In a list of "Craven Men" at the battle of Flodden Field, 
(fought 9th Sept, 1513), from the battle roll at ^Bolton Abbey, in 
the possession of His Grace the Duke of Devonshire, there is an 
entry as follows, — 

"Marton for Mosters. Robert Rossendale, a Bill. To be 
hors'd and hamish'd at the town's cost." 

In the survey of Whalley Abbey possessions when the monastery 
was dissolved, (1537), is an item as follows, — 

"Ashton Grange. Robte Rosendall houldeth a mess, and an 
acre- of medow and X. acres of arable land, and payeth yearly 
£0 19s. 2d." 

The name "Thomas Rosindall Bayley" occurs in the same 
document 

The following references to persons bearing the name of " Ross- 
endale " are to be found in the diary of the Rev. Oliver Heywood, 
B.A. (e) 

"Jere Rossendale, of Skircote, buried Oct. 15th, aged 80. 
Very rich." [1683]. 

" Wid. Rossendale, near Halifax, buried Sept. 4, about 70." 
[1688]. 

"Mr. Rossendale, buryed at Halifax, May 27." [1696]. 

"Mr. Abraham Langley or Priestley, and Ms. Rossendale 
marryed July 1697." 

"Mr. John HoUings, of Shepley, near Bradford, and Mrs. 
Mary Rossendale, near Halifax, married Feby. 24." [1708]. 

" Mr. Rawson, ye attorney in Bradford, and Mrs. Grace Ross- 
endale, near Halifax, married Aug. 4." [1709]. 

" Mr. Jeremiah Rossendale went with his wife to London, on 
Lord's Day, 3, 96. The news came he was dead there, May 19 ; 
shortened his days by intemperance. Aged 27." [1749]. 
(e) Edited by J. Horsfall Turner, and published at Brighouse. 



66 



History of the 



In a volume entitled, " The Antiquities of the town of Halifax, 
in Yorkshire," by the Rev. Thos. Wright, of Halifax, and published 
in 1738, the following note occurs, — 

" On a stone and brass plate in the Chancel (of the Old Church, 
Halifax) : * Here lieth the body of Jeremiah, son of Jeremiah 
Rossendale, of Shaw Hill, in Skircoat, who departed this life the 
1 8th day of January, in the second year of his age, 1694; and 
also the body of Mr. Jeremiah Rossendale, his father, who de- 
parted this life May 17th, and was interred May 27th, 1696." 

From all this it would appear that the name " Rossendale," as a 
surname, was not uncommon in Yorkshire about 150 to 200 years 
ago. 




BOOK THl RD. 



CHAPTER I. 

« 

What are thy rents? What are thy coinings in?'*— Kino Henry V. 

XT is from the Reign of Henry VII. that we must date the bc- 
-*- ginning of the real progress of Rossendale ; which, in no small 
degree, is due to the king's foresight, in the measures which he 
enacted as lord of the Himdred. 

The following instrument, promulgated by this most subtle of 
rulers in taking advantage of whatever seemed to promise an aug- 
mentation of his revenues, will be read with interest by all who 
care to trace the progress of this district from its primitive con- 
dition as a forest, harbouring ^' nothing else but deer and other 
savage and wild beasts," to its present eminence in manufacturing 
industry and skill. 

"Commission for Grauntinge of the Forrests. 
" In anno vicessimo seeundo Henrici Septimi. 

" Henry, by the grace of God, Kinge of Englande and of France, 
and Lorde of Irelande, to our trustie and well-beloved the Stewarde 
that nowe is, and that hereafter shall be, of our possessions of 
Blakburneshyere, within our countie palatyne of Lancaster, greeting. 
— For so much as heretofore we, by our Ires of commission, under 
the seale of our dutchie of Lancaster, have deputed and appointed 
Sir John Boothe and others, to vewe and survey all our groimdes, 
castles, and lordshyps, within our said countie palatyne, and there- 



68 



History of the 



upon to improve the some, and every parcel of them, for our most 
singuler profitt and advantage, whereupon we understand that our 
said commissioners have endeavoured themselves, surveying and 
approving the same _accordinge to our saide commission and 
pleasure, and have made graante and promisse of lease of cer- 
taine of our landes and tenements within our saide county, to the 
tenor and effect of a schedule, to these our Ires annexed, to cer- 
taine persons, to have and to hould to them and their heires for 
terme of lyfe or lyves, or for term ofyeares, after thecustomeof the 
manor, by copie of court roll, for execution and accomplishment 
whereof we have authorised, and by these presente authorize and 
geve you full authoritie and [wwer, by these our Ires, callinge 
unto you the saide Sir John Boothe, and by his advyse, to sett and 
Jett all suche of our saide landes and tenements as bee or lye within 
your saide office, to the said i>ersonns, for suche rents yearlie as 
bee contained in the said schedule, to have and to boulde to them 
and to their heires or otherwise, for term of liefe or yeares, at the 
libertie or choise of our said tenantes, and for the full accomplish- 
ment of the said promise and graunte, taking sul^cient security of 
the said persons for the sure paimente of tiie same rente, as yee 
shall see best and most convenient. And also that upon 
the death or exchaunge of everie tenant, that yee make 
newe lease or leases to such personne or i^rsonnes after 
the deathe or exchaunge of any such tenant or tenants of the same, 
as the same land shall happen to be granted by you, takinge of 
everie suche tenant as shall happen to exchange or decease, one 
whole yeare's rent of the said tenant ; and that yee shall take for a 
fine accordinge as other our tenentes there, beinge copiehoulders 
tyme out of mynd, gave, and used to paie in such cases, over and 
above their ancient and oulde yearlie rent of the same, provyded 
and alwaie forseene, that yee, by color of your said leases, doe not 
demyse our said rent, fynes, and gersomes, nor other duties, due 
and demandeable for us in that parte. And these our Ires sbal bee 
unto you at all tymes sufficient warrant and discharge in this be- 
halfe : whiche our Ires wee will that yee doe enter into your court 



Forest of RossendaU. 69 

rolles, there to remaine of recorde for the more suretie of everie of 
our said tenants, for their saide leases, to bee had and made accord- 
inglie. — Given at our cittie of London, under the seale of our saide 
duchie, the 19th daie of Maie, in the 17th yeare of our reigne." 

There were in the reign of Edward II. eleven Vaccaries — Cow 
Pastures or Booths, as they are now designated, in the Forest of 
Rossendale, the herbage of which was (1311) valued at ten shil- 
lings each, per annum, or five pounds ten shillings for the whole ; 
but the number of these was afterwards increased to nineteen 
(still later to twenty, including Yate and Pickup Bank), and in the 
Decree of 22 Henry VII. (1507,) which was confirmed 2 James I. 
(1604,) their names and estimated value are gi^en as follows : — 

Gamulside, . . . . . . . . I V/. 

Dunnockshawe, 11/. Ills. IVd. 

Love Clough, . . . . . . . . V/. 

Goodshawe V/. Vis. Vlld. 

Crawshaweboothe, IX/. 

Constablelee, V/. 

Rawtonstall, IIU. XIVs. Id. 

Dedquenedough, .. .. X/. XI Is. VI Id. 

Wolfenden Boothe, IV/. XVI Is. I Id. 

Tunstead VI, XI Is. 

Lenches, IV/. Vis. Vllld. 

Cowhope, V/. XIIIs. IVd. 

Ncw-HallHeye VII/. XIIIs. IVd. 

Oakenheade Woode, .. .. .. IX/. VIIIs. Hid. 

Musbury, XI 1 1/. Is. VI I Id. 

Hoddleden, .. .. .. .. IX/. XIXs. Xld. 

Bacope, XI/. XVIs. VI I Id. 

Wolfenden XIII/. Vs. Id. 

Henheads, .. .. .. .. XIIIs. •• 

Brandwood Higher and Lower end, though not given in the 
above enumeration, the Land there being freehold, is still part and 
parcel of the Forest. 

In Dedquene Cloghe [Deadwenclough] is contained the hamlet 
or village of Newchurch, which gives name to the Chapelry. A 
lease of this booth was granted to James de Greenhalgh, which 



70 



History of the 



was attested at Lancaster by Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester, 
regent in the minority of Henry VI. (a) 

Referring to Wolfe nden, [ihe den of Wolves,] Baines re- 
marks that the Prior of the Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem, in 
ao Edward I. claimed privileges for this place by charter from 
Henry I. (*) 

With respect to Bacup Booth, it is recorded that in 5 Henry V. 
the king granted to John Booth, of Barton, Esq., "his vaccary of 
Bacope, within his Forest of Rossyndale." To the same person 
the king granted a certain pasture called New Hall Hey, for the 
term of ten years, so that the said John Booth and his assignees 
shall neither kill nor destroy any wild beast within the forest 
aforesaid, {c) 

Henheads, which is situated at the north-western extremity of 
Rossendale, and is extra parochial, has an area of 317 acres, 
o roods, J4 poles, and consisted in those days of waste or common 
lands, being held in common by the copyhold tenants of Dun- 
nockshawe, Lovcclough, Goodshaw, Crawshaw, Oonstablee, Raw- 
tenslall, Deadwenclouirh and Wolfenden Booths, who paid a total 
rent of 13s. od per annum for the use of the same, coutributed 
proportionately to the value of their res|iective holdings. 

The following particulars relating to the vaccaries of Rossendale, 
and the rent of lands therein, are from the Compotus of Blackburn- 
shire, by Thomas, Lord Stanley, Master Forester, and Chief 
Steward, A. Edward IV., 410, in the office of the Duchy ol Lan- 
caster, cited in Whilaker's WhaJley, Addenda, 523 : — 
" Jacobo RadelifF dc Radclifl, pro Parco de Mnsbury, VIII/. Xs. od. 

Rich. Barton, pro Newhall Hey, VlIl/. OS. od. 

Joh Hargieaves, &c. pro Henhades el FrerehuU, .. o/. Ills. IVd. 
Eodem, pro vaccarla de Cowhoar, (Qu. Dc Cowhope,) Vl/. os. od. 

Eodem, pro vaccarria de RowtanatalE X/. M. od. 

Et vacMiia de Constab»llegh, l V/ rA ' 

El pro. 1 dam. vocato Okenheved Wode, / ' ' ' 

(a) Baines's Hist. Lane, vol. iii. p, 274. 
ii) Baines^s Hist. Lane. vol. iii. p. 278. 
(0 Townley MSS. g. 17, ciled by Baines. 



Forest of RossendaU. 71 

Ric. Barton, pro. vaccar. de Dede when clogh, . . VI/. os. od. 

Diet. Will. Leyland, pro vac. de Wolfenden bothfe, . . VI/. os. od. 

Eodem, pro vac. de Gamelsheved, 11/. Is. VI lid. 

Eodem, pro. vac. de Baoop bothe et Horeleyheved, •. VIII/. os. od. 
Eod. pro vaocario de Tunstead cum le Sett3rngez de 

Soclogh, .. .. III/. XVs.VIIId." 

And in the Compotus of the 12th Edward IV., (1473), ^^^^ ^^' 
Hist. Whalley, Addenda 256, are the following : — 

*' De W. Leyland, pro vaccaria Le Antley, .. .. VI/. os. od. 
Eodem, pro Newlaund, in Accrington, et pro vaccaria 

de Baxtonden, V/. os. od. 

Eodem, pro Crawshaw both, VI/. 09. od. 

Eod., pro vaccar. de Godeshagh, III/. Xlls.od. 

Eod., pro vacc. de Luffeclogh, Ill/, os. od. 

Eod., pro vacc. de Primrose Sike, I/. XVIs.VIIId. 

Rob. Bothe, mil., pro Rowcliffe Wode, o/. XVIs. Vllld." 

Under the head of " Churches belonging to the late Monastery 
of Whalley," the following item occurs : — 

The tyeth of Rosstndall with the tyeth belonging to same. . . . jf 20 16 o 

In an account of all the Manors, Lands, Tenements, &c, with 
the profits of the same, belonging to the Monastery of Whalley, 
but at this time in the Hands of King Henry VIII., by reason of 
the Attainder or Forfeiture of John Paslow, Abbot, who was 
attainted of and was executed for High Treason, are contained 
some interesting particulars relating to property within this district 

The Account of James Gartysyde, Collector of Rent, for 
One Whole Year, ending at the Feast of St Michael 
the Archangel in the 29TH (a.d. 1538) of the Reign of 
the Lord now King Henry VII. 

"TONGS SND (near WHITWORTH.) 
" RRNTS OF TENANTS AT WILL. 

"One House,*with Garden, 8 acres of Pasture, and 7 acres of £ s. d. 

Arable Land, in the tenure of Lawrence 8m3rth.. .. 015 o 

One House, with Garden, 8 acres of Pasture, and 7 acres of 

Arable Land, in the tenure of Nicholas Smyth o 15 o 



Carryforward jfi 10 o 



72 History of the 

h s. d. 
Brought forward i lo o 

One House, with Garden, 2 acres of Arable Land, 2 acres of 
Meadow, and 6 acres of Pasture, in the tenure of Richard 
HiU .. o lo o 

One House or Tenement, with Garden, 2 acres of Arable Land, 
2 acres of Meadow, and 6 acres of Pasture, in the Tenure 
of James Hill . . . . . . . . . . . . . • o lo o 

One House, with Garden, 2 acres of Arable Land, 2 'acres of 
Meadow Land, and 6 acres of Pasture, in the tenure of the 
Widow of the late Nicholas Hill o lo o 

Total 300 

" ROCLTPP. 
"RENTS OP TENANTS AT WILL. £ S. d. 

" Robert Haworth, for one Houae, with Garden, 6 acres of 
Arable Land, 5 acres of Meadow Land, and 20 acres of 
Pasture, with Common for Cattle within the Common of 
Ugshott and Trough 8 11 

The said Robert, for another House, with Garden, 6 acres of 
Arable Land, 5 acres of Meadow, and 20 acres of Pasture, 
with Common in the Common Pasture to the same belonging, o ^S 1 1 

Elizabeth, late Widow of John Ashworth, for One House with 
Garden, 6 acres of Arable Land, 5 acres of Meadow, and 20 
acres of Pasture, 0811 

Hugh Wobtenholme, for one House, with Garden, 1 acre of Arable 

Land, 2 acres of Pasture, and i acre and a half of Meadow, ..090 

Robert Hele, for one House, with Garden, i acre of Arable Land, 

2 acres of Pasture, and i acre and a half of Meadow, . . . • o 8 1 1 

And Edmund Ashworth, for one House, with Gardens, 6 acres of 

Arable Land, 5 acres of Meadow, and 20 acres of Pasture, . • o 811 

Total, • jC2 13 7 

" BRANDWODD. "^"^"^ 

"RENTS OF TENANTS AT WILL. £ S. d, 

" James Assheworth, for one House, with Garden, 5 acres of Land, 
6 acres of Pasture, 4 acres of Meadow, with certain Waste 
Land there, 116 

Hugh Assheworth, for one House, with Garden, 3 acres of Meadow, 

with Pasturage within the Common of Brandwodd, . . . • o 18 6 



Carryforward £2 o o 



Forest of Rossendale, 



73 



£ ». 

Brought forward . . • • ..20 

William Assheworth, for one House, with Garden, 5 acres of 

Arable Land, 9 acres of Pasture, and 7 acres of Meadow, • • 10 

John Assheworth, for one House, with Garden, 5 acres of Arable 
Land, 9 acres of Pasture, and 7 acres of Meadow, with Pastur- 
age for his Cattle on the Common Pasture of Brandwodd, • . 10 

Henry Assheworth, for one House, with Garden. 4 acres and a half 

of Arable Land, 4 acres of Pasture, and 10 acres of Meadow, i 6 

And Edmund Assheworth, for one House, 2 acres of Arable Land, 

3 acres of Pasture, and 3 acres of Meadow 013 

6 o 
Farm or Rent of a Com Mill there, in the Tenure of Robert 

Assheworth, 10 

ToUl £7 o 



d. 
o 



8 



"The whole of the above are charged in the Account of the Receiver- 
General of the Lord the King, there as in his said Account of this year more 
fully set forth and appeareth." 




CHAPTER 11. 

" The claims of long descent.'* — Tennyson. 

TTTE have already (a) briefly traced the possession of the 
^ ^ manorial rights to the property in Rossendale within the 
Hundred of Blackburn, from the time of the Norman Conquest, 
down through the intervening centuries to their present ducal 
owner. A similar duty devolves upon us in regard to the Free- 
hold rights of the lands in Brandwood, in the Township of Spot- 
land, and embraced within Salford Hundred. 

In furtherance of this intention, we have recounted how that 
about the year 1200, during the reign of Kir^ John, Roger de 
Lacy, one of the Lords of the Honor of Clitheroe, granted to the 
monastery of Stanlaw in Cheshire, that portion of Rossendale 
called Brandwood ; and that in the second year of the reign of 
Edward HI. (1328), the grant in question was ratified and 
confirmed in favour of the Abbot and Monks of Whalley, the 
legitimate successors of the original grantees, the monastery hav- 
ing been established at the latter place on its removal from Stanlaw 
in Cheshire, on account of the inundation of the sea. We have 
also seen that the Abbot of Whalley, in the seventeenth year of 
Edward HL (1343), successfully contested the claim on the part 
of Richard de Ratcliffe, Master Forester, of a right to demand and 
take puture of the Foresters. 

This large and important tract of land (Brandwood) was 
formerly embraced within the Manor of Rochdale, but, as will 
immediately appear by a decision of the Court, became separated 
from it owing to the circumstance of the grant before mentioned. 

(a) In Book II. Chap. I. 



Forest of Rossendale. 75 

The land continued in the possession of the Church dominant, 
until, by the attainder and execution of John Paslew, abbot, and 
the subsequent dissolution of the monasteries, the possession 
passed into the hands of King Henry VIII. This king made a 
grant of the lands to Thomas Holt, of Gristlehurst, Esquire, 
(afterwards, when in Scotland, knighted by Edward, Earl of 
Hertford), in capite by knight's service, by the fourth part of a 
knight's fee. (b) The Grant included all the messuages, lands, 
tenements, meadows, &c, lying in and being Whitworth, Tonge 
End, RoclyfT, and Brandwood, within the parish of Rochdale. 
The boundaries of the parish of Rochdale in Rossendale are 
described in an inquisition taken in the year 16 10 as follows: — 
"Ascending the river Calder to Beaten Clough Foot; and 
from thence to Beaten Clough Head; and from thence to 
Sheameyford ; and from thence to a hedge or fence, sometimes 
on one side of the water, sometimes on the other, to Greave 
Clough ; and from thence to Baycop ; and from Baycop to Rock- 
liffe Lumme ; and from thence following th^ river to Brandwood ; 
and from thence to Carrgate ; and from Carrgate to Cowap 
Brook, ascending the same brook to its head ; and from thence to 
the height of the moss ; and from thence to Archinbutt." 

From Thomas Holt, who died March 8, 156 1, the property 
passed to Francis, Thomas, Francis, Theophilus, and Thomas 
Posthumous Holt, respectively, the latter of whom died, according 
to a MS. Memorandum which Dr. Whitaker the historian saw, 
" 25th March 1669, after sown sett, a hower, as they report it." 

{b) " The division by knight's fee is a familiar feature of the feudal system. 
The knight's fee in England was fixed at the annual value of twenty pounds. 
Every estate supposed to be of this value, and entered as such in the rolls of 
the Exchequer, was bound to contribute the service of a soldier, or to pay an 
escuage to the amount assessed upon knight^s fee." — Hallam's Middle AgeSt 
vol. i. p. 171, et seq. 

The incidents of tenure by knight's service consisted variously, in addition 
to military service, of homage, aids to ransom the person of the superior 
Lord, to marry his eldest daughter, knight his eldest son, relief, &c. — See 
Williams' Real Property ^ p. iii. 



j6 History of the 

Thomas Posthumous disposed of the lands to different persons. 
Rockliffie passed into the hands of Thomas Baskerville Chapman, 
2oth February, 17th Charles II., for the sum of ^6500. Tong 
Estate was purchased by James Hoyle, of Tong, yeoman, 2d 
March, 20th Ctiarles II., for £137 los. od. The messuage, 
tenement, and farmhold, called Stubbylee, and Slack House or 
Further Hey, and several closes of land in the manor of SpoUand, 
became the property of Edmund Barker, yeoman. May 24th, sist 
Charles II. Part of Greave Clough estate was purchased 3d 
November following by James Grindrod ; the remaining portion, 
with several closes of land called the Upper Parrock, by Richard 
Lord of Greave Clough, on the 7th May of the next year. 

The manor and estate of Rochdale were held in possession for 
more than two centuries by the Byron family, several members 
whereof distinguished themselves in the profession of arms, and 
in more peaceful, but not less honourable, avocations. None of 
these is better known to fame than Lord tByron, the distinguished 
poet, who was the last of the family possessing the manor and 
estate in question. These, in order to get rid of a prolonged and 
vexatious litigation, he sold in 1823, the year before his lamented 
death, to James Dearden, Esq., whose heir, James Griffith 
Pearden, is now lord of the manor. (^) 

{c) The following interestifig letter of the poet, addressed to Mr. Dearden^ 
in regard to the lands and litigation referred to, is copied from the Raines 
MSS. in the Chetham Library, Manchester :— 

Genoa, 9 September, 1822. 

Sir, — You and I have now been eighteen years at law with various 
Sttcce a s — I succeeded in two decisions and you in one. The appeal is now 
before the House of Lords. Of the original occasion of this suit I have no 
great knowledge, since I inherited it and was a child when it began, and for 
aught I know may arrive at second childhood before it terminates. But I 
write to you to enquire whether an accommodation might not at least be 
attempted, and I have not consulted with my lawyers, because they of course 
would advise the contrary, as your own very probkbly will ; but I dispatch 
my letter through the medium of the Honourable Douglas Kinnaird, my 
persDnal friend as well as trustee, a man of honour and of business, who will 



Forest of Rossendale. 77 

At the Assizes held at Lancaster in March 1833, an action was 
brought against the late James Maden, Esq., of Greens House, 
Bacup, by the lord of the manor of Rochdale, in respect to the 
manorial rights of a certain portion of the Freehold lands above 
particularised ; and which were claimed by Mr. Dearden, the 
plaintiff, as being part and parcel of his said manor. At the time 
when the suit was tried, the following persons were directly 
interested therein, having come into possession of the Estates 
either by purchase or bequest : — 

Miss Ann Roberts, owner of Ancient House, Rockliffe ; Mr. 
John Hoyle and wife, of Rockliffe Hey-head, and Hoyle Hey- 
head ; Mr. James Whitaker, of Rockliffe estate \ Mrs. Mary 
Veevers, of Higher Tong ; Mrs. Lord, of Hoyle Hey ; Mrs. 
Susannah Ormerod, of Stubbylee ; Mr. James Maden, of Greave 
Clough ; Mr. John Law, of Greave and High Houses. 

either meet yourself or any friend to discuss the subject. I have no parti- 
cular propositions to make, but am willing to adjust the business on what 
may be deemed an equitable basis, either by arbitration or a mutual agree- 
ment< My motives for this are simply that I think it would spare anxiety to 
both sides, and I am neither instigated by avidity nor necessity. My 
expenses for the suit are paid up to its present period, so that if I lose 
it I should be but where I was, whereas if you lose, the loss will be con- 
siderable, since the litigated property has been and still is in your present 
occupation. 

I should be willing to part also with the undisputed part of Rochdale manor, 
because I wish to invest the produce of that as well as other monies abroad, 
since I do not reside in England, and have thought of permanently settling 
either in Italy or elsewhere. Perhaps, therefore, a mode might be found of 
CQpibining the two, viz., the adjustment of our lawsuit and the sale of the 
remainder of the manor, which might not be for your disadvantage. I repeat 
(as a little enquiry will inform you) that I am not actuated either by avidity 
or necessity, but by the natural wish to terminate a long lawsuit with its 
uncertainties. My debts have long been liquidated by the sale of Newstead, 
and the purchase money settled and invested; and early in the winter of 
1822 I acquired a considerable accession of income by the demise of the 
mother of Lady B. 

If you accept this proposal for a conference either in person or by proxy 
with the Honourable Mr. Kinnaird or Mr. Crabtree (agent of Sir Francis 



78 History of the 

A brief summary of the trial is given by Baines in his 
History of Lancashire, (d) from which I have taken the liberty to 
quote. " In the course of the proceedings it appeared that in the 
district of Brandwood there were a number of freehold tenements, 
and a large piece of waste or common land, called Tooter hill and 
Reaps Moss, to which the owners of the freeholds claimed rights 
in severality in respect of their tenements. About the year 1814, 
while Lord Byron was lord of the manor of Rochdale, they agreed 
to enclose and divide a part of the common amongst them ; and 
in pursuance of this agreement, a stone wall was built round a 
certain portion of it containing one hundred and forty-five 
customary acres.; a part of this land, amounting to little more 
than eight acres, formed the cause of the present action, but the 
result involved the title to the whole enclosure and common, and 
to the valuable coal and other minerals beneath the surface. The 
question at issue was, whether Brandwood, which confessedly lies 
within the ambit of the manor of Rochdale, formed part of that 
manor, or whether it had not by ancient acts of ownership been 
separated from it. 

" On the part of the plaintiff, the descent of the manor of 
Rochdale was distinctly shown by the manor rolls to rest in him ; 
and it was proved in evidence that the occupiers of lands in 
Brandwood, and even the defendant himself, had paid certain 
customary rents for the waste of Brandwood ; and that the lord of 

Burdett and of me, at Kirby Mallory), acting for him and me, you can write 
to Mr. Kinnaird in answer to this, as I am too remote for immediate corres- 
pondence ; or if not things are but where they were. In either case I bear 
you no enmity whatever on account of our long litigation, which you can 
hardly regret more than I do. I have the honour to be, your very obedient 

humble servant, 

Noel Bvron. 

To J. Dearden, Esq., Rochdale. 

P.S. — I give you my honour that I have not consulted with my lawyer on 
this point, nor made any one acquainted with the proposition. I have, how- 
ever, no objection to your advising with your own on the subject. 

{d) Vol. ii. p. 652. 



Forest of Rossendale. 79 

the manor of Rochdale had exercised certain acts of ownership 
over this district, by letting coal mines under the waste, and by 
impounding through his pinder cattle belonging to strangers and 
copyholders, and even to freeholders, when a larger stock was put 
upon the common than it could support. 

" For the defendant it was contended that Brandwood formed 
part of the manor of Spotland, and that it descended from the 
monastery of Stanlaw to the monks of Whalley, and from them to 
the family of Earl Howe, according to a chartulary in his lordship's 
possession, exhibited in court." In this is recited the deed making 
the original grant, which has already been given at length. The 
grant and confirmation of Edward III. was likewise put in; as 
was also the grant of Henry, Earl of Lancaster ; and the inquisi- 
tion, /^x/ mortem^ of Henry first Duke of Lancaster. " In addi- 
tion to this documentary evidence, several acts of ownership, by 
living witnesses, were shown to have been exercised over this land, 
and, after a trial of three days' continuance, the jury returned a 
verdict for the defendant, thereby declaring that the district of 
Brandwood had been separated from the manor of Rochdale." 

Thus ended a trial involving important local interests. It settled, 
beyond cavil, the freeholders' rights to much valuable property, 
their title to the possession of which is thus traced with the greatest 
ease and precision back to the time of the Conquest. 



CHAPTER III. 

" There are no tricks in plain and simple faith."— Shakespere. 

TVURING the reign of James I. certain circumstances occurred 
-■-^ having a most important bearing on much of the property 
and its ownership within the Forest of Rossendale, as constituting 
a portion of the Forest of Blackbumshire, to omit making men- 
tion of which would be to overlook one of the most noteworthy 
episodes in its past History. 

In order to a clear understanding of the circumstances here 
referred to, it is necessary that I should carry my readers back 
to the time of the reign of that astute monarch, Henry VIL, 
when the Forest lands were partitioned out in accordance with the 
"Commission for Grauntinge of the Forrests." (a) This Instrument 
from the king, who was lord of the manor, is addressed to his 
steward, and authorises him to make grants of the vaccaries or 
booths, after the custom of the manor, by copy of court roll, to 
such persons, and at such yearly rents, as were contained in a 
Schedule prepared by Sir John Boothe and others, who had been 
deputed to survey and view all the king's grounds, castles, and 
lordships. The rent here spoken of is what, at the present day, is 
popularly known as the " Duke's Rent " — the yearly sum paid to 
the lord of the manor for the copyhold. When the manor was in 
possession of the Crown, the rent would, of course, be known as 
the " King's " or " Queen's rent." 

As the immediate result of the king's commission, the hitherto 
uncultivated lands within the bounds of the Forest were granted to 
various persons who became the owners of the copyholds, and 

(a) Ante, Chap. I. Book III. 



Forest of Rossendale. 



Si 



held their several properties on the title which their grants, founded 
on this Commission, bestowed. Thai the titles were genuine and 
incontrovertible was rot once doubted. Houses and Farmsteads 
were erected. Lands were cleared, drained, manured, and tilled, 
and in the course of time became much enhanced in value. 
Sales of the Properly had been negotiated on the strength of those 
titles. Children had succeeded their parents as heirs to the 
various Estates, their interest therein, and legal right thereto, being 
unquestioned, and, as they believed, unquestionable. Thus mat- 
ters stood until the Crown lawyers of the time of King James I. 
discovered what they declared was a defective title on the 
part of the copy-holders. (A) This discovery was thus set forth in 
a letter bearing date April 5, 1607, and addressed to Mr, Auditor 
Fanshaw, and Ralph Asheton, of Lever, Esq., deputy steward ; — 
" There are within his Majesty's honor of Clitheroe, divers lands 
which have been only granted by the steward, and by warrant to 
the steward made, which parcels have been improved out of his 
majesty's forests and chases, there commonly called lands of the 
new-hold, which are only, however, of the nature of essart (.-) land, 
and cannot be claimed by custom or prescription to be copyholds." 
"This," says Dr. Whitaker, " was a thunderstroke — as it shook 
to the foundation the titles of twenty-five thousand l,ancashire 
acres of land, and destroyed the comforts and the hopes of many 



[i) " In consequence ol this [the Iting'sJ commission grants of the v; 
were made ; and upon the faith ot thEse titles, houses were built, and im- 
provements, such 35 the sen) was capable oF, were made ; lands were bought 
and sold \ the first Ejantees died off, and their heirs or other representatives 
were regularly admitted in perfect security (or more than a century, when 
the Crown Lawyers of James I. discovered, or pretended to discover, that 
copyholds of inheritance could not be created, that the lands of the new-hold 
tenure were of the nature of essart lands, and the occupants, a sort of ten- 
ants by sufferance." — Hist. Whalley, third edition, p, 209. 

if) " If a Man hath any Woods or Underwoods, or any other Coverts in the 
Forest, as Heath, Broom, Fern, and he cut it down, or pull it up by the Roots, 
that the Land is made plain, or converted into Arable or Pastures, then 'tis 
called assart of the Forest, or Land assarted." — JUarUfOod, ed. 1717, p. 20. 



82 



History of the 



families who lived in competence and quiet upon these new 
improvements, without any Other resources." (i) 

A lengthened litigation ensued, involving a mass of corres- 
pondence, and leaving behind, on settlement of the dispute, an 
array of documents, in the shape of petitions, instruments, com- 
missions, &c., far too numerous to quote or even to enumerate. 

The key to the nefarious proceedings on the part of the Crown 
is supplied by the unwarrantable demand subsequently made on 
the copyholders for payment of a certain sum to ensure the perfect- 
ing of their respective titles to the lands in question. 

It is difficult to utter language sufficiently strong in condemna- 
tion of the conduct of the ruler and his minions throughout the 
whole of these unrighteous transactions. A more barefaced 
attempt to extort money under false pretences is surely not on 
record. Notwithstanding the injustice of the demand, it would 
appear that the wealthier proprietors were willing to make a com- 
mutation. In this, however, they experienced some difficulty, 
owing to their not being able to obtain the written assent of the 
smaller owners for the payment of their proportionate share of the 
amount demanded. 

A letter from Richard Towneley, Edward Rausthorn, and Others, 
states that, — " Through the fantastical persuasion of the vulgar 
sorte, that handes set to an instrument will bind them to they 
know not what inconveniences, they are enforced to rest only on 
promises ; now in respect the vulgar sorte is knowne to be vari- 
able, and may alter from this second resolution ; least the peevish- 
ness of some few should disadvantage or discredit our undertaking ; 
we are of opinion that this, by Mr. Auditor's and your good 
meanes made known to the privy council, will worke such effect, 
yt according to ye proverbe, ' The fryers shall not be beaten for 
the nunnes fault.' " Dr. Whitaker, in his usual ijU[3ercilious and 
disdainful manner when speaking of the humbler classes, thus 
comments on the circumstances referred to in the above letter : — 



(ij) Hist. Whalky. third edition, p. aog. 



Forest of Rossendale. 83 

''The superior proprietors were evidently aware of their own 
danger and willing to compound for their estates upon any reason- 
able terms ; but had to encounter that levity, selfishness, and ob- 
stinacy in the lower orders, which, as long as human nature is the 
same, will encumber and embitter all public concerns in which 
they have any part." 

But what were the terms that could be considered as reasonabUy 
when, according to the Doctor's own showing, the whole proceed- 
ings, from their b^inning to their termination, were fraught with 
the grossest injustice ? And surely a better reason to justify the 
conduct of the malcontents might have suggested itself to the 
mind of the learned historian. 

Viewing the matter dispassionately, it appears to . us that 
the smaller copyholders based their refusal on stronger grounds 
than that of the mere paltry objection to set their hands 
to an instrument not knowing what inconveniences might 
result therefrom. It is more than probable that a sturdy 
independence prompted their conduct in the refusal, and that 
they evinced more of the spirit of English freemen than 
their wealthier neighbolirs, in resisting what Dr. Whitaker himself 
describes as '' an act of oppression," " part of a general scheme," 
carried on in different parts of the country, " for extorting money 
from the tenants of the Grown, whose titles were not perfectly 
secure^" in order to relieve the poverty, and replenish the exhaust- 
ted exchequer of the King. It may be said that the letter of 
Towneley and Rausthorn (quoted above) does not bear out this 
view of the case. But to call that letter by the mildest name, it is, 
on the face of it, a snivelling epistle, and is apt to awaken the 
suspicion that the writers themselves were not unwilling to evade 
payment, provided they could edge out of the difficulty blameless. 
The "vulgar sorte," as the humbler owners are therein termed 
with unnecessary iteration, were deemed to be a convenient step- 
ping-stone by which to escape from a sea of trouble into a haven 
of safety, and for this purpose they seem to have been used for the 
time being. 



84 History 0/ the 

The upshot of the dispute was, that in the 7 James I, an act 
was passed, entitled " An Act for Ihe perfect creation and confir- 
mation of certain copyhold land in the honor, caslle, manor, and 
lordship of Githeroe." From some cause or other not perfectly^ 
clear, this act seems to have been afterwards superseded, as will 
presently appear. The sum at first arranged to be paid for the 
settlement and confirmation of the titles was twelve years' ancient 
rent, amounting in the whole to ^3763. The amount contributed 
by the Rossendale copyholders, as their share, was £1574 4s, od. 
This was paid in three inswiraents of £524 14s. 8d. each (equal to 
four years' rent), the payments being made on the 1 5th February, 
1608; the 33rd May, 1609; and the 14th November, 1609, 
respectively, (e). The claim was afterwards increased to forty 
years' rent ; one half on the decrees passing the Duchy Court, and 
the other within a month after the confirmation by Act of Parlia- 
ment. The first instalment was paid during the reign of James I,, 
but the other portion remained unpaid till about the year 1650- 
These, with other interesting facts, are set forth in the following 
extract from one of the Assheton Papers (/) written after the 
Restoration. 

The Copyholders " came to composition with his Majesty's 
Commissioners, and agreed to pay for confirmation and settlement 
thereof forty years' copyhold rent; the one moiety upon passing 
Decrees for that purpose in the Court of Duchy Chamber, and 
the other moiety within one month after the same should be 
confirmed by Act of Parliament. 

" Decrees of all the several nnanors and places so compounded 
for were passed, and the first nnoiety of the composition money 
paid in King James's time, And in the sixteenth year of the late 
King Charles, a Bill for confirmation thereof [lassed both the 
Houses of Parliament : but, through the distractions then growing, 
was prevented of being perfected by the royal assent. 



(*) See Appendix for a eom[ 
o( thdr aeveraJ rents. 

{/) Cited by Whi laker, third edition, p. 520. 



of the Copyholders, with the a 



Forest of Rossendale. 85 

"The said late King Charles, in the fifth year of his reign, 
granted, by letters patent, the second moiety of the said Composi- 
tion Money, remaining in the Copyholders' hands, to the Navy 
and Tower Creditors, towards satisfaction of certain debts con- 
tracted by Sir Allen Apsley in victualling the Navy and Tower ; 
who, in the year 1650, obtained from the pretended Parliament, 
then sitting, an Act to confirm to the said Copyholders their 
customs and improvements according to the said Compositions 
and Decrees, and to compel them to pay the remaining moiety of 
Composition Money to the said Creditors, with a nomine panes of 
£S per diem upon default of payment after the first of September 
next following. 

''Several of the Copyholders failed in providing their money, 
which caused their deficiency of payment according to the Act. 
But the nomine poence being great, and the Creditors' severe in 
levying it, accordingly to the power given them, those that were 
careful of preserving their estates, and preventing further damage, 
procured and paid the whole moiety together with a great overplus, 
amounting to ;^5,833 in all, for satisfaction of the said moiety and 
nomine potnoe forfeited, and so freed themselves and many others, 
who are still behind with their due proportionable parts, and 
yet have no security for confirmation of their customs and 
estates. 

'' All which considered, the said Copyhelders having long since, 
as aforesaid, paid their whole composition to the king's use, do 
humbly pray the said Decrees and their Customes may be con- 
firmed according to their Contract by the Parliament And that 
power may be given to certain Commissioners to leavy the moneys 
in arrear, and reimburse to those that have laid out above their 
proportions so much as shall reduce the payments and account to 
an equality and due proportion, according to a Bill prepared for 
that purpose." 

An Act of Confirmation was passed accordingly, '' and on this 
foundation," remarks Dr. Whitaker, " rest all the titles to wapon- 
take, or copyhold lands of the new tenure in Blackburnshire. By 



86 



History of the 



the same Act, the forests were attached to the adjoining manors, 
as ex. gr. Trawden to Cotne, Pendle to Ightenhill, and Rossendale 
with Accrington to the manor of Accrington-vetus. These two 
last-mentioned forests constitute what is called Accrington New- 
bold." 




BOOK FOU RTH 



CHAPTER I. 



** Worthy men all, and ol good standing." 



II 



Tis oppor tu ne to look back opoo old times, 

and contemplate our foreCatfaers."— Sia Thomas Beowni. 

" The Reerd was a siendre colerick man ; 

His beard was shaVd as nigh as ever he can ; 

His hair was by his earte round yshom ; 

His top was dockkl like a priest beforn. 

Full kmg^ were hb leggds and full lean, 

Yfike a staff, there was no calf jrseen. 

WeU could he keep a gamer and a bin, 

There was no auditor could on him win. 

There n'as bailiff, ne herd, ne other bine 

That he ne knew his sleight, and his covine ; 

They were a-dread of him, as of the death. 

He had his wonning fair upon a heath. 

With greend trees yshadowed was his place,"— Chaucsr. 

A S time pursues its onward course, and the manners and cus- 
^^ toms of society undergo change, new officers are called into 
existence to suit the altered conditions of men and property ; 
while dignitaries of ancient note, who were once considered to be, as 
no doubt they really were, indispensable for the due administration 
of the affairs of the times, gradually withdraw from our sight, to 
exist only by name in the archives of the past. Not only do 
offices, once important, become in the lapse of time altogether 



88 



History of (he 



obsolete, but the duties of some of those which still continue to 
exist, change, or are greatly modified by the fleeting inannerB of each 
succeeding age. These remarks are specially a|iphcable to the 
office of the Grave, Greave, or Reeve; (a) aii important func- 
tionary here in days of yore, and wielding a considerable share of 
authority within his jurisdiction. The office is one of great 
antiquity, dating its origin far back into Saxon times. 

Before the introduction of the Magistracy into the district ; 
when Guardians of the poor, as we now understand the terra, had 
no existence therein ; and when Local Boards and Town Councils 
were unknown, Rossendale was governed by one of these ofl^cers, 
who bore the title of " Greave of the Forest," 

The duties of the Greave were of the most onerous and respon- 
sible kind ; but they also descended to and embraced matters the 
most trivial and unimportant. Nothing seems to have been too 
weighty for him to undertake, nothing too insignificant to claim 
his attention. He was the Taxing Officer and " Bang- Beggar" of 
the district. At one time we find him closely engaged in tracking 
the footsteps of some notorious criminal, or in collecting evidence 
for his prosecution ; at another he is relieving the necessities of a 
poor balf-starved tramp on bis way to Yorkshire, or it might be 
to Liverpool, in the opposite direction. Now he is taking measures 
lo ascertain the number, and prepare a return accordingly, of all 
the able-bodied men within the Forest, capable of serving " the 
King His Majesty in his most just and holy wars ; " and again he 
is giving instructions for the repair of the Stocks at Crawshawbooth 
or Bacup, or of the Guide Post at Four- Lane- Ends. One day he 
is superintending the erection of a "Dungeon" at one of the 



(a) "Vrapoatas Villa is sometimes uied for the head or chief oflicer o[ the 
Uing in a town, manor, or villaKe, or a Reeve." — Note by John Hnrland, 
F.S.A., in " Mflnchesler Court Leet Records,'' p. 67. Jacob in his Law 
Die. ed. 1743, spells it " Reve," and thus defines it i ■■ More especially met 
mth in the West of England, signifies the bailifl of a. manor, and hence 
comes the word thire-me, or sheriff." 



Forest of Rossendale. 89 

villages ; on another he is ordering a staff or truncheon for the 
village Constable. 

The Precepts of the High Constable were all addressed to the 
Greave, who levied the rates, and was responsible for the propor* 
tionate share required to be contributed by the Forest of Rossen- 
dale for the repair of Lancaster Castle, the Preston House of 
Correction, the Bridges of the Hundred, the relief of the prisoners 
in the Marshalsea, maintaining the Watch, and other County 
expenses. 

The fulfilment of the office of Greave, which was by no means a 
sinecure, seems not to have been optional The person nominated 
was bound to serve either personally or by deputy. But though 
members of the best families of the district were nominally the 
Greaves of the Forest, they seldom performed the drudgery of the 
office. The plan of hiring a deputy, and sometimes two, was 
generally resorted to ; and it frequently happened that one person 
dischaiged the duties for several consecutive years, being hired by 
different Greaves in succession. The Greave was nominated by 
the principal landowners in the locality, his appointment taking 
place at the Halmot Court, or Court Baron, of the lord of the 
Manor or Honor, held on Michaelmas Day in each year, according 
to the 29th clause of " The Customs of the Copyhold of the 
Honor of Clitheroe," which is as follows : — 

" That the homage at every Michaelmas Court ought to present 
and find a Greve for the said Forest or Manor, who is not to enter 
into his office until the Michaelmas Court next after, and that a 
deputy Greve ought to be elected by the Major vote of the tenants 
in Open Court for the execution of that Office, and sworn accord- 
ingly." 

The accounts of the Greave, which varied in amount from JQ20 
to ;^6oo in different years, were presented to a Vestry Meeting 
held annually in the Parochial Chapel, Newchurch, when they 
were audited, passed, and signed or certified by a number of the 
inhabitants present, the Incumbent's signature being usually the 
first appended thereto. 



90 History of ike 

Dr. Whitaker observes (i) that the vaccaries or large uplflt^d 
pasture farms within the Lancashire Forests were under the super- 
intendence of two Master Foresters, one for Blackburnshire, and 
the other for Bowland; and the Tornier had under him an inferior 
keeper in each, of which that of Rossendale inhabited the chamber 
of the Forest, and had the direction of other still inferior officers, 
termed graves or reeves of the Forest. This description would 
seem to imply a less onerous and important position than is 
assumed for the Greave ; but he was really the Acting Officer "in 
charge ;" the Constables and BaiUfls being responsible to him ; 
and in earlier times when the facilities for intercourse were fewer 
and more costly, the existence of higher authorities, to the rural 
mind, was more mythical than real. Hence, when the Greave 
chanced to be of a tyrannical disposition — 

" They were a-dread of him ag of the dealh." 

Baines, in his history of the County, states that Rossendale is 
governed by a Constable called "The Greave of the Forest," who 
is nominated by the principal landowners ; and that the expenses 
of this Officer are borne by four princijia! houiieholders m each 
Booth in rotation, a practice which has prevailed from 1557. if) 

The Historian is surely at fault here. To have saddled any 
four principal householders with the expenses of the Greave, 
would certainly have been a summary and unjust proceeding. 
The fact is, that, on receiving a Precept or Order from the High 
Constable for the payment of a certain amount, the Greave im- 
mediately laid a rate, or " Greave lay," (1/) as it was called, over 
the district, being generally careful that the amount to be collected 
exceeded the sum of the Precept, ^^'hen a deficiency occurred 

\V\ Hist. Whallef. third edition, p, 306. 

^ Hisl. Lancashire, vol iii. p. 276. 

^ ~ The derivation of the word 'Iny' or 'ley' SFemt doubtful. In the 
W4 B m» o« ' (o lay > lay ' may be found one origin, and ihc French word ley, 
ha>, m\Sf ' I ' another, a rale made by law."^Note by John Harland, 
F.SA„ itt "lUacbeHer Court Leet Records," p. 124. 



Forest of Rossendale. 91 

in any one year,, as was sometimes the case, this was disbursed 
from the receipts of the Greave next ensuing. If it is meant that 
the salary or remuneration of the Greave was contributed by four 
of the principal householders, that may have been the case, though 
we know of nothing to justify such a conclusion. It is probable 
that the Greaves being usually persons of property in the district, 
served their term of office free of charge, and that only the hired 
or deputy Officers were paid, and those by the nominal Greave for 
the time being. 

Of late years this Officer's duties have been much circumscribed, 
being limited to a periodical attendance at the Halmot Court, and 
the summoning of Juries for the transaction of business appertain- 
ing thereto. This Court for the Old-hold and New-hold of the 
Manor of Accrington, of which Rossendale now forms part, is 
held at the Court House in Haslingden twice every year, in the 
months of April and October, and its authority extends over all 
property within the Manor, held under what is technically called 
" copy of Court roll." 

The Reeve who is introduced by Chaucer as one of the Pilgrims 
in the " Canterbury Tales," has many points in common with the 
Greave or Reeve of Rossendale Forest; though they differ in 
some essential particulars ; the Reeve of Chaucer being a permanent 
Officer, and in this respect resembling the Steward of the Manor 
of the present day. 

Among a number of old documents, which, by the kindness of 
a friend, were placed in my hands, I have discovered a list 
of persons who held the Office of Greave of the Forest of Rossen- 
dale from A.D. 1559, the 2d year of the reign of Queen Elizabeth, 
down to A.D. 1726. 

Being desirous to complete the list, I made application to Dixon 
Robinson, Esq., of Clitheroe Castle, Steward of the Honor, who, 
in response to my request, in the kindest manner, continued the 
names to 181 1, since which time there are no appointments of 
Gjreaves appearing on the Court Rolls. From another and equally 



92 History of the, 

trustworthy source, I am enabled to add a few more names, bringing 
down the list of Officers to the year 1818. ' 

This list is not to be viewed as a mere dry catalogue of names to 
which little or no interest is attached. It is in truth an ^numera- 
tion of the oldest families of the district for a period of over three 
hundred years, and as such is of great historical value. 

However disinclined we may be to render undue homage to the 
accidental and adventitious circumstances of long descent, we are 
all ready to allow that it is at least desirable, and in a sense hon- 
ourable, to be able to trace our ancestors back through the cen- 
turies which have elapsed, to recount their virtues, and their heroic 
deeds, and to imravel the intricacies of the times in which their lot 
was cast 

What is true of the individual, is also true in respect to the 
locality. Few among us but are proud to connect the occurences 
of the particular district in which we feel an interest, with the more 
important historical events and personages of our common country. 

No city, or town, or district can be said to possess a history 
until the events which have occurred therein are recorded, and the 
actors in its various scenes identified and described. Just as that 
man is supposed to be without ancestors who is unable to trace his 
descent through a series of generations. 

The most enchanting landscape which the painter can portray 
upon his canvas lacks one of its greatest charms until it is made to 
embrace within its ample area an image bearing the human form. 
To supply this is, as it were, to infuse a living soul into the other- 
wise inanimate clay. 

This is precisely the part which the present list of Greaves fulfils 
in respect to Rossendale. They are the link which, more than 
any other, connects the district with past events. 

Without this link we know, of course, that Rossendale had an 
existence in the long past ; that its hills were as high, and its air as 
bracing as at the present day. But there is a feeling of vagueness 
in the mind when we try to summon up bygone circumstances, 



Forest of Rossendale. 93 

that is not dispelled until we can associate therewith the presence 
of our own species. 

In the person of its Greaves, we may be said to have the pedi- 
gree of the Forest of Rossendale. And how much of real interest 
we feel in being able to point to those of them who were contem- 
poraneous with the Virgin Queen, and the galaxy of gifted minds 
which adorned her court, and shed an undying radiance around 
the years of her reign ; with Burleigh, her judicious adviser ; and 
with the accomplished Essex, her unfortunate favourite. Contem- 
porary, too, with Lord Bacon, 

" The wfsest, brightest, meanest of mankind." 

and with the chivalrous Sidney, " the very diamond of her Majes- 
ty's Court.'* Administrators of the affairs of the Forest when Sir 
Francis Drake was " singeing the Spanish monarch's beard ;" and 
when Raleigh, patriot, statesman, and philosopher, was pining in 
his lone dungeon in the Tower. When Spenser, the sweetest of 
poets, was singing of the heavenly Una and her milk-white lamb \{e) 
and when Shakespeare was weaving the immortal creations of his 
genius. Witnesses, too, of, and doubtless participators in, the excite- 
ment of the times consequent on the hourly-expected arrival of 
the great Spanish Armada, which was to uproot Protestantism 
from the land, and snuff out the candle of English liberty ; who 
lighted the beacon signals which summoned the country to arms ; 
and who shared in the rejoicings which followed the discomfiture 
of the invading hosts. 

(e) It will not be considered out of place here to refer to the fact, established 
on good authority, that Edmund Spenser was of the Spensers of Hurstwood, 
near Burnley, and that he lived there for some time. Such being the 
case, it is not unlikely that the name, and probably the district of Rossen- 
dale, would be familiar to the poet. Whether this latter conjecture be true 
or not, it is interesting to be able to connect the author of the " Fairy Queen " 
with our next door neighbours at the foot of Pendle Hill. Vide " Spenser 
and his Poetry," by Geo. L. Craik, M.A. ; also a Paper by the late T. T. 
Wilkinson, F.R.A.S., Burnley, read before the Lancashire and Cheshire 
Historic Society. 



94 History of the 

In the person of its Greave, Rossendale had a veritable exis- 
tence in the days of Guy Fawkes and the " Gunpowder Plot ;" 
and in all likelihood the bells of the New Church, by order of the 
Greave, swelled the rejoicings of the people on the discovery of 
the " hellish conspiracy." 

I know not how it may be with others, but I confess to experi- 
encing a feeling akin to reverential awe, in reading over the names 
of those of the district who flourished in the troublous times of the 
great Revolution in the days of Charles I., that poor, deluded, and 
unfortunate monarch, the victim of his own and his father's belief 
in the " divine right of kings " — their right to do wrong — to disa- 
buse his mind of which false notion the harshest of arguments was 
used in the end. 

How much it is to be regretted that no local chronicler took the 
pains to register the events of the time, as they affected the 
district in which we live; so that we might now have known 
whether the inhabitants as a whole continued loyal to their unfor- 
tunate sovereign ; or whether, preferring to obey the laws of their 
country, rather than yield an unquestioning obedience to the hallu- 
cinations of royalty, they approved of the rough, but effectiial 
measures adopted by Cromwell and his compatriots for the purifi- 
cation of the state. 

But, indeed, there can be little doubt that during the civil war 
the inhabitants of Rossendale were, as a rule, favourable to the 
Parliament, and opposed to the king. In the following accoimt, 
by an eye-witness, of a skirmish which took place at Leigh and 
Loaton Common, between the Earl of Derby's troops and the 
country people, the writer refers to the " sturdy churls " of the two 
Forests — Pendle and Rossendale, and the part which they bore in 
strife : — 

" The last Sabbath, as we were going towards the church, a post 
rode through the country informing us that the earl's troops were 
coming towards Chowbent ; whereupon the country people rose, 
and before one of the clock on that day we had gathered together 
3000 horse and foot, encountering them at Chowbent aforesaid. 



Forest of Rossendale. 95 

and beating them back to Leigh, killed some, and wounded many \ 
where yon would wonder to have seen the forwardness of the 
young youths, ^airmers' sons. . . . The nailors of Chowbent, 
instead of making nails, have busied themselves in making bills 
and battle-axes ; and also this week the other part of the country 
meet, and not only intend to stand upon their guard, but to disarm 
all the Papists and malignants within their precincts, and to send 
them prisoners to Manchester, to keep house with Sir Cecil Trafford, 
who is there a prisoner. The men of Blackburn, Padiham, Bum- 
ley, Clitheroe, and Colne, and those sturdy churls in the two forests 
of Pendle and Rossendale, have raised their spirits, and are re- 
solved to fight it out rather than their beef and fat bacon shall be 
taken from them." (/) 

The interest which we feel in perusing the names of the 
Greaves does not abate during the years of the Protectorate, and 
after the Restoration, down through the reign of Charles II. and 
his successor, James II., to the next Revolution, and the en* 
thronement of the third William ; and, after the latter, to the days of 
the " Good . Queen Anne," and the victories of the illustrious 
Marlborough. 

This interest increases rather than otherwise during the time of 
the two rebellions of the Stuarts in the i8th century, and when the 
first and second Georges occupied the throne ; because, in addi- 
tion to the names of the Greaves, we possess some local MS. 
records of the tim^, to which reference will be made. 

The appointment of Greave of the Forest from any particular 
Booth recurred every 17 years. At first the interval was 18 years, 
but that was due to the circumstance that during the earlier period 
the nomination of a Greave was omitted for some one year. There 
were really twenty Booths in the Forest under the jurisdiction of 
the Lord of the Honor, in addition to Brandwood Higher and 
Lower Ends which belonged to the Abbots of Whalley Abbey ; 
but it would appear that the three Wolfendens, viz : Wolfenden 

(/) Cited by Haines, vol. II. p. 17. 



96 History of the 

Booth, Wolfenden in Higher Booths and Wolfenden in Newchurch, 
were associated together in the appointment In the same way 
Henheads was probably allied with Crawshawbooth, and Yate and 
Pickup Bank with Hoddlesden. 

The order in which the different Booths stood for the appoint- 
ment of Greaves was as follows : — Bacup, Dunnockshaw, Tunstead, 
Loveclough, Wolfenden (including Wolfenden in Higher Booths 
and Wolfenden in Newchurch), Goodshaw, Deadwenclough, 
Crawshawbooth (with Henheads), Rawtenstall, Constablelee, 
Oakenheadwood, Musbury, Newhallhey, Lenches and Hall Carr, 
Cowpe, Hoddlesden (with Yate and Pickup Bank), and Gamble- 
side. 

In the list of Greaves given below, the place or Booth out of 
which the appointment was made is not invariably stated after the 
name of the person appointed ; but by noting the consecutive 
order in which the Booths appear, this can always be readily 
determined. 

It is worthy of remark that in the long roll of Greaves, we find 
all the old names which exist amongst us at present We have 
the Whitakers, the Ashworths, the Ormerods, the Haworths, the 
Nuttalls, the Lords, the Rostrons, and the Holts in abundance, along 
with others equally familiar ; and it is a remarkable fact that in no 
instance do we find a name which has not at this time its repre- 
sentative in the district, or its immediate neighbourhood. 

The list will be of assistance to the genealogical student, 
in supplying or* suggesting a connecting link that will enable him 
the more satisfactorily to pursue his researches in tracing the descent 
of any particular line. To most of the names the place of residence 
of the person is also attached; and it is of interest to note that in 
very many instances, descendents bearing the same name inhabit 
the particular locality of their forefathers to this day. The owner- 
ship of property may also to some extent be traced from the 
particulars which are given. 



Forest of Rossendalc. 



97 



" A LIST OF Ye GRAVES WITHIN THE FOREST OF 
ROSSENDALE FROM Yb 2D YEARE OF Ye RAIGNE 
OF QUEEN ELIZABETH, UNTIL THIS PRESENT 
YEARE, 1726," AND CONTINUED TO 1818. 

Note, yt every of ye said Graves was found nnd presented at Michelmas, 
in ye said yeares of our Lord, and entred their ofHce ye yeare following at 
Michelmas, and not in ye yeare as it is figured. 

ELIZABETH. 

James Whittaker of Broadclough, Bacop. 

The Tenants of Primrose Field. 

Henry Kershaw of Tunstedd. 

George Deardwen of Loveclough. 

Edmund Taylor of Wolfenden Booth. 

Geprge Hargreaves of Goodshaw. 

No Grave found. 

John Nuttall of Dedwen Clough. 

Dennis Haworth of Crawshawbooth. 

I^wrence Rawstorne, Gent. 

Henry Haworth of Constablee. 

Richard Hey of Oakenheadwood. 

Christopher Nuttall of Newhall-hey. 

Thomas Duckworth of Musbury. 

James Holt of benches. 

Arthur Ash worth of Cowpe. 

Thomas Maudsley of Piccop banke. 

John Ormerod, senior, of Gambelside. 

Robert Lord of Bacop. 

John Townley, Esq., for his Land called Primrose 

Syke, mm auxilio terra rd Bernard Townley. 
Thomas Law of Tunstedd. 
William Birtwistle of Loveclough. 
James Ashworth, of Wolfendenbooth. 
No Grave found. An order made concerning Clugh 

fold. 



Anno 


Anno 


Dom. 


Reg. 


1559 


2 


1560 


3 


1561 


4 


1562 


5 


1563 


6 


1564. 


7 


1565 


8 


1566 


9 


1567 


10 


1568 


II 


1569 


12 


1570 


13 


1571 


14 


1572 


15 


1573 


16 


1574 


17 


1575 


18 


1576 


19 


1577 


20 


1578 


21 


1579 


22 


1580 


23 


1580 


23 


1581 


24 



98 • History of the 



Anno 


Anno 


Dom. 


Reg. 


1582 


25 


1533 


26 


1584 


27 


1585 


28 


1586 


29 


1587 


30 


1538 


31 


1589 


32 


1590 


33 


159^ 


34 


1592 


35 


1593 


36 


1594 


37 


1595 


38 


1596 


39 


1597 


40 


1597 


40 


1598 


41 


1599 


42 


1600 


43 


i6o[ 


44 


1602 


45 



1603 


I 


1604 


2 


1605 


3 


1606 


4 


1607 


5 


1608 


6 


1609 


7 



Adam Bridge of Dedwenclough. 

James Haworth of Crawshawbooth. 

Richard Ormerod of Wolfenden, for Rawtenstall. 

George Haworth of Constablee. 

Henry Haworth of Oakenhead wood. 

George Haworth of Musbury. 

Henry Romsbotham, junior, of Newhallhey. 

Richard Ormerod of Lenches. 

Ralph Nuttall of Cowpe. 

Robert Holden of Piccop-banke. 

James Birtwistle of Gambelside. 

No grave found. 

John Lord, aliter Bolton of Bacop. 

John Townley, ad auxilio terrard John Townley. 

John Pilling of Tunsted. 

John Holt of Loveclough. 

Rich. Ormerod of lynches, for Wolfendenbooth. 

No Grave found. 

Margrett Hargreaves of Goodshaw, and George 

Haworth and Jennet, his wife, for their lands in 

Goodshaw. 
William Heaton of Dedwenclough. 
George Ormerod of Cra>^hawbooth. 
James Piccop of Waine yate. 

JAMES I. 

Edward Rawstorne, Esq., for Constablee. 
Lawrence Haworth of Pikelaw. 
Edmund Taylor of Musbury. 
Thomas Crawshaw of Newhallhey. 
John Ashworth of Lenches. 
James Yate of Hoddelsden. 
George Ormerod of Wolfenden. 



Forest of Rossendale. 



99 



Anno 
Dqm. 

1610 


Anno 
Reg. 

8 


161 1 


9 


1612 


10 


1613 


II 


1614 


12 


1615 
1616 


13 
14 


1617 
i6t8 


15 
16 


1619 
1620 


17 
18 


1621 


19 


1622 


20 


1623 
1624 


21 
22 



John Ormerod of Gambelside. 

No Grave found. 

John Tattersall, alit Tino of Bacop. 

John Tattersall of Tunstedd. • 

Richard Hey of Loveclough. 

Edward Rawstome of Lumme. {g) 

John Haworth of Goodshaw. 

James Tattersall of Dedwenclough. 

John Haworth of Crawshawbooth. 

Edward Rawstorne, Esq. 

John Ashworth of Constablee. 

George Romsbotham of Okenheadwood. 

Ralph Haworth of Musbury, Junior. 

Charles Romsbotham of Newhallhey. 

John Holt of Lenches. 



CHARLES I. 



1625 


I 


1626 


2 


1627 


3 


1628 


4 


1629 


5 


1630 


6 


163 1 


7 


1632 


8 


1633 


9 


1634 


10 


1635 


II 


1636 


12 


1637 


13 



Roger Holt of Scoute. 
Lawrence Haworth of Hoddelsden. 
Oliver Ormerod of Gambelside. 
William Ormerod for Bacop. 
Richard Townley, Esq. 
Oliver Ormerod of Lenches, for Tunstead. 
George Deardwen of Loveclough. 
Lawrence Taylor of Wolfendenbooth. 
George Hargreaves of Goodshaw. 
William Horrox of Dedwenclough. 
John Haworth of Crawshawbooth. 
Dennis Haworth of Constablee. 
Edward Rawstone, Esq. 



{g) Lumm Hall, Edenfield, the seat of Adam Rawsthome (temp. Ed. IV.) 
and his descendants for nearly 200 years. 



lOO History of the 



Anno 


Anno 


Dom. 


Reg. 


1638 


14 


1639 


15 


1640 


16 


1641 


17 


1642 


18 


1643 


19 


1644 


20 


1645 


21 


1646 


22 


1647 


23 


1648 


24 



Peter Rawstone, Gent., and Trigg Land to Contrib., 

in Okenheadwood. 
Thomas Anderton, Gent. 
John Nuttall, Senr., Gent., and ye rest of yt Land to 

Contrib. 
James Holt of Lenches. 
John Ormerod of Croftehall. 
None found. 

James Holden of Piccop banke. 
James Lord, alit Jone ames. 
John Townley of Hurstwood. 
Richard Nuttall, and Anthony, his son. 
William Birtwhistle. 



TrfE COMMONWEALTH AND PROTECTORATE. 

James Ashworth of Wolfendenbooth. 

Richard Birtwistle of Goodshaw. 

John Bridge of Dedwenclough. 

John Haworth of Crawshawbooth. 

Charles Haworth of Constablee. 

Henry Heape of Rawtenstall. 

Hen. Haworth of Crawshawbooth, for Oakenhead- 

wood. 
I^awrence Rawstorne, Esq., for Musbury. 
Henry Rygley, Esq., for Newhallhey. 
Thomas Holt of Lenches. 
Thomas Haworth of Scoute. 

CHARLES n. 



1649 


I 


1650 


2 


I65I 


3 


1652 


4 


1653 


5 


1654 


6 


1655 


7 


1656 


8 


1657 


9 


1658 


10 


1659 


II 



1660 1 Thomas Fishe of Piccop banke. 

1 66 1 2 Keter Ormerod of Gambelside. 
i66.{ 3 James Lord Goffe of Bacop. 



Forest of Rossendalc. 



lOI 



Anno 


Anno 


Dom. 


Reg. 


1663 


4 


1664 


5 


1665 


•6 


1666 


7 


1667 


8 


1668 


9 


1669 


10 


1670 


II 


1671 


12 


1672 


13 


1673 


14 


1674 


15 


1675 


16 


1676 


17 


1677 


18 


1678 


19 


1679 


20 


1680 


21 


1681 


22 


1682 


23 


1683 


24 


1684 


25 


1685 


I 


1686 


2 


1687 


3 


1688 


4 



Rich. Townley, Esq., for Dunnockshaw. 

John Pilling of Tunstead. 

George Holt of Loveclougb. 

Robt. Dewrst for Wolfendenbooth, 

Henry Hargreaves of Goodshaw. 

John Broughton of Roden, for Deadwenclough. 

George Haworth of Crawshawbooth. 

Adam Holden of Stubylee, for Constablee. 

James Hey of Waine yate. 

Henry Romsbotham of Oakenheadwood. 

Hugh Taylor of Musbury. 

Josuah Nuttall of Newhallhey. 

John Ashworlh of Lenches. 

James Maddock of Cowpe. 

Robert Yate of Woodhead. 

Robt. Ashworth of Gambleside. 

John Whittaker of Baccop. 

John Townley, Esq., ofHurstwood, for Dunnockshaw. 

John Tattersall of Tunstead. 

Richard Holt of Loveclough. 

Tho. Bradshaw, Gent., for VVolfendenbooth. 

Pet. Ormerod of Gambleside, for Goodshaw. 

JAMES H. 

Alexander Haworth of Dedwenclough. 

Myles Lonsdale, for ye Lands of Jam. Haworth of 

Crawshawbooth. 
George Deardwen of Constablee. 
The Heirs of John Hey for Rawtenstall. 



WILLIAM III. 

1689 I The Heirs of Joseph Sharpies of Blackborne, for 

Oakenhead-wood. 



I02 History of the 



Anno 


Anno 


Dom. 


Reg. 


1690 


2 


1691 


3 


1692 


4 


1693 


5 


1694 


6 


1695 


7 


1696 


8 


1697 


9 


1698 


10 


1699 


II 


1700 


12 


1701 


13 



John Cowpe of Holme, for Musbury. 

Robert Haworth for Newhallhey. 

John Holt of Lenches. 

Oliv. Ormerod of Wolfenden, for his Lands in Cowpe. 

Rich. Rothwell of Woodhead. 

Peter Ormerod of Gamblesyde. 

The Heirs of Richard Heai^e of Bacop. 

Rich. Townley of Townley, Esq., for Dunnockshaw. 

Rich. Ormerod of Tunstead. 

George Deardwen of Loveclough. 

Thos. Bradshaw, Gent., for Wolfenden {h\ 

Hen. Hargreaves for Goodshaw. 

ANNE. 

John Nuttall, Gent., for Dedwenclough. 
Oliver Ormerod for Crawshawbooth. 
Henry Haworth of Constablee. 
John Ashworth of Rawtenstall. 
Oliver Ormerod of Okenheadwood. 
John Duckworth for Musbury. 
Sir Willoghby Hickman for Newhallhey. 
John Hoult for Lenches. 

(/i) I have in my possession an original order, as follows — 

To ye Churchwardens and Overseers of ye Poor of yt part of 
Rosendale belonging to New Church, these — 

Whereas, complaint hath been made unto me by James Piccopp, yt his 
wife being in a very sad condicon, and he not able to maintain her and 
family, she having but ye sum of ninepence pr. week allowed, as I am 
informed ; these are therefore in his Majesties name, to command you and 
every of you, yt, imediately upon sight hereof you add threepence pr. week 
more, yt being twelvepence pr. week, or else shew cause to ye contrary 
before me, and you are to give him notice when you do appear. Given under 
my hand this 7th day of February, Ao. Dom. 1697. 

THO. BRADSHAW. 



1702 


I 


'703 


2 


1704 


3 


1 70s 


4 


1706 


5 


1707 


6 


1708 


7 


1709 


8 



Forest of Rossendale. 103 

Anno Anno 
Dom. Reg. 

17 10 9 Jenit Hoyle of Cowpe, widow. 

1 71 1 10 Nicholas Rishton, Gent., for Hoddlesden. 

1712 II William Ormerod of Gambleside. 

17 13 12 John Houlden for Baccop. Cum contributors. 

GEORGE I. 

1 7 14 1 Katherine Townley for Dunnockshaw, cum contri- 

butors. 

1715 2 Jo. Rishton Rt. of his wife for Tunstead, nvm contri- 

butors. 

1 7 16 3 Joseph Townend for Loveclough, rww contributors. 

1717 4 George Ormerod, Edgeside, for Wolfendenbooth, c. 

contributors. 
^7^^ 5 Jo- Holt, Loveclough, for Goodshaw, c. contributors. 

1 7 19 6 Oliver Ormerod of Wolfenden, for Dedwenclough, c. 

contributors. 

1720 7 Jo. Haworth, Rakefoot, for Crawshawbooth, c. con- 

tributors. 

1 7 2 1 8 Henry Haworth, Junr., for Constablelee, c.contributors. 

1722 9 James Lonsdale for Rawtenstall, c. contributors. 

1723 10 James Lonsdale Oakenhead wood, c. contributors. 
172*4 II John Holden for Musbury, c. contributors. 

1725 12 James Townend for Newhallhey, c. contributors. 

1726 13 John Holt of Brimrod, for Lenches. 

The extension of the list of names to 18 11 is from the Court 
Rolls, and has been supplied by Dixon Robinson, Esq. of 
Clitheroe Castle, 

GEORGE n. 

1727 1 James Piccoppe of Boothfold, for Coupe, c. contri- 

butors. 



•'^.'1 



I04 



Histifry of the 



Anno 
Dom. 


Anno 
Reg. 


1728 


2 


1729 


3 


1730 


4 


1731 


5 


1732 


6 


1733 


7 


1734 


8 


»73S 
1736 


9 
10 


1737 
1738 


II 
12 


1739 


13 


1740 


14 


1 741 


15 


1742 


16 


1743 


17 


1744 


18 


1745 
1746 


19 
20 


1747 
1748 


21 
22 


1749 


23 


1750 


24 


1751 


25 


1752 


26 


1753 

1754 


27 
28 


1755 


29 



John Haworth of Piccop Bank, for Hodlesden, c. 

contributors. 
Peter Ormerod of Meadowhead, in Gambleside. 
John Whitaker, and John Lord. 
Richard Townley of Townley. 
Richard Pilling, and John Pilling. 
Henry Hargreaves of Broad Oak. 
James Roth well. 
John Duckworth. 
Robert Haworth. 
John Rothwell of Green Haworth. 
John Hopkinson. 

The Heirs or Executors of Henry Lonsdale, deceased, 
to find a sufficient person to serve the office of 
Greave for their Estate at High Riley, 

The Heirs of Roger Kay, deceased. 
The Heirs of Roger Kay, deceased. 
Peter Ormerod of Newhall Hey. 
George Ashworth of Lenches. 

Richard Hargreaves, and Isaac Jackson, in respect of 
their Estate in Coupe. 

John Yate of Woodhead, in lloddlesden. 
James Haworth of Gambleside. 
John Lord of Greensnook, in Bacup. 
Robert Sutcliffe, for Dunnockshaw. 
John Ramsbottom of Tunsted. 
Richard Holt of Loveclough. 

John Whitaker, of Boothfold, and John Ormered of 
EdgeSide. 

John Haworth of Goodshaw. 
Richard Eastwood of Cloughfold. 
James Haworth of Crawshaw Booth. 
Richard Dearden of Constablee. 



.Forest of Rossendale. 105 



Dom. 


Reg. 


1756 


30 


I7S7 


31 


1758 


32 


'759 


33 



James Lord of Boothfold. 

John Barns of Heightend, in Okenheadwood. 

John Rothwell of Musbury. 

James Haworth, for Newhallhey. 

GEORGE III. 

1760 I Richard Spencer, or Martin Haworth, in respect of an 

Estate at Lenchfold belonging to said Martin 
Haworth. 

1 76 1 2 Peter Ormerod of Ormerod, in respect of his Estate 

at Cowpe. 

John Rothwell. 

William Ormerod. 

John Lord of Broadclough. 

James Pilling of Dunnockshaw. 

John Taylor of Tunstead. 

Richard Holt of Loveclough. 

James Lord of Boothfold. 

Richard Hargreaves of Goodshaw. 

James Ashworth of Cloughfold. 

George Haworth, and James Pickop, both of Height- 
side, and Ellen Haworth of Rakefoot, all in 
Crawshawbooth, to find a proper person to serve. 

Henry Haworth, with his Bearer, to find a proper 
person to serve. 

Edmund Whittaker, with his Bearers, &c. 

Margaret Wray, with her Bearers, &c 

Lawrence Duckworth, with his Bearers, &c. 

Samuel Lord of Newhallhey, with his Bearers, &c. 

Henry Hoyle of Lenchfold, with his Bearers, &c. 

Henry Hoyle of Oowpe, with his Bearers, &c. 

John Eccles, with his Bearers, &e. 

John Ormerod of Gambleside, with his Bearers, && 



1762 


3 


1763 


4 


1764 


5 


1765 


6 


1766 


7 


1767 


8 


1768 


9 


1769 


10 


1770 


II 


I77I 


12 


1772 


13 


1773 


14 


1774 


IS 


1775 


16 


1776 


17 


1777 


18 


1778 


19 


1779 


20 


1780 


21 



io6 



History of the 



Anno 


Anno 


Dom. 


Reg. 


1781 


22 


1782 


23 


1783 


24 


1784 


25 


1785 


26 


1786 


27 


1787 


28 


1788 


29 


1789 


30 


1790 


31 


1791 


32 


1792 


33 


1793 


34 


1794 


35 


1795 


36 


1796 


37 


1797 


38 


1798 


39 


1799 


40 


1800 


41 


1801 


42 


1802 


43 


1803 


44 


1804 


45 


1805 


46 


1806 


47 


1807 


48 


1808 


49 


1809 


50 


1810 


51 


1811 


52 



George Haworth of Wear, for Scar End, with his 

Bearers, &c. 
Lawrence SutclifTe of New Laith, in Dunnockshaw. 
James and John Mitchell of Tunstead. 
Joshua Townsend of Love Clough. 
Lawrence and Richard Ormerod of Edgeside, within 

Wolfenden Booth. 
Abraham Taylor of Goodshaw. 
Richard Ormerod of Cloughfold. 
George Hargreaves of Rakefoot. 
Henry Haworth of Constablee. 
Abel Bridge of Meadowhead. 
John Kenyon of Pike Law. 
John Taylor of Torr End. 
John Haworth of Townsend fold. 
Edmund Lord of Ruglee (? Rough-lee.) 
Robert Ashworth of Cowpe. 
No Appointment. 

Miles Whitaker, and Lawrence Ashworth, of Gamble- 
side. 
John Lord of Bankside. 
Henry Butterworth of Dunnockshaw. 
John Pilling of Lower Tunstead. 
John Holt of Loveclough. 
Lawrence Ashworth of Edge Side. 
No Appointment. 
Henry Hoyle of Cloughfold. 
No Appointment. 

Thirstan Bradshaw of Lane, within Constablee. 
Thomas Cunliffe of Waingate, within Rawtenstall. 
Henry Rothwell of Oakenhead Wood. 
John Scholfield of Musbury Tur End. 
Henry Haworth of Newhallhey. 
Henry Haworth of Newhallhey. 



J^orest of Rossendale. 107 

No appointment of Greaves appears on the Court Rolls after 
181 1. The following are supplied Grom another source. 

Anno Anno 

Don). Reg. 

i8ia 53 Heniy Hargreaves, Esq., of Newchurch, for Futber- 
fold, in Cowpe, 

1S13 54 John Yates of Woodhead, in Hoddlesden. 

i8r4 55 Geoige Vates, and Henry Haworth, for Meadow- 
bead in Gambleside, belonging to the Rev, Mr. 
Porter, of Bacup. 

1815 56 Henry Plawortb, and George Yates, for the late 

Geo^ Ormerod <A Greensnook, Bacup. 

1816 57 Henry Butterwortb, Heniy Pollard, and James Taylor, 

deputies for Newheatb estate, in Dunnocksbaw. 

i8j7 58 Turner, Slack, estate at Tunstead. 

1818 59 John Holt, Esq., of Loveclougb. 




CHAPTER II. 

"... Thus runs the bill." 

— Shakespeare ("Kino Henry V.") 

" Fetch forth the stocks ! 
As I have life and honour, there shall he sit till noon." 

— Shakespeare ("King Lear.') 

The "Accounts" of its Greaves are among the most valuable 
records which we possess of the past History of the Forest of 
Rossendalc. (a) Some of these are given in considerable detail, 
while others are, unfortunately, so abridged, as to convey but 
meagre information. It is to be regretted that the volume in 
which they are contained dates no farther back than the year 1691. 
The previous volumes, could they be recovered, would constitute 
a treasure over which the antiquary might pore with unmixed 
delight It is, however, but too probable that these have long since 
perished. By their light, much that is obscure in the early history 
of Rossendale would have been elucidated and explained, and 
circumstances now altogether unknown, revealed. 

Records having reference to the past events of the Forest are 
not so plentiful that we can afford to be deprived of even the least 
important, much less those of its chief officer. But to repine 
about that which is altogether irremediable, is a thankless and 
exercise. It is a fortunate circumstance, and one on 
is room for congratulation, that so much as does 
been preserved. Let us proceed to glance at their 



-iHi.h.'Ti' g the Accounts of the Greave of the Forest from 
"xvi SVC -u i&a:: ^ ^I preserved at Newchurch. 



Forest of Rossendale. 109 

In order to convey a clear idea of these yearly accounts, and 
also of the manner in which they were kept by the several officers 
in succession, I have transcribed the total Receipts and Disburse- 
ments of two complete years as they appear in the Greaves* Book, 
with the names of the leading parishoners who certified and passed 
the several items, appended thereto. 

THE ACCOUNTS OF ROBERT WHITTAKER, GREAVE.OF 
THE FORREST OF ROSSENDALE, FOR JOn. HEAPE OF 
BACCOPE, FOR Ye YEARE OF bUR LORD 1698. {b) 

Received, as it doth appear by twoo several Assessments, ye 

sum of . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . jf 40 o 6 



Disbursed as followeth : — 

ImprimiSy for ye repaire of Althem Bridge and Sike side 

Bridge, ye sum of £1 ^9 S 

Item for ye house of Correction, .. .. .. .. oioio 

It. for ye poore prsonrs at Lancaster, . . . . . . 074 

It. for ye repeire of Rybble bridge And Can bridge, ye 

sum of •• .. .. .. .. .. .. 3 17 ^ 



Carry forward, £^ 1$ * 



{b) The following excerpts, giving an explanation of the taxation of the 
period, are from " A True and Faithful Copy of the various Rates for the 
County Palatine of Lancaster, from an Original Manuscript written for the 
use of John Yates, Esqr., Treasurer of the said County, May 16th, 17 16,'* 
inserted in Gregsoo's portfolio of Fragments relative to the History and 
Antiquities of the County Palatine and Duchy of Lancaster : — 

" There be six several kinds of Taxes and Layes used within the County 
of Uncaster viz:— I. The SUBSIDY.—II. The FIFTEENTH.- III. The 
OXLEY.— IV. The MAIMED LAY.— V. The PRISONERS' LAY.— 
VI. The SOLDIERS' LAY, or COUNTY LAY. 

'*The Subsidy is only used when a Subsidy is granted to the King's 
Majesty by Act of Parliament. 

** The Fifteenth is used when a fifteenth or tenth is granted to the King's 
Majesty by Act of Parliament. 

" The Oxley is used for provbion of oxen for the King's Majesty's house- 
hold, according to a composition heretofore made by the said county. 



1 1 o History of the 

Brought forward, £fi \% i 

It. forye poore prsonrs in ye Marshallsee 022 

It. for ye repeire of Waterfoot bridge 162 

It. for ye repeire of Little Harwood Bridge and Rillfooth 

Bridge, ye sum, 630 

It. for ye poore prsonrs at Lanr. And Master of ye house of ^ 

Correction, , 162 

It. for ye poore prsnrs at Lanr 090 

It. charges of passengers, ye sum of o i 10 

It. to ye Justice Clarke for ye return of Super visers for ye 

highway - i 12 4 

It. to Mr. Nuttali for Drawing Information agst Tattersall, 034 

It. at ye Greave's return of his Account at Booth fould for 

ye yeare 1697, ye sum of . . 0120 

It. Charges of Sessing twoo Greave Layes togethr with . 

ye bookes writing, ye sum of . • • . . . , • 100 

It. for Instructions and Charges of 2 bookes writing and 

Sessing ye land, ye sum of o 12 6 

It. for ye repeire of Ribchester bridge and Dinhley bridge, 

ye sum of 7 12 8 

It. for ye repeire of Lancr. Castle and Lancher bridge, ye 

sum of 2 13 9 



Carry forward, £yi 10 o 



" The Maimed Soldiers* Lay is used for the relief of sick, hurt, and maimed 
soldiers and mariners. 

''The Prisoners* Lay is used for the relief of the poor prisoners in the 
King's Majesty's Gaol at Lancaster. 

'' The 6th and last, called the Soldier^ Lay^ or County Lay^ is the most 
usual Tax or Lay either for mustering, arming, or furnbhing of Soldiers for 
the King's Majesty's Wars, or of the trained bands^ or for the repair of 
bridges, or any other use or purpose within the said county, except it be for 
some of the five special purposes before mentioned, and ^re to be taxed, 
collected, and paid in all the several hundreds, parishes, and townships within 
the said county, according to the same Lay, being the most equals retisonahle^ 
and indifferent Tax for the whole county, either for men or money." 

[The Fifteenths and Subsidies are two of the oldest Rates in the Kingdom, 
and were superseded by the LAND TAX Act of Parliament, which was 
framed on the principle of the ancient Subsidy Act and Fifteenths. We 
meet with payments of the Fifteenths so far back as the statute of Magna 



Forest of Rossendale. in 

Brought forward, j(30 xo o 

It. for ye repeire of Accrington Bridge 154 

It. Instructions for ye pole tax and twoo Bookes writeing 

and Sessing, o 12 4 

It. for ye poore prsonrs at Lancr., 0139 

It. for drawing our Answer to ye 12 Articles 010 

It. for an Ordr. for Jam : Pilling, 020 

It. for signing ye window dublicats [duplicates] by ye 

Justices, ye sum of .. 030 

It. Charges of Conveying Jam : Pilling to ye house of 

Correction, .... . . . . . . . . o 14 o 

It. for ye repeire of Bridge end bridge, i 13 10 

It. for ye repeire of Crossford bridge, .. .^ .. 2 4 10 

It. Sessing one Greave lay and bookes writeing 0100 

It. in Hoddlesdin spent at Sessing twoo Greaves layes, ye 

sum of • • . • . • 020 

Spent .< . . ye . . .of Lancr. . . . on ye Jury, .. 010 
It. pd. to Jon. Bamsbottam, who was oute of purse, ye sum 

of 15 7 

It. for Aprahending 2 vagrante psons and haveing them 

before Justice, 020 

It. spent at ye putting my Accounts into ye Parish booke, 

ye sum of .. .. .• .. .. .. .. o 12 o 

Total sum disbursed is, £^0 12 8 

■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ 

Charia^ on the conclusion of which the Parliament granted to King John, for 

concessions by him therein made, a Fifteenth Part of their Moveable Goods^ &c., 

&c. — Note by Mr. Greoson.] 

" When the Hundred of Blackburn is to make ;f 100 of the County Rate, 

the Forests in the Hundred pay as follows : — 

£ s. d. 

BoUand, 16 lof 

Pendle, .. 7 * 7^ 

Ighnell Parke, o 15 11 

Heyhouses, . • . . . . . . o 3 2|- 

Trawden, i 11 10^ 

Bossendall 7 14 o 

Atrington Vetera, o 14 2 

Atrington Nova, i 17 2." 

Rossendale, being the most important, is made to contribute the largest 
share. 



112 History of the 

So that I am disbursed more than I have received wich I 

am out of purse ye sum of £o \2 2 

Seen and allowed by us, 

THO. LEIGH, 

GEORGE HARGREAVES, 

RICHARD ORMEROD, 

JOHN LORD, 

HENRY LAW, > Fishoners. 

OLIVER PILLING, 

JOHN HOULT, 

GEORGE HARGREAVES, 

HENRY HAWORTH, 

The name which appears first on the list of parishioners is that 
of the incumbent of Newchurch. Those which follow are probably 
the names of the churchwardens, and some of the leading 
residents. 

THE ACCOUNTS OF JOHN YATE, GREAVE FOR THE 
FOREST OF ROSSENDALE, FROM MICHAELMAS 1746, TO 
MICHAELMAS 1747, HIS RECEIPTS AND DISBURSEMENTS 
BEING AS FOLLOWETH :— 

Reed, from the old Greave, .. .. .. £qo o 4f 

By two Assessments, . . . . . . . . 52 10 o 



£S^ 10 4l 



Disbursed as follows : — 

Paid for two Receipts upon Strait money, . . ;f o o 8 

Charges in Apprehending and conveying Jas. Smith 
and Judith Turner to ye House of Correction, . 
Paid for Highway Warrants, 
Paid for Summons agst Jas. Smith, &c.. 
Land Tax Instructions and returning Duplicates, 
Paid by several Precepts, 



206 
060 
o II o 

5 3 
23 9 2i 



Carry forward, £26 12 7^ 



Forest of Rossendale. 



113 



Brought forward, 
To Executing a Bench Warrant, &c., 
To attending ye Coroner's Inquest, 
To apprehending and Conveying Jno. Whi taker and 

Alice Cheetham to ye House of Correction, 
To a vagrant Warrant, 
To ye Coroner upon ye body of Sarah Haworth, 
Paid Messinger to fetch ye Coroner, 
Paid Jury upon the same. 
Charges in searching after Thos. Ha worth for ye 

Murther of his wife, 
To John Ormerod for going to Lancaster, . . 
Pd. on Acct. of Transporting James Smith, 
Charges in Apprehending and Conveying Thomas 

Haworth to Lancaster, 
Charges for five persons to Preston upon ye sd Murther 
Assessing two Greave Lays at Bellthorn, 
Going to four Quarter Sessions, 

Paid for returning a List of Jurors 

Charges at ye Assizes upon ye Prosecution of Thos. 

Haworth, for ye murther of his wife. 
Paid for returning Duplicates for Window Tax, 
Charges in conveying Thos. Edmundson to House of 

Correction, 
Paid for a Warrant against cursing and swearing, . 
Paid to sevral passengers, 
Writing Land Tax and Greave Lay Books, . . 

At making up these Accts 

To Dr. Midgely, . . 

To Entring ye Accounts, . . 

Reed., 
Rests due, . 



£26 12 


71 


4 





I 


6 


I S 





2 





13 


4 


5 





4 


4 


7 


4 


5 





2 2 





I S 





17 





I 00 





10 





I 





8 II 


2 


I 


s 


10 





2 





7 


4 


10 





s 





8 





I 






£At6 II oi 
52 10 4f 

£>% 19 4i 



Perua'd and allowed by us this 12th day of March 1748. 

GEO. HAWORTH, 
JOHN ORMEROD, 
JNO. HARGREAVES, 
JOHN LORD, 
RICHD. DEARDEN. 



114 History of the 

The following entries, extracted at random from the accounts of 
different years, are full of interest, affording us now and again a 
passing glimpse of some strange transactions, suggesting many 
curious reflections, while they serve better than the most elaborate 
essay to illustrate the peculiar manners and customs of the times. 

169 1 -3. 

Item, tor the use of the Militia ^f.i 2 6 

Item, for certain lands annexed and Uid to and for Ihe use of 

Watertoot bridge 00 1 1 7 

Item, for Relieving 25 passenger! at ievorrall times with money 

and carriges, •■ ■■ ■■ ■■ ■■ ■■ .. 00 14 10 
llem, in money spent upon the jury at ye time of viewinge llie 

dead body of Jotin Piccop, iate of Newchurch, .. .. 00 i G 

Many such entries as the above occur, of money having been 
" spent upon the jurymen." The sums vary in amount from is, 4d. 
to 4s. 4d., but the rule seems to liave been 4d. each man. People 
in those days had a natural aversion to working for nothing. 

The next entry is of the true antiquarian cast, and is at once 
striking and characteristic. 

Item, for a Bridle for Scouldinge women, . . . . . . ^00 z 6 

The Bridle or Brank, as it is also called, used by our forefathers 
for the punishment of scolds and " slanderous gossips," was 
constructed of iron, having a collar which fitted round the neck, 
being hinged at the sides, to which were fastened four bands, or 
hoops, rising over the ears, and in front between the eyes, crossing 
each other on the crown of the head. The band passing down 
the back of Ihe head was hinged at the crown so as easily to be 
raised when the instrument was applied to the colprit,and was then 
secured to the collar by a padlock at the back of the neck. On 
the band in front was welded n piece of steel called the gag or 
bridle-bit, about two inches long, and one inch broad, projecting 
inwards, having its under side rasped or cut like a rough file. This 
was inserted into the mouth of the noisy delinquent, and rested upon 
the tongue, thus effectually preventing her from exercising that 



Forest of Rossendale. 1 1 5 

particular faculty which had provoked the indignation of the law. 
Above the bit was an aperture for admitting the nose. During the 
last half of the seventeenth, and throughout the eighteenth centur>', 
this was the popular mode of punishment for termagants and 
shrews. Prior to that time the Ducking or Cucking-Stool was in 
vogue. It is quite probable that the earlier accounts of the Greaves 
of the Forest would include entries having reference to this engine 
of punishment. 

The Ducking Stool was a much more formidable instrument 
than the Bridle, though it is questionable whether it answered the 
desired end as completely as the subsequent invention. We have 
the testimony of a writer in the time of James II., no less than the 
learned Dr. Plot, in his History of Staffordshire, that it did not. 
Comparing the two modes of punishment, he says : — " They have 
an artifice at Newcastle-under-Lyne and Walsall, for correcting of 
Scolds, which it does so effectually that I look upon it as much to 
be preferred to the Cucking-Stool, which not only endangers the 
health of the party, but also gives the tongue liberty *twixt every 
dip, to neither of which this is at all liable ; it being such a bridle 
for the tongue as not only quite deprives them of speech, but brings 
shame for the transgression, and humility thereupon, before 'tis 
taken off ; which being put upon the offender by order of the 
magistrate, and fastened with a padlock behind, she is led round 
the town by an officer, to her shame. Nor is it taken off till after 
the party begins to show all external signs imaginable of humilia- 
tion and amendment." 

The Ducking Stool consisted of a plank or other lever, from 
twelve to fifteen feet long, supported in the middle by an upright 
post which was driven into the ground, close by the side of the 
river or pond, and arranged in such a manner as to allow of its 
being raised and depressed, or swung round in any direction. To 
the end of the plank a chair or stool was attached by means of a 
pivot which allowed it always to retain the horizontal position. In 
this the offender was securely fastened, and being swung round 
over the water, the opposite end of the lever was raised, and the 



ii6 History of the 

cxx:upant of the chair immersed as often as was thought desirable, 
three being the usual number of dips. About the barbarity of this 
custom there can at this day be no two opinions ; and we quite 
coincide in Dr. Plot's view that " Lucy's Muzzle," as the bridle 
was sometimes called, was a more effectual, while it was also a 
more merciful, method of treating the rebellious members of the 
weaker sex. Many of these bridles, which were once 

" The dread of ev'ry scolding queen," 

are preserved in museums and in private collections throughout the 
country. At the sale of the effects of Mrs. Benson, Fletcher Fold, 
near Bury, widow of the late William Benson, Esq., agent to the Earl 
of Derby, a relic of this kind was disposed of by auction, being pur- 
chased by, and now in the possession of a friend of the writer's 
residing at Bury. This Bridle or Brank was formerly the property 
of the township of Pilkington, and was kept.in the workhouse there, 
for use on all needful occasions. To its efficacy in curbing the 
unruly member, I can bear personal testimony, having had the 
happiness of trying it on, on more than one occasion. 

The next entry is from the year 1693, and is an 

Item to Pessengers taking Sarah Whittwham to ye house 

of Correction, ,, .. .. .. £\ ^ 1 

m 

Note the expression. Passengers, Sarah seems to have been 
an obstreperous character, as it required two or three persons to 
convey her to her destination. 

1696-97. 

It. to Mr. Cunliffe, vardict bringing in, . . . . £0 14 $ 

1697-98. 
It. for making utinsells and workelumes in ye House of 

Correction .. ,. .. ,, ,, 047 

This has reference to the Preston House of Correction, and the 
sum of 4s. 7d. is the proportionate amount contributed by the 
Forest of Rossendale towards the object named 



Forest of Rossendale. 117 

1698-99. 

I tin* for Drawing our Answer to ye Articles ;^o i o 

1699, 1700. 
Item for ye charges of ye Bride Robs 380 

I am unable to throw light on these two last entries. 

Item for two Lawyear's fees att Lancr. and Sillisitinge {sic) 

for ye same . . . . . . . . . . . . £16^ 

Item for a way marke 036 

There are numerous entries of this latter kind in the Greaves' 
Book. Finger or guide posts, or way marks, having inscriptions 
painted upon them, appear to have been placed near to the various 
cross roads in the locality to direct travellers in the right path. The 
names of some of the villages were also prominently exhibited. Per- 
haps the only remnant of the practice remaining in the district, is 
the name BAG UP, now almost defaced, conspicuously painted in 
very large capital letters on the gable end of a stable near to the toll 
bar at the foot of Todmorden road, and intended to catch the eye 
of travellers coming out of Yorkshire. 

1700-1. 

It. for ye repaire of New-hall-hey Bridge . . . . . ;^i 19 i 

It. for a warrant for collectors of ye tax of Births, &c., . . 020 

It. for ye repaire of Butts and Stoccks, 050 

1705-6. 
An ordr. for cendincing (sentencing) Mary Ramsbottom, . . 0150 

1706-7. 

It. for Amending Stock house door o 2 D 

It. for charges in taking up Idle persons 070 

1708-9. 

For a Robery upon Lawr. Shuttle worth 4 13 6 

It. paid for 13 horses for conveying soldiers, . . . . 088 

1709-10. 
It. pd. for a warrt, for apprehending seamen, . . . . 020 

1710-11. 
It. spent att a meeting abt. Bowing 0100 



ii8 History of the 

We now come upon a series of interesting entries bearing on 
the Jacobite Rebellion of 17 15, intended, had it been successful, 
to depose the first George, and place the sovereignty of these 
islands and their dependencies in the hands of the exiled son of 
James II., best known to history by the title of the "Old 
Pretender." 

Rossendale contributed its quota in men and money towards 
the suppression of this ill-concocted outbreak. The following 
items occur amongst others. 

For Repairing Butts, ;£o 2 o 

1716. 
It. for conveying of vagrants and reimbursing severall townes 

yt attended his Maties' troops, .. .. .. .. 2 16 5 

It. for Mr. of ye House of Correction, and use of Malitia 

by ye deputy Lievetenants, . . . . . . . . 140 

It. for a further supplie to ye Malitia, o 7 9 

It for Trophy Money, .. ©79 

"Trophey Money" is a payment towards providing colours, 
drums, trumpets, and other paraphernalia for the county militia, and 
not, as might naturally be supposed, a contribution for the erection 
of a pile or other monument of victory. 

1716. 

It. Carridges yt attended his Maties' Troops, . . . . £4 3 i^ 

It. for conducting Souldiers at severall times, . . . . 086 

1717. 
For furnishing with Amunition and other necessaries for ye 

use of ye Malitia, 359 

For carrying Souldiers and Seamen to Burnley and Hasling* 

den and ReUeving ym, . . . . . . . . 0125 

Pd. to Edmund Whittaker for a Souldier's wife lying att his 

house, .. .. ... .. .. .. .. 100 

1718. 
For conveying his Majesty's troops, .. .. .. .. 2 15 6 

Given to severall Soldiers, . . . . . . . . . . o 1 1 o 

4 Horses to Burnley with soldiers, .. .. .. .. 030 

Pd. James Heape for his loss with soldiers, i 10 o 



Fmrsi 0/ -Ressemdmle. 119 

It voidd hive satisBed c mk i Mij hid die mture of Mr. Heip^ 



The next item is curious 
171S. 



ior tikias «p Idfe persona;. j^o o 6 



Recnsamts, or ipyec tc d pefsoos — stm^ers probably — ^who could 
DOl render a good aooount of themsehes. 

1721. 

Itm. for muataiai]^ the Watdb in tihis Coonty, j^o 7 8 

Itm. paid to two Sooldrs tiieir wife and three chndren, 007 

We are forcibly reminded by this entry that the days of clover 
for the poor soldier had passed away. The rebellion was completely 
stamped out ; his services were no longer required — he must there- 
fore go to the walL But this was surely economising to a degree. 
A miserable pittarKC among so many ; barely enough to prevent 
their Punishing before getting beyond the confines of the Forest 

1722. 
For Watch to preyent Infected Ships Landing, . . ;&04 i 8 

During the years 1720 — 2, France was visited by ^ horrible 
pestilence or plague of the most infectious and deadly character. 
In the commercial dty of Marseilles alone, about sixty thousand 
persons died of this scourge. The above entry has reference to the 
precautions which were taken hy the authorities of Lancashire to 
prevent its reaching these shores. 

1723. 

For Instmctions of Land Tax, for Papists' Sess and Warrant, j^o 2 o 

1724. 

Pd. to poor travellers, 066 

It. to two disbanded Soldiers, . . . . . . . . 010 

1727. 
Spent at proclaiming George II., .. .. .. .. 102 

1729. 
Spent in relieving Laurence Lord, of Baccop, • • . . 010 



1 20 History of the 

1734. 

For the Repair of Stocks at Newchurch, ^f o 14 6 

1738. 
To a Warrant for taking Sailors, . . . . . . . . 010 

Runaway sailors who had taken refuge in this district. 
1740-41. 

Spent in aj)prehending and conveying John BrierclifF to 

Lancaster, ;^2 2 4 

1742. 
Conveying a Deserter to Lancaster .. 00150 

1743. 
Paid to the Cornoll (Coroner) for coming to Hen. Ashworth's 

wife . . . • . . . . . . . . . • o 10 o 

1744. 
Repairing Rawtenstall Stocks 020 

The next item is suggestive — we are drawing near to times of 
trouble and mistrust. 

1744. 

For taking the oath of delivering ye names oC all ye Papists, £0 i o 

In the following year the rebellion which had been brewing in 
favour of Prince Charles Edward, son of the Chevalier de St. 
George, discovered itself about the end of July, when the " Young 
Pretender," having sailed from France, landed on the western 
shores of the Scottish Highlands. Many of the hardy mountaineers, 
it is well known, flocked to the standard of the prince ; but it was 
not until after the battle of Preston-pans, which resulted in a victory 
for the rebels, and their subsequent advance into England, that the 
Government of the day began to estimate the importance of 
the movement thus inaugurated to restore to the throne of his 
£Eithers this ill-fated scion of the house of Stuart. 

It is interesting to connect our district with the events of the 
period ; and this we are enabled to do by the next series of entries 
in the Greaves* Book, to the following effect ; — 



Forest of Rossendale. 



121 



THE ACCOUNTS OF GEORGE ASHWORTH OF 
LENCHES, GREAVE OF THE FORREST OF 
ROSSENDALE, FROM MICHAELMAS 1744 TO 
MICHAELMAS 1745, WITH ALL HIS RECEIPTS 
AND DISBURSEMENTS UPON ACCOUNT OF 
THE MILITIA SOLDIERS OF Ye Sd. FORREST, 
AS FOLLOWS;— 

Received by an Assessment, Allowance to ye collectors 
deducted, . . . . 

I 

Disburst : — 

To Work done by ye Gunsmith , , , . 

To Musket, Hen. Hargreaves, Laneside . . • 

To 6 Warrants • . 

To Expenses with ye Clarks 

To Expenses Laying a Lay 

To Expenses Drawing and Paying 

To Writing Militia Book 

To 28 Principalis and Posts 

To Fetching and taking care of 6 muskets 



/20 


16 


8i 


£0 


7 


4 





II 


8 





9 











9 





7 








3 








6 


8 


»5 


4 


lOj 





I 





£^7 


II 


3J 



Cash in Hand 



3 5 4* 



It will not be inferred that the few muskets mentioned here 
were all that the militia of the Forest possessed. To do this would 
be to place things in rather a ludicrous light. It must be presumed 
that our local soldiers were accoutred as fully as the times allowed, 
and that these were only a few necessary expenses entailed in their 
equipment. 

The " Principalis and Posts," which constitute the heaviest item 
in the bill, were probably used in the construction of butts for 
musket practice, though these were as often as not merely sodded 
mounds of earth ; or in the erection of a temporary shelter during 
the hours of drill. The following list is copied from an old M.S; 
volume in the possession of the late George Hargreaves, Esq., J. P., 
of Newchurch, and is entitled 



122 History of the 

A LIST OF THE POSTS FOR ROSSENDALE MILITIA, 
DELIVERED TO THE DEPUTY-LIEUTENANTS OF 
THE COUNTY OF LANCASTER AT BLACKBURN 
Ye 3D DAY OF APRIL 1744. WARRANT TAKEN 
TO FIX Ye POSTS Ye sth JULY 1745. 

1 . Will. Ormerod, Gambleside. 

2. Richd. Holt, Loveclough, 

3. Geo. Hargreaves, Goodshaw. 

4. Geo. Haworth, Crawshaybooth. 

5. Dennis Haworth, Bottomly bank. 

6. Henry Haworth, Constablee. 

7. Jno. Duckworth, Park House. 

8. Lee. Duckworth, Musberry.* 

9. Richd. Whitaker, Rawtenstall. 

10. Jno. Ashworth, Newhouse. 

1 1 . Jno. Townend, Newhallhey. 

12. Jno. Ramsbottom, Tunstead. 

13. Jno. Ormerod, Tunstead. 

14. Jno. Whitaker, Broadclough. 

15. Jno. Lord, Broadclough. 

16. Abram Law, Holmes. 

17. Jno. Hargreaves, Newchurch. 

18. Jno. Lord, Greensnook. 

19. James Law, Green Lane. 

20. Hew Hargreaves, Nabb. 

21. Law. Ormerod, Lum. 

22. Will. Halstead, Dunnockshaw. 

23. Law. Yates, Hoddlesden. 

24. George Yates, Hoddlesden. 

25. Hen. Hargreaves, Laneside. 

26. Oliver Ormerod, Heightside. 

27. Robt. Halstead, Constablee. 

28. Jos. Townend, Musberry. 

29. Jno. Holt, Lenchea. 

30. James Piccop, Heightside. 

N,B. — The six last were added, which is to be considered by the gentlemen 
at the next meeting. At the next meeting, which was on 5th July 1745, the 
Gentlemen Deputy- Lieutenants agreed to discharge the six last Posts, which 
were imposed upon the Forest by Major Bradshaw about the year i6g6. 



/ 



Forest of Rossendale. 123 

The rebel garrison, a detachment of the retreating army of the 
Pretender, in whose charge the city and castle of Carlisle had been- 
left, surrendered to the Duke of Cumber-land on December 30th, 
1745, and in reference to this event, the following item occurs : — 

Paid the Ringers at ye taking Carlisle, by ordr of ye High * 

Constab ;^o i o 

In the month following, the rebel army fled from Stirling, and 
this was another cause for rejoicing. 

Paid the Ringers at ye taking Stirling, by ordr of ye High 

Constable, • . • • £o i 6 

Rossendale, it appears, was honoured by a flying visit from some 
of the Pretender's friends, as the next entry very significantly 
shows : — 

1746. 
Taking 'up^4 Rebells and ye charges of carrying them before 

the Justices . . £0 $ ^ 

It is of interest to note that a curious pamphlet, now exceedingly 
scarce, relating to the events referred to in the Greaves* Accounts, 
and dealing at some length with the loyal inhabitants of Rossendale, 
was published at this time, the writer evidently being either an 
inhabitant of the district, or having some connection therewith. 
The work is described on the title page as a " Poem on the late 
rebellion, from the Young Pretender's first landing in the Isle of 
Skie to his defeat at the battle near Culloden \ by Philonactos 
Rossendaliensis, Manchester; printed by R. Whitworth for the 
author, price 3d." {b) It contains 24 pages, including the title 
page. The poem is 361 lines in length, and occupies 19 pages; 
the title page and preface, 5 pages. 

The preface is addressed " To all Ranks of People," and begins — 

" Candid fieaders. 

" Pardon the dress wherein the following lines appear, which, 
tho* they may not answer the expectations of any curious critick, 

ijb) The Manchester Free Reference Library has a copy of the pamphlet. 



124 History of the 

yet, if they tend in any measure to paint forth the horrid figure and 
destructive design of a parcel of rebellious rovers and desperate 
plunderers, who have lately disturbed this peaceful island, and 
thereby begiet in the breast of any poor misled Briton an abhorence 
of the wicked principles that actuated them, the author will think 
his labour well rewarded, who is humbly persuaded that none can 
accuse him of extravagant hyperboles, except such who have 
imbibed their pernicious tenets, and secretly thirst after the ruin of 
our present constitution both in Church and State." 

The poem begins — 

" Thou heav'nly Muse, who kind assistance lent 
To antient bards on mighty themes intent, 
Who did'st their breasts with sacred truths inspire, 
Give me one spark of Thy poetick fire. 
But chiefly Thou, supreme, Eternal King, 
Who did'st confusion to bright order bring. 
Assist my feeble muse, whilst I relate 
The sad distractions of Britannia's State." 

The author then proceeds to recount the progress of the 
Pretender's army through England to Derby, and he continues — 

" And Derby last flnish'd their long career, 
Tow'rd Trentaine's Ford they wing'd their speedy flight, 
Marching full thirty miles one winter's night. 
To guard each pass the Duke no time had lost, 
Which struck such pannicks in the rebel host, 
That now they dreamed on Albion's Crown no more, 
But back thro' towns they'd ravag'd once before 
They flew, like flock of fouls, or wild or tame, 
Whilst the brave Duke pursudhis fright'nedgame; 
How with amazement struck, the rebels fled, 
Loud noizy fame thro' distant countries spread, 
Brave Rossendale, who base designs abhorr'd. 
And own'd no king but George their sov'reign lord, 
With love unfeign'd great Brunswick's line rever'd, 
Nor Popish brats nor Jacobitish fear'd, 
This news received, with just resentment fir'd, 
In council met, her Grandees arms required, 



Forest of Rossendale. 125 

At their command the warlike peasants rise, 
And loud huzzas re-echo'd thro* the skies ; 
Some arm*d with clubs, like Hercules of old, 
Others with guns, all resolutely bold 
Had instruments of death, one mind, one heart 
Gave life to all, and quick'ned ev'ry part, 
By beat of drums, and ensigns wav'd on high. 
They march'd, but when the rebel host drew nigh, 
Th' adjacent towns, oh, shame ! refus'd their aid. 
And left these warlike souls to fiends betray'd ; 
What cou'd they do, abandoned by their friends, 
A match unequal to these rebel bands ? 
With sad regret, breathing revengful ire. 
Prudence taught them reluctant to retire ; 
So now these rovers straight their flight pursued, 
And eager pace their quick retreat renew'd.*' 

And so on. 

As bearing on this subject, and partly elucidating and com firm- 
ing the statements in the poem, the following interesting and 
quaint particulars, relating to the young Pretender's rising in 1745, 
and the march of the rebels, are from a diary kept by Richard 
Kay, of Baldingstone, near Bury, the residence of his father, who 
was a staunch Nonconformist, and who appears from the diary to 
have kept open house for all Nonconformist ministers in this and 
the surrounding neigbourhood. 

The contents of the diary from which the extracts are taken 
were contributed by Sir Thomas Baker, late Mayor of Manchester, 
to the " Palatine Note Book," vol. iv. pp. 19, et seq, 

"December 8th, 1745. This day — this Sabbath Day— in the 
morning, as we were going to Bury Chappel, we met Coz. Dr. 
Kay and his brother Coz. John Kay, from Manchester, who told 
us they were fleeing out of the way of the rebells, who had marched 
to Darby, near our army, and retreated; Manchester, with the 
assistance of the country people, are intending to make a stand 
against them. Cousins would have me to go to Rossendale with 
them, about four miles hence, to raise the people there. I took a 
ride with them. In the afternoon we heard Mr. Welch preach at 



126 



History of the 



Rossendale Church from I, John, iii, 2 ; Lord, may we be in 
covenant with God, and then we may hope that all will be well 
with us. 

" December gth. This day, in the afternoon, 1 visited at Stand. 
We hear all the Highland rebells from Scotland, who liave been 
as far as Darby towards London, intending to get a Prince upon 
the Throne, a nursling from Rome, are this evening all in 
Manchester. Finding themselves not a sufficient force to engage 
our army, they are making the best of their way for the Highlands ; 
our army, about 1,400 strong, are pursuing them. We have 
another army in Yorkshire about io,ooo strong. The rebells 
plunder and do a deal of mischief The Rossendale people, 
about 500, came our raid, towards Manchester to-day, but 'tis 
thought proper not to oppose the rebells ; they and thousands 
were dismissed. Lord, bring good out of the troublesome times." 

"January 15th, 1746. This day, after visiting a patient in the 
aflernoon, I spent the evening at Co^. Neddy Kay's, of Brook- 
bottom, wilh some other company, and lodged there. By all 
accounts 'tis expected about this time our forces are engaging the 
rebells in Scotland. Times at present run high amongst us, some 
shewing themselves much in favour for the present Government, 
and but too many for the Pretender; an instance whereof I shall 
give in the following lines, being a copy of what was sent to our 
family to-day from Bury ijpon account of the mobb we raised to 
oppose the rebells, and mentioned December 8 and 9, which is as 
follows : — 

"Notice is hereby given that his Rumpish Highness, the Second 
Pretender and Prince of the Presbyterian territories, has given 
an order for the raising a new Regiment of Rossendale Plunderers, 
under the most emphatical denomination of Oliverian Murderers ; 
and that such as are willing to join are ordered to repair to the 
Colonel Quarters at the sign of the Bloody Surgeon. . . .the 
Ensign's Inn at the sign of Three Marshall Handkerchiefs, where 
for their advance they shall receive full power to kill and plunder 
all loyal subjects to the true bom King, and for their further 



^ 




I 



Forest of Rossendale. 127 

encouragement when they come to join their respective regiment, 
now lying squandered and confounded in the bewildered Forrest 
of Rossendale, they shall receive no pay nor clothing, but every 
man a rusty sword, an old stick and a long pike and roasting spits, 
and all things fitting to complete a gentleman plunderer and an 
Oliverian Murderer, out of whose hands God save the true born 
King !" 

**His Rumpish Highness is Coz. John Kay, Prince of the 
Presbyterian Territories is his brother, Coz. Doctor Kay. The 
Colonel quarters at the sign of the Bloody Surgeon, is represented 
as my sign. The Ensign's Inn is Brother Joseph Baron's in 
Bury ; the Three Marshall Handkerchiefs are represented as his 
sign on account of his shop. Lord, suffer us not to be a reproach, 
and let us hope in Thy salvation." 

The Rebellion being now at an end, our local functionary has 
time to devote himself to other matters, as follows .• — 
1746. 

Warrant against Cursing and Swearing, ;^o 2 o 

1748. 
To a Warrant against prophane Swearing 020 

1749. 
Grave Staff Repairs, 010 

Watch and Ward at Bacob and Rawtenstall o 12 8 

During the Rebellion of 1745, and for several years after, a 
person of the name of Heap kept "Watch and Ward " at Higher 
Broadclough, Bacup, — opposite the old house. 

»7So. 
To Erecting a pair of Stocks at Goodshaw, . . . . . • ;^i 2 4 

Payments on account of the erection and maintenance of the 
Stocks in the different villages throughout Rossendale occur very 
frequently : none more so than at Goodshaw, which would lead us 
to infer that they were often in requisition in that now rather 
obscure corner of the Forest. We may naturally suppose, however, 
that Goodshaw in the good old coaching days was better known 



128 History of the 

than at present, and would be a convenient resting-place for the 
** Tramps " passing in that direction to and from Burnley, a class 
of characters apt even yet to get into trouble, and to whom the 
Stocks of bygone times would be familiar enough. 

This mode of punishment has now almost universally fallen 
into disuse, though in some rural districts the machine is still 
preserved as a relic of the past. 

The Stocks consisted, generally, of two upright stone or wooden 
posts, into which were fitted three horizontal planks, the lowest 
being a fixture, while the two upper were made to slide vertically 
in a groove in the pillars. In the respective edges of the planks, 
notches of different sizes were cut to receive the arms and legs of 
the culprit, when the whole were bound together with iron 
fastenings secured by a padlock. 

The offender was usually seated on a stool, but in some cases 
he was left lying on his back on the bare ground, with his arms at 
liberty, his legs only being secured. 

The Stocks were used as a punishment for brawling, profane 
swearing, drunkenness, and other minor offences. In some towns 
the drunkard was made to perambulate the streets, carrying a 
cask, in which were hol^s for the head and arms to pass through, 
and called " The Drunkard^s Cloak." 

To Scuttle Harry and Old Glover, . , . , . . , , ;^o 2 6 

Two suggestive names, doubtless well-known characters in their 
day, but of whom no other recoid exists. 

1752- 
A Warrant against Swearing, o2o 

1753. 
To Conveying Oliver Grime, 2 Sons and Daughter, to ye House 

of Correction, . . 2100 

To one Vagrant Warrt. and Sunday Warrt., . , . . . , 050 

Sabbath-breaking and Profane Swearing were crimes which, 
during last, and in the earlier years of the present century, our 
forefathers vigilantly endeavoured to suppress. It was the custom 



Forest of Rossendale. 129 

of the churchwardens, after service had commenced on the 
Sabbath morning, each carrying his staff, the badge of Office, to 
parade the streets, and visit the highways and by-lanes in search of 
Sunday desecrators. Unless Report (who to be sure is a foul- 
tongued jade at times) does them injustice, the example which 
many of these functionaries displayed in their own person was not 
always of the best ; seeing, that instead of returning to the Church, 
they were in the habit of ensconcing themselves in the back 
parlour of the village Inn ; and it was frequently observed on such 
occasions that their .self-denying devotions at the shrine of Bacchus 
had been so deep and strong as visibly to affect the steadiness 
of their gait for the remainder of the day. It is even said, though 
we give no credence to the statement, that the village urchins, on 
occasional times when one of these officials was more than usually 
elevated, might be seen 



" Following, with mischievous wile, 

To pluck his gown,' 

not in the expectation of 

" sharing the good man's smile," 

as the poet of " sweet Auburn " expresses it ; but with a view to 
invoking that peculiar blessing which the votaries of the afore- 
mentioned god are mostly accustomed to pronounce. 

I7S7- 
To 2 Pair of Handcufts, ;^o 6 o 

To waiting of a man 2 Days and i Night, . . . . . . 050 

To numbering ye People and writing return, . . , . . , i i o 

[In other words, taking the Census.] 

1760. 

Guide Post at 4 Lane-ends, o 19 4 

Proclaiming King George 3d 217 

1762. 
To one Lock and Key for Town Box, 007 

The "Town Box " here referred to is that in which the Standard 
Weights and Measures were kept. 



130 History of the 

1762. 

To Grave Staff, £020 

1764. 
8 Jnremen upon Ab* at Nunhills, 028 

1766. 
Conveying Ben. Rawstron to Lancaster, a Desarter 140 

1769. 
To Charges about a felon fled out oC Yorkshire, •• . . o 10 6 

1770. 
To Charges compelling the Excise Oflicer to pay his Land Tax, i 3 3 

To Repairing Bacop Stocks, 084 

For many years the Stocks at Bacup stood near to the old 
school-house, which was pulled down to make room for the 
Mechanics' Institution ; they were afterwards removed to the side 
of the Dungeon at the foot of Todmorden Road, where they 
remained until they fell into disuse. The side pillars, which were 
of stone, are still in existence, and probably entire, though buried 
more than half their depth in the ground^ being placed so as to 
keep cart wheels from coming in contact with the comer of the 
wall in front of the brick houses at Tong Bridge. 

1777. 
To Setting up Guide Post four Lane ends, ;^o 2 6 

1778. 

2 Pair of Stocks, . . i 10 o 

Stocks at Goodshaw, o 18 8 

1779.. 
Paid for a Key for Handcufts, 006 

The next entry has reference to a state of things which happily 
has ceased to exist in this country. 

1779. 

Expenses laid out in Impressing Men, over and besides the 

bounty ^£2 13 i 

The horrible and unnatural system of impressment for the Navy 
was in force far into the present century. At this day it may well 
create wonder that a practice so vile should have found its advo- 
cates. The Ballot is a merciful and just measure when a righteous 



Forest of -Rossendale. 131 

cause requires its exercise, inasmuch as it places all on a level, 
affords time for preparation and arrangement, and the chances of 
immunity are equal. But when by brute force men, when going 
about their lawful occupations, are dragged away by ruffian hands, 
without warning, and in spite of remonstrance, we instinctively feel 
that the cause must be unholy which needs such unchristian aid. 

1782. 

To Trash at several! Times, ;^o o 5 

Trifling payments probably. Or is it to be understood that 
Beggars or Vagrants are implied in the term *' Trash ?" 

1784. 

To 6 Gide Postess, ;£4 15 i 

Guide Posts were evidently an important item of cost in those 
days. 
1786-7. 

To John Ormerod for Dongeon at Backup, come to «. . . ;^7 15 3^ 

The original Dungeon at Bacup was a kind of arched cellar in 
the vicinity of the Buck Inn ; the entrance being through a hole in 
the roof, closed by a ponderous flag, which would no doubt be 
secured in some rude way outside. The latest Dungeon at Bacup, 
a small, incommodious, and dingy building, stood, until recently, 
on or near the site of the Corn Mill Office, Yorkshire Street. 
1786-7. 

To James Nuttall, Church, for Trunceis, (? Truncheons,) . . £160 

Dungeons appear to have been in request about this time. The 
following Minute of a public meeting is recorded : — 

" Newchurch, Nov. ye nth, 1788. 

"Note, that it is agreed by all these present that 2 Dongeons be made 

when ever the Inhabitants of Newchurch and Goodshaw Chapel think proper, 

that is to say, one at Each place, is agreed by us at a publick meeting on the 

day aforesaid. 

"J. SHORROCK. 

JNO. HARGREAVES. 

LAWCE. ORMEROD, High Constable. 

And 14 others." 



132 History of the 

It docs not appear from these records that a Dungeon was 
erected at either of the places mentioned. Fifteen years afterwards, 
one was built at Crawshawbooth, at a cost as follows : — 

Exps. of Erecting a Dungeon at Crawshawbooth, purchase 

money, Surrender, Stamp, &c., £2^ 16 6 

And again in 1805 is the following payment for 

Surrender for Dungeon at Crawshawbooth o 16 6 

1792-3. 

To a Wallet for Town's Weights, 017 

To an Iron Yard, . . o o 10 

To Standard Wine Measures, . . . . . . . . . . 126 

Paid for Weigh balk, 066 

1796. 
Relieving Mary Wilson and a child from Portsmouth to 

Edinburgh with a pass, . . ;^o i o 

The War with France, which commenced in 1793, kept the 
hands of our Government fully employed ; and responses to the 
calls for men and mbney constantly occur in these records of the 
Greave from the time when Buonaparte entered upon his career of 
conquest in 1796, down to the year when it terminated so 
disastrously on the plains of Waterloo. 

The taxation of the period pressed heavily on the population. 
The returns from the assessments for this and subsequent years 
vary in amount from Three to Six Hundred Pounds. 

In these heavy expenses are sums paid on account of the 
Militia and the Supplementary Militia; for the summoning of 
(yeomanry) Cavalry to be sworn in, warrants for the apprehension 
and prosecution of Deserters, &c. In the year 1798 is a long 
account of "Extra Exj^enses" of Supplementary Militia, and 
Balloting for the same ; and again of " Additional Expenses " in 
numbering the Inhabitants of Rossendale ; for inquiring into, 
and rendering an account of their Qualifications in the event 
of any Foreign invasion. The numbering of the Cattle within the 
Forest was also part of the Greave's duty on this occasion, and all 
this was done agreeably to certain Schedules issued by order of the 
Lieutenancy. 



Forest of Rossendale. 133 

From the enumeration which was then made, it was found that 
the number of able-bodied men capable of actual service, residing 
. within the Forest of Rossendale, amounted to 2000 ; a respectable 
number out of a population of barely 10,000 young and old. 

The following are some of the entries above referred to : — 
1797. 

Expenses to Whalley in attending on Magistrates on supple- 
mentary Militia, . . . • . . . . . . . . /o 3 o 

To Summoning Cavalry to be sworn in, . . . . . . . . 0120 

»798. 
Expenses of Peter Warburton to Rochdale, to prove him a 

Disarter, 076 

The Peace of Amiens brought with it a brief interval of 
tranquillity, which was again rudely disturbed by the renewal of 
hostilities with France in 1803, caused by the insulting menaces 
and restless ambition of Napoleon I., who began to make immense 
preparations for the invasion of Great Britain. The whole 
Country was at once in arms to resist the invader ; the utmost 
enthusiasm prevailed, and a Yeomanry and Volunteer Corps 
400,000 strong, rose as one man, to defend their hearths and 
homes. About 30,000 of that number were raised in Lancashire, 

• 

and to these Rossendale contributed its full share. The Greave of 
the Forest records in numerous entries, extending over a lengthened 
period, that meetings and consultations for the " Defence of the 
Nation " were held at " Bacop, Newchurch, and Edgeside." No 
half-hearted patriotism was displayed. An enumeration was made 
of the number of males between the ages of 17 and 55, within the 
district. Men were enrolled for the " Army of Reserve," and 
Volunteers poured in from every valley and hill side. A List of 
the Resident Ministers was made, and a return of the Copyholders 
and Freeholders, with the number of Cotton and Woollen Mills, 
and of Cattle within the district was prepared. Altogether, 1 803 
was a year of agitation and preparation, which has scarcely found 
its parallel in later times. ^ 



134 History of the 

These are a few selected from many similar entries at this 

period : — 

1803. 
Expense to Burnley to receive Instructions for the Defence of 

the Nation, 2 days, ;^o 6 o 

Numbering Persons and Cattle, &c., and others willing to serve 

Volunteer seven days, iio 

1804. 
Exps. Bill of Recruiting for. Additional Force for his Majesty 

in the Forest, • 14 18 8 

Extra exps. for Drumber and Fifer, 140 

And in 1805-6 is an item — 
To R. Lord for Ribbons ommitted last year ;^o 7 8 

The ribbons being doubtless part of the furnishing of the 
recruiting sergeants. 
Other suggestive records of this kind appear — 
1806-7. 

4 Passengers lame that was wounded with Nelson, . . . • £0 \ 6 
Mary Whitley, a Sailor's wife, and three children, going to 

Gloucester, .. .. • •• .. 016 

2 lame Soldiers and their wives and 3 children, going to 

Edinburgh, ** 030 

1807-8. 
Seven disabled Sailors to Ireland, . . . . . . . . 030 

1812. 
Postage of a Letter about a Diserter, o o 1 1 

1812-13. 
Making a List of Regular Militia for Coup Lenches, &c., where 

they were serving at present, and if they are married, and 
where their wives and Families reside, if any, and delivering 

the same at Burnley, 0150 

Returning to civil affairs, the following items are worthy of 
selection : — 

1800-1. 
Relief to a Poor Person at Hareholme gate, being starved, . . ;£o o 6 
Paid G. Welsh for Commissrs' Clerk's returns of Hair Powder 

and Armorial Bearings, 026 

Summoning Little Taylor at Delph, 030 



Forest of Rossendale. 135 

1801-2. 

To Expenses with Abm. Cropper, James Hawortb, and John 

Haworth, to Holmes Chappel, ;( o 8 6 

Many entries similar to the last occur. Previous to the 
appointment of Magistrates in Rossendale, prisoners were 
conveyed to Holmes Chapel to be tried before the Justice of the 
Peace there. 

1803. 

20 Trunsheons from Burnley for Constables, £2 \6 6 

Paid Jas. Nuttall for 22 Trunsheons for Constables at New- 
church, &c., 360 

1804. 

To 2 pair of Steel Ruffles 066 

[A Polite name for Handcuffs.] 

1804. 
Paid in the Vestry of Newchurch, for obtaining fines of the 

Inhabitants of Rossendale in respect of Sunday Rules, . . 200 

To a Constable Staff for Bacop, ..* •• 076 

Salaries for the Sextons Ringing eight o'clock at Newchurch, 

Bacop, and Goodshaw Chapel, for one year, los. each . . i 10 o 

Parish Clerk in giving Public Notices in the Church, . . . . 026 

In bygone days, when printing was more a luxury than a 
necessity^of life, and only to be resorted to on grand occasions, 
our simple-minded forefathers were in the habit of making public 
from the Clerk's desk in the Church, after service, all those secular 
transactions in which the general community were expected to feel 
an interest. If a sale by auction was arranged to take place during 
the coming week, the fact was duly made known. If any acts of 
trespass or wilful damage had been committed, the particulars were 
set forth, and a reward offered for such information as would 
lead to the conviction of the offenders. It is even whispered 
that Bull-baitings formed a common subject of announce- 
ment ; but for the truth of this, not having trustworthy evidence, 
we are not prepared to vouch. In some places the Clerk, 
instead of giving his Notices within the walls of the sacred 
edifice, came out into the Churchyard, and, from a convenient 



136 History of the 

elevation on a tombstone, read out his Intimations to the dispersing 
congregation. Many of these notices, as might naturally be sup- 
posed, partook largely of the ludicrous, and would give a rather 
questionable finish to the solemn services of the day. 

1810. 

Numbering Lunaticks, writing list, and paper, ;( o lo 6 

1813-14. 

Inquest on Henry Hoyle, (wild Harry), who died in Musbury, o 12 o 

Repairing Pinfold at Clough-fold, 3^9 

The " Pinfold '* was a large circular enclosure in which strayed 
sheep and oxen were put, and kept, until claimed by their owner. 

The following list is from an old MS. vol. in the possession of 
the late George Hargreaves, Esq., J.P., Newchurch : — 

A LIST OF THE PINDERS FOR CLOUGHFOLD, PIN- 
FOLD, WHICH ARE SEVEN IN NUMBER, AND 
SUCCEED . EACH OTHER IN COURSE, AS 
FOLLOWS :— 

Jno. Welsh, elk. (r) for Church Land, 1747. 

Oliver Ormerod, for Mr. Hargreave's Land 1748. 

Jno. Piccop, for Mrs. Lonsdale's Land, i749- 

Richd. Ormerod, for Mr. Peter Ormerod's Lower Land, 1750. 

James Nuttall, for Jno. Lord, late Heaton*s Land, .. 1751. 

Richd. Eastwood, for Mr. Miles Lonsdale's Land, .. 1752. 

Jno. Ormerod, for Mr. Peter Ormerod's higher Land, I753« 

1817. 
One Pair of Leg Shackles and Chains, ;fo 12 9 

1819. 
Bought a New Rule for Measuring Militia Men with, . . . . 010 

This must conclude my extracts from the entries in the Account 
Book of the " Greave of Rossendale Forest." 

By way of pendant to the above, I add a few items taken from 
the Workhouse accounts for the year 1734-5. 

(r) Clerk was formerly the common designation of a clergyman. Mr. Welsh 
was the Incumbent of Newchurch. 



Forest of Rossendale. 



May 25.— Ed. Whitaker, Senr., Eal (Ale) Cor Sick Persons, . . 

May 35.— Jam. Robert for Grout 

Jan. 8.— One Pot of Ea! for Hennery Lord Bein not we 
Augt. 10— Too Quartes of Ele at Rushberrin, 
Aogt. 17. — One Bread-fleake for Poor's bouse, 
October 1 1, — For one Lofe for Henry Lord nol well, . . 

1735- 
Feby. 15. — Stroung Walters for Lettes Hargreaves and 

Shugar, 
March ap. — For one Peyar of Hand Cards for George 

Warbuiton, . , 




CHAPTER III. 

" Yet spare I not to ply the potte 
Of jolly goode ale and olde." 

Bishop Still— Gammar Gurton's Needle, 

" A nose he had that gan show, 
What liquor he loved I trow ; 
For he had before long seven yeare, 
Beene of the towne the ale-conner." 

— T^e Cobler of Canterhurie. 

" He was a man, take him for all in all, 
I shall not look upon his like again." 

Shakespeare— ^am/^/. 

TN addition to the Greave of the Forest, other officers are 
-■- annually appointed at the October sitting of the Halmot 
Court, — such as a Butcher, a Market-Looker, a* Fence-Keeper, a 
Bellman, and an Ale-Taster. 

The office of Ale-taster, or Ale-Conner, as is well known, is a 
very ancient one, extending as far back as Saxon times. Doubtless, 
it had its origin with that shrewd, frugal, calculating, paunch- 
loving people. There is nothing of the Celtic or devil-may-care 
element in its character. The Celt, to this day, is too spiritualistic, 
too precipitate, too mercurial, to cater largely for the stomach ; the 
Saxon is of the earth, earthy. 

It was the business of those who filled the post to insure that 

the ale and beer {a) brewed and sold or offered for sale within their 

« 

(a) Andrew Boorde, in his " Dyetary," says : " Ale is made of malte and 

water Bere is made of malte, of hoppes and water." This 

distinction would scarcely hold good at the present day. 



Forest of Rossendale. 139 

district was good and wholesome and of the proper strength. 
Clearly the office was considered one of much importance in early 
times. The responsibility was great, and the confidence reposed 
in the judgment and honesty of the officer equally so. He 
appears to have depended chiefly, if not solely, on his fine critical 
taste for enabling him to decide on the quality of the beverage. 
Before the authorities, his evidence as against the offender was 
unquestioned. 

In former days the Ale-Taster was also the Officer for the 
Assize of Bread, and the Oath taken by him on Assuming his 
duties was as follows : — ^ 

" You shall swear that you shall well and truly serve the King's Majesty and 
the lord of this leet in the office of ale-taster, or assisor of this liberty, for this 
year to come; you shall duly and truly see from time to time that 
the bread brought to be sold be truly weighed, and that the same do contain 
such weight, according to the prices of wheat, as by the statute in that case 
is provided; likewise, you shall have diligent care, during the time 
of your being in office, to all brewers and tiplers within your office, 
that they and every one of them do make good and wholesome 
ale and beer for man's body, and that the same be not sold before it be 
assayed by you, and then to be sold according to the prices limited and ap- 
pointed by the King's justices of the peace; and all faults committed or done 
by the bakers, brewers, or tiplers, or by any of them, you shall make known, 
and present the same at this court, whereby due punishment may be inflicted 
upon them for their offences accordingly, and in every other thing you shall 
well and truly behave yourself in the said office for this year to come. So 
help you God." 

The duties of the Rossendale officer are limited to the testing 
of the Ale and Beer, and we shall cease to wonder that this vigilant 
functionary should occasionally overstep the bounds of sobriety, 
and stumble on the other side — battering his nose on the unfeeling 
pavement — when we remember that there are within his jurisdiction 
more than 150 houses licensed for the sale of those drinks. 

In the early days the punishment for brewing and publicly 
exhibiting bad ale was either a fine or a two hours* seat upon the 
cucking or cuck stool before the culprit's own door ; the drink, if 



a^jA 



140 History of the 

pronounced by a discriminating judge to be undrinkable^ being 
handed over to the poor folk. 

The duties appertaining to the office (obsolete in most places) 
were, until within recent years, regularly fulfilled in Rossendale by 
an officer who did credit to the appointment. I refer to the late 
Richard Taylor, of Bacup, the Rossendale Ale-taster, who may with 
prppriety be described as " The Last of the Ale-Tasters." As 
such, he deserves a word of commemoration. " Spindle Dick " he 
was usually called. The writer knew him personally, and had 
many a confab with him. Since the first edition of this work was 
published poor Dick has gone to render his account to a higher Court 
than that of the Lord of the Honor! He was a fellow of infinite 
humour, not wanting in sound judgment, but with that kind of 
twist in his nature that never would allow him for two minutes at 
a spell to treat any subject in a serious mood. His proper calling 
was that of a spindle maker, hence his sobriquet of ** Spindle 
Dick ;" a rare workman at his trade when he chose, and in his 
sober hours. 

In his hands there was nothing incongruous or far-fetched in the 
office of Ale-taster. Its duties, incrusted with the antiquity of 
centuries, came as naturally to him as though he had been living 
in the time of the Heptarchy, and was " to the manner born." 
The incongruity was when he forsook, as he occasionally did, his 
ale-tasting labours, and applied himself assiduously to his business 
of spindle-making. 

Poor Dick Taylor ! I always felt grateful to his personality, 
and to the humour which girt him round. He was a link that 
bound us to the past ; a kind of embodied poetical idea in keep- 
ing with the ancient Forest and its traditions. I have more than 
half a suspicion that he must have been lying dormant for cen- 
turies in the muniment-room of Clitheroe Castle, and, like Rip Van 
Winkle, awoke at length to resume his interrupted duties. I 
nev^ conversed with him without being carried in imagination 
bttck to b>'Sone times, and on such occasions it was with a half- 
nsMfiOuI fediix^ of annoyance that the proximity of a later — shall 



Forest of Rossendale. 141 

we be justified in saying a higher ? — civilisation, in the guise of a 
smoky factory chimney, dispelled the illusion. 

After all, it is only in a district like Rossendale that such an 
interesting relic of the olden time could have survived. To me, 
when I first knew them, the old people of Rossendale always 
seemed to differ in many respects from the people of other districts. 
This was not due to any single cause — there was a variety of 
circumstances which contributed to the result ; but the chief cause, 
in my opinion, is to be found in the natural character and formation 
of the district. By reason of its hills and the wide-reaching moor- 
lands that environ it on every side, it was in earlier days, before the 
advent of the railway, removed to a large extent from contact with 
the outer world and the changing fashions and tendencies of 
wider social conditions. The older representatives of whom I 
speak are fast dying out, and the younger generation has lost, or 
is losing, the distinguishing characteristics of the race. 

At one time in his career Dick kept a beer-house, the sign over 
the door being a representation of the globe, with the head and 
shoulders of a man protruding through it, and underneath it the 
legend, " Help me through this world !" By way of counteracting 
any bad moral effects that arose from his vending of beer on week- 
days, he taught a Bible class in a room over the beer-shop on 
Sundays. He christened one of his sons " Gentleman," Gentleman 
Taylor, being determined, as he said, to have one gentleman in the 
family, whatever else. 

When in discharge of the functions of his curious calling of 
Ale-taster, Dick carried in his coat pocket a pewter gill measure of 
his own fashioning, of peculiar old-world shape, with a turned 
ebony wood handle in the form of a cross that projected straight 
from the middle of the side. This symbol of his office was secured 
by a leathern thong about half a yard in length, one end being 
round the handle, the other through a button-hole in his coat. 
After a day's official work he might occasionally be seen, with 
unsteady gait, wending his way up the lane to his domicile on the 
hillside, with the gill measure dangling below his knee. 



142 History of the 

Not iinfrequently he had to appear before the Bench for being 
drunk and incapable, and though he was sometimes mulcted in 
five shillings and costs, as often as not some smart sally of wit won 
the admiration and sympathy of the " Great Unpaid," who let him 
down as softly as their sense of duty would permit. Dick, on 
those occasions, would declare that it was his legs only, and not his 
head that was drunk, which I am inclined to believe was true. Jle 
would aiso assert that he was easily upset when only partially 
filled, but, when, like a barrel, full to the bung, and end up, be was 
steady as a rock. As a ma.tter of fact, however, he was not a 
heavy drinker, whatever his detractors may say to the contrary. 
His centre of gravity (being raised from his stomach to his head) 
was displaced by a very limited supply of the beverage, 

Regularly as the month of October came round, Dick put in an 
appearance at the Halmot Court of the Lord of the Manor or 
Honor held at Haslingden, was reinstalled in his office with due 
formality, and dined with the other officials of the court when the 
formal business was concluded. 

The following is a copy of a memorial presented by him in 
October, 1864, to the Court Leet. It contains some touches of 
dry humour highly characteristic of the man : — 

" To the I'oreman and Jury of the Halmot Court at Haslingden. 
The respectful Memorial of your energetic Ale-Taster for 
Rossendale, Richard Taylor. 

"Gentlemen, — From a natural bashfulness, and being unac- 
customed to public speaking, which my friends tell me is a very 
fortunate circumstance, I am induced to lay my claims before 
your honourable court in writing, hoping you will give them your 
most favourable consideration. 

" The appointment which I hold is a very ancient one, dating, as 
you are aware, from the time of good King Alfred, when the jury 
at Court I^et appointed their head-boroughs, tithing man, 
bursholder, and Ale-taster ; which appointments were again 
regulated in the time of Edward HI., and through neglect this 



Forest of Rossendale. 143 

important office to a beer-imbibing population ought not to be 
suffered to fall into disrepute or oblivion. 

"In Rossendale there are countless numbers of practical 
followers of the school to which that illustrious Dutchman, Mynheer 
Van Dunck, belonged, and while they imbibe less brandy, they 
make up for it in beer. To some Rossendale men, indeed, beer is 
meat, 4rink, washing, and lodging ; and do away with the office of 
Ale-taster, an inferior quality of the beverage may be sold, and 
the consequent waste of tissue among the working classes would 
be something awful to contemplate. Your honourable court, then, 
cannot but perceive the vast importance of my office. 

"With the spread of intelligence in Rossendale there has 
been a proportionate increase of licensed public-houses and 
beerhouses, which has created a corresponding amount of respon- 
sibility in my duties. At the time when Rossendale was in 
reality a forest, and a squirrel could jump from one tree to another 
from Sharneyford to Rawtenstall without touching the ground, the 
office of Ale-taster was no doubt a sinecure, but it is so no longer. 
For three years I have upheld the dignity of your honourable court 
as Ale-taster without emolument, stipend, fee, or perquisite of any 
kind. I have even been dragged before a subordinate court and 
fined five shillings and costs whilst fulfilling the duties of my office. 
My great services should receive some slight acknowledgment at 
your hands, and thus would be secured the upright discharge of 
those duties you expect me to fulfil ; and my imperial gill measure, 
which I carry along with me as my baton of office, should bear the 
seal of your honourable court. 

" Praying for your kind consideration, I beg to submit this my 
third annual report : 

" In my district are fifty-five licensed public-houses and sixty- 
five beerhouses. The quality of the beer retailed at these houses 
is generally good, and calculated to prevent the deterioration of 
tissue, and I do not detect any signs of adulteration. The only 
complaint I have to make is of the quality of the ales sold at New- 
church during the week in which Kirk Fair is held ; they are not 



144 History of the 

then quite up to the mark in point of strength and flavour ; but 
this is an exception, and it is the only speciality that I feel bound 
to comment upon, save that which immediately concerns your 
obedient servant, Richard Taylor, Ale-taster for that part of Her 
Majesty's dominions known as *Rossendale." 

On a later occasion Mr. Taylor sent in his resignation to the 
court as follows : — 

" To the Foreman and Jury of the Halmot Court at Haslingden, 
— Gentlemen, I respectfully, but firmly, tender my resignation as 
Ale-taster of the Forest, an office which I have held for seven years 
without any salary or fee of any description. During that period I 
have done my duty both to his Grace the Duke of Buccleuch (b) 
and to the inhabitants generally. From feelings of humanity I 
refrain from suggesting anyone as my successor, for unless he 
possesses an iron constitution, if he does his duty to the appointment, 
he will either be a dead man before the next court day or he will 
have to retire with a shattered constitution." 

The Court, however, declined to entertain Mr. Taylor's petition, 
and reappointed him to the office he had so long filled with so much 
credit ta himself — though with very questionable benefit — and to 
the advantage of the many thirsty souls within his jurisdiction. 

Notwithstanding the remark at the opening of the petition, Dick, 
as a matter of fact, was not altogether unused to public speakings 
At town's meetings he frequently held forth, and his rising was 
always welcomed as the signal for some sensible as well as humorous 
and sarcastic remarks. 

The reference to " Kirk Fair," and to the quality of the ales sold 
there on those occasions, will be appreciated. I do not know what 
the Fair may be now, but within my recollection the streets of the 
village, for three successive days, were thronged with a surging 
mass of people on pleasure bent. As many of these came long 

(b) His Grace the Duke of Buccleuch, as has already been explained (see Book 
Second, Chapter i.) is Lord of the Honor of Clitheroe, of which the Forest of 
Rossendale constitutes a part. 



Forest of Rossenciale. 145 

distances in the heat of summer, with their parched throats and 
high spirits, they were naturally less critical of the quality of their 
drink than at ordinary times, and the publicans, with what amount 
of truth, beyond the declaration of the official Ale-taster, I am not 
prepared to vouch, were suspected of taking advantage of the 
circumstances to thin down their ales. 

The post of Ale-taster, though still nominally maintained, is in 
reality obsolete, and could not be revived, even in out-of-the-way 
places, without committing an anachronism. Even in Dick Taylor's 
day the office was looked upon as belonging to the past — 2l relic of 
a bygone age, in which a different social system to the present 
prevailed. It belonged to the days of stocks and pillories, of 
ducking and cucking stools and scolds' bridles, of sluggard 
wakeners and dog whippers. Tempora mutaniur. It needed a 
genial humorist to assume the duties of the office in this latter 
half of the nineteenth century, and a vulgar imitator would find 
no favour. 

In a wide and populous district the duties, when conscientiously 
performed, were more than mortal stomach could bear unharmed, 
even though the paunch were like that of Falstaff, which Dick's 
was not, and leaving out of account the temptations which beset 
such an official. Dick took to ale-tasting as a jest, though he 
performed his duties with an imperturbable gravity which enhanced 
the fun of the situation. Keen as was his taste for ale, he had a 
keener relish for the humour of the position. Alas ! it was joking 
perilously near to the edge of a precipice. The last of the Ale-tasters 
died, a martyr to duty, on the loth day of October, 1876. Sic 
itur ad astro. 




BOOK FI FTH. 



CHAPTER I. 

" How may we now the truth unfold — 
How learn, delighted and amazed, 
What never tongue or numbers told — 
What hands unknown that fabric raised ?" 

" A smiling village decks the plain, 
Where once the tangled forest f rown*d ; 

And Hodge impels his laboring wain 
O'er grounds where wolves a shelter found." 

TN the immediate neighbourhood of Brandwood, though situated 
-■- in the township of Lenches, is the hamlet of Rough Lee, in a 
picturesque and pleasant nook on the hillside, sheltered from the 
easterly winds by the friendly shoulders of a considerable elevation, 
and looking far away down the Irwell valley — along which, and over 
the grassy slopes on either side, it commands a varied and extensive 
view. 

In the thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth centuries, when the 
waste of Brandwood was the property of the Abbots of Stanlaw and 
Whalley, the scenery embraced in a view of the landscape from Rough 
Lee, was widely different from that which its present prospect com- 
prehends. Where now the Railway winds through the vale, the shriek- 
ing whistle of its " iron horse " awaking the echoes on every side — 
then, the glossy coat of the antlered deer, as in the heyday of its 
pride it flashed across the glade to thicker covert, or gambolled on 



Forest of Rossendale. 147 

the declivities, was the chief moving attraction that arrested the eye. 
Now, where the gaunt chimney belches forth its dense black coils 
of smoke, the Forester's fire, as it consumed the " windfall " of the 
previous winter, sent up into the clear air of spring its gauzy wreaths of 
thin blue vapour. And, in the past, instead of a landscape dotted with 
upland farms, and a valley threaded with long rows of substantial 
dwellings, their vicinity alive with the hum of youthful voices busy 
at play, or the cheerful ringing laughter of the factory lasses 
relieved from their daily toil, a few solitary homesteads were all 
that gave signs of human habitation. 

In this quiet and pleasant spot within the Forest of Rossendale, 
overlooking the valley, it is said, was erected a house or chapel for 
the purposes of religious worship. By whom founded, however, 
and by whom used, no records, so far as we can learn, exist to 
determine. 

Tradition, that strange nonenity — that veritable "wandering 
Jew " born of the distant past, which haunts us ever with garrulous 
tongue replete with curious lore and dim undefined utterances that 
we can never fairly grasp — Tradition would have it that the erection 
was a kind of lesser convent as well as chapel, and that it could 
boast a remote antiquity. That most indefatigable of antiquaries 
and historians. Dr. Whitaker, has nothing to tell us of the chapel 
at Rough Lee ; and Baines, the historian of the county, is equally 
silent thereanent. Nothing, so far as I am aware, is in print 
concerning the erection. There is a singularity in all this. 

That a Chapel did exist at this place we know, though the date 
of its foundation can only be conjectured. That it was erected in 
Roman Catholic times, before the Reformation, there is good reason 
to believe. A lady, to whom more than once I have been indebted 
for information of this kind, has furnished me with an original 
memorandum or paper— of which the following is a copy — which 
she states came into possession of her family more than eighty years 
ago. It gives an account of the old chapel, and may be relied 
upon as being authentic : 



148 History of the 

•*The building, 20 yds. long, or thereabouts ; 7 yds. wide within. 
2 Doors opposite each other in the Middle of the Building. The 
Windows as below. [Here is given a rude sketch of an arched and 
muUioned window.] The Roof supported by Crooks. 2 large 
stone Troughs ; at each door one. A large stone Pulpit was 
demolished when the Building was converted to its present use, in 
the ruins of which some Beads were found. At present it is 
occupied in 2 Cottages, the Property of Mr. Jopham, of Chester. 
It is situate at Lench, in the Parish of Bury and Forest of 
Rossendale, distant from the nearest part of Brandwood about \ 
of a mile." 

Fragments of stones, bearing inscriptions, have been dug out of the 
soil in its vicinity. The place originally may have been used as a 
Hermitage or dwelling — ^an offshoot of the parent Abbey of Whalley, 
where the Monk or Monks in charge of the property of the church 
in this neighbourhood took up their abode ; and afterwards, as the 
population of the district began to increase, it probably was 
adapted to the performance of Divine worship. 

There is reason, if not corroborative evidence, in support of this ; 
for it will scarcely be doubted that the ecclesiastics of those times 
would be fully alive to the necessity of providing the means of 
religious edification to the people in their charge, who were far 
removed from the great centres of the imposing ceremonials of the 
Church. We have already seen that the Abbot of Whalley, in the 
time of Henry HI, constructed and built a manor-house in the 
" waste of Brendewode," and that the Manor was held in free, 
pure, and perpetual alms freed from all charge, excepting only 
prayers and orisons for the souls of the founders and feoffors, and 
their ancestors and heirs. True, the site of the Chapel at Rough 
Lee was without the limits of their landed possessions in this 
district ; but this fact does not militate against the present conjec- 
ture. The " waste of Brendewode " was a bleak and uninviting 
tract of country, having none of the characteristics of those 
neighbourhoods usually chosen for the erection of religious 
structures in past days ; and the Monks, with that unerring instinct 



Fates/ of KosSftnH^^Us i^o 

which led them to jMtch their tenln in IavouixhI locrtlitu^ii wuh 
regard to scenery, shelter, and general lonvcnleniv, \v\>uUl \\\\\ 
fail to note the su|)erior iHxsition of the nite in qnc^Ntum to ony 
other within their own dreary doiuuin in KoNMcndulo, 

Thus much for Rough 1ax\ one of thoHO upolM of Kn^uI lnt«>iv«it 
of which just sufficient is known to AroUNC, l)\)t not pnotigh to 
satisfy, the enquirer's curiosity-— too little to glvo it it rtK(>(t hnhldt 
tion in the history of tlic district, or dotermino ItN Inflticnta on [\w 
current of events. It is like one of thoNC NpttitN Nuld to lunint old 
homesteads : content with itti own knowledge of iho prnit, It rf*NlN|i( 
all prying attempts to wring fron) it a recital of ItN nlory. A iptttlnl 
old place that the imagination flndit no dlfllculty In pcioplltig wllli 
forms of a bygone time. Such a homo of the Ifnitghmtlon It tniiNt 
probably remain. 

The Old Hall on the New Hall Hey estate, wIumg Ivy JtiMtti^il wmIU 
still stand rugged and strong, it another nn^lcni builditig rc^giirding 
the erection of which we are without doc;umenUiry ovideru'^i Thff 
architecture is early Tudor Gothic. 'I'he wing iA the I lull on ihK 
northerly side appean to have \Ktn uited M a rhii|rl in \tMi i\tm% 
— a religious ofishoot, it in ftaid, of Whftllcy# On i\w frniz/v/il tit i\m 
oak settles and wainscoating in the early |^rt (4 i\\n \tfnfmui rMtiiUfft 
a baptismal fount was found, and thi« rclU. i% «itill lu tuMttiUitt^^ Mi4 
in possession of Mr. 0, W, l^wSfAuAkld, iitf: i/rK%KUi ffWfmf, 



CHAPTER II. 

" The church of the village 
Gleaming stood in the morning's sheen ; 
Loud rang the bells, the crowd was assembled, 
Far from valleys and hills, to list to the holy preaching." 

— Longfellow. 

" I always enter this sacred place 
With a thoughtful, solemn, and reverent pace." 

— Ibid. 

" These were the pranks she played among th' abodes 
Of mortal men." — Shelley. 

rpHE Original Church (or Chapel of ease, as it was called) at 
-■- Newchurch, was erected in the year 151 1, being the 3d year 
of the reign of Henry VIII., and it is this circumstance that gave rise 
to the name of the village. It was not made parochial, however, 
till the 4th of Edward VI., 1550, down to which year the Castle 
and Church of Clitheroe was the Parish Church of the people of 
Rossendale. At that time it was in the diocese of Chester, and 
the following note respecting it is contained in Bishop GastrelFs 
Notiiia Cestriensis, (a) 

" Newchurch in Rossendale. The Forest of Rossendale was in ye times of 
H.[enry] 7 and H.[enry] 8 Disforrested, and ye Land was improved, soe yt 
in 40 years time from 20 persons ye people were encreased to x,ooo, who built 
a Chap.[elJ for themselves and maintained a Minister. V.[idel] Deed \in\ 
New Reg.\ister.'\ 

" This Chap.[el,] wch is sd to belong to ye Parish of Clitheroe, from wch it was 
12 m.[iles] (b) distant, was made Parochial by K.[ing] Edw [ard] 6, and called 

(a) Chetham Society's Publications, vol. IIL, p. 340, et, seq, 

(b) Actually 14 statute miles distant, as the crow flies. 



Forest of Rossendale. 151 

by ye name of ye Chap. [el] of our Saviour, wth a parcell of ground enclosed 
wth a hedge, called ye Chap.[el] Yard, to have all Offices performed in it as 
in any Par.psh] Church; [The] People to maintain that Curate -who is to be 
named by the B.pshop] of [the] Diocese. V.pde] Order of \the\ Dutchy 
Courij New Reg.{ister,'] 

"Certif [ied] 23I. los. cod., viz., 20I. Rent Charge upon Copyhold Lands, 
part of wch being now Mortgaged is dubious; surp.[lice] fees 3I. los. 

"8 Wardens. 

"8 m.ples] from Whalley (c); 2 m.[les] from [the] next Ch.[apel.]" 

The following note is added by Canon Raines : — 

" Dedicated to the Holy Trinity. Value in 1834, ';fi23i. Registers begin 
in 1654. 

" On the I ith of July, 1515, the Curate of ' Rossyngdale ' paid XXd. to the 
Archdeacon of Chester for his admission to the Curacy, {d) 292." 

The first structure was of meagre dimensions and humble in 
character, suited to the wants and worldly estate of a scanty and 
not wealthy people. 

The following is a copy of a decree of the Chancellor of the 
Duchy of Lancaster of the fourth year of King Edward VI., 
decreeing the Chapel in Rossendale to have all such rights and 
privileges as Parish Churches then had, and containing interesting 
reference to the disforesting of the Forest. 

" Whereas it appears by a Bill of Supplication of the Inhabitants of 
Rossendale, that the Forrest of Rossendale 44 years ago or thereabouts, 
being replenished with a few and small number of People, or in manner none 
at that time did Inhabit other then the forresters and such other as were 
appointed to and for the oversight of the Deer ; and that the late excellent 
Princes and Kings of worthy and famous memory, King Henry the 7th and 
King Henry the 8th, by the advice of their most Honble. Counsels, most 
graciously considered, that if the Deer were taken out of and from the said 
forrest, that then the same was like to come and be brought and applyed to 
some good purpose, as the Commonwealth might be increased thereby ; and 
therefore the said Kings gave in commandmt., and caused not only that the 
said Deer should be killed and destroyed, but also, that the ground within the 
said forrest should be letten out to such of the Inhabitants as wod take the 

(c) As the crow flies, the distance is 1 1 statute miles. 
{d) Lane. MSS, Vol. IX. 



152 



History of ike 



^<ime, and had mnde (hereof to the intent the same forrest might, for the great 
increase oC God's glory and the Commonwealth of this Realms, be Inhabited ; 
and by force thereof and to that intent, the said Forrest was disforresled and 
granted, demiied and let forth, in divers sorts, some part for term of years, 
and part to hold by copie of Court Roll, after which Leases and grant? as is 
aforesd. had and mnde, the said Inhabitants and lakers thereof have EdiGed 
and Builded houses and Tents within the said Forrest, and have inhabited 
the same ; so that where before (hat lime was nothing else but Deer and 
other savage and wild beasts, there is since then, by the industry and labour 
of the Inhabits , grown to be a very good and fertile ground ; and the same 
at this day is become very populous, and well inhabited, and replenished with 
a great number of people.— And for as much aa the Castle and Church ol 
Clitheroe, being iheit Parish Church, is distant 12 miles (f) from the said 
Forrest, and the way leading between the said Parish Church and the said 
forrest is very [oule, painful!, and Hilloua, and the country in the winter 
season is so extreamly and vehemently cold, that the Children and young 
Infants in that time of the year, being borne to the Church to be Christened, 
arc in great peril ot their lives and almost starved wilh cold ; the aged and 
impotent persons, and women great ivith child, are not able to travail so far 
to hear the Word of God, and to learn and be instructed therein, to do their 
duties to God and to their King ; and the dead corpses there like to Lye and 
remain unburied, at such time as any that doth die and depart Ihia world, for 
lack of carriage, untill such time as great annoyance do grow to the King's 
subjects there, by reason that the said Parish Church is so fat distant from 
the said fortest and the ways so f oule. —And whereas also, before this time, the 
premises considered, the Inhabitants ol the said forresl, about the space of 38 
years past or thereabouts, at their own proper costs and charges, made a 
Chapel of ease in the said Forrest of Rossendale. The charges of every oi 
them in the said Chapel hath been from time to time to an honest minister, 
who hath with all diligence ministered to the said inhabitants there, in the 
said Chapel, God's most holy Word. Also the said Chapel and the said 
minister hath been sustained and maintained by and with the good devotions 
and charitable rewards of the well-disposed Inhabitants of the said forrest. 
And every of the said Inhabitants have given several sums of money, some 
more, some less— some money, some Chattell, and some of 'em such other 
gifts and rewards as hath been meet, requisite, and needful!, to and for the 
intent and purpose of maintenance ol the said Chapel and Minister as the 
commodity and profit of those Ihinga given as are before remembered, have 
sufficed to the sustaining of the said Chapel, and finding of the minister there. 



(e) The a, 



ual dist 



. the CI 



Forest of Rossendale. 



153 



The said inhabiu.nt» have of their good Devotions and Charity's borne their 
own costs and charges, whereby there halli giaivn no hind of discommodity, 
charge, or hurt, either to Ifie King's Majesty, or to the Parson or Curate 
of their Parish Church before mentioned ; but the same Chapel h.nlh been 
therewith mentained, and kept of Iheir own several charges, costs, and 
enpences, to the belter serving of God and the King, and for the Augmenta- 
tion and increase, as well o! great number of people, as of the Commonweale 
of this Realm, in so much as by reason thereof the lands within the raid 
forrest. which served before that time but only (or the increase of wild beasts, 
now not only well and substantially manuTed and occupied, to the increase of 
tillage, corn, and cattle, but also to the great increase of people and 
Christian souls ; for which there was at the time of the disforresting of the 
forrest, not above the number of ao persons in the said forrest, there be in the 
said forrest at this present day, the number of 1000 young and old people ; of 
(he which people, as of their bound and humble duties, hath required the King 
his highness, from time to lime, hath been as well served in his Gracious 
most regal affairs of his wars, as in any one place within all his highness' 
dominions ; ond for divers other great causes and considerations, the King his 
highness, and his Council of the Dutchy of Lancaster moving, — It is ordered 
and decreed by the Chancellor and Council of the Dutchy, that (he 
Inhabitants of the said forrest, and the Inhabitants of the Lenches, Cowpe, 
BrandwDod, RochctiRe. Greaveclough, and Tongue, adjoining and intermingled 
to and with the said Forrest, for the more ease and quietness, and in 
avoiding their peril in Travell aforesd,, and that God may be the better 
served, shall from henceforth have, use, and enjoy the said Chapel above 
specified within the said forrest, together with one parcel! of ground, inclosed 
and invironed With a hedge, called the Chappell yard, for ever. And that the 
said Chapel shall from henceforth be and remain (or ever as a Church 
within the Forrest of Rossendale -, so that the pec^le dwelling and inhabiting 
within the said Forrest and other the places above mentioned, shall and may 
at all times hereafter assemble together in the said Chapel to hear divine 
service, and every thing and things which now be, or hereafter shall be, set 
forth by the King's highness, his heirs, and successors, for the service of God, 
and his highness, and receive the most Holy and Blessed Communion and 
supper of onr Lord; and there also to receive Christendome, Matrirrmny, 
Burial, and all other Sacraments and Ordinances of Holiness, and all other 
thing and things as now be, or hereafter shall be commanded by our said 
Sovereign Lord the King his Majestie, his heirs, or successor^ to "be done, 
frequented, and used in the said Chapel, as within other Parish Churches 
within the said County of Lancaster. —And that it shall be lawfull to and for 
the Inhabitants aforesaid (or the time being from hence forth, from time to 



154 History of the 

time for ever, to find one able and honest Priest or Minister, to say, set forth, 
and minister God's most holy Word, and all the King's Majesty's ordinances 
and Injunctions ; and there to minister all Sacramts. and Sacramentalls 
within the said Chapel, which now be or hereafter shall be appropriated, 
allowed, and set forth by the King's highness, his heirs or successors. And 
that it shall be lawfull to the said Minister or Priest for the time being, which 
shall be so found by the Inhabitants of the said forrest and other places 
aforesd., to say and minister God's Holy Word, divine service, and all other 
the King's Majesty's ordinances, which now be or hereafter shall be set forth 
by the King's highness, his heirs, or successors ; and to minister Sacraments 
and Sacramentalls within the said Chapel and Chapel yard in such manner 
and form as is and shall be done and used in Parish Churches within the said 
County of Lancaster. And that all such Infants as shall be hereafter born 
and brought forth within the said forrest and other places before rehearsed 
shall and may b.e Christened within the said Chapel by the Minister or Priest 
there, for the time being. And that all such as shall happen hereafter to dye 
and depart this world within the said forrest and other places aforementioned, 
shall and may be buried within the said Chapel or Chapel yard, at the will 
and election of the said Inhabitants of the said forrest and other places above 
rehearsed.- And that it shall be lawfull to and for the Inhabitants of the said 
forrest and other places above mentioned, to employ and bestow such Stock of 
goods. Chattel^, and money, together with the profits of the increase and 
revenues of the same chattells, goods, and money as heretofore hath been 
given and willed to go and be imployed to or for the finding of the said Priest 
or Miiyster for the time being, to say and minister Divine service within the 
Chapel aforesd. for ever, upon the said Priest or Minister which shall be 
there found and kept for the time being. And that it shall be lawfull to and 
for the said Inhabitants and every of them, to give goods, Chattells, and 
money, to go and be bestowed and employed towards and for the finding and 
maintaining of the said Priest or Minister for the time being, to be found to 
say and minister divine service within the said Chapel for ever ; saving that 
the parson of the parish of Rochdale and his successors for the time being 
shall have all such profits and duties as they or any of them of right have had 
or used to have in times past within the said forrest and other places aforesd. 
in like manner and form as if this Decree or Order had never been had or 
made. — And it is further Ordered and Decreed by the said Chancellor and 
Counsel of the said Court of the Dutchy, that it shall be lawfull to and for the 
Ordinary of the Diocese there for the time being, from time to time, when and 
so often as any Avoydance shall be by any manner of means of a Minister, 
able, meet, and convenient to serve the said Town, and to be minister in 
the said Chapel, to appoint, name, and send one discreet, able, meet, and 



Forest of Rossendale. 155 

convenient Minister to serve the said Town, and to minister in the said 
Chapel ; and that the said Minister so appointed and sent thither by the said 
Ordinary for the time being, shall by the said Inhabitants for the time being 
be received, taken, and used as Minister there; and the ministration there 
shall have and enjoy so long as he shall be of good behaviour, conversation, 
and usage in the ministration and serving of the said Town." 

The following tradition exists concerning the original Church of 
3rci Henry VIII. It would appear that the intention of the 
founders was to build it on or near to the site of the old Workhouse 
at Mitchellfield-nook, and that the materials for the structure were 
deposited at that place — when one morning it was discovered that 
the whole had been transported overnight by some unseen power 
to the hill-side on which the Church stands. 

Not to be diverted from their purpose, the inhabitants again con- 
veyed the materials to the place which they had originally fixed 
upon, and appointed a watch to frustrate any further attempts at 
removal. But one night as " Dogberry " slumbered at his post — 
ati enchanted sleep, probably — the unseen hands had again been 
busy, with similar results. 

A third time the materials were deposited on the chosen site, 
and, on this occasion, three of the inhabitants appointed to 
keep watch and ward. As these sat toasting their noses at a wood 
fire they had kindled, an old lady, with kindly countenance, 
coming past, saluted them with a pleasant " good e'en," at the same 
time offering them each a shSre of some refreshment which she 
carried in her hand. This they had no sooner partaken of, than a 
profound drowsiness overtook them, ending in a deep and protracted 
sleep — from which in the morning they were aroused by the shouts 
of the bewildered rustics, who came only to find that the pranks 
had a third time been repeated. So, yielding to the decision of a 

power which was not to be out-manoeuvred, the builders erected 

« 

the Church on its present site. (/) 

(/) A somewhat similar legend exists in connection with the old churches 
at Rochdale and Burnley. See Roby's Traditions of Lancashire^ and also 
Harland and Wilkinson's Lancashire Folk Lore, p. 89. 



156 History of the 

In the year 1560, the 3d of the reign of Queen Elizabeth, the 
original building having become inadequate to the accommodation 
of a rapidly-increasing population, was taken down and replaced by 
a more substantial erection. This latter served for a period of one 
hundred and ninety-three years, viz., till the year 1753, when an 
addition was made to the structure by Mr. John Ormerod of 
Tunstead, and Mr. John Hargreaves of Newchurch, under a 
Faculty granted for that purpose by the Bishop of Chester. The 
following extract from the memorial to the Bishop for the requisite 
authority, supplies the particulars for this enlargement : — 

" To THE Right Rev. Edmund, by divine permission, Lord 
Bishop of Chester. 

"The Humble Petition of John Ormerod of Tunstead and John 
Hargreaves of Newchurch in Rossendale in the County of Lan- 
caster, and Diocess of Chester, Gentn. 

"Sheweth, that whereas through the great increase of the Inhabitants of the 
Chapelry aforesaid, the Chapel of Newchurch is much too small to con- 
tain the number of Inhabitants resorting thither for Divine Worship, and 
several of them want convenient' Seats for themselves and families in the 
said New Church ; and therefore your Petitioners humbly pray authority 
may be granted to them, at their own costs, to take down the East End 
of the said New Church, and enlarge the same Eastwards in length seven 
yards, and to build a Gallery within the same with seats therein, and a 
convenient Staircase leading into th^said Gallery from the Chapel yard, 
and also for removing the Communion Table from the place where it now 
stands, and placing the same at the East End of the intended new 
Erection, with like authority to erect Seats in consideration of removing 
the Communion Table, that is to say, to lengthen and add to the 
pews now standing on each side of the Communion Table. And for 
disposing of such additional Seats, and also of the Seats in the new 
Erection, to such Persons as want the same at reasonable Rates propor- 
tioned to the /joodness or Conveniency of the Seats, and the charge to 
be expended in this Behalf. 

"(Signed) John Ormerod. 

John Hargreaves. 

''Dated ist January ^ 17 $3* 



Chapel Wardens." 



Forest of Rossendale. 157 

" We, the undersigned, are consenting that the Petitioners have such 
Faculty granted them, and we certify that the same will be of great use and 
Benefit. 

'* (Signed) John Welsh, minister. ^ 
Richard Eastwood, 
Law. Ormbrod, 

J NO. Ash WORTH, 

Jno. Ashworth, 
J NO. Lord, 
Daniel Eastwood, 
James Ashworth, 
Henry Hoyle, 

A Faculty was granted for the enlargement, of the Chapel in 
compliance with this petition, with authority for the said John 
Ormerod and John Hargreaves to sell and dispose of the additional 
pews for the purpose, in part, of repaying the costs and expenses 
incurred by them ; and many pews were so disposed of to various of 
the Inhabitants. 

The building becoming dilapidated, it was in the year 1824-5 
taken down, rebuilt, and again enlarged. This is commemorated 
on a Tablet within the building as follows : — 

" This Church was enlarged and rebuilt^ i^^S, when 453 additional sittings 
were provided f and 22y rendered free by means of a grant from the Society for 
enlarging and Rebuilding Churches and Chapels." 

On its consecration in 1826, the Church was dedicated to St. 
Nicholas. Its architecture is substantial in character, with but 
little elaboration. Its position is an elevated and pleasant one ; and 
with the village in its rear, and the green slope of the hill of Seat- 
naze in the background, it constitutes, when viewed from the 
opposite side of the valley, an attractive and charming picture. In 
the tower is a peal of Six Bells. Some years ago the Ringers of 
Newchurch were favourably known for their precision and skill in 
ringing the different changes, and frequent contests were held with 
the Ringers of other towns ; but of recent years these competitive 
meetings have not taken place. 



158 History of the 

About the date of the erection of the original building, a 
beneficent widow lady, by name Lettice Jackson, vested in 
feoffees for the use of the New Church of our Saviour in 
Rossendale, certain lands in different parts of the district. 

" An. ^no] 3 H.[enry]8, Lettice Jackson, Widow, Surrendered Land for ye 
Use of this Chap.[el] now worth (an.[no] 1718,) 40I. p.[er] an. [num.] Only 
20 of wch is now enjoyed by ye Curate, the Case being still depending in [the] 
Dutchy Chamber. V.[idej Commission of Char.[itable'] Uses, an, [no] 166$. 
New Reg, [ister.'\ 

"An. [no] 1724, [The] Chanc[ellorj of ye Dutchy, wth Ld Ch.[ief] 
J. [ustice] King and Mr Reeves, Assistants, unanimously Decreed ye Lands 
in Question (being by Estimation 150 Statute acres) to ye Church, wth mean 
profits and costs." (</) 

"These," remarks Dr. ^Vhitaker, "the commissioners of 
chantries, either from their inconsiderable value at that time, or for 
some other reason which we are not acquainted with, forbore to 
seize upon, (an instance of forbearance never practised by them in 
any other case), and decreed that Lawrence Ashworth should hold 
and occupy the place of parson of the said Church. 

" These lands, though some part of them appears to have been 
lost by the neglect, or something worse than neglect, of the 
feoffees, were valued in the latter end of the last century but one, 
at jQ^o per annum ; and form the endowment of the Chapel, the 
most valuable curacy in the patronage of the vicar of Whalley." (Ji) 

I am favoured with a communication from Mr. Phillips, the late 
Rector, which satisfactorily accounts for the non-seizure of the New 
Church lands by the Chantry Commissioners. Mr. Phillips 
states that, — 

"The lands in question were surrendered to King Henry VIII., 
the then lord of the manor, by Lettice Jackson, the owner, to be 
delivered again to certain Trustees for the use of herself and 
Riphard Whitworth — ^whom she afterwards married — and the 

to) Bishop Gastrell's Notitia Cestriensis, Chetham's Society's Pub., vol. 
xxi. p. 341. 

{h) Hist. Whalley, 3d Ed., p. 224. 



Forest of Rossendale. 159 

longer liver of the two ; and after their decease to the use of the 
Incumbent of New Church for ever. 

" This Richard Whitworth was still living when the Chantry 
Commission was issued : so that the lands, being at that time a 
lay fief, were not subject to the operation of the Chantry Act. 

" The original surrender mentions lands at Fryer Hill ; but as 
no such lands are now attached to the Incumbency, it is probable 
that these are what Dr. Whitaker alludes to as having been lost by 
the neglect, or something worse than neglect, of the feoffees." 

Canon Raines puts the matter in a somewhat different light. 
He says:— 

" Dr. Whitaker expresses some surprise that the Commissioners 
of Chantries did not seize upon these lands ; but he appears to 
have forgotten that Newchurch was not a Chantry, but a Chapel of 
Ease to the Castle Church of Clitheroe, and therefore the Chantry 
Commissioners had no power to divert the pious gift of Lettice 
Jackson. 

" In the year 1664 Thomas Sanders, Clerk, Minister of 
Rossendale, was complainant, and Christopher Nuttall and Lydia 
his wife, defendants, in a Plea before the Commissioners for 
Charitable Uses. The defendants, in their answer, deny that 
Lettice Jackson had power to give the lands in question to the 
said charitable use ; and stated that being a suit pending in the 
Duchy Court between James Kershaw, Clerk, Curate of 
Newchurch, plaintiff, and Joh< Nuttall, (father of the said Lydia, 
wife of the said Christopher,) defendant, the same came to a 
hearing on the 4th of May, 5th James, (1607,) and the Chancellor 
decreed that the lands should be surrendered to the said John 
Nuttall and his heirs, for ever, charged with twenty marks a year 
to the said Kershaw, so long as he should be Minister there ; and 
afterwards, that ;£2o a year should be paid to every succeeding 
Minister who should say and read Divine Service there. This 
decision was reversed in the y^r 1724. In the year 1650 this 
Newchurch is described as a Parochial Chapelry, embracing three 
hundred families, and being twelve miles from the Parish Church. 



i6o History of the 

Mr Robert Dewhurst, an able Minister, ' hath no allowance at all 
from the State but what the Inhabitants bestowe upon him on 
their own accord.' They humbly desire that their Chapelry may 
be made a Parish, and a competent maintenance allowed for a 
Minister. (/) Here is no mention of the lands, which were 
doubtless withheld from the Church at this time by the Trustees, 
and not restored until the year 1724, which is the * worse than 
neglect ' alluded to by Dr. Whitaker, (y ) who observes that the 
lands were valued at the latter end of last century but one, (the 
seventeenth,) at the j[^^o per annum ; whilst Mr Baines, omitting 
the words * but one,' gives that as their value in the eighteenth 
century." 

This clears up an obscure point in the history of the New 
Church. • It is satisfactory to know that it was not owing to their 
being of a comparatively valueless character, that the lands were 
left intact. 

The whole proceedings in respect to the Chantry possessions 
were so arbitrary and unjustifiable, that we are pleased to be 
disabused of the notion that in any one instance the King and the 
Commissioners were disposed to act with generosity. Jt js quite 
evident that exceptional causes alone prevented the possessions 
of " the New Church of Rossendale " from being swallowed up 
like others of a similar nature. 

The following is a list of the Incumbents of the New Church, 
from its foundation in 1 5 1 1 (^). The first incumbent mentioned is — 

George Gregory. 
Lawrence Ash worth, 1548. 
James Kershaw, occurs 1607. 
William Horrocks, 1622 ; died, 1641. 

Armistead. 

Brown. 



(i) Pari. Inq. Lamb. MSS. 

(j) Hist. Whalley, p. 224. 

(il) An attempt has been made, on altogether insufficient grounds, to show 
that between Robert Dewhurst, mentioned 1650, and Thomas Sanders, who 
was installed in 1662, another incumbent, bearing the name of Kippax, held 



Forest of Rossendale. i6i 



-Moor. 
-Davis. 



Robert Dewhurst, mentioned 1650. 

Thomas Sanders, Dec. 16, 1662. 

Thomas Leigh, B.A., Nov. 1695. 

John Welsh, July 29, 1726. 

John Shorrock, M.A., Feb. 1767. 

Nicholas Rigby Baldwin, M.A., 1802. 

Philip Abbot, 1825 ; resigned, 1833 ; died 1852. 

Edward Burrow, 1833. 

John Bartholomew Phillips, M.A., 1850; resigned 1891. 

Herbert Bury, M.A., 1891 (the present Rector). 

The late Rector, the Rev. J. B. Phillips, M.A., to whose 
politeness I am indebted for the foregoing list, observes that there 
does not appear to have been any fixed Incumbent from 1641, 
till Dewhurst was confirmed in his position by a Lambeth 
Inquisition, held in the year 1650; but that Armistead, Brown, 
Moor, and Davis, appear to have officiated between Horrocks's 
death in 1641, and Dewhurst's appointment. By the Inquisition 
referred to, it is found " that the Chapel of Newchurch in 
Rossendale is parochial, the chapelry consisting of Dedwen 
Clough, Tunsted, Wolfenden Booth, and part of Wolfenden and 
Bakcop, which contain, in all, 300 families, desiring to be made a 
parish : that^the minister received no allowance but what was paid 
by the inhabitants." 

This list differs in some respects from that given ' by Dr. 
Whitaker in his History. With reference to this latter, Mr. 
Phillips remarks that he has a copy of the Document from which 
the Doctor seems to have derived his authority, but that evidence 
in his possession proves this to be incorrect : amongst other proof, 
a monogram which he found inserted in a wall of the old 

the appointment at Newchurch. Further, that this said Mr. Kippax resigned 
the Hying on the passing of the Act of Uniformity in the latter year, and 
that he either formed, or had a hand in forming, the Nonconformist Church 
in Rossendale. I have diligently ^torched the Registers at Newchurch for 
the year 1662, and for many years both before and after, and can find no 
record whatiever of the name, Kippax. 



l62 



History of the 



Parsonage at Cloughfold, put there by Horrocks in 1629, Dr. 
Whitaker places the latter after Lawrence Ashworch, and before 
James Kershaw, who he!d the benefice in 1607. But, says Mr. 
Phillips, the Doctor always repudiated any responsibility for the 
accuracy of things of this nature, which were forwarded to him by 
others. 

The Benefice was raised from the status of a parochial chapelry 
10 that of a Rectory in 1867, by Order in Council. 

In one of the Chethem Society's publications (/) is contained a 
copy of the last Will and Testament of [he first- mentioned Incum- 
bent, or priest, George tSregory. It is exceedingly quaint, casting 
light on the economy and habits of the early dwellers in the 
Forest. 

THE WILL OF SIR (m) GEORGE GREGORY, PRIEST. 

" In the name of God, Amen, s'h April 1548. 1 Sir George Gregore, of 
Rossandayle within the com, of Lancaster, priest, sycke in boddye, &c. . . 
. . To be buryd in the parish church yorde of Haslyngden. My dettes 
taykync uppe .-tnd payde, and my bodye rxtynegiiscshed honestly waylcet, 
broghfurth and buryd, 1 beweihe to Sr. Henry Romsbotham, prisst, to pray 
devowtly for the salvolyoM of my saylle. and all xpiane hi) ssylles 3s. 4d, To 
John Pycoppp, the sone ot John Pycoppc, one horse foolle. Also lo 
John Pycoppe his selphe. and Ellonr. his wyffe, one mattrerae and too ot my 
best covrlellcs. To Sr. Thomas Holden, pnest. and Rychard Gregorye my 
brotlier, all my pt. of those yves (o) wvch standyne alt the Wotlenden Bolhe 
with Edmun Horswotlh. To John Nuttoui all my pt. of those yves wych 
standyne with him. and 7s. 6d. of money ivych is in his hande. To the wyBe 
of Robt, Durden one holde black caveilett. To John Gregorys my brother. 
one holde payre of blacke hoosse and one holde jacketl. To George Durden 
one leythor doblct. To the sayd Sr. Thorns Holden one holde blacke clooke. 
To Agnes Harppe, vt my dettes be recovryde, ,ls. 4d. To 4re schyldrn Iji) 
ot the afore sayd John Pycoppe, echon lad. To ihe sedennyM {q) chappell in 
Rossendayle, thai the decaes yr of may be belter uphuldyne and my saylle 

(I) Lancashire and Cheshire Wills and ln»entories from the Ecclemastical 
Court, Chester, vol. U. p. 199. 

(in) The title "Sir" was formerly given to clergymen who had taken a 
University degree, and it is still retained in the University rolU. 

(«) Chrisliaii. (0) Beehives, ((1) Children. («) Seal Naze. 



Forest of RossendaU. 163 

prayde fore yr for evr 3s. 4d. ffynyally, what so evr remaynyth of my ^^udds, 
&c. I bewethe it to the sayd Sr. Thomas Holden, priest, John Nuttow yema, 
and Rychard Gregorye my brother to take the paynes to be my executors. 
In wyttenes whereof to these presents I have subscribed my name the day 
and yere above rehersed. Thes wyttenes Sr. Thoms Holden, curet, Rycd 
Harpp^ Olvyr Holt, Edmnd Pycoppe, and John Pycoppe. 

"Sr. GEORGE GREGORYE + 

^' Hec sunt debita quce ego debeo. The schappell of Rossendayle 13s. 4d. 
Edmnd Pycoppe 13s. 4d. Hec sunt debita qua mihi debentr, John alias 
Jenkyne Lord 30s. Perys Hey 5s. Sr. Rycrd Mychell, priest, 3s. 4d. Ells 
Holt 2s. Henr Hey i8d. Relcta John Butterworth I2d. The chapell rjrves 
of Rossondayle 3re watrs wayges, that is to say Wyllyham Hasworth 8s. 3d. 
John Nuttow gd. Alexandr Haworth, 8s. 3d. John Tattrsall 8s. yd. ob. 
Rye Wytteworth 7s. lod. ob. Xpof Brygche 7s. lod. ob. 

"The Invetorye of the gud of Sr. George Gregorye, priest, prsed with 
Alexander Haworth, John Tattrsall, Thurston Bertwyssell, and John Pycoppe. 
In primis, one foole los. 7 yardes of carssay 9s. 4d. 3 covrlettes 3s. 6d. 
One mattresse 2s. One holde gawne 2s. 8d. One holde clooke 2s. One 
leyther dublet 2od. 2 holde jackettes 3s. 4d. 2 holde cappes i6d. One 
holde sacke 6d. 2 yves 6s. 8d. One holde saddell 6d." 

We learn from this singular Will, that Bees were kept in 
Bcx>thfold, Rossendale, during the i6th century. But though the 
district is still favourable to the production of the finest quality of 
honey — for this, when gathered from a heathy country, is 
esteemed for its peculiarly rich and delicate flavour — it would 
scarcely yield the commodity in such abundance as to repay the 
cultivator. This, and the growing of grain, which a century ago 
was common in Rossendale, notwithstanding the uncongenial soil 
and climate, are a department of economy which, in this district, 
has succumbed before the more profitable pursuits of the Woollen 
and Cotton Manufacture and the attendant occupations to which 
these of necessity have given rise. Where agriculture is here still 
pursued as a source of profit, it is altogether confined to the 
produce of the dairy, which will always command a ready market 
in a populous and thriving neighbourhood. 

In Vol. XII. of The Record Society a list is given of 
"Contributions from the Clergy of the Diocese of Chester, 1622, 



164 History 0/ the 

tovfards the recovery of tlie Palalinale,"(r) The list is copied from 
the private MS. ledger of John Bridgman, D.D., Bishop of Chester. 
Under Ihe heading, " In Blackburn Deanery," the following enti7 
occurs : — 

li. s. d. 
l.ect. de Rossendall Mr. Kershaw - z to o 

The whole of the Deanery contributed the sum of £,Z2 is. od., 
and the contribution of Mr. Kershaw, who was at that time Incum- 
bent of Newchurch, and in the last year of his incumbency, is the 
largest in the list ; a circumstance that goes to prove the relative 
importance of the Parish of Newchurch in those days. 

In the same volume is contained "The Assessment of the 
Clergy of I^ncashire for the Ship Money, i635,"(^) i>nd under the 
heading, " Blackburn Hundred, the Taxinge of the Ministry 
towards the Shipp of Warr," is the entry as follows : — 

Rossendale iiijs [4/- J. 

The Rev. William Horrocks was Incumbent of Newchurch at 
that time. 

(r) This has reteicnce to the struggle to regain For Frederic, son.in law of 
James I., the State on the Upper Rhi ne called the Palatinate. The daughter 
of James 1 had married Fredcriti, the Prince of the Palatinate, in 16:3. This 
Prittce, who was a Protestant, had been chosen King by the people oi 
Bohemia instead o[ their former King, Ferdinand, who was a Catholic. The 
latter, huwever, raised an army and dethroned Frederic, driving him not 
only out of Bohemia, but also out of the Palatinate. This war is called 
"The Thirty Years War," as it lasted from 1618 to 1648, and it was in 
prosecution of the attempt to win back the province for Frederic that the 
special taxes above referred to were raised, 

(«) The "Ship Money," as the ttut lor the building and equipping ships of 
war was called, as is well known, was one of those impositions made by 
Charles 1. upon the people at his pleasure, without the sanction of Parliament, 
and the payment of which was resisted by John Hampden, as sn illegal Lix, 
but which was eventually declared legal by place-hunling and servile judges, 
to their eternal dishonour. 



Forest of Rossendale. 165 

Of Thomas Sanders, Incumbent of Newchurch, who died in 
1695^ the following account appears in the parochial register: 
"Tho. Sanders presbyter, Christi Dni nostri servus humilimus, 
honestis moribus prseditus ecclesise Anglicanae pastor vigilantissimus, 
artium bonarum studiossimus, in hac gente rustic^ Rossendaliae, 
per spatium 33 annorum plus minus commoratus est. Qui per 
varios casus longo tempore jactatus deinde in patriam suam 
nativam Com. Cest. discessit. £t ipsa hord in qua domum suam 
ingressus est, pacificae inter familiares expiravit. Sepultus apud 
Mag. Budworth, 9° die Nov. 1695." 

At the time of the appointment of Mr Shorrock, a contest, 
extending over a period of three years, for the right of the 
patronage of this valuable living, took place between Dr Keene, 
the Bishop of Chester ; the Archbishop of Canterbury ; and Mr. 
Johnson, who was Vicar of Whalley at the time, and claimed the 
right of presentation. The Decree of the Chancellor of the 
Duchy of Lancaster, in the 4th of Edward VI., certainly confers 
upon the Ordinary the right to nominate a minister ; but as the 
original of this decree could not be found, after diligent search, the 
Diocesan gave way to the paramount claims of the Vicar. 

Extracts from the correspondence which ensued are given by Dr. 
Whitaker from the Letters left by Mr Johnson at his decease. I 
have taken the liberty to incorporate them in these pages. The 
letters, apart from their Local Historical value, are models of their 
kind, and will be acceptable to many readers. 

"to the bishop of CHESTER. 

Oct 20thy jy62, 
" Mv Lord, — I was this morning surprised with an account of 
Mr S. being refused a license to the Curacy of Rossendale upon 
my nomination; for what reason I cannot conceive, since I 
apprehend there can be no doubt of my right. It is very 
extraordinary that there should be no claims of this kind before 
my time, and so many since. I cannot recollect that anything has 
been done since I became Vicar to prejudice the rights and 
privileges of the Rectory of Whalley, but much in support of them ; 



1 66 History of the 

so that, if ever the right of nomination to Rossendale Chapel 
belonged to the Vicars of Whalley, it still remains so ; and whoever 
the person is that pretends to a right of nomination may with equal 
justice dispute his Grace of Canterbury's right of presentation of 
the Vicarage of Whalley, and is as well entitled to the one as the 
other. 

" Not to trouble your Lordship any longer on the subject, I 
should be glad your Lordship would do me the honour to inquire 
into the reasons why my Clerk has been rejected, and why my 
antagonist is concealed from me, seeing I cannot well proceed 
before I know my adversary, and am desirous of putting an end to 
this dispute with all expedition, as it is a populous chapelry, and 
the parishioners may suffer inconvenience for want of a minister, 
&c., W. Johnson." 

"Sir, — I have received your letter, expressing your surprise 
that your nomination to Rossendale Chapel is not accepted, 
because there can be no doubt of your right. In your mind there 
is none ; but in others' there is, or you would not have met with 
obstruction. You say the person who litigates this point with you 
might as well litigate the Archbishop's right to the presefhtation of 
the Vicarage of Whalley ; but that is not likely to be ; for it is the 
Archbishop himself, who, on having been applied to by various 
persons for the Curacy, has looked into his papers, and thinks he 
has a right and means to ptosecute it ; and why they, who refused 
Mr S. his license, should have concealed it, I cannot tell, for it 
was not intended to be a secret by any one. 

" I must acquaint you further, that since the Archbishop has 
entered his caveat, I have reason to think that I have some right to 
the Chapel ; and if the arguments should prove as solid as they 
appear specious, I shall prosecute my right against his Grace and 
you too. 

" Notwithstanding what I have said, unless I am well satisfied in 
my own mind that my claim is well grounded, I will not create you 
vexation and expense ; and I am sure I can venture to affirm the 
same of my friend the Archbishop, &c., E. Chester." 



Forest of Rossendale. 167 

" TO HIS GRACE THE ARCHBISHOP (SECKER) OF CANTERBURY. 

" May it please your Grace, — I am concerned to hear, by 
a letter from my good Lord of Chester, that your Grace is the 
person who has entered a caveat against my nomination to 
Rossendale Chapel — an adversary I did not expect ; and moreover, 
should I get clear of your Gkace, his Lordship is so generous as to 
declare that I am in some danger from him. It would have pleased 
me better to have had less powerful opponents ; but since it 
happens so, neither your Grace nor his Lordship will, I hope, be 
offended at my doing my utmost in defence of what I think my 
right. And if your Grace would honour me with your reasons for 
opposing me, it would add to the favours received by 

" W. Johnson:" 

"Lambeth, Nov, nth, 1762, 
*' Sir, — My reason for desiring that the Bishop of Chester would 
not immediately license any person to serve the Cure of Rossen- 
dale, was, that applications were made to me as Patron of it, the 
Impropriator being thought to be such of common right, and the 
nomination to the Chapels being expressly reserved to the Arch- 
bishop, in the lease of the Rectory, 

"I have not hitherto been able to inform myself sufficiently 
concerning the strength of this argument : but I am very willing to 
hear anything which you have to allege on the other side, and 
hope a contest by law may thus be prevented : but if it cannot, 
your endeavours to defend your claim will give no offence to, &c., 

T. Canterbury." 

" May it please your Grace, — It appears that the Vicar of 
Whalley for the time being has always nominated to the Chapels 
within the Rectory of Whalley ; nor have any of ydur Grace's pre- 
decessors, of whom I have seen several (and most of the Chapels 
have been vacant in my time) ever made any claim. 

" The nomination to the Chapels being expressly reserved to the 
Archbishop in the lease of the Rectory, can only be intended as a 
bar to the Lessee, who, without such an exception, might possibly 



i68 History of the 

be entitled to the patronage both of the Vicarage and Chapels ; but 
by such a reservation, the Archbishop's right is secured, which 
right by his Grace'^ presentation devolved upon the Vicar, he 
being instituted and inducted to all and singular the rights, 
privileges, &c., thereunto belonging. This I apprehend to be the 
situation of all livings impropriate. \ know no instance of an 
Incumbent not nominating to the Chapels under him, except 
where his right has been legally alienated. 

" I would not presume to make the least encroachment on your 
Grace's right ; and it gives me great uneasiness that there should 
be any doubt, at this day, to whom the nomination belongs, &c., 

W. Johnson." 

" TO THE BISHOP OF CHESTER. 

" Mv Lord, — As, probably there may never again be a Vicar of 
Whalley in circumstances to assert his rights, I would willingly fix 
them on such a footing as to put them out of the power of dispute. 

" If your Lordship's pretensions have no other foundation than 
the Decree supposed to be passed in the Duchy Court, I am per- 
suaded that the rights and privileges of the Rectory of Whalley are 
in no danger, as that Decree contains nothing that can affect them ; 
and for this plain reason, because neither Patron nor Incumbent 
are parties ; and therefore nothing foisted into the Decree, by 
artifice or iniquity, can operate so as to vest a right in your Lord- 
ship against the Vicar. W. Johnson." 

The correspondence between the disputants ended with the 
following Letter from Dr. Keene, the Bishop of the Diocese : — 

" Rev. Sir, — The contest between you and me, concerning the 
patronage of the Church in Rossendale, took its rise accidentally 
from some papers being found while my officers were searching 
into the claim of the Archbishop. 

" When the different foundations of my right were drawn together 
they did appear to me, and others whom I consulted, to be of 
validity enough to form a pretension to the noipination of that 
Chapel, and I then acquainted you with such my intention. 



# 

Forest of Rossendale. 169 

" After I despaired of finding the original Decree, I stated my 
case, and laid my materials before Mr. Wilbraham with a resolu- 
tion either of proceeding at Law, or desisting from my claims, as 
his opinion should direct me ; and as it is his opinion that the 
materials I produced would not support a trial at Bar, I did 
immediately determine to give up my pretensions. 

" I should at that time have written to you and declared my 
readiness to license your Clerk, if I had not thought it incumbent 
upon me to enquire whether the Archbishop had still any objec- 
tions to your nomination. 

" His Grace did not with his usual exactness answer my letter. 
On my return to town last week I waited upon him, and he then 
apologised for not writing, from his having been making some 
further researches into this affair, and desired I would give him a 
little more time. 

" On these facts, which I affirm to be true, I think I can vindi- 
cate m5rself from the charge of unnecessary delay. 

" Whatever others may think or say on this subject, I please 
myself with reflecting that I neither wantonly formed my preten- 
sions nor prosecuted them peevishly. 

** I can easily conceive that a clamour may have been made, not 
only among the Laity, but some of the Clergy too, against a 
Bishop endeavouring, as it may be called, to deprive one of his 
Clergy of his right ; but as I have suffered in different parts of my 
life, from my conduct having been misrepresented or mis-appre- 
hended, I have long learnt to be content with the approbation / of 
my own mind — not indifferent, yet not over-solicitous, about the 
precarious judgment of other men. Ed. Chester." 

On candidly reviewing the whole of this singular dispute, it is 
impossible to divest one's-s€lf of the impression that that eminently- 
learned and pious Prelate, Archbishop Seeker, displayed through- 
out the proceedings a degree of illiberality, heightened by vexatious 
and unnecessary delay, amounting to culpable negligence, such as 
would have been unbecoming^ in whomsoever evinced ; but in an 
exalted Dignitary of the Established Church, was peculiarly 



170 History of the 

reprehensible. The grounds for any claim on his part were trivial 
and untenable, or at least such as might easily have been resolved. 
And the only plea to be urged in his justification is, that 
his time was too much occupied in the other temporal and 
spiritual duties of his high office, to admit of his devoting more of 
it to the settlement of the right of presentation to the New Church 
of Rossendale, and of at once, on his raising the question, setting 
himself to the investigation of the measure of his right of claim to 
the patronage ; which, seeing that it could not be supported, should 
have been conceded with all promptitude, so terminating the 
dispute in a dignified and graceful manner. There is more to be 
said in justification of the plea of the Diocesan. His claim was 
founded on the Decree of the Chancellor of the Duchy of the 4th 
Edward VI., which, whether rightly or wrongly, distinctly states 
"that it shall be lawful to and for the Ordinary of the Diocese 

there for the time being to appoint, name, and 

send one discreet, able, meet, and convenient Minister to serve the 
said Town, and to minister in the said Chapel." The Original of 
this Decree, however, was not forthcoming, although it had been 
diligently searched for at Chester and elsewhere, and consequently 
the privilege which it seems to confer could not be enforced, 
even had the argument of the Vicar in his last letter been 
untenable. With much to justify his proceeding. Dr. Keene 
acted an honourable part in promptly relinquishing a claim which 
he could not legally maintain. Of Mr Johnson the Vicar it is 
iippossible to speak in too high terms of praise. His strength of 
character stands out in bold relief throughout the correspondence. 
A more timid and less able man would have shrunk from 
encountering two such antagonists, and probably have forfeited his 
rights to secure his peace of mind. Bmt the worthy Vicar was of a 
belligerent temperament, and possessed a sturdy independence of 
soul, and he entered into the contest with a zeal and ability, 
tempered with rare prudence, which did him infinite credit. 

If reports, which to this day are current at Newchurch, are to be 
credited, Mr. Shorrock, his ministerial office notwithstanding, was 



Forest of Rossendale. 171 

one of those individuals, whose consciences, being somewhat 
elastic, are disinchned to interpret, in their strictest sense, the 
clauses of the fourth commandment ; and are willing to favour the 
notion which obtains with a large number even at the present day, 
that the serious business of the Sabbath terminates with the service, 
and need only be resumed when the hour of prayer returns. It 
was his wont on favourable occasions — so runs the story — on pass- 
ing the portals of the church at the close of the service, to dip his 
hand into the capacious p)ocket of his great coat, and draw from 
thence a football, and giving it a vigorous kick, would send it 
spinning into the air, across the churchyard, and over the wall 
into the adjoining field— when the youth of the village, emulating 
the example of their pastor, would hasten away in pursuit with all 
the impetuosity of youthful vigour. (/) 

(t) On the publication of the first edition of this work, a correspondent 
wrote censuring me for relating this incident. Whether true or not, I am, of 
course, unable, personally, to vouch ; but certainly I learnt the tradition from 
more than one source. In any case I did not tell the story in disparagement 
of the reverend gentleman, but the contrary. The manners of the times, 
though not less genuine, were not as straight-laced as those of subsequent 
days. Possibly the basis of the story may be found in some such custom as 
is narrated in a delightful book— dear to readers of scholarly tastes : 

" A singular usage long perpetuated itself at Auxere. On Easter Day the 
canons, in the very centre of the great church, played solemnly at ball. 
Vespers being sung, instead of conducting the bishop to his palace, they 
proceeded in order into the nave, the people standing in two long rows to 
watch. Girding up their skirts a little way, the whole body of clerics awaited 
their turn in silence, while the captain of the singing- boys cast the ball into 
the air, as high as he might, along the vaulted roof of the central aisle to be 
caught by any boy who could, and tossed again with hand or foot till it passed 
on to the portly chanters, the chaplains, thQ canons themselves, who finally 
played out the game with all the decorum of an ecclesiastical ceremony. It 
was just then, just as the canons took the ball to themselves so gravely, that 
Denys— Denys TAuxerrois, as he was afterwards called— appeared for the 
first time. Leaping in among the timid children he made the thing really a 
game. The boys played like boys, the men almost like madmen, and all with 
a delightful glee which became contagious, first in the clerical body, and then 
among the spectators. The aged Dean of the Chapter, Protonotary of his 



172 History of the 

After all, the Incumbent was only fulfilling the mandate of 
James I., promulgated in his notorious " Book of Sports,"(w) which, 
by the way, is said to date its inspiration from the King's famous 
visit to Hoghton. Tower, in the neighbourhood of Blackburn; on 
which occasion a petition was presented to His Majesty by certain 
of his loyal subjects, complaining of the measures of the Puritans 
in discouraging and suppressing the lawful recreations of the people, 
and praying his Majesty to interfere in their behalf. 

In connection with St. Nicholas's Church is a National School, 
which abuts on the churchyard, and was erected in 1829-30, at 
a cost of ^800 ; of which sum ^500 was contributed by Robert 
Haworth, Esq., of Warth. 



Holiness, held up his purple skirt a little higher, and stepping from the ranks 
with an amazing levity, as if suddenly relieved of his burden of eighty years, 
tossed the ball with his foot to the venerable capitular Homilist, equal to the 
occasion. And then, unable to stand inactive any longer, the laity carried on 
the game among themselves, with shouts of not too boisterous amusement; the 
sport continuing until the flight of the "ball could no longer be traced along 
the dusky aisles." — Walter Patkr (Imagifiary Portraits, Denys 
VAuxerreis.) 

(u) The " Book of Sports," published by command of James I., in the year 
1618, amongst other things, proclaimed — "That for his good people's lawful 
recreation, his pleasure was, that after the end of Divine Service, they be not 
disturbed, letted, or discouraged, from any lawful recreation, such as dancing, 
either men or women ; Archery for men, leaping, vaulting, or any such 
harmless recreation ; nor from having of May games, Whitsonales, and 
Morice- dances, and the setting-up of May-poles and other sports therewith 
used ; so as the time be had in due and convenient time, without impediment 
or neglect of divine service. And that women should have leave to carry 
rushes to the church for the decorating of it according to the old custom.*' 
It is proper to add, that "He did bar from this benefit and liberty all such 
known recusants, either men or women, as did abstain from coming to church, 
or divine service, they being unworthy of any lawful recreation, after the said 
Service, that would not first come to the church and serve God." The latter 
clause is a recognition of the doctrine of Works with a vengeance ! 



Forest of Rossendale. 173 

A stone tablet, erected over the entrance to the school in 1844 
bears the following inscription : — 

"This Tablet is erected by the Trustees of the National School to 
commemorate the munificent GIFT OF FIVE HUNDRED POUNDS 
for the Building thereof, by Robert Haworth, late of Warth, who died on the 
11th day of Dec., 1823." 

Mr. Haworth died in 1823, and by the terms of his Will he 
bequeathed the sum named to the treasurer of the Church Sunday 
School, in Newchurch, Rossendale, and the like sum to the 
treasurer of the Sunday School belonging to the society of the 
Wesleyan Methodists there, to assist in building schoolrooms for 
these religious bodies respectively. 

• Mr Baines in his History of the County, has confounded the 
National with the Grammar School, at Newchurch ; the two being 
quite distinct. The latter is situated a little below the village, and 
bears a just reputation for the ability of its Preceptors. 

" Here is a School endowed by John Kershaw, after his wife's death, (who 
died an.[no] 1709,) wth Lands worth lol. los. p>[er] an [num.] For ye 2 first 
years after her death, the Rents were applied by ye Feoffees to ye building 
of a school-house, wch was finished an.[no] 1711 ; since which they have been 
given to ye Master, who is nominated by ye Feoffees. 

" [The J Writings are in ye hands of ye Steward of ye Honour of Clithero. 

" Land given to [the] School, [which] contains 30 Statute Acres. Left 
also by John Kershaw, Sol." (v) 

The School was rebuilt in the years 1829-30. A further gift of a plot of 
land from the close adjoining has recently been made to the Trustees of the 
Grammar -School, for a playground, by John Law, Esq. of Eltofts, near 
Leeds. (ir) 

This school was endowed in 1701, by John Kershaw, of 
Boothfold, with two small estates at Heald in Bacup Booth. This 
fact is commemorated on his tombstone at Newchurch, as follows : — 

(«) Notitia Cestfiensis, p. 342. 

{to) ibid, Note by Canon Raines, p. 343. 



174 History of the 

"In Memory of JOHN KERSHAW, of Wolfenden Booth Fold, the 
beneficent donor of the estates situated in Heald, in Bacup Booth, for the 
benefit of New Church School. He was buried the ist of February, 1701, at 
the age of 85 years. 

" ANNE KERSHAW, his wife, was buried 4th January, 1709 : — 

" They lived long beloved, 
And dy'd bewailed. 
And two estates 
Upon one school entail'd." 

It is unfortunate that these estates are not more advantageously 
located for increase in yearly value and consequent usefulness. 
Endowments of this character, when judiciously administered, are 
often the instrument of conferring untold blessings on the 
neighbourhood possessing them ; and, taken in the aggregate, they 
form one of the distinguishing glories of a civilised and free 
country. To no nobler purpose can wealth be devoted than that 
of providing the appliances of education for the rising generation 
in present and future times. 

The first school under the Trust was situated at Boothfold, 
having been built in 1701. This continued in use till 1787, 
when it was converted into cottages (still in existence, as re-built), 
on the erection, in the latter year, of the school at the top 
of Bridleway; which was re-built in 1830. The last-named 
was demolished in 1889 (a temporary iron structure being 
used in the interval), and the new school buildings, on the 
same site, were completed and opened in 1890, at a cost of ;£'22oo. 
This result is largely due to the active exertions of the late 
headmaster, the Rev. R. W. Hay, M.A. (now of Garsdon Rectory, 
near Malmesbury). The new structure, of which Mr. Thomas 
Bell, of Burnley, was the architect, is a vast improvement on its 
predecessors. The style of the elevation is simple but effective ; 
there is a handsome bell turret in the farther gable, and the 
mullioned and transomed windows give a coUegiate character to the 
building. A new scheme was formulated by the Charity Commis- 
sioners in 1890, under which the management of the school is 
extended and its usefulness and popularity increased. Under this 



Forest of Rossendale. 175 

scheme the Foundation is administered by a governing body 
consisting of twelve members. Six of these are representative, two 
each being chosen by the Town Councils of Bacup and Rawtenstall, 
and one each by the Newchurch School Board and the Council of 
the Victoria University. The other six are Co-optative, and consist 
of gentlemen resident in the district, Mr. T. E. Jackson, M.A., is 
the present Head Master, his appointment dating from July, 1892. 

In addition to the foundation of the Grammar School and the 
contribution towards the building of St. Nicholas Sunday School, 
two other Newchurch bequests may be recorded in this place. 

" Ormerod's Charity " consisted of a gift about the middle of last 
century of ;^3oo advanced towards the building of a workhouse 
for the use of the poor in the township of Newchurch-in-Rossendale. 
In respect of this sum of ^300, the yearly sum of ^13 los. od., or 
at the rate of 4j^ per cent, interest, the Charity Commissioners 
(1830) found was paid as a charge upon the workhouse out of the 
poor rates, and was distributed by quarterly payments of ;;^3 7s. 6d., 
principally in sums of 2s. or 2s. 6d., amongst poor persons of the 
chapelry, not receiving relief. 

The other is the charity of the late Mrs. Frances Strong, of 
Height Side, Newchurch, who by her Will of December 4th, 1856, 
directed her trustees to invest the sum of ;^iooo out of her purely 
personal estate, and to pay the interest thereof in money, clothing, 
or otherwise, at their discretion, amongst deserving poor people 
resident within Deadwenclough, in Rossendale, for ever. Such 
distribution to take place yearly, on the thirteenth day of October, 
being her birthday. The first trustees were the kite George 
Hargreaves, of Newchurch, and John Whitaker, late of Broad- 
clough, Bacup. 

From the date of the erection of the New Church in 15 11, to 
the 32nd year of the reign of King Henry VIII. (1540)1 the 
population of Rossendale had gone on steadily increasing. At the 
latter date they amounted, probably, to between 600 and 700 
souls. These were widely scattered over the district, and it soon 
became manifest that one small chapel was insufficient for their 



T76 History of the 

accommodation. Measures were accordingly taken by certain of 
the inhabitants to supply the want, and the result was the erection, 
on Morrell Height, of Goodshaw Chapel in the year 1542. 

" Goodshaw, Certif.[ied] that there is no endowment. The Inhab.[itants] 
allow some inconsiderable contrib.[utions,] which are ill paid. 

"Divine Service [is performed] and [aj Sermon [preached] once a 
fortnight by [the] Curate of Altham. 

" Goodshaw, a Chappell within Haslingden. I preach there sometimes, but 
have nothing for my pains. Curate of Haslingden^ s AecL, an. [10] 1704, V. 
[ide] Pap, Reg, 

" Served by [the] Curate of Haslingden, an. [no] 1724. 

[" There is] one Cottage belong.png] to [the] ChappeU, let for los. pfer] 
an.[num] Certif.[ied] an.[no] 1725. 

"8 m.[iles] from Whalley; 2 m.[i!es] from [the] next Chap.[el]. 

" Neither School nor Charities." {f) 

" Dedicated to St Mary and All Saints. Value in 1834, jf 121. Registers 
begin in 1732. 

" Goodshaw is situated in Higher Booth, and, although in the Chapelry of 
Haslingden, is dependent upon Whalley, and not Haslingden as stated by 

Baines In the year 1650 Goodshaw was returned as not 

Parochial, though having seventy families, and being eleven miles from the 
Parish Church. It had then neither Minister nor maintenance "save one 
Messuage and a backside worth los. per ann." The inhabitants desire to 
have a Parish, and a competent allowance for a resident Minister. Pari. Inq. 
Lamb.^MSS. vol. ii. It has now a district assigned to it comprising Morrell 
Height, where it is situated, Crawshaw Booth, Gambleside, Goodshaw, and 
Love C lough. There is a Parsonage house, a resident Incumbent with a 
Curate, and Schools in active operation, — all forming a pleasing contrast to 
the gloomy picture drawn by Bishop Gastrell and the Curate of Haslingden 
in the text, and to the still more touching and miserable, picture of the. 
Republican and Puritan era." (s) 

The following is of much interest to all connected with the 
district : — 

(r) Notitia Cestriensis, p. 331. (s) ibid^ note by Canon Raines, p. 331. 



Forest of Rossendale. 177 

"A COPY OF AN OLD DEED, ENTERED INTO FOR 
BUILDING A CHAPEL AT GOODSHAW IN THE 
FOREST OF ROSSENDALE, IN THE 32ND YEAR OF 
THE REIGN OF KING HENRY THE 8th. 

"This Indenture, made the i6th day of December, in the 32nd 
year of the Reign of our most Dread Sovereign Lord, Henry the 
8th, by the Grace of God King of England and of France, 
defender of the faith, lord of Ireland, and in earth immediately 
under God, Supreme head of the Church of England, Betwixt 
George Ormerod, of Crawshawbooth ; James Haworth, of the 
same; John Ormerod, of Gambleside, son and heir apparent 
to the said George Ormerod; and George Ormerod, of 
Gambleside, another of the sons of the said George 
Ormerod, of Crawshawbooth, in the County of Lancaster, 
Yeomen, on the one part : and Thurstan Birtwistle, of 
the Goodshaw ; Henry Hargreaves, of the same ; Oliver Holt, of 
the Loveclough ; and John Birtwistle, of the same, in the said 
County, Yeomen, on the other part, Witnessethy that it is 
condecended, covenanted, and agreed betwixt the said parties, 
that they shall found, Edifie, and Build one Chapel in the Honour 
of God, our Blessed Lady, and all saints, in a certain place within 
the forrest of Rossendale named Morrell Height, for the Easement 
of the said parties and of their neighbours the Inhabitants of 
Crawshawbooth, Gambleside, Goodshaw, and Loveclough, and all 
other the King's Leige people which shall be disposed 'to hear 
Mass and other Divine Service in the said Chapel, in form and 
manner hereafter ensuing. That is to wit — First, it is agreed and 
appointed betwixt the said parties, for and concerning the propor- 
tion of the said Chapel, that the same shall be and contain in itself 
in length 16 cloth yards, and in wideness 7 cloth yards, and the 
walls of the said Chapel shall be and contain in height 3 cloth 
yards ; and that there shall be in the said Chapel two doors of 
Hewn Stones and three windows of Hewn Stones ; and the same 
Chapel to be Timbered accordingly, and to be made, thacked, and 
finished afore the first of Mari Mawdlin next to come after the day 



■78 



History of the 



of ihe dnte hereof. And funher it is Covenanted betwixt the said 
parties, in form and manner following, that is to wit — The said 
George Ormerod, father, James Haworth, John Omierod and 
George Ormerod, the sons, covenanteth, grantcth, and agreeih. by 
these present Indentures, to and with the said Thurslan Birtwistle, 
Henry Hargreaves, Oliver Holt, and John Birtwistle, that they, the 
said George Ormerod, the father, and the said Co-fellows, with and 
towards the help and support.ition as they shall happen to get 
of their neighbours the Inhabitants of Crawsh aw booth. Gamble- 
side, Nuishaw, and Dunnockshaw, and of W'olfenden, Richard 
Ormerod, of Wolfenden Booth, and Miles Nutton, of Rossendale, 
shall make, stand to, and bear the Moiety of all manner ot costs 
and charges concerning the foundation and Building of the said 
Chapel ; and in like manner the said Thurstan Birtwistle, Hcnr)- 
Hargreaves, Oliver Holt, and John Birtwistle covenantelh, grantelh, 
and agreeth by these present Indentures, to and with the said 
George Omierod, the father, and his said Co-fellows, that the said 
Thurstan Birtwistle and his said Co-fellows, with the help and 
supportation of other their neighbours, Inhabitants of the Goodshaw 
and Loveclough beforesaid, shall make, stand to, and bear the other 
Moiety of all manner of costs and charges concerning the founda- 
tion and Building of the said Chapel. And also it is agreed 
betwixt the said parlies that they shall be indifferently . . , with 
all manner of Gifts and Labours which at any time or times 
hereafter shall be given or Bequeathed towards the foundation or 
Building of the said Chape! by any manner of person or persons 
above named, nor mentioned in this Indenture, if any such be. 
And further it is covenanted, as well of the part of the said George 
Ormerod, the father, and his Co-fellows, as of the part of the said 
Thurstan Birtwistle and his Co-fellows, that if fortune any dissention 
or variance to be moved Betwixt the said parties at any time or 
times hereafter for and concerning the foundation or building of the 
said Chapel, or any manner of costs and labours concerning the 
same, then the said parties to be reformed, ordered, and redressed 
by Richd. Townley, of V^'orsthorne, Esqr., so oft as any such 



Forest of Rossendale. 179 

dissention shall so happen betwixt them, and for the performance 
of the covenants, grants, and articles covenanted, granted, and 
declared in these Indentures, the said parties stand bounden party 
to party by their several obligations in the sum of Twenty pounds 
sterling, which obligations bear date the day of the date of these 
Indentures. In witness whereof the said parties to these Indentures 
Interchangeably have set their ^eals upon the day and year above 
written." 

"(26 Augt. 1656. — A true copy of the Original Indenture 
remaining in the hands of John Howorth, of Crawshawbooth) 
(saving what is wanting above and could not be read.) 

'* Examined by me,* 

*' ANDR. HOLDEN." 

The dimensions of the Chapel as given in the above Deed are 
curious ; the Width being somewhat out ofproportioato the length 
and height. The walls, which were only nine feet high, must have 
been unpleasantly low, though the building inside was probably 
oi^en to the thatched roof. In the year 1817-18 the Chapel was 
rebuilt and enlarged, but the modern erection is almost as void of 
architectural pretensions as its humble forerunner. There is room 
for regret here, as no site in the Forest of Rossendale is better 
adapted for displaying the architectural beauties of a Building. 

In the year 1584, or 42 years after the erection of the Chapel at 
Goodshaw, certain of the inhabitants of Rawtenstall, Newhallhey, 
Gambleside, Loveclough, Crawshawbooth, Constablee, Oakenhead 
Wood, and Dunnockshaw prayed to be separated from Newchurch 
and to be allowed to betake themselves to the Church at Hasling- 
den, or, for their ease, to the Chapel at Goodshaw, for the hearing 
of Divine Service, and the prayer was granted, as appears by the 
following : — 

AN ORDER FOR SEPARATEING PART OF Ye FORREST OF 
ROSSENDALE FROM NEWCHURCH, , & BETAKING 
THEMSELVES TO HASLINGDEN— 27TH YEAR OF Yk 
REIGN OF QUEEN ELIZth. 

" At a Commission holden at Manchester in the Collegiate Church there 



I So 



History of the 



upon Thursday, vizi, ye sgtK de of ye month oi Janry, in ye J7tK of jre mosi 
Illustnou; Queen EUzih. 

S Wills Ep 
Robtus N 
Edns Hop wood 
" The Act before ye Queen's Commissioners above mentioned ye day, 
month, year & place aforesd are as followeth, vizt. 

" BffmeeH Gyles Hoyle & others. Churchwardens in ye Forrest of 
Rossendale of ye Newchurch of our Saviour, of ye one part, and others 
Inhabitants within ye sd Forrest of ye other part^ Whereas ye Churchwardens 
by way of Information unto this Court have shewed and declared that all and 
every the Inhabitants within the sd Forrest of Rossendale by virtue of a grant 
or Charter from ye late most excellent Prince of famous memory King Edwd. 
ye I^th, arc bound to repair & come unto ye sd Newchurch in Rossendale 
afores there to hear Divine Service and Sermons and Administration of ye 
Sacraments and other ye Ceremonies of ye Church which they ought to have 
& to be contributors alltogether for & towarda ye reparation of ye sd Church 
when & so often as need shall require. And that ye prcmes notwithstanding 
certain of ye Inhabitants within ye sd Forrest have of long bme & yet do 
utterly refuse so to do, As namely Edwd Rawstorne Esq. for & in the name of 
John Bridge of Raivtenstall, John Piccop of ye snmc, Crofer Bridge of ye same, 
Thomas Piccop of ye same, Isabel Piccop widow of ye same, Thomas Tattersali 
of ye same, John Rawstorne of ye same, Hugh Hey of ye same, tenants of 
ye said Edwd Rawstorne. James Heap of Rawtenstall aforesaid & Henry 
Heap of ye same. Crofer Nuttal! of Newhallhey genln, Agnes Nuttnll of ye 
same. Widow, George Onnerod of Gamblesidc with ye rest of ye Inhabitants, 
George Oearden of Loveclough with ye rest of ye Inhabitants there, Dennis 
Haworth & James Haworth of Craivshawbooth with ye rest of the Inhabitants 
there, George Haworth of Constableigh with ye rest of ye Inhabitants there. 
Richd Hey oi Oakenhead ivith ye rest of ye Inhabitants there, with all & 
every ye Inhabitants of Dunnockshaw. And therefore have prayed that in 
consideration of ye premes ye sd parties last above mentioned & every of 
them may by ye Authority of this Court be compelled to repair unto ye said 
Church & farther to do in all things as ye rest of ye Inhabitants within ye said 
Forrest and as by ye sd Charter or grant they are & stand bounden to do, 
And whereas also ye sd Edwd Rawstorne Esquire j£ others ye parties above 
named appearing before this Court have alledged for themselves, First, that 
they are not neither ought to be bounden unto ye sd Charter or Grant as well 
for yt ye same was procured of ye King's highness upon sinister Information 
without their privity consent oi knowledge & of their predecessors. As also 
yt it doth bind them to many great inconveniences which they think was never 



Forest of Rossendale. 1 8 i 

intended »gat them. Secondly, ihnt they are far diEUnt ot & frcpm ye sd 
Newchurch of Rossendale & therelote ye sd parties & their predecessors both 






t have usually repaired 



before ye sd Charti 

to ye Church o( Haslingden and Chapel of Goodshaw within the sd Forrest 
both ye which be very near unto them. Further ye said parties have alleged 
yt i( ihey should come & repair unto ye sd Newchurch in Rossendale they 
could not have room U place fit or con-venicnt for them to kneel or sit in 
at ye lime tA Divine Service. And last of all that ye sd Churchwardens of ye 
sd Newchurch in Rossendale had of late imposed upon them such exces- 
sive Taxation of charges as in no wise they should be able 
to bear without their great impoverishment & hindrance. And 
therefore ye said parties have likewise p-rayed that they might be dismissed 
the Court & permitted to repair to ye ^d Church of Haslingden and Chapel 
of Goodshaw as heretofore they & their predecessors have done, renouncing & 
utterly disclaiming from all their right, interest & benefit which they either 
had or might have in & 10 ye sd Newchurch of Rosseodalc by virtue of the 
sd Charter or Grant for them their heirs and successors for ever hereifler. 
Which done ye court after better & deliberate consideration of ye premes & 
ye Allegations on both sides had & made, & especially foryt ye Inhabitants of 
ye Booths above named have of long time been as of duty belonging to no 
Church, but at their own liberty, whereupon many disorders both have & 
may easily arise. And as well for ye avoiding thereof £i for some other 
Causes by them alledged & here above-mentioned & other good considerations 
ye Court thereunto moving. Hath ordered & decreed ye day & place above 
named. That ye sd parties shall from lime to time & at al! times hereafter 
repair and go unto ye Church of Haslingden there to hear Divine Service & 
Sermons & have administration of Sacraments and other Ceremonies of ye 
Church in all degrees as other ye Parishioners belonging to ye sd Church of 
Haslingden if ye sd Parishioners of Haslingden will permit em so to do, doing 
all duties Co ye sd Churche as ye rest of ye Inhabitants within the sd Parish 
do. Saving yt they or any of (hem may for their more ease repair unto ye sd 
Chapel of Goodshaw for hearing cpf Divine Service only for so long & till such 
lime as further Order be taken either by ye sd Court or other sufficient for & 
concerning ye premes & that neither ye si^ Inhabitants above named or any of 
them their heirs or successors Inhabitants vithin ye sd places above mentioned 
shall at any time hereafter Claim use or have any ease or benefit of in or by 
ye sd Newchurch of Rossendale, neither have any access or repair unto ye 
same lor hearing of Divine Seivice or for ye Administration of Sacraments 
or other Ceremonies of ye Church without ye lycense and Eree consent of ye 
Churchwardens of ye same. Moreover it is Ordered & Decreed that 
Thomas Bridge and Charles Whitafcer of Rockcliffe their heirs & successors 



iS2 History of the 

tenants to Mr. Edwd Rawstarnt; in Rock liffe wood aforesaid shall for ever 
hereafter be as Parishioners & belong unto yesd Newchiirch of Rossendale & 
yl yc sd Thomas Bridge'and Charles Whitaker shall either of them pay or cause 
to be paid to ye Churchwardens of ye Newchurchof Rossendale (or & towards ye 
reparation of ye same four years rent, ye one h»lf thereof at ye feast of St 
Michael the Archangel next & ye other half at ye feast of St Michael ye 
Archangel next enduing. In consideration whereof ye sd Churchwardens of 
ye sd Newchurch ol Rossendale shall presently appoint S: assign unto ye sd 
Thomas Bridge and Charles Whitaker sucli fit convenient room & places to 
sit in at ye time ol Divine Service within ye sd Church, as shall be decent b 
meet for their calling. Provided always yl ye Order for ye Assignment of 
forms & stalb within ye sd Newchurch of Rossendaje to certain Inhabitants 
there heretofore by authority from this Court set down by IVIr. Richd 
Midgley, Clerk, Vicar of Rochdale & Lawrence Nuttall Gentln & exhibited 
into this Court under their hands in writing, shall be and remain in force & 
like its full effect, this present order or anything therein contained lo ye 
contrary notwithstanding. Provided nlsoe that this present order & decree 
shall in nowise touch or be prejudicial! to Impeach hurt hinder or contrary to 
ye true intent and meaning of ye sd Charier or Grant or anything matter or 
clause therein specified intended set down or declared,'' 

In the early years of its existence, the Church, as already slated, 
was served by the Curate of Haslingden, there being no settled 
minister in chaise. The Rev. Mr. Uttley, was appointed to the 
Curacy about 1 730, and ministered tlierS for over forty years. Prior 
10 the erection of St. John's Church, Bacup (A.D„ 1788,) Mr. 
Uttley officiated both at his own place of worship und every 
alternate Sunday at Bacup, preaching and baptizing in the old 
schoolroom which stood on the site of the present Mechanics' 
Institution. 

It is not very clear who succeeded to the Curacy, but there is 
still in existence an interesting document {/) which throws light 
upon the subject. This is to the following effect : — 

" Know all men by these [presents] that I, Richard Ortl, ol 
Bury, in the County of Lancaster, schoolmaster, am held and 
firmly bound to John Holt, James Hargreaves, Richard Saunder- 
son and Joshua Townsend, of Goodshaw, yeomxn, in the sum of 

(f) In the possession of W, S. Weeks, Esq., solicitor, Clilheroc, 



Forest of RossendaU. 183 

two hundred pounds of lawful money of Great Britain, to be paid 
to them or their certain Attorneys, Executors, Administrators or 
Assigns, for which Payment well and truly to be made I bind 
myself, my Heirs, Executors and Administrators firmly by these 
Presents, sealed with my seal and dated the Eleventh day of 
September in the twenty-first year of the reign of our Sovereign 
Lord George the Third, by the grace of God of Great Britain, 
France and Ireland, King Defender of the Faith, and so forth, 
and in the year of our Lord, One Thousand Seven Hundred and 
Eighty One. 

" Whereas the Inhabitants of Goodshaw Chapelry intend to 
raise the salary of the said chapel from its present salary of twenty- 
six pounds and fifteen shillings per annum, to forty pounds 
exclusive of the Fees accruing from the Performance of Parochial 
Duty, in order to induce a Clergyman to reside amongst them and 
teach a School there upon such a plan and on such conditions as 
shall hereafter be agreed upon. Now the Conditions of the above 
written Obligation is such that if the above-bounden Richard Ortt 
shall be nominated and ordained to the Curacy of Goodshaw 
aforesaid, and the said curacy shall be augmented to forty pounds 
per year by the inhabitants thereof exclusive of the Fees above- 
mentioned within twelve months from the date hereof. And if at 
or before the expiration of the said twelve months the said Richard 
Ortt shall become a resident Clergyman and Schoolmaster there, 
or shall decline, give up and ' resign the said Curacy at the 
expiration of the said twelve months or at any time after he 
becomes resident, or happen to die within or after that time, then 
this Obligation shall be void otherwise it shall be and remain in 
full force and virtue in the law." 

Whether Mr. Ortt became the Minister, however, and, if so, how 
long he remained at Goodshaw, is uncertain. 

The Benefice is a Perpetual Curacy in the gift of the Trustees of 
William Hulme, called the "Hulmeian Trustees." The Vicar of 
Whalley was formerly the patron. 



184 History of the 

The following are the names of the Incumbents or Vicars since 
the year 18 14, as they appear in the Baptismal Register: — 

Rev. George Haworth, 18 14; died November 5, 1836. 

Rev. E. B. Allen, 1836 ; removed to Bacup, June, 1839. 

Rev. Henry Howorth, 1839 ; removed to Rawtenstall 1847. 

Rev. James Bell, 1848 ; died March 4, 1854. . 

Rev. John Howard, 1854 ; died September 28, 1887. 

Rev. Abraham Spencer, M.A., 1887; removed to Haslingden, 

1892. 
Rev. Alfred Bedson, M.A., 1892 ; the present Vicar. 

Down to about 1850, Goodshaw was a Chapelry under the 
Chapelry of Haslingden. 

A new Church, dedicated to St. John, has been erected at Sunny- 
side, Crawshawbooth, and in connecticJn with the church at 
Goodshaw. In addition to giving the site. Lord Crawshaw has 
contributed ;^3iOoo towards the structure, and ;^iooo to the en- 
dowment. The building is a handsome one in the late decorated 
style, consisting of nave of five bays, north and south aisles, 
chancel and transcepts. On the north side of the chancel is the 
tower, 23 feet square at the base and 122 feet in height to the top 
of the pinacles. The Church has accommodation for 604 
worshippers. 

In the returns made to Parliament in 1786, it is stated that Sam- 
uel Mills gave to the poor of Goodshaw money producing ;^3 a year. 
The only information which the Charity Commissioners in 1830 
were able to obtain relating to this charitable gift was from James 
Hargreaves, Esq., who stated that his uncle, the Rev. John 
Hargreaves, to whom he was executor, with his brother Colonel 
Hargreaves, told him that there was in his hand ;^20, left for the 
poor of the Chapelry in Goodshaw, but that it was not known by 
whom it was given. Since the death of his uncle, he had 
considered himself answerable for this sum ; and he stated that he 
had given away in charity to poor persons of Higher Booth, in 
which the Chapel of Goodshaw is situated, upwards of 20s. yearly. 



• CHAPTER III. 

•' God's lowly temple ! place of many prayers ! 

• • • • • 

The sight of thee brings gladness to my heart ; 

And while beneath thy humble roof I stand, 

I seem to grasp an old familiar hand, 
And hear a voice that bids my spirit start." 

—Robert Nicoll.— "The Village Church.*' 

A N interval of 246 years elapsed between the foundation of All 
'^^ Saint's Church, Goodshaw, (a.d. 1542) and that of St. John's, 
Bacup, which was the next Episcopal Chapel built within the Forest of 
Rossendale. Previous to the erection of the latter, the Inhabitants 
of Bacup who were so disposed, attended St. Nicholas's Church, at 
the Village of Newchurch, and a footpath, still in existence, which 
crosses the hills from Heald, passing Doals and Hayslacks, through 
the Broadclough estates, by Tewitt Hall, Winder Gate, and Acre 
Hill, through Edgeside and Bridleway, yet bears the name of " Th' 
Kirk Gate," as being the path usually travelled by pedestrians 
going to the New Church. Another " old gate " led from Sharney- 
ford, past Heap Farm and Th' Owd Whoam, down by Flowers 
and Laneside, Greensnook, Lane-Head Lane, through the river 
opposite the old school in Bacup-fold, along Newgate, up Bankside 
Lane, right on past Th' Hile and thence by way of Boothfold to the 
Church. 

The distance being considerable, and much inconvenience 
resulting from conveying the dead so far over irregular and 
exposed tracks ; and, moreover, the population continuing 
greatly to increase, the principal inhabitants of Bacup and 



1 86 History of the 

its vicinity, took the necessary steps for erecting a Chapel of Ease 
within the Town. The sanction of the authorities was obtained 
on the stipulation that a proportion of the dues accruing to such 
chapel should be paid to the Incumbents of Newchurch. It is 
estimated that during the time this arrangement continued in effect, 
a sum of upwards of ;^9oo was handed over to Newchurch, as its 
proportion of the fees. 

On the 1 6th of August, in the year 1788, Si. John's, Bacup, was 
consecrated by Dr. Cleaver. Bishop of Chester. The land on 
which the Church is built was given by John Whitaker, Esq., of 
Broadclough. 

The old School which formerly stood on the site of the 
Mechanics' Institution, though originally belonging to the Baptist 
denomination, was latterly used as an Episcopal place of worship 
prior to the erection of St. John's, and, as before-mentioned, the 
ReV. Mr. Uttley, the Clergyman residing at Goodshaw, officiated 
therein every alternate Sunday. 

The National School was built by subscription, in the year 
1829. Mrs. Hey worth, of Willow Cottage, who died in her 93d 
year, gave j[fio towards that object, and a few other of the 
principal residents in the town and district, ;^5o each. 

The Trustees, who were originally the Patrons of the Church, 
guaranteed ;^8o per annum to the Minister in addition to his 
proportionate share of the dues. The income derived from the 
sittings, at the beginning of the century, amounted to about ;£i2o 
per annum, and the balance of ;^4o remaining after paying the 
salary of the Incumbent, was spent in defraying the other 
expenses of the church. A charity sermon was preached once 
every second or third year, and a collection made in support of the 
School, which was originally held in the old building referred to 
above. 

The Rev. Joseph Ogden was the first Incumbent. He came 
from Sowerby in Yorkshire, to which place he eventually returned 
after spending several years of usefulness at Bacup. The reason of 
his leaving Sowerby and returning thither again, is stated by his 



Forest of Rossendale. 187 

friend the Rev. James Hargreaves, Author of the " Life of John 
Hirst," in an interesting autobiography which he has left behind 
him in MS. 

It appears that "complaints were lodged with the vicar of 
Halifax, who had the gift of Sowerby, that Mr. Ogden was too 
Methodistical, on which grounds he had orders to quit. A very 
large proportion of the inhabitants were greatly grieved, and 
obtained from Mr. Ogden a promise that whenever they could 
succeed in making way for his return, he would come amongst 
them again. The vicar died, another succeeded, and the applica- 
tion was made. The new vicar having another living, namely 
Ripponden, vacant, appointed Mr. Webster of Sowerby to that, 
and made way for Mr. Ogden's return, who, considering the 
inviolability of his promise, left all the dear connexions he had 
formed at Bacup. He spent the remainder of his life at Sowerby." 

The following estimate of his character and abilities is given by 
the same writer : — 

" Mr. Ogden came to Bacup when under thirty years of age. 
He was a man of slender talents as a preacher. His voice was 
rather feminine, and his delivery uninviting; and when in great 
earnest and vehement, which was very frequently, his voice rather 
approached towards a scream. He was very timid, and often on 
the LordVday morning, or at noon, would conceive that the 
subject he had prepared w^s improper, and he would then take 
another text, and throw himself upon the mercy of the moment. 
It cannot, therefore, be any matter of wonder if his sermons were 
often crude and incoherent ; but his piety, his devotion, and his 
evident desire to do good, more than compensated for these 
defects!" 

After Mr. Ogden's removal an interval of about 18 months 
occurred, during which period there was no settled minister^ the 
service being conducted by strangers. 

The Rev. William Porter, who was from Cumberland, and 
became the resident Clergyman in 1796, officiated several times as 
a supply, and the congregation at that time having the power of 



1 88 History of the 

selection, chose him as their minister. His salary amounted to a 
fixed sum of J[fio per annum, raised from the seat rents, and he 
had the proportionate share of the fees in addition. 

The Burial fees were, — Seven years of age and upwards, 4s. lod. 
each. IS. 8d. out of this was paid to Newchurch, the Incumbent 
of St. John's received is. 6d., his Clerk 2d., and the Sexton is. 6d. 
Under seven years of age 3s. each, is. to Newchurch, lod. to 
St. John's Incumbent, 2d. to Clerk, is. to Sexton. 

The Baptismal fee was lod. each. 5d. to Newchurch, 4d. to 
the Incumbent of St. John's, and id. to the Clerk. No marriages 
were solemnized here until the year 1837. Previous to that time 
Newchurch had the monopoly in this respect, so far as Bacup was 
concerned. 

The Parsonage was built by the congregation about 1805, 
during the Incumbency of Mr. Porter, and in order to augment 
his income the congregation also subscribed and purchased the 
form called Meadowhead near Gambleside, worth, at that time 
;^4o per annum, which they presented to him. An endowment 
of J[^2o per annum was also obtained from Queen Anne's Bounty. 
About the same period, James Lord of Greave, at his death, made 
provision for the payment of J[^2 annually to the Incumbent of St. 
John's on condition that he should preach a sermon in the church 
on St. Andrew's day (Nov. 30) in each year. 

The year before his death, which took place on May 4th, 1839, 
Mr. Porter obtained the services of a curate, the Rev. Robt. K. 
Cooke, to whom he paid one half of his stipend. 

Mr. Porter was a laborious, earnest, and popular preacher, 
having a richly stored and ready memory. Not fond of formality 
and show, he yet exhibited certain peculiarities of character which 
attracted observation. " The entire tenour of his holy conversation 
marked him as a man of God ; while his arduous, persevering, 
long-continued, but unwearied work of faith, and labour of love, in 
connexion with his patience of hope, showed that he was a painful^ 
that is, a i>ains-taking minister of Jesus Christ. While his 
api)earance and character were those of a Patriarch, his work and 



Forest of Rossendale. 189 

labour were those of an Apostle." {a) Mr. Porter, who was nearly 
80 years of age at his death, was 42 years Incumbent of St John's. 
The Church, during his ministry, was crowded to excess with 
attentive hearers. The esteem in which he was held by his 
townsmen of all denominations was sincere and universal. 

After Mr. Porter's death, the living was sold to the Hulmeian 
Trustees, {b) in whose hands the gift of the benefice rests. 

The Rev. E. B. Allen was the 3rd Incumbent ; he came in June 
1839, and left in March or April 1849. His successor, the Rev. 
Benjamin Tweddle, came in 1850 and died April ist, 1858, at 
Lytham, whither he had gone for his health, being succeeded by 
the Rev. J. F. Brindle, M.A., who left in 1877. The Rev. Arthur 
Phillips, M.A., the present Vicar, was appointed in the latter year. 

After Mr. Porter's death, and down to that of Mr. Tweddle, the 
church was assisted by eleven curates in succession, whose salaries 
were paid by the Church Pastoral Aid Society. 

(a) Sermon on the occasion of the death of the Rev. William Porter, of 
Bacup, preached by the Rev. James Knight, A.M., of Sheffield. 

{b) The following account of the origin of the Hulme's foundation, is from 
the " History and Directory of Mid-Lancashire." 

" William Hulme, Esq., of Kearsley, in Lancashire, by his will, dated the 
24th of October, 1691, devised his lands and tenements in Heaton-Norris, 
Denton, Ashton-under-Lyne, Reddish, Manchester, and Harwood, in this 
county, to certain trustees and their heirs for ever, in order that the yearly 
rents might be distributed in equal proportions to four of the poorest 
Bachelors of Arts in Brazenose College, Oxford, who should resolve to 
reside there for the four succeeding years after such degree had been taken, 
the nomination to be approved of by the Warden of the Collegiate Church, 
Manchester, the Rectors of the parish churches of Prestwich and Bury for the 
time being, and for ever. In the loth year of the reign of George in.,'an 
Act of Parliament was passed enabling the trustees to g^ant building leases 
of the estates, and to increase the number of exhibitioners ; and in the 35th 
year of the same reign, an Amended Act was passed, empowering the said 
trustees to make such allowance to each exhibitioner, as they should think 
reasonable^ provided it did not exceed ;^ioo. 

" In the 54th year of the same king's reign, another Act was passed, by 
which the trustees were enabled to provide exhibitions, and found a divinity 
lecture, and to pay to the lecturer the sum of £\So a-year; and such was 



190 History of the 

In the year 1837, Bacu[) was made a Consolidated Chapelry. 
with the provision that on the death of the then Incumbent of 
Newchurch, the Rev, Edward Burrow, the fees payable thereto 
should cease. 

Upwards of 7000 interments had taken place in the Churchyard 
of St. John's, to the date of its being closed in 1863. 

About twenty-five years ago. during the Incumbency of the Rev. 
J. F, Brindle, the building having beconae dilapidated and unsaTe, 
an attempt was made to obtain subscriptions for the erection of a 
new Church on a site a short distance away from the existing one. 
The effort, however, resulted in failure, and although the founda- 
tions of the proposed new structure were actually laid, they had 
ultimately to be abandoned. More recently in 1871, the roof of 
the building fell in. The Rev, .\. Phillips having become Vicar 
in 1S77, a subscription was set on foot, and this proving successful 
the old walls were taken down and the present handsome Church, 
at a cost of ^[5,000, erected on or about the original site, was 

Ibc increase in the value of the estates that they (the trustees) were enabled 
to allow the sum of ^320 a-year to each exhibitioner, provided he readed 
in the college from the beginning to the end ot Michaelmas term. "Unless 
specislly permitted lo leave ; and they were also empowered to porchase 
houses, lands, ic, lo the amount of ^£5000. Il was further en.icted that the , 
trustees should be one body politic and corporate, by the title of ' The 
Trustees of the estate devised by WilliEim Hulme, Esq.,' and might use a 
common seal, on which should be engraved the coat of Arms borne by the 
said William Hulme, and round which should be inscribed the words, 
'Sigillum HHlmianwit.' 

" In i8a6 the accumulated funds which had arisen From the surplus rents 
and proBts, seem lo have amounted to ^42.903 os. 4d., and the annual 
dividend produced the sum of £3,828. The trustees were subsequently 
authorised to .ipply part of the aecumul.ilion to the purchase of Advowsons of 
l.irings, and to present thereto the exhibitioners on the foundation ; the sum 
paid for the purchase of any one advowson or right of patronage not to 
exceed /7000; and they are also allowed 10 expend to the amount of ji'joo 
in the erection of a suitable parsonage for the incumbent. An exhibitioner, 
Ici be elipble, must have tnken his degree of Bachelor of Arts in the 
I'nivcraily of Oxford, und have entered into holy orders." 



Forest of Rossendale. 191 

completed in 1883, and consecrated on June 21st of that year. 

It will be proper here to bring together a few particulars of the 
other Churches in the district. 

St. Mary's Church, Rawtenstall, was consecrated in 1838, having 
been built by public subscription at a cost of ;^2,3oo. The late 
Henry Hoyle, of Newhallhey, gave ;^i,ooo towards the endow- 
ment, and presented the Rev. William Whitworth, M.A., to the 
living. For a period of forty years, but little was done here by 
way of Church extension ; but on the advent of the present Vicar, 
the Rev. J. Norris, M.A., a new order of things was instituted. 
The Church has been enlarged and many internal improvements 
carried out. The tower has been removed to the south-west, 
completed, supplied with a peal of eight bells and large clock with 
four illuminated dials. The total cost of this was ;^6,943. 

New schools have been provided, the large one capable of 
accommodating 1,100 day scholars, serving as a concert room and 
public hall ; it can seat 2,000 people. Underneath this are an 
institute, parish-room, reading-room, and kitchens. There are 
also covered and open playgrounds. The premises cover 4,000 
square yards, 2000 of which were given by G. W. Law-Schofield, 
Esq. 'They were opened in 1884, and the cost was ;^6,iT2. 

In 1886 a vicarage was erected at a cost of ;^ 2, 140, exclusive of 
the gift of 2,406 square yards of land by the late H. H. Hardman. 
A new infant school was built at the cost of £^T^ at Constablee, 
and a site for an intended new Church there, St. PauFs, has also 
been procured. 

There are over 350 communicants, 1,200 Sunday School, and 
900 day scholars. All this progress of recent years is the result of 
indefatigable work, the moving spirit being the Vicar. The follow- 
ing is a list of the Incumbents or Vicars since the foundation : — 

Rev. William Whitworth M.A., 1838, left 1847. 
Rev. Henry Howorth, M.A., 1847, left 1869. 
Rev. William Whitworth, M.A., (second time) 1869, left 
1878. 
Rev. J. Norris. M.A., 1878, the present Vicar. 



192 History of the 

The Trustees of the Church are James Maden Holt, G. W. 
Law-Schofield, Edmund Lord, Richard Hoyle Hardman, and 
George Hardman, Esquires. 

Tunstead Church, dedicated to the Holy Trinity, was built 
through the efforts of the late Robert Munn and late George 
Ormerod, and was opened by License in the month of November, 
1840. Consecrated September 29, 1841. The Trustees of the 
living are the Bishop of Manchester, the Chancellor of the Diocese, 
James Maden Holt, Esq., and the Heir of the late Frank Ormerod, 
Esq. 

The following have been the Incumbents or Vicars since its 
foundation : 

Eev. Francis Kirkpatrick, M.A., Trinity College, Dublin, 1841, 
left in 1846. 

Rev. William Singleton, M.A., 1846, left in 1851. 

Rev. John G. Haworth, 1851, left 1889. 

Rev. John Falconer, present Vicar, 1889. 

In 1858 a District was assigned to this Church. 

There are large modem schools connected with the Church, in 
which an endeavour is made to keep abreast of the educational 
requirements of the day ; there is cooking for the girls and manual 
instruction for the boys. The Vicar has also succeeded, largely 
through the generosity of J. W. Lloyd, Esq., and J. H. Maden, 
Esq., M.P., in establishing a cottage accident hospital in the 
village. 

Lumb was constituted an Ecclesiastical district, and its 
boundaries defined, by an Order in Council dated 24th February, 
1846. The corner-stone of the church was laid on the 29th of 
September, 1847, by John Hargreaves, Esq., of Blackburn, who 
gave the site for the church and burial ground. A plate bearing 
the following inscription was placed in the stone : " Gloria in 
Excelsis. The corner-stone of this Church dedicated to the 
worship of the triune God, by the name of St. Michael's Church, 
Lumb, was laid on the 29th day of September, a.d., 1847, by John 



Forest of Rossendale. 193 

Hargreaves, Esq., of Newchurch and Blackburn. Ralph Kinder, 
Incumbent ; Joseph Clarke, Architect." 

The Church was consecrated by Dr. James Prince Lee, first 
Bishop of Manchester, on Saturday, December 9th, 1848, and 
pursuant to Act of Parliament, 6 and 7 Vict. Cap. 37. Lumb then 
became a new parish for all Ecclesiastical purposes. 

The structure of the Church is Early Norman in style, with 
central tower, and has sitting accommodation for about 400. The 
bell was cast at the Irish Bell Foundry, Dublin, by John Murphy, 
and weighs, with clapper, 4 cwt. i qr. 19 lbs. It is cast to the 
note E natural, giving the option of two key notes, viz. : G or A, 
if at any time a peal should be required. Under Act 31 and 32, 
Vict. C. 117, the parish of Lumb became a (titular) vicarage, 31st 
July, 1868. The benefice is in the patronage of the Crown and 
Bishop, alternately, the first Incumbent being appointed by the* 
Crown. 

The Incumbents or Vicars since the erection of the Church are 
as follows: — 

Rev. Ralph Kinder, 1846, left 1873. 
Rev. James Wilkie Baron, M.A., 1873, left 1877. 
Rev. Robt Alexander McKee, M.A., 1877, left 1882. 
Rev. Francis Hall Lockett, M.A., 1882, (present Vicar.) 

The National School in connection with the Church was erected 
in 1870, and opened 21st January, 1871, by Dr. James Fraser, 
second Bishop of Manchester. The vicarage house was built in 
1877. 

The Parish of Christ Church, Bacup, which contains about 1,000 
acres, was formed out of the parish of St. John's, and occupies part 
of the ancient parishes of Whalley and Rochdale. 

The Church was erected at a cost of about ;^3,ooo, left by the 
late James Heyworth, of Rosehill, Bacup, and was consecrated 
14th August, 1854, by Dr. Lee, Lord Bishop of Manchester. It 
is in the Early English style of architecture, and possesses chancel, 
with choir stalls, nave, north and south aisles, porch, and a square 



194 History of the 

massive tower at the south-west angle, which contains six bells. 
Commodious schools, with class-rooms and teacher's house, for 
day and Sunday school purposes, were erected in i860. There is 
also a good vicarage house. The living is in the gift of five 
Trustees. 

The Rev. John McCubbin was appointed first Incumbent, and 
held the benefice until his death, 26th November, 1888. The Rev. 
John Smith Doxey, present Vicar, was nominated by the Trustees, 
15th December, 1888. 

St. James's Church, Waterfoot, was opened by Licence, on 
October 23, 1863, and consecrated by the Lord Bishop of 
Manchester, on Thiu^ay, November 23, 1865. The building 
was erected by public subscription at a cost of nearly ;^5ooo, the 
principal contributors towards the erection being the late James 
•Crabtree, of Newchurch, George Hargreaves, J. P., and Lieutenant- 
Colonel Munn, J. P. * The Patronage is vested in the Trustees. 
There are 603 sittings, of which 324 are free. 

The following is a list of the Vicars since the foundation : — 
Rev. Robert Smith, M.A. 1865, left 1873 ; Rev. Alexander James 
Harrison, B.D. 1873, left 1885, Rev. Charles Wesson, M.A. 1886, 
the present Vicar. 

St. Saviour's Church, Bacup, was consecrated by the Lord 
Bishop of Manchester, on Monday, January 23rd, 1865. The 
building, which is an elegant Gothic with spire at the east end, was 
erected at the sole cost of James Madeii Holt, Esq., M.A., of 
Stubbylee, who is the Patron. The Rev. W. Whitworth, M.A. 
was the first Vicar, and on his resignation in 1869, was succeeded 
by the Rev. Wm. Johnson, M.A., the present Vicar. 

The Church contains a Baptistery for the immersion of adults. 
This is sunk in the middle of the chancel, and covered by 
ornamental grating on a level with the floor. 

For several years prior to the erection of the Church, divine 
service was conducted in the upper room of the School ; which, 
with the Parsonage, in the immediate vicinity, were built by the 
some munificent patron. 



Forest of Rossendali. 195 

The Church at Edgeside, dedicated to St. Anne, was built in 
1885-6, the greater part of the cost being defrayed by Captain 
Charles Patrick, who also gave the land and a site for the 
Vicarage, in memory of his wife, Mary Anne, the younger daughter 
of Mr. John Ashworth, of Cloughfold, (a native of Rossendale and 
a- descendant of the old family of the Ormerods of Whitewell 
Bottom and Edgeside), a lady deservedly esteemed for her chari- 
table disposition to the poor, and many amiable qualities. 

The Church contains 350 sittings, all free. The cost was 
nearly ;^4,ooo. Generous contributors were Mr. and Mre. R. C. 
Turner, Mrs. M. A. Royds, Mr. H. H. Bolton, Col. Hargreaves, 
and Mr. John Bolton, the Lord Montague and Exors. of the 
Duke of Buccleugh, the Manchester Diocesan Church Building 
Society, and others. It was consecrated the ist August, 1886, 
by Bishop Frazer, who gave ;^2o to the Endowment Fund, which 
consisted of a donation of ;^ 1,300 by Captain Patrick, and a like 
sum by the Ecclesiastical Commissioners. 

The Schools had been opened in 1873, ^^^ licensed for divine 
service also by Bishop Frazer. The land for the site was given by 
Captain and Mrs. Patrick, who largely contributed to the Building 
Fund. 

The patrons are the Bishop and Rector of Newchurch, ex-officio, 
and three others, the Bishop and the other Trustees having the 
presentation alternately. The first and present Vicar is the Rev. 
J. Cross- Jones. 

The Church of St. John the Divine, at Cloughfold, in the style 
of the 14th century — the early Transitional period — consists of 
chancel, nave, transepts, with clerestory, and was built by public 
subscription at a cost of ;;^5,Soo, of which ;^2,ooo were given by 
Mrs. Alice Anne Rushton, of Bowden, ^^500 by Messrs. Jas. H. 
Ashworth and Co., ;^25o by Messrs. Brooks and Brooks, ;^ioo 
by Mr. H. H. Bolton, and ;^ioo by the late Mr. Jas. Rushton. 
The Diocesan Church Building Society contributed ;^325. 
Architects Messrs. Paley and Austin, Lancaster. It was 



196 



History of the 



I on June 13th, 1890. Cloughfold is a Peel Parish 
carved out of the Parishes of Newchurch, Rawtenstall, and 
Wateifoot, gazetted March 36th, 1887. Mrs. Rushton, who also 
contributed largely to the endowment, held the patronage for life. 
She died on April asth, 1893, when the patronage passed to the 
Bishop of Manchester. The first and present Vicar, the Rev. E. 
Holliday, was appointed in May, 1886, The church is free and 
open, expenses met by weekly offertory. Average congregation, 
soo; communicants, 120; with an average attendance of 400 at 
the Sunday School, and of 175 at the Day School. 




CHAPTER IV. 

" Within the chapel, kneel the worshippers ; 
The censer swings, shedding its grateful incense 
Down the aisles, and from the groined roof 
The pendent lamp illumes the altar-piece." 

npHE original Church at Newchurch was Roman Catholic, and 
■*- the cost of its erection was, it is probable, contributed to by 
the Monks of Whalley for the benefit of their forest servants and 
parishioners chiefly residing about Boothfold. It was served by a 
secular priest, Sir George Gregory, the first incumbent (a). The first 
Church of Cjoodshaw, in its inception, was also Roman Catholic. 
At the time of the Reformation in the reign of Henry VIII., the 
Churches were stripped of their altars, and became Churches of the 
reformed doctrine. The scanty congregations either conformed to 
the new, or sought other places of residence, where they could, 
though stealthily, follow the rites of the old religion. From the 
time of the Reformation in England until the end of the last 
century, no Catholic was known to reside within the Valley ; 
when a family of the name of Booth came to Hareholme and 
reintroduced the Catholic religion. The Booths were from 
Dolphinholme, near I^ncaster, where the old faith had never been 
suppressed. The only place of worship they could attend was the 
domestic chapel of Townley, near Burnley, belonging to the 
Townley family, which had suffered for its adhesion to the old 
faith. 

One of the daughters of Mr. Booth married Mr. Ashworth, 
owner of the Laund estate, which has devolved in course of time 

(a) Ante, page 162. 



198 History of the 

on the descendants of their daughters, Alice and Sarah, who had 
married two brothers, Rockliff, of Liverpool. 

At the beginning of this century periodical visits were paid to 
Rossendale by the priest who acted as chaplain to the Townleys, 
and looked after the few remaining Catholics in the neighbourhood; 
and Mass was said, and sometimes even sung, in an up-stairs room 
at Hareholme, for the benefit of the Booth family and one or two 
other famihes who had followed them. 

About 1828, after a prolonged strike at Sunnyside Works, 
several Catholic families came to Rossendale from Manchester. 
Finding that there was no Church for them nearer than Townley, 
seven or eight miles distant, and neither wishing to give up their 
faith, nor desiring to undertake such a journey every Sunday, they 
laid their case before Mr. John Brooks, who offered them the use of 
a room in his works at Crawshawbooth, if the priest from Townley 
could be brought to give his services, From this time, 1828, till 
1836, visits more or less regular were paid to the Valley either 
from Townley, or occasionally from Bury, where the Rev. Mr. 
Peacock had built the present St. Maries. 

The first resident priest was the Rev. James Carr, sent by Dr. 
Penswick, Vicar Apostolic of the Lancashire district He had a 
small chapel at Sunnyside behind the present Irwell-terrace. The 
first regular entry in the Baptismal register is dated 26th Sept., 
1836, though the names of several children baptised by the Rev. 
Mr. Peacock before 1830, are entered, having been copied from 
loose scraps. A good percentage of the names of parents and god- 
parents are of unmistakeable Irish origin, even at that time. The 
great famine in 1847-8 sent over to Rossendale several hundred 
families, who readily found work in the fast-spreading cotton industry. 

In May, 1839, the Rev. Henry Sharpies succeeded to the office, 
but stayed only one year. After him came the Rev. William Fayer, 
whose last entry in the Baptism book is dated Nov. 14th, 1842. 
The Rev. James Rylands, who began his incumbency about 
Christmas of 1842, finding his congregation increasing rapidly, 
obtained land from Mrs. Ash worth for the erection of a church in a 



Forest of Rossendale. 199 

more central position, and began the building of the present church 
at Constablee, Rawtenstall, in the beginning of 1844, but he did 
not stay to see the completion of his undertaking, and left Oct 20th 
of the same year, when the walls of the building were finished up 
to the window head^. A young and zealous priest, the Rev. Thos. 
Rimmer, was sent to finish the building, which he succeeded in 
doing towards the end of 1845. On the 24th September, 1845, 
the new church was opened by the Vicar Apostolic of the 
Lancashire district. Pontifical Mass was sung by the Right Rev. 
Dr. Sharpies, Assistant Vicar, the sermon being preached by Dr. 
Roskell, who afterwards became Bishop of Nottingham. The cost 
of its erection was ;^ 1,500. The church was dedicated to St. 
James-the-Less, and in its quaint early English form became one 
of the recognised features of rapidly-growing Rawtenstall. Mr. 
Rimmer did not live long to minister in the church he finished, but 
having caught fever at the bedside of one of his flock at Haslingden, 
he died of the contagion on the 8th January, 1848, and was buried 
inside the sanctuary of the -church, a memorial brass being erected 
to his memory over the vestry door. 

The Rev. James F. Anderton, who succeeded in January, was 
replaced in October of the same year by the Rev. Thomas 
Unsworth, who was the Incumbent until October, 185 1. He was 
followed by the Rev. Henry Swale (now at Broughton, near 
Skipton), who only stayed three years. In October, 1854, a young 
priest, who had been curate in St. Wilfred's, Manchester, the Rev. 
Joseph Scott, took charge of the scattered mission, then including 
Bacup, Stacksteads, Haslingden, and Ramsbottom. During his 
twenty-one years* incumbency, he enclosed the graveyard by a 
stone wall, built a school, and the present rectory. Owing to 
failing health he retired from active work in October, 1875. He 
was succeeded by the Rev. Denis Byrne, who had served previously 
for many years in St. Patrick's, Bolton, and after a stay of about 
three years retired from the mission and shortly after died at Genoa 
in Italy. The Rev. Michael McCormick succeeded, but retired in 
March, 1881, after a stay of a little over two years. 



20O 



History of the 



The Rev. John C. Mussely, the present Incumbent, who had 
been at Radcliffe for several years, was sent by the Bishop to 
continue the work. During his Incumbency the church has been 
repaired and extended in 1881 ; Ihe Infant school built in 1883, 
and a Club Room in 1886. A School Chapel at Newchurch 
(originally built for the Methodist Association) has been purchased, 
dedicated to SL Peter, and has lately been attached to the new 
mission at Siacksteads. The present congregation at Rawtenstall 
consists of about 1,200 persons; the number of children in the day 
school is 380, with about 200 Sunday scholars. 

The Catholic mission at Bacup was opened in 1852, in a room 
in Market Street, by the Rev. Henry Mulvaney. This room served 
the purposes of Church and School till 1857, when the nave of the 
present Church at Bankside, dedicated to St Mary, was opened, 
and at a cost of ^i, 000. 

On the retirement of Father Mulvaney in 1880, he was succeeded 
by the Rev. Thomas Steele, who held the chaise till his death on 
February 29th, 1884, One result of Mr. Steele's labours was the 
purchase of the site, and the preliminary arrangements for the 
building of the Huttock End School. 

The Rev. John Lane, the present rector, took charge on March 
23rd, 1884. Since that time the chancel, side chape!, sacristy 
and gallery have been added to St. Mary's Church, al a cost of 

;£lIOO, 

St. Mary's School was built in 1871-a, and St Joseph's School, 
Huttock End, Stacksteads, in 1884-5, having cost respectively 
_;^i zoo and ^700. On the isl November, 1892, thedistrictaround 
St. Joseph's School, with part of Newchurch from the mission of 
St, James- the- Less, Rawtenstall, was erected into a separate mission, 
and the Rev. George Sparks took charge. 

The congregation of St. Mary's number about 1000. There are 
200 children in the Day, and 150 in the Sunday School. 



CHAPTER V. 

" The deeds we do, the words we say, 
Into still air they seem to fleet, 
We count them ever past, 
But they shall last. 
In the dread judgment -they 
And we shall meet 1" 

Lyra Innocentiam. 

fTMIE History of the Baptist denomination in Rossendale has 
-*- been ably written by the late Rev. James Hargreaves, in his 
"Life of John Hirst," and in the appendix thereto. In the present 
brief outline it is my intention simply to state a few general parti- 
culars of the rise and present status of this important body in 
Rossendale, and to notice a few of their more celebrated preachers. 

At the end of the seventeenth century, Bacup was a small and 
unimportant place, scant of inhabitants, and with but a few 
straggling houses. In these respects it was of less account than 
either Newchurch or Goodshaw, both of which possessed their 
Episcopal Chapels. Prior to the establishment of the Baptist 
denomination in Rossendale, it would appear, from all that can 
be gleaned, that no place of worship of any kind existed in Bacup. 
The few inhabitants that composed the hamlet crossed the hills 
and worshipped at Newchurch, as occasion served. 

In the list of " Licenses to Preach " in Blackburn parish and 
district, preserved in a State Paper in the Record Office, and 
bearing date Dom. Chas. II., 1672, a memorandum to the following 
effect, occurs : — " The barn of John Pickop, in Dedwinclough [in 
Newchurch-in-Rossendale], to be an Indep. [Independent] meeting 



202 History of the 

place." (a) The name of " Independent " was formerly applied to 
Anabaptists and vice versa, and it would thus appear that as early 
as the year 1672, the Baptists had a place of meeting in Dedwin- 
cloi^h. As Cloughfold is situated therein, it is not unreasonable 
to infer that at this date the denomination, either at that pbce or 
in its neighbourhood, had a veritable existence. However that 
may be, there is no record of any settled Nonconformist minister 
or preacher here at that early date. 

About the end of the century two cousins, Yorkshire men, by 
name William Mitchel and David Crossley, found their way into 
Rossendale Forest. These men were itinerating Baptist Preachers, 
holding strict Calvinislic views, and deeply imbued with that spirit 
of energy and self-devotedness which characterises the leaders in 
all great movements. 

With admirable foresight they began their labours at Bacup and 
Cloughfold (the latter more populous than the former in those days,) 
two places void of the immediate presence of any religioas teacher 
of their persuasion, the lack of which they determined, as far as in 
thera by, to supply in their awn persons. We gather from the 
scanty memorials which exist of these men, that they were sincere 
and devout Christians — not to be daunted by difficulties— on 
whom opposition and reproach acted but as a stimulus to redoubled 
exertion. Where comparative barrenness before existed, they, 
by earnest and persevering labour, and the blessing of Providence, 
were the instruments of producing a rich and abundant harvest. 



(a) Extracted by the late j. E. Bnitey (Editor of the "PalatioeNote Book") 
from No. 185, Record Otiice, St. P.apers Dom. Chas. II., 1672, and quoted by 
Mr. Abram in bis " History of Blackburn.'' 

These licenses were issued by the Government consequent on I he 
" Declaration of Indulgence" published by Charles 11. on Match islh, 1672, 
by which he relaxed the severities entailed on Nonconformisla by the ' Act 
tor suppressing Conventicles, 1664," and the " Five Mile Act, 1665," and 
declared his " will and pleasure to be, that the execution of all and all manner 
of penal laws in mailers ecclesiastical, against whatsoever sort of Nonconfoi. 
mists or recusants, be immediatelj- suspended." 



Forest of Rossendale. 203 

whose seed distributed in places widely apart, took root, grew, and 
flourished, and year by year, to this day, has mightily increased. 

Mitchel, who was the elder by a few years, was probably the 
more earnest of the two disciples. His preaching seems to have 
been peculiarly obnoxious to those in authority, for on two 
occasions — the first time at Goodshaw Chapel — he was taken 
prisoner under the Conventicle Act. In his hfetime he published 
several sermons, and in 1707, the year after his death, a work 
which he had left behind him in MS., entitled " Jachin and Boaz ; 
or. The Faith and Order of God's House," was also published, 
being edited by his kinsman, David Crossley, who wrote a preface 
to the work, giving a sketch of the hfe of its author. In this it is 
stated that " in reading, meditation, and prayer he was unwearied. 
In going to hear the Word of God, though many miles, in dark 
nights, and over dismal mountains, I and others who were his 
constant companions, must say he was no less indefatigable. In 
his preaching he set forth the free grace of the Gospel with that 
pecuhar fervour, simplicity, and application which presently 
brought crowds of people from divers parts to hear him. Many at 
first designed only to gratify their curiosity, yet they soon found 
their hearts and consciences so effectually touched, that they could 
not but confess a dispensation of the Gospel was committed to 
him. Some came like Ishmael to scoff, and not a few like Michal 
despised him in their hearts. But those who had patience to hear 
him, usually met with such Scripture evidence in his doctrine, and 
with such plain marks of the genuine simplicity of his pretensions, 
that they were often heard to say, * The Lord is with him of a 
truth.'" He was the first settled minister at Cloughfold, and died 
in 1706, aged 44 years. 

Of Crossley it is recorded that in his early life he was a friend of 
John Bunyan the Immortal Dreamer ; and in his advanced age he 
cultivated the acquaintance of George Whitefield. He was the 
first pastor of the Baptist Church at Bacup. "It is said on good 
authority that he was by occupation in his youth a stone mason, 
and assisted at the erection of a building at Walsden, at no great 



History of the 

distance from Todmorden, labouring all the day, and preaching 
somewhere in the neiglibourhood at night." {b) Mr, Crossley was 
reputed to be one of the most popular preachers of his day. In the 
pulpit his delivery was as eloquent as his appearance was com- 
manding. He was said to be "the largest man in the county 
where he resided ; for twenty years together he weighed, upon an 
average, twenty stone." (c) For a number of years he occupied a 
small farm named "Tatop," a little above Crawshawbooth — the 
farm still bears the name. He died at the latter part of the year 
1744, in the-7Sth yearof his age, and was buried in the grave- 
yard of the Episcopal Chapel at Goodshaw. He was the author of 
the following works :— i. "Samson, a Type of Christ :" a sermon, 
a commendatory preface to which was written by the Rev. George 
Whiteiield. z. " Adam, where art thou ? or, The Serious Parley ;" 
a poem. 3. "The Old Man's Legacy (o his Daughters." This 
work was edited by Mr. Crossky, only ; but he added something of 
his own, on the advice of his friends, " That the Orphan legacy 
might not venture abroad a second time without Company." (An 
edition had been puWished by him forty years before.) 4. " The 
Triumph of Sovereign Grace; or, A Brand plucked from out of 
the Fire ; being the substance of a funeral discourse preached at 
Bacup, May 13rd, 1742, at the reijuest, and on the occasion of the 
death of Lawrence Britliffe, late of Cliviger, near Burnley, who was 
executed at Lancaster, at the Lent Assizes, 1742," (i/) It is said 
that a congregation of above four thousand people assembled in the 
open air to listen to this discourse. In its published form it occupies 
1^7 pages II mo. 

The Baptist Church in Rossendale, at its formation, consisted 
of the united worshippers of Bacup and Cloughfold, and continued 



(() Ibid, p. 326. 
1742, for having caused 



(^ Appendix to the " Life of John Hirst,'' p. 
■X BriUilSe, executed 1 

ieved) the death of a person at Holmes Chapel 
The two lad quanelled, and BritliRe slruck his opponent with a 
I, kUfiog him on the spot. 



Forest of Rossendale. 205 

so to exist until the year 17 10, when they became two distinct 
Societies. 

The old School or Meeting-House in Bacup, which I have had 
occasion repeatedly to mention, was the first building in Rossendale 
erected for the use of the Baptists. It was built expressly for 
Messrs. Mitchel and Crossley, and failing these, for all Dissenting 
Ministers of the Protestant Religion. These facts appear in the 
Trust Deed of the Building, dated April f15, 1692, from which the 
following extracts, minutely describing the uses to which it was to 
be applied, are made. 

The original Feoflfees in trust were John Lord, Broadclough; 
Lawrence Lord, Greensnook ; John Hoyle, Bacopboothe, and John 
Holden, Priest-boothe. The Building was to be used — 

" I, For the purpose of a School-house. 

" 2. For the use of David Crossley and William Mitchel, both 
from Yorkshire, preachers of the Word of God, and of the doctrine 
of Christ, to pray, preach, and worship in, as often as they shall 
have occasion, and in their absence for all other such like ministers, 
now called or styled Protestant Dissenters. If two or more such 
ministers shall want the place for this purpose at the same time, the 
feoffees shall have the power to dispose of the place during the time 
the Dissenters shall be prohibited public worship, and when liberty 
is granted again, the said David Crossley and William Mitchel 
shall have the use of the meeting-house in preference to others." 

From the Deed of Admission, bearing date April 20th, 1694, a 
copy of which is now before me, we find that the plot or parcel of 
land was thirty yards in length, and sixteen yards in breadth, or 
thereabouts ; that it belonged to John Whitaker, of Broadclough, 
from whom it was purchased for the sum of Thirty Pounds (e) by 
the Trustees or Feoffees before mentioned ; that at the date of the 
Surrender it was in the Tenure or occupation of Joseph Ash worth, 
that it was of the Manor of Accrington Newhold, and that it was 
subject to the yearly rent to the Lady of the Manor of One Penny. 

ijs) Mr. Hargreaves, in his " Life of Hirst," states £2^ which I take to be 
an error. 



2o6 History of the 

Crossley at his decease was succeeded in the ministry at 
Bacup by Henry Lord, an able preacher, but, as his subse- 
quent dereliction proved, scarcely suited to the sacred office. 
Dissensions began to arise amongst the members and congregation, 
many of them preferring the ministry of Joseph Piccop, a mem- 
ber of the same body, and a preacher of great promise. These 
dissensions continued, and the result was, the formation of a second 
Baptist Society in the •town, the "New Meeting-House" being 
ultimately erected for their use. This was begun and completed in 
the latter half of the year 1 746. Mr. Hargreaves in his life of 
Hirst gives some extracts from the Building accounts which are 
exceedingly interesting as affording a glimpse of the state of the 
labour market at that period. Compared with present times, the 
difference will be found to be sufficiently striking. I have taken 
the liberty to quote these extracts at length. 

Mr 

To Richard Lord, Dr. 
1746. £ s. d. 

July 22. — To X day's work at ground work, o oxi 

„ 23. —To \ a day x horse and self leading stone, o o loi 

„ 26. — To I day x do. do., o i 9 

„ 30. — To I day self filling stone, o oxx 

„ 31. — To X day self and 2 horses leading corners, o 2 7 

Aug. 16. — To X day self and Jemmy and 2 horses, o 3 i 

Sept.ii. — To I day self, 2 horses, and cart, o 2xx 

Mr 

To David Hardman, Dr. 

To Robert Hardman, 6 days 

To Matthew do 47 „ 

To David do 73 „ 

£ s. d. 

X26 come to 6 x6 6 

Abatement since the days grew short o 2 8 

Due 6 13 10 

Other expenses were proportionable, as for instance : — 

X746. £ s. d. 

Aug. 16. — Paid to W. Roberts for three dinners and drink, o 0x0 

„ 30. — Paid to do. for 5 dinners, o x 3 

Sept. 5. - Paid to do. for meat and drink at the Rearing, 0x0 o 



Forest of Rossendale. 207 

The original chapel in Lane Head Lane becoming too small, 
was taken down and rebuilt in the year 1778 ; and in 1783, owing 
to the congregation continuing to increase, a gallery was erected. 
In 181 1 the Building was again pulled down, and a new Chapel 
capable of seating 900 people erected the year following. This 
latter has in its turn undei^one material alterations, being 
almost entirely rebuilt, and converted into a spacious and beautiful 
School, which was opened Dec 30, 1865. An entirely new 
Chapel was completed, and opened by the Rev. Hugh Stowell 
Brown, in September, 1870. The structure is handsome and 
commodious in all respects, and provides sitting accommodation 
for 1,000 people. 

Of the Cloughfold section of the early "Baptist Church in 
Rossendale," the following particulars are given in the writings 
there preserved. " On the 20th of March, 1703, was surrendered, 
by William Heap into the hands of Richard Holden, Simeon Lord, 
and John Hartley, the sum of ;£^4o, for ever thereafter to be laid 
out, employed) disposed of, and improved, to the best advantage, 
and one fourth part of the profits arising from the purchase to be 
given to Mr. William Mitchel of Bradford, Yorkshire, Clerk, during 
his life ; and the three remaining parts thereof, and the said fourth 
part, after the decease of the said William Mitchel, unto the use 
and towards the maintenance of such person and persons as for the 
time being, and from time to time, for ever thereafter should be the 
ministers, pastors and teachers of the society or congregation of 
dissenting Protestants, at Cloughfold and Bacup, within the Forest 
of Rossendale." 

From the above it appears that Bacup, before the division of the 
original Society into two bodies, was a joint participator witTi 
Cloughfold in Mr. Heap's bequest or gift of the profits to be 
derived from the investment of the £^^0, But the following 
further provision occurs; — "Provided always, and it is hereby 
agreed and declared that as often as there shall be at the same 
time two or more such Protestant Dissenting Ministers of the said 
Societies or Congregations at Bacopp and Cloughfold aforesaid, 



2o8 



History of the 



they the said Trustees and their Executors may apply and dispose 
of the Interest and Increase of the forty pounds to such of the said 
Ministers as the Trustees or the major part of them shall think fit, 
a fourth part for the use of the said William Mitchel only excepted." 

On the nth February, 1705, "Robert Lichford, formerly of 
Blalcely, in the County of Lancaster, gentleman, surrendered into 
the hands of the Lord and Lady of the Manor of Accrington, all 
that edifice or building standing within Cloughfold in the said 
Manor, heretofore purchased by him from one James Townend, to 
the use and tielioof of Richard Hotden, Ricliard Ashworth of 
Tunstead, Simeon Lord and John Hartley, who shall at all times 
for ever thereafter stand and be seised of the said edifice, for the 
use and benefit of all such Protestant Dissenters called Anabaptists, 
or Independents, within the Forest of Rossendale, and the places 
adjacent, as shall there from time to time assemble for reUgious 
worship, when the same shall be made fit and commodious for a 
chapel or meeting-house." The same liberal donor by his last 
Will and Testament, dated January a8th, 1710, gave and 
bequeathed unto the said Trustees for ever, the sum of one 
hundred and fifty [raunds upon trust, that they should lay out and 
dispose of, or invest at interest or in an annuity, or otherwise to 
best advantage, the said sum, at their discretion, and from time to 
time employ and dispose of all the rents and profits, or increase 
thereof, (save and except the yearly sum of forty shillings to be 
given to the poor as directed,) for the use and benefit of such 
person or persons, as from time to time should be the minister, 
pastor, or teacher of the said congregation, provided they should 
not at any time thereafter neglect or forbear to assemble themselves 
at the said chapel for the exercise of religious worship by the space 
of six weeks in any one year. 

No mention is here made of Bacup, the bequest being to 

Cloughfold alone. By this time the two sections of the original 

Baptist Church in Rossendale had become distinct and separate 
Societies. 



Forest of Rossendale. 209 

During times of alteration or rebuilding, the congregation at 
Cloughfold has on more than one occasion assembled for divine 
service in the unfinished erection, in order to secure the bequest, 
and fulfil the provision of the will, that they should never be at one 
time, six weeks without preaching at the said chapel. 

The two endowments referred to above, have accumulated, the 
£^0 to ;£'SS, and the £is<> to ;£^205, being ;£'26o in the whole ; 
a very small augmentation, when the length of time, and the 
increase of the value of property in the district, are taken into 
account. A great want of foresight on the part of the earlier 
Trustees was displayed in the disposition of the two bequests. 
Had the original sum, instead of being put out at simple interest, 
been invested in the purchase of land, the increase in the reahsable 
capital would probably now have been tenfold. But even this 
small accumulation is accidental, and is to be accounted for in this 
way, that during a certain number of years in the course of its 
existence, the church was without a minister, and consequently, the 
interest instead of being paid away was added to the capital. 

About the year 1750, a small chapel was built at Lumb for the 
use of the Baptists residing in that neighbourhood. The circum- 
stances which led to its erection are worth recalling. The inhabi- 
tants of the Lumb and Dean valleys have long been favourably 
known for their musical skill; and to cultivate their love of the art, 
it has been their custom for generations to hold meetings for 
practice in each others' houses. Sacred music was their y^r/^, as it 
continues to be to this day, and it would seem to have exercised a 
hallowing influence upon their minds. Of these singers, John 
Nuttall and several others became members of the Baptist church 
at Bacup, then under the ministry of Joseph Piccop, and by 
their example and exhortations, and the reading aloud of religious 
authors at the musical gatherings, many were led to follow in their 
footsteps. Though the meeting-house at Lumb was built in 1750, 
three years elapsed before a church was formed. In May 1753, 
the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper was first administered to the 






2IO History of the 

assembled members, John Nuttall having been chosen as their 
minister. After having been in existence at Lumb for some time, 
the congregation, for reasons not explicitly known, but probably to 
extend their influence and usefulness, moved in the year 1760 to 
the more populous neighbourhood of Goodshaw, where they had 
prepared a chapel. The meeting-house at Lumb was denuded of 
its furniture, and the pulpit and seats were carried on the backs of 
the congregation over the intervening hills to the newly erected 
domicile. Here Mr. Nuttall settled and continued to minister 
until his death on March 30th, 1792, aged 76, having successfully 
laboured among the people for the space of forty-five years. 

The other Baptist Chapels in the district are of much more 
recent origin than those of Bacup, Cloughfold, and Goodshaw, 
and in the table given below the respective dates of 'their founda- 
tion are stated. From the early Baptist Churches in Rossendale 
have sprung a numerous progeny of kindred societies. The 
Baptist Churches at Rawden, near Leeds ; Heatton, near Bradford ; 
Gildersome and Hartwith, in Nidderdale; Rodhillend, near. 
Todmorden ; Stoneslack, near Heptonstall ; Salendine Nook, and 
Cowling Hill, all confess their Rossendale parentage. 

The following Table (/) gives some particulars of the present 
position of this denomination in Rossendale. The names of the 
Churches are placed in the order of the date of their foundation. 

(f) Compiled chiefly from returns given n the Baptist Hand Book for 1893. 



Forest of Rossendale. 



211 







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Amongst the Baptist Churches in Rossendale have appeared 
several men who were remarkable for their ability as ministers of 
the Gospel. To Mitchel and Crossley reference has already been 



212 History of the 

made. Joseph Piccop, who may be considered m the legitimate 
successor of Crossley at Bacup — the church under Henry Lord 
having eventually become extinct — ^was a man cast in no ordinary 
mould. Bom and nurtured in the humblest possible circumstances, 
for even in his manhood he was at first only a day-labourer, 
lacking the rudiments of education, and far removed from the 
knowledge and wisdom which Colleges are supposed to impart, he 
yet rose Co distinction as a public teacher ; and on frequent 
occasions in the metropolis (for' he often visited Ixindon) his 
eloquent and earnest discourses were listened to and admired by 
those best capable of judging of their worth. 

Mr. Hargreaves relates an anecdote of the man, which serves to 
exhibit one phase of his character. " Mr. Piccop," says the 
author of the life of John Hirst, " being engaged for the first time 
to preach at a certain chapel in the city, arrived at the vestry and 
sat down as an unknown stranger. It should be remarked that 
Mr. Piccop did not make a very genteel appearance. The hour 
appointed for the service approached, and several people came 
into the vestry. After waitmg some time in expectation 'of the 
Preacher's arrival, they began to express their fears of a disappoint- 
ment. Mr. Piccop suffered their patience to be pretty well tried, 
and then, after inquiring if the hour was come, arose and 
ascended the pulpit, to the no small astonishment and disgust of 
the people. Their behaviour in the commencement of the services, 
betrayed their uneasiness and disapprobation. After prayer they 
appeared a little more reconciled to the preacher. Before Mr. 
Piccop read liis text, whicb on that occasion was Amos iii. 1 2, it is 
reported that he spoke to the following effect : ' That there is 
nothing very inviting in my outward appearance is evident to all ; 
and whether tiiere is anything within that will be more engaging, 
is not for me to say ; but of that you will be better able to judge 
for yourselves presently— however, such as I have, I give. I will set 
before you " Two legs, and a piece of- an ear," ' and then he 
proceeded marvellously to expound and apply his singular text. A 
certain gentleman who had been very agreeably disappointed. 



Forest of Rossendale. 213 

dianking Mr. Piccop for the discourse, hinted that he had exceeded 
the usual time, observing that he should have noticed his watch. 
Mr. Piccop, in his rustic simplicity, informed him that he never 
had a watch in his life, ilpon which the gentleman drew his from 
his pocket and presented it to him, declaring he should not be 
without one any longer. Such was his popularity in London, that 
a congregation would have assembled to hear him at five o'clock 
in the morning." He was born at Loveclough, near Crawshaw- 
booth, and died there in September 1772, the immediate cause of 
his death being cancer in the breast. His remains lie buried 
within Ebenezer Chapel-yard, Bacup. 

John Hirst, the successor of Piccop, and who ministered at 
Bacup during a period of forty-two years, was also in many 
respects a remarkable man. He was bom at Rochdale in 1736, 
and was the youngest of s^ven children. The circumstances of his 
early years were not promising — nay, they were altogether 
unpropitious ; yet, by his native strength of mind and diligent and 
determined spirit, he became a preacher of great originality and 
power, and left his mark upon the times. He died June 15th, 
1 81 5, in the 79th year of his age, and was buried by the side of 
Piccop, his worthy predecessor. His aged widow, who was ten 
years his senior, survived him only fifteen days. 



CHAPTER VI. 

" Ye Doctors of Divinity 

Of decent reasons full, 
This man is rich where ye are bare, 

And bright where ye are dull. 
With his strange creed, 

And logic loose arrayed, 
He is a worker hath sown seed 

Where ye ne'er raised a spade." 

AS the names of Mitchel and Crossley are intimately inter- 
woven with the rise and progress of the Baptist denomi- 
nation in Rossendale, so much so, that it is impossible to speak of 
the latter without referring to the former ; so in like manner the 
names of William Damey and John Maden, are inseparably 
connected with the introduction of Methodism into the district. I 
propose to furnish a short sketch of the life of the first Rossendale 
Methodist, and incidentally to mark the rise in this neighbourhood 
of the important sect to which he belonged. 

Mr. Maden was born near Bacup on the 4th day of December, 
1724. In his younger years Methodism was just beginning to 
make headway throughout the country, but it was quite unknown 
in the Forest of Rossendale, and it was chiefly owing to his 
instrumentality that it was introduced into this district One of 
the " New Sort of Preachers," as they were then termed, (for the 
name "Methodist" had not yet been applied to them,) was 
announced to preach in a barn at Gauksholme, near Todmorden, 
and Mr. Maden was induced by an acquaintance to go and hear 
him. The preaching of Mr. William Darney, for that was the 
minister's name, produced a deep and lasting impression on the 



Forest of Rossendale. 215 

mind of Mr. Maden, and he shortly afterwards united himself to a 
small band of persons (ten in number) at Todmorden, zealous 
followers of their great leader, John Wesley. The new convert 
was earnest and enthusiastic in the faith he had espoused, and 
accordingly we find him, in fair weather and in foul, on week-days 
as well as on the Sabbath, at his place in the meeting-house, though 
the latter was five or six miles distant from his home. 

Mr. Maden soon became desirous that a society should be 
formed in Rossendale, and with this object in view he invited Mr. 
Damey over, who, in response to the invitation, came, and in the 
year 1744 preached for the first time in this part of the country at 
Heap Bam, situated in the fields, a little to the north-west of 
Sharneyford, on the Todmorden Road. He afterwards preached 
at Miller Bam, in Wolfenden Booth, where a society was formed, 
the first of the kind in Rossendale, of which Mr. Maden was 
constituted the leader. The office of leader was no easy or 
enviable one in those days of single-handed effort, but Mr. Maden 
was possessed of an earnest indomitable spirit, not easily to be 
subdued or tumed aside, and the work he undertook to accomplish 
greatly prospered in his hands. Kindred societies were soon 
afterwards formed by his efforts, aided by others who had espoused 
the tenets of the new sect, and for many years they were known 
by the name of " William Damey Societies," in honour of their 
founder in Rossendale. 

Mr. Maden now married, and his wife held views similar to his 
own, but she lived only three years after their union. At this time 
he took a farm in the neighbourhood, and opened his house for 
divine service, having made a pulpit for the use of the preachers. 
It is highly probable that Messrs. Damey, Maskew, Colbeck, and 
others, celebrated in the early days of Methodism, officiated in this 
pulpit. 

The congregation increasing, another house was taken, which in 
tum very soon proved too small to contain those that came to 
worship. The use of the Baptist meeting-house, or "the old 
school," as it was called, was then obtained for a short time, and 



2i6 History of the 

here the society continued its labours. To accommodate the 
increasing congregation, though the number of members continued 
small, and consisted mostly of poor people, " Mr. Maden con- 
ceived the design of building a chapel." The difficulties which 
had to be overcome in the carrying out of this project were very 
great, for, in addition to the poverty of the societies, popular 
prejudice was opposed to them, and threw many obstacles in their 
way. On this subject the remarks of the Rev. Samuel Taylor, {a) 
at one time a minister in this circuit, are worth quoting, and we 
give them entire. 

"The difficulties attending the enterprise appeared almost 
insurmountable ; but he (Mr. Maden) and two others, going to 
hear Mr. Bennet preach, the building of a chapel became the 
subject of a conversation on their return. J. Maden and J. 
Eamshaw engaged to give a sum of money sufficient to purchase a 
piece of ground \ while N. Slater, in the simplicity of his heart, 
promised sixpence^ which he then produced, saying, * It is all I have 
at present, but I will give more when I get it.' These, with the aid 
of the poor society, were the first subscriptions towards building 
the chapel at Bacup. Having some knowledge of architecture, 
brother Maden also promised one hundred days' work; and 
sometimes while the mason (fi) was employed in dressing the 
stones, he went into the country to collect money for the carrying 
on of the work. Soon after the foundation was laid the whole 
weight of the undertaking devolved upon him ; which after many 
obstructions, was completed free from any pecuniary burden ; when it 
was opened by the venerable founder of Methodism. On this memor- 
able and joyous occasion, the subject of this memoir poured forth his 
devout heart in the elevated language of the royal Psalmist, * How 
amiable are thy tabernacles, O Lord of hosts ! my soul longeth, yea, 

(a) We are mainly indebted for the particulars contained in the present 
chapter to an account of the Life of John Maden, by the Rev Samuel Taylor, 
which appeared in the Methodist Magazine for July x8ii. 

(6) Mark the expression, *' the mason.*' There appears to have been only 
one mason employed. 



Forest of RossendaU. 217 

even fainteth for the courts of the Lord ; my heart and my flesh 
crieth out for the living God.* Having been a principal instrument 
in building a house for the Lord, our brother gratefully enjoyed the 
privilege of hearing the doctrines of Salvation explained, enforced, 
and defended ; and of worshipping the Lord Jehovah in spirit and 
in truth. 

The building which was raised as a Chapel, as above described, 
still stands in Lane Head Lane ; but it has undergone alterations 
since the days of its erection. Not very long ago it was occupied 
as a school. A portion of it is now converted into cottages, and in 
the other portion were recently heard the sound of the saw and the 
plane, where once the voice of John Wesley resounded. With 
reference to his visit to Bacup on this occasion, the following entry 
occurs in Mr. Wesley's Journal : — 

" Tuesday, July 14th, 1761. About noon I preached at Bacup, 
a village in Rossendale. The new preaching house is large, but 
not large enough to contain the congregation." (c) 

Like all great movements which have set their seal upon men, 
the early history of Methodism presents a picture of anxious and 
unceasing struggling against the prejudices and ignorance of man- 

(r) The following extracts, from the Rev. John Wesley's Journal, have 
reference to other visits which he paid to Rossendale, besides the one 
mentioned above : — 

"Thursday, May 7, 1747. We leA the mountains (around Todmorden) 
and came down to the fruitful valley of Rossendale. Here I preached to a large 
congregation of wild men ; but it pleased God to hold them in chains. So 
that even when I had done, none offered any rudeness, but all went quietly 
away." 

" Wednesday, August 3dth, 1766. I rode (from Padiham) to Rossendale, 
which, notwithstanding its name, is little else than a chain of mountains. The 
rain in the evening obliged me to preach in the new house, near a village 
called New Church. As many as could crowded in, and many more stood 
at the door. But many were constrained to go away.*' 

" Thursday, 31. I preached at Bacup; and then rode on to Heptonstall." 

"Tuesday, April 13, 1779. I preached at nine to a crowded audience in 
the new house at Bacup." 



2i8 History of the 

kind. Poverty also, as in the present instance, would sometimes 
stand up with huge shoulders, in the forward front, narrowing still 
more the narrow path ; but the devoted few throughout the coun- 
try toiled on, a heroic band of faithful workers, till the highest 
peak in the hill of Difficulty was surmounted, and the wide expanse 
of table-land was seen to stretch broad on the right hand, and on 
the left, and away in the fore distance till the horizon was its only 
boundary. Here they rested, so much nearer heaven than when 
they set out on their enterprise, and verily they had their reward. 

Poor Slater's humble contribution is apt to provoke a smile ; but 
was he not the counterpart of that poor widow, of whom the Great 
Master, when He saw her cast her mite into the treasury, said — 
" Verily I say unto you, that this poor widow hath cast more in 
than all they which have cast into the treasury \ for all they did 
cast in of their abundance, but she of her want did cast in all that 
she had, even all her living " ? 

Mr. Maden entered into business, but . was unsuccessful at first, 
and this caused him much trouble and anxiety of mind. He after- 
wards recovered himself, however, for it is said that he was 
possessed of four farms when he died, (d) 

Mr. Maden married a second time. The following account of 
his death is given by the Rev. Samuel Taylor : — 

"A little before, he finished his earthly career, he said to a friend 
who called to see him : * I and my partner in life have reason to 
bless God for all His mercies. She has proved a helpmate indeed. 
We have taken sweet counsel together, and walked to the house of 
God in company.' He exhorted his children to live in peace with 
one another, and having, like the venerable Patriarch, * made an 
end of commanding them, he gathered up his feet, and yielded up 
the ghost.' " 

(d) He seems to have been of an ingenious turn, for he was the first that 
applied wheels to the old Booking Shuttles to make them run smoothly. 
Before this improvement two persons were required, one on each side of the 
loom, to propel the heavy shuttle backward and forward : with the wheels 
affixed one person can perform the work with ease. 



Forest of Rossendale. 219 

■ 

He was interred at Bacup. His grave is near to the front 
entrance to Mount Pleasant Chapel. The following is the 
inscription on the tombstone : — 

" Beneath this stone are deposited the earthly remains of John 
Maden, who having been an ornamental and useful member of the 
Methodist Society nearly 65 years, left this world in joyful hope of 
a better, April 21, 1809, in the 85th year of his age." 

William Darney, who was a Scotchman, was a preacher of much 
originality and power ; a man in many respects calculated to be the 
pioneer of a great movement. Of an ardent temperament, and 
courteous to a degree, he courted opposition that he might brave 
and defy it. 

In the prosecution of his arduous and self-denying labours, he 
suflered persecution and imprisonment. "His wild notes, at first 
like a discordant tone, were preparatory to the richest harmony. 
There was a rich vein of evangelical truth in his preaching, looking 
occasionally to the Calvinistic side of the question, and often 
delivered with the quaintness of some of the old Puritan Preachers, 
which pleased and profited many. Perhaps, too, his popularity 
was not diminished by his frequently, at the close of his sermon, 
giving out an extemporary hymn, adapted to the subject upon 
which he had been discoursing." {e) 

The rapid progress of the Methodist denomination throughout 
the country generally, and within the Forest of Rossendale in 
particular, affords a striking example of what may be accomplished 
by united and voluntary effort. The affeirs of the body are 
conducted with an amount of shrewdness and energy which com- 
mand our admiration and respect. Amongst their members are to 
be found many who have been highly successful in business \ and 
these have contributed to the advancement of the society with a 
conspicuous and praiseworthy liberality. 

The number of Methodist Chapels of all kinds within the Forest 
is twenty-two. Of these, ten belong to the old Wesleyans, seven to 
the United Methodists, and five to the Primitives ; 2,500 being 
about the aggregate number of members. 

{e) Everett's Wesleyan Methodism in Manchester, and its vicinity, p. 32. 



220 History of the 

The Friends, or Quakers, established themselves in Rossendale 
about, or shortly after, the middle of the seventeenth century. 
Their first place of meeting was in a small walled, but roofless 
enclosure at Chapel Hill (hence the name), a considerable eminence 
bounding the valley to the north-east of Rawtenstall. This enclo- 
sure was also used as their burying-place, as appears by the 
following inscription above the entrance : " Friends' Burial Ground, 
1663. The walls rebuilt 1847." At one time a stone ledge ran 
round the walls, inside, and this afforded sitting accommodation to 
the worshippers. Later, until the erection in 17 16 of their present 
Meeting-house at Crawshawbooth, they were accustomed to 
assemble in one of the rooms of a farm-house near to the same 
place. The first interment in the burial ground at Chapel Hill 
took place in 1663, and the last in 1849. The first interment at 
Crawshawbooth in 1728. In the earlier years of their existence, 

• 

the Friends suffered persecution for conscience sake. The 
Crawshawbooth register records cases of imprisonment in Lancaster 
Castle on account of tithes, and in other matters bears witness to 
the intolerance exercised towards the members of this small 
community in Rossendale. Representatives of the Quaker families 
of Gurney, Field, and Fox, occasionally attended the Meeting-house 
at Crawshawbooth about the beginning of the century ; and the 
celebrated Elizabeth Fry held public meetings there in 181 8 and 
1828. Their numbers in Rossendale, never very considerable, 
have gradually diminished to about twelve at the present time. 

The Unitarians have places of worship at Rawtenstall and 
Newchurch respectively. The original chapel at Rawtenstall, 
erected in 1760, is now, and for many years past has been, used as 
a joiner's shop or warehouse. Many interments took place within 
it; amongst others, that of the minister, John Ingham, of 
Crawshawbooth, who officiated in it for fifty-one years, down to the 
time of his decease in 1833. A tablet to his memory is in the 
New Chapel. The old school in the Fold, at Rawtenstall, was 
originally intended to have been built as an upper room over this 
chapel, but it was subsequently erected on a separate plot of 



.. '. 



Forest of Rossendale. 221 

copyhold ground near, given by George Pickup, and conveyed 
by him to John Pickup and others in trust on the 31st of 
August, 1 8 15. This school was partly built by subscription ; and, 
according to the surrender, was intended for the purpose of a 
master from time to time to teach reading, writings arithmetic, and 
to instruct and educate the present and future generations of 
children residing in the township of Lower Booths and elsewhere, 
pursuant to certain rules set forth in a book of statutes bearing 
equal date with the surrender. And also for a free school on 
Sundays, for a master or masters to teach children to read the 
Bible and other useful and necessary learning in the English 
language. A list of the subscribers, in the possession of the late 
Henry King, of Oakley, gives jQt^ 3s. as the sum collected 
towards the erection of the building. 

The Trust Deed of the Chapel bears date May 17th, 1760, the 
building being put in trust " for the use of Protestant Dissenters 
distinguished by the name of Independents, so long as there was a 
minister to preach in it, and a congregation to meet in it, that could 
and should subscribe unto a Book of Articles, entitled, * An answer 
to every one that asketh a reason of the hope that is in us.* " 

The first minister was Richard Whittaker, who preached here 
about twenty years, and he was succeeded by John Ingham, above 
mentioned. When the minister and congregation becam^ 
Unitarian, about 182 1, they obtained a yearly grant from the 
Trustees of Lady Hewley's Fund. The new chapel at Rawtenstall 
was erected in 1853 ; that at Newchurch about 18 16. 

The Independents have one chapel in Rossendale, viz., at Bacup. 
They began meeting in 1848, and in 1852 they occupied a room 
in Union Street, Mr. Waite being the first minister. The present 
chapel, in South Street, was built in 1853. 

There are altogether over seventy places of worship in Rossendale. 
All of these (except the Friends) have one or more Sunday Schools, 
and many of them Day Schools attached, though the latter are 
being gradually taken over by the School Boards. 



BOOK SIXTH 



> »♦» < 



CHAPTER I. 

"All men are interested in their ancestors. 
All men love to look back into the days that are past." 

T. Love Peacock, — The Four Ages of Poetry. 

fTlHE question has been asked : From whence did the bulk of 
-■- the original inhabitants of Rossendale spring ? I have 
devoted some attention to the subject, and am led to the conclu- 
sion that it was from Pendle and the district around it, including 
Clitheroe and some distance northward, and also in a southerly 
direction winding down towards Blackburn on the west, to Burnley 
qn the east, that the original inhabitants of Rossendale, at the time 
of the disforesting or " Granting of the Forests," three hundred and 
eighty-six years ago, and during subsequent years, actually came. 

My chief reasons for arriving at this conclusion are these : If we 
fecognize the circumstances of the two districts, there will be found 
striking coincidences to incline the people one to the other ; and if 
lie examine the distinctive names of many of the places and objects 
in ind about Pendle, Clitheroe, and the adjacent country, and com- 
pare them with names of places and objects in Rossendale, we 
dyJl find not <»ily a similarity or family likeness, but in some 
hw la m oe s a positive identity, thus : 

Bo& Pendle and Rossendale are of the same hilly character ; 
botti ireie pait of the Andent " Forest of Blackburnshire " in early 
4iyi| and they have always been under the same lord of the honor. 



Forest of Rossendale. 223 

These three broad facts constitute the general circumstances 
associating the two places. Then, as regards the names of places 
and objects : The main stream running through Pendle was 
called " Pendle water," just as the Irwell was formerly called 
** Rossendale water." For example : In the Palatine Note Book, 
Vol. III., p. 210, it is stated (being an extract from an ancient 
writing) that " Richard de Radcliffe, of Ordsall, Manchester, 
[son of John de Radcliffe, Chevalier of Ordsall] Escheator of 
Lancashire, was drowned in Rossendale Water in the year 1380." 
" Rossendale Water," i,e.y the water coming down from or having its 
rise in Rossendale. Further, there is Newchurch in Pendle, and the 
river Whitewell in Bowland; we have Newchurch also and the 
river Whitewell in Rossendale. In Pendle, there is Walverden 
[Wolverden], in Rossendale we have Wolfenden. In Pendle, 
Rough Lee Booth, we have Rough Lee in Rossendale. There is 
a Goldshaw Booth in Pendle, and a Goodshaw Booth in Rossen- 
dale. Old Laund Booth, Pendle, and a Laund in Rossendale. 
In Rattonclough, there is a near resemblance to Rawtenstall. In 
Pendle and the surrounding district, there are also Dean, Pike Law, 
Hey Houses, Lane Head, Lane Side, Sykes, Crawshaw Hill, 
Blackwood, Bull Hole, HoUins, New Hall, Healdwood, Carr Hall, 
Green Nook, Trough Laith, Water Barn, Rake Head, all of whith 
names have their close counterpart in Rossendale. 

Looking at this remarkable list, it must be granted that the 
similarity, and in many cases the identity which exists between the 
names in the two districts, is not a matter of mere accident, but 
that the origin of the names, or rather their application, must have 
arisen in the mutual intercourse that existed between the inhabi- 
tants of the one district and the other. The identity, which is 
indeed too strikingly obvious to be ignored, cannot be explained in 
any other way. 

It is quite admissible to assume that some of the names may 
have been carried northward from Rossendale, for, without doubt, 
Rossendale could lend as well as borrow — there would, in short, be 
an interchange of names, less or more, though it is highly probable 



224 



History of the 



ihat the bulk of tliem came south, from the mother-district of 
Clitheroe. 

That there was this intercourse in those early days there can be 
no question— an intercourse amounting to aiaociation and inter- 
marriage, and commerce (using the word in its original sense) 
Ixtween the two, by reason of identity of circumstances, interests 
and natural affinity. 

The district from Burnley and Blackburn to Clitheroe, Pendle, 
and beyond, was more accessible to and from Rossendale than any 
other of the adjacent districts. There are no fewer than three 
direct roads at the present time leading from Rossendale to 
Burnley, and thence branching off to Blackburn to the !eft, 
namely ; — ^Through Crawshawbooih ; through Newchurch, I.umb 
and Water ; and by way of Broadclough, Bacup. And although 
these roads, as they exist at present, are of comparatively recent 
construction, yel, there can be no manner of doubt, that there have 
been, from days immemorial, footpaths or tracks in the same 
direction. All the lime for building purposes was brought from 
Clitheroe by way of these tracks on the backs of horses, or 
" lime gals " as they were called, until within comparatively recent 

Again, it is well known, that before the erection in 1511 (3d 
Henry VIII.) of the Chapel of Ease (as it was originally called), at 
Newchurch, the Castle and Church of Clitheroe was the Parish 
Church of Rossendale. And although the distince was great, 
about fifteen miles as the crow flies, and the way in those days 
leading between Rossendale and the said Parish Ciiurch was " very 
foul, painful and hillous" (quoting the description given in the 
decree of the Duchy Chancellor 4th Edward VI.), the inhabitants 
of Rossendale, or such of them as were not too infirm to under- 
take the journey, regularly attended the mother church at Clitheroe. 
Rossendale marriages were solemnized there, infants from the 
Forest were taken there to be christened, and the dead were 
carried hence to Clitheroe to be buried. Associations of this kind 
are the most binding in human nature. There was thus a constant 



Forest of Rossendale. 225 

m 

and familiar and family intercourse between the scattered inhabitants 
of the Forest of Rossendale and those of the district where their 
Parish Church was situated, and frequent meetings, visitings, and 
junkettings would be the result. 

The Forest servants of the lord of the honor naturally came 
from Clitheroe, and the herdsmen in charge of the cattle belong- 
ing to Whalley Abbey in the grazing lands in Rossendale that were 
at that time the property of the Abbot and monks, were sent here 
from the same district. The original chapel at Newchurch was 
undoubtedly erected largely by contributions from Whalley Abbey, 
to meet the spiritual wants of the then Catholic inhabitants. 

Further, nearly all the present characteristic Rossendale 
surnames, notably the Howarths, Haworths, Holts, Rostrons, 
Whittakers (spelt with both single and double t), are to be found 
in the neighbourhood in question, and they are particularly 
abundant in the Blackburn direction. 

The characteristics of the native inhabitants of both places or 
districts are also very similar to this day, the chief of these being a. 
stolid exterior appearance, relieved and brightened by a rough and 
ready, but not unkindly humour, expressed with a persistent 
adherence to dialectical speech, even in cases where a certain 
culture might be expected to eradicate the tendency. 

It will be understood that I am dealing only with the undoubted 
Rossendalian. It is only by going back to, and making a study of, 
the original stock in both districts, that the characteristics mentioned 
are to be observed. The remarks do not apply to all the 
inhabitants of Rossendale, or even the bulk of them, at the present 
day. The continual influx and reflux of population, and even the 
nature and vicissitudes of trade and occupation produce changes of 
character and temperament, and modify the peculiarities of race 
even in those instances where it is purest. 

The inhabitants of the Forest of Rossendale are proverbial for 
their shrewd, enterprising character. Possessing largely the faculty 
of acquiring and accumulating money, they combine therewith the 



226 History of the 

gift of a wise economy in spending it. With praiseworthy industry 
they have surrounded their firesides with those material comforts 
which are denied by Nature to the barren and unfruitful soil of 
their district And yet to charge Nature with withholding her 
bountiful hand were ungenerous : the abundant supply of coal, the 
almost inexhaustible mines of excellent stone which crop out on 
every slope, and the numberless streams that travel down the hill- 
sides to the bosom of the ample valley below ; all these, Nature 
has bestowed on Rossendale with lavish prodigality, and all have 
contributed to raise her to her present importance as a manufactur- 
ing district. 

There is little of what is called " ancient blood" in the locality. 
A few of the oldest families can trace their ancestors back through 
two or three centuries, but the chief men of wealth and position in 
Rossendale have risen from the ranks, and with little ostentation 
and display they yet surround themselves with the substantial com- 
forts and even the elegancies of life. 

One key to the secret of the success and growing importance of 
Rossendale is to be found in the circumstance that the spirit of 
absenteeism has never prevailed to any extent amongst those who 
have amassed fortunes in the district. They live, as a rule, in the 
locality, and many of them take an active interest in its progress. 
The numerous tasteful residences which adorn the hill-sides, and 
whose cultivated grounds, neatly laid out and planted, relieve the 
landscape, are evidence of a healthy state of feeling, and of a pre- 
vailing desire that the prosperity of the district shall be as 
permanent as it has been rapid. 

In order to show the measure of this prosperity and the rate of 
its increase within the present century, I have compiled the 
subjoined table of the annual value of the rateable property in the 
several townships comprised within the Forest of Rossendale in the 
several years named. The area of each Township or Booth is also 
given : — 



Forest of Rossendale. 



227 



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2 28 History of the 

The annual rental as represented by the County Rate Valuation 
of 1892, shows an increase of 152,195 percent, on the "advanced 
rents," amounting in the aggregate to ;^i3i 3s. 8d., confirmed by 
King James I. On the valuation of 1815, the increase to the 
present time (or within a period of seventy-seven years) is 560 per 
cent. 

The increase in the amount and value of property in any 
district is in a great measure dependent on the growth of the 
population therein. . This fact receives striking confirmation in 
the population statistics of the Forest of Rossendale. 

At the time of the building of the New Church in a.d. 15 ii, the 
population probably did not exceed 200 souls ; about nine years 
before, they numbered only 20. In 155 1, or 40 years afterwards, 
they had grown to 1000, young, and old. While one hundred years 
later, during the Commonwealth, they had increased to about 
3000 or 3500 souls. 

The next table which has been carefully compiled ^ from the 
different census returns from 1801 to 1891, is as interesting as the 
one given above, and may be accepted as an exact statement of the 
population of Rossendale : — 



Forest of Rossendale. 



229 



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230 History of the 

The increase in the amount of population between 1801 and 
1 89 1, a period of ninety years, is 380 per cent. In Rossendale 
the Females exceed the Males by about 12 per cent. 

The cotton dearth, consequent on the Civil War in America, 
denuded Rossendale of a portion of its population, many families 
having migrated into Yorkshire and other districts in search of 
employment. With the resumption of work, however, at the 
various mills in 1865, many of these families returned. 

The wide district embraced within the ancient Forest of 
Rossendale, is now, for the chief part, parcelled out between two 
considerable Municipal Boroughs. Bacup, tp which a charter of 
incorporation was granted on August 22nd, 1882, and Rawtenstall, 
the date of whose charter is February 2nd, 1891. 

Bacup is divided into six Wards, viz. : — Brandwood, Tong, 
Greens, Broadclough, Tunstead, and Irwell. The first mayor was 
Mr. Alderman John Hargreaves. The Market Hall, a handsome 
and commodious building, is in the Italian style of architecture, and 
in connection with this is the Council Chamber and Town Clerk's 
Offices. A large and beautiful Cemetery, belonging to the town, 
provided at a cost of ;^i6,ooo, is situated at Fairwell. The Area 
of the Borough is 6400 statute acres; Rateable Value ;^78,7i3, 
and the population (census 1891) 23,498. 

Rawtenstall is also divided into^six Wards, viz. : — North Central, 
South Central, East, South-East, West and North. The first 
mayor was Mr. Alderman William Lord, 189 1-2. The Area of 
the Borough is 9528 statute acres ; Rateable Value ;^ 106, 5 07, and 
the population (census, 1891), 29,507. 



232 History of the 

of hills, with all the associations connected with their venerable 
antiquity, is an ever-abiding source of interest and wonder to the 
thoughtful dweller in their midst. As the scars and ridges on the 
human face lend character to the man, so do the hills and valleys 
give character to a district. We feel that there is such of history 
there as no extent of level plain, however interminable, can 
contribute. 

It is somewhat of a reflection on many people living in the 
district, that they do not realise what Rossendale really is. They 
burrow and grub in the valleys, cribbed, cabined and confined, 
all unconscious of the glory of the hills and wide breezy moorlands 
by which they are environed. A gusty day on the uplands is an 
experience not to be lightly appreciated. Wind on the hills is 
altogether different to wind in the valleys. On the high, broad 
moorlands it revels in its strength. It is a living presence which 
commands respect. With its giant arms it turns you and bends 
you and twists you about like a withered stick. For an instant it 
holds you in its grasp as though blowing from every point of the 
compass at once ; then it gives you a push, and away — away you 
can hear it whisper, and carol, and sing, and laugh as it careers 
over the heather and bent. Now again you listen to it raving and 
blustering in the near distance, and with a spring it again suddenly 
pounces upon you unawares. But though it buffets and smites, 
it is always with a gloved hand, and there is health in its blows 
and buffetings that cannot be had for the buying ! 

But if the hills, always beautiful objects in themselves, rising on 
each side of the valley, serve to create purifying currents of air, 
healthful and invigorating in their action, they entail certain disad- 
vantages upon the residents in their locality — disadvantages which 
are common to most mountainous districts — they bring down the 
rain in plentiful abundance. This^ combined with the heavy 
nature of the soil, and its thick substratum of clay, renders the 
climate damp and foggy, and, in certain directions of the wind, 
exceptionally cold, anything but congenial to delicate organisations. 
A healthy and strong constitution will thrive and grow stronger 



Forest of Rossendale. 233 

amidst the air of the Rossendale hills, but for persons of delicate 
frame there are doubtless more desirable places of abode. 

In its abundant rains, however, Rossendale possesses advantages 
which it would be unfair to overlook — they fill its wells to over- 
flowing, providing copious supplies of water for domestic and 
sanitary purposes ; and they cleanse the streets of its villages and 
towns from accumulations of impure matter. 

From a record of observations which has been kept, it appears 
that the average rain-fall in Rossendale is 40 inches; and that 
the days on which rain falls amount in number to 165. 
According to the best authorities, the average annual rain-fall in 
England ranges from 29 to 31 inches. It would appear, therefore, 
that in this particular Rossendale is 10 inches, or 33 per cent, 
above the average, (a) 

Taking the rain-fall at 40 inches, no less a quantity than 
2,592,844 tons of water is thus deposited annually on every square 
mile of surface in Rossendale : or for its entire area, the enormous 
total of 79,003,956 tons ! 

The mean teniperature of the district, according to the observa- 
tions before referred to, is 45 degrees Fahr., being 4 degrees below 
that of Greenwich, {b) 

The valley of Rossendale is essentially a manufacturing district 
Its agricultural capabilities are not such as to attract the husband- 
man, or adequately to repay him for his toil. Its prevailing 
formation being an unkindly rock, and its soil of an uncongenial 
clayey character — damp and cold — it possesses but few of those 
features of beneficent vegetation, so grateful to the eye, which 
distinguish the limestone and some other districts of England. 

(a) In order that readers may be enabled to compare Rossendale with other 
districts, the number of rainy days, and the average annual deposit of rain, in 
inches, at the following places is given : — Edinburgh : Average number of 
days on which rain falls, 149; depth of rain, 22 inches. Glasgow, 166; 22* 
Manchester, 161; 35. Liverpool, 154; 34. Hull, 153 ; 23. Kendal, 146; 60. 
Keswick, 128; 67. Borrowdale, Cumberland, 180; 125. 

{b) The mean temperature of Greenwich is 49*^, Dublin, 48'6*^, Edinburgh, 
46-8«», 



234 



History of the 



Dairy farming is the only class of agriculture which is profitable. 
Butter and milk of average quality are produced ; and the 
abundant population of Che valleys supplies the farmer with a ready 
market for the sale of these commodities. Epidemic diseases have 
rarely prevailed to any great extent in Rossendale. 

The following table of Births and Deaths, though not embracing 
the whole of Rossendale (i:) yet comprises the greater portion of it, 
and the conclusions deducible therefrom may be safely assumed to 
apply to the entire district : — • 



FOREST OF ROSSENDALE, 

Birlhs and Deaths Registered in the Townships of Newchurch, 
Deadwen Clough. Bacup, Tunstead with WoUender, Higher and 
Lower Booth?, Coupe, Lench, Newhallhey and Hall Carr, during the 
two years 189: and tSgj. 


Names of Townships. 




1 


t 

t 
1 




1 


1 


Newchurch, Dedwen Clough,) 
Bacup, Tunstead mthf 
Wolfenden j 

Higher and Lower Booths,) 

and Kail Carr .| 


a6,ai7 
"7,359 


757 


685 


721 

"" 


555 
40a 


*5 
430 


S20 
419 






IMS 






92, 


939 








Increase in Births over Deat 
Births per cent, of the Popul 
Births per looo of the Popul 
Deaths per cent- ot the Popu 


19 in the two years.. 29 


9-5 


stion 
ation 




S'l-SS 












1 



(r) To f^ve the returns for the whole of Rossendale would be a work ot 
difficulty, as aspedal search would have to be made to extract the informa- 
tion relating to portions of the district comprised in several adjacent townships. 



Forest of Rossendale. 235 

' The average death rate for the whole of England in 1891, was 
ao-2 per 1,000, and in Lancashire alone, 238 per 1,000. The 
average birth rate was respectively 31 '4 and 333 per 1,000. 




BOOK SEVENTH. 



CHAPTER L 

* We UTe in deeds, aoc jean ; ia tiwagfatSs not fareatiis ; 
In Ceeiin^ ooc in &gam oa 2 <fiaL 
We siKoId oooat time bj heart-tkrois. He most Eves 
Who thinks most, feels the aoblest, ads the best.^ 

Bailct, Fatms. 

DeHgbtfal task ! to rear tiie tender tho^bc. 

And teach the 7001^ idea how to shooL — ^Tboxsos. 

npHE memoTf of oor local worthies ac^ht noC to be sufieied to 

'^ pass unrecorded away. We have already briefly spoken of 

the labours and estimabie qualities of some of diose whose names 

Ronendale may well be prood to bdd in remembrance— of 

Mitcbel, Crossleyy Porter, Bladen, Piccop, Hirst, and others ; and 

to these we would add a hnmUe but not onworthy name, that of 

Jdtm Lofdy who for a long series of years dorii^ last c^itmy was 

tbe -principal sdioolmaster at Bacap, and taught in the "old 

fcfaooL" Mr. Lord was a man of sterling character, of a genial, 

kind-beaited temperament, ready-witted and merry, and by precept 

and example exerted a powerful influence on the risii^ generation 

of the district in his day. One who knew him well, and who 

ahrayt bad a gntefal recollection of the benefits he recdTed while 

a papil nnder his care, states that '' he had that tact as a teacher 

tt»t Is to eisen&d to make tbe pufnls k>ve and fear him. He 



Forest of Rossendale. 237 

could be ^miliar and yet austere, gentle, and yet when needful a 
terror to evil-doers." {a) 

He had an easy facility at putting humorous rhymes together, 
and several pieces of local interest composed by Mr. Lord can be 
repeated by some of the older inhabitants. To his varied accom- 
plishments he added that of music, and it was. a pleasure in which 
he frequently indulged, to sit on a raised platform at the head of 
his school, and discourse the music of his violoncello, while his 
young pupils stood round and sung or chanted the arithmetical 
and other tables he had woven into rhyme for their profit and 
pleasure. 

In one piece he gives a whimsical enumeration of all the notable 
days in the year. Beginning with Christmas, he (Sirries us down 
through Candlemas to Shrovetide, seven weeks before Easter, the 
time when " Pancakes are in their prime ;" and when " Fig-pies 
come thick and fast," we are duly reminded that Mid-Lent with 
its dainty Simnels is near at hand. This poetical summary ends 
with the Twenty-fifth of .October, the date of Bacup Fair, which, 
alas ! in these degenerate times, has almost passed out of memory. 
In another effusion he gives a version of the Calendar, a?id ends 
up as follows : — 

Thirty days are in November, 

Winter now comes on apace ; 
Thirty-one days in December, 

Christmas looks us in the face. 

Now spiced bread and Christmas boxes, 
Cheese and cakes and tarts and ale — 

All for modest lads and lasses, 
Living in sweet Rossendale. 

The Rev. John Butterworth, minister of the Baptist Church at 
Coventry for a period of about fifty-two years, was born at the 
village of Goodshaw Chapel on the 13th December 1727. In his 
earlier years he joined himself to the Methodist body ; but his 

(a) James Hargreaves, author of Hirst's Life, in his MS. Autobiography. 



238 History of the 

views undergoing a change, he leaned to Calvinism, and became 
an eminent Baptist preacher. He was the author of a Concordance 
to the Holy Scriptures, which is held in high estimation. After 
his death, which occurred on the 24th April, 1803, in the seventy- 
sixth year of his age, this work was edited by Dr. Adam Clarke, 
and republished under his superintendence. His son, Joseph 
Butterworth, married a sister-in-law of the latter-named distinguished 
divine, and for a lengthened period represented the bbroughs of 
Coventry and Dover in Parliament. 

His father, Henry Butterworth, blacksmith at Goodshaw, was a 
deacon of the Baptist Church at Cloughfold, and intimately 
associated with Messrs. Crossley and Mitchel in their evangelical 
labours. Besides his more celebrated son, John, above mentioned, 
Henry Butterworth had four other sons — viz., Lawrence, 
Henry, James, and Thomas. The three former also became 
Baptist ministers, being settled at Evesham, Bridgenorth, and 
Broomsgrove, respectively ; and the latter an occasional preacher : 
each of the brothers displaying abilities of no ordinary kind. 

James Hargreaves, the author of the " Life of the Rev. John 
Hirst," and other works, was a man suflficiently remarkable to 
claim a brief notice. We learn from his unpublished Autobio- 
graphy that he was the third Of five children, and was bom on 
Sunday, November 13th, 1768, at a small farmhouse called 
Deanhead, two miles from Bacup on the Burnley Road. After 
his mother's death, which took place when he was only two years 
and a half old, his father married a second time, and James was 
sent to live with his uncle George, his father's brother, who had no 
family. .At seven years of age he was put to work to assist at 
weaving woollen. In 1781 his uncle took a public-house, and 
finding that James would be useful to him in keeping his accounts, 
if he had a little education, he sent him to school daily for a few 
months. This, and some instruction he received in attending an 
evening class for a short time, was the extent of the schooling he 
received. His improvement in after life was due to his own 
assiduous perseverance. From his thirteenth to his eighteenth 



Forest of RossendaU. 239 

year, he lived with his uncle at the public-house, but he had always 
a strong aversion to the business, and this in a measure proved a 
safeguard which prevented him from falling into the temptations 
by which he was continually surrounded. A circumstance 
occurred during his residence at this house, which exercised a 
considerable influence on the events of his after life. Two persons 
— one a Calvinist, the other an Arminian — engaged in a dispute 
on the doctrines of the Scriptures. The subject of our sketch 
became so interested in the controversy that he determined from 
that time to read and study the Bible, that he might also become a 
disputant. " But, says Mr. Hargreaves, " I record it to my shame, 
that I had no higher motive in searching the divine oracles. 
Pilate's question, *What is truth?' never once at that period 
occurred to my mind." He read and studied to such purpose, 
that he was able to take both sides of almost every contested 
doctrinal question, and few were able to overcome him in debate. 
In his riper years he seriously embraced the views of the Calvinists. 
In 1 79 1 he married. Shortly after this the^Rev. Mr. Ogden, the 
clei:gyman of St. John's, Bacup, which church Mr. Hargreaves 
attended, began to urge him strenuously to preach; and this, after 
two or three abortive efforts, he began to do in the outlying 
districts around Bacup. 

Mr. Hargreaves in his notes gives an account of his first essay at 
preaching, which is interesting. He had complied with the 
earnest wish of Mr. Ogden to preach a sermon on a week night in 
a cottage where services were frequently held. " I thought," says 
Mr. Hargreaves, " as the time approached that I could adopt a 
plan whereby I might avoid preaching, and excuse myself from 
guilt. I would go too late to the meeting, it would then be begun, 
and I should escape. My wife went at the time. I followed in 
about a quarter of an hour. On my way in the dark, and hardly 
knowing what I was doing, I ran my head into the flank of a horse 
at the door of a public-house, which I thought for the moment was 
a sign for me to return home. When I reached the place of meeting, 
I found to my chagrin that John Whi taker, Esq., of Broadclough, 



240 



History of the 



was reading the scriptures to improve the time till I arrived. A 
temporary pulpit was made, and I was offered a book, but I said, 
' Tell Mr. Ogden I cannot preach I ' His reply was, ■ Give him a 
bible.' I gave out a hymn — after the prayer, two friends, as I 
hesitated to mount the pulpit, assisted me up, I read my text, and 
then closed my eyes till I had got about half-way through my dis- 
course, when, just opening them, and finding Mr. Whitakcr's eyes 
fixen upon me, I was obliged instantly to close them again, or all 
my thoughts had fled. Having finished, I stepjjed down, opened 
the door, and left them to conclude the meeting as they pleased. 
It was a dark night in the month of November, so that I was not, 
as I feared, a gazing-stock on my return home. Next morning 
before daybreak, I took a walk through the village, feeling that I 
could not bear to be seen again in the daytime. Shortly afterwards 
Mr. Ogden and several of the society urged me to preach again, 
but I did not attempt it till about Christmas in 1792. In the 
beginning of April, 1793, Mr, Ogden was from home on the Ixird's 
Day, and the Church-was closed. I was requested to preach in a 
large factory newly erected, and the top room unfurnished. More 
than a thousand people were present. A portion of the floor gave 
way, but no fatal accident occurred. From this time I had my 
places fised once a fortnight, and preached at Huttock End, Weir, 
Stack, Bankbottom, &c. ; and Mr. Ogden would of his own accord 
give me two shillings for every sermon preached under his direc- 
tion, though his income was scanty." 

In 1754 Mr, Hargreaves left the church, and joined the Baptist 
society at Bacup, under the Rev. John Hirst, In 1795 he received 
a call to Bolton, which he accepted, and was ordained minister on 
June 29, 1796. Two years later he removed to Ogden, and in 
addition to his ministerial office, commenced a boarding-school, 
which he conducted for a long series of years with eminent success : 
studying unremittingly to quahfy himself for the duties. With the 
exception of an interval oftwelvc months spent at Hull (in 1808-9), 
Mr. Hargreaves laboured at Ogden for a space of 24 years, having 
during that time declined many more lucrative situations. In iSjj 



dife 



Forest of Rossendale. 241 

he accepted a call to Wild Street Chapel, London, where he 
remained till the year 1827, when he finally settled at Waltham 
Abbey Cross, in Essex. 

In 1 8 16 the "Society for the Promotion of Permanent and 
Universal Peace" was formed. In 181 8 Mr. Hargreaves became 
a member ; and on removing to London, in 1822, he joined the 
Committee. When Thomas Bell, Esq., declined to act as secretary 
to the Society, Mr. Hargreaves was induced to accept the office. 
This post he held till his death. He was enthusiastic in the cause 
of Peace, and during the long period of his secretaryship lectured 
and preached— explaining, defending, and enforcing the principles 
of the Society. 

Mr. Haigreaves was Author of the following works, which he 
published : — 

<' The Great Physician and his Method of Cure recommended in a Letter 
to a Friend," 1797. 

"An Address to the Heads of Families/' 181 1. 

" A Catechism for Schoob/* which went through several editions. 

"The Life of the Rev. John Hirst, of Bacup," 1816. 

" The Inseparable Connexion between Justification by Faith, and Holiness 
of Heart and Life,** 1820. 

" An Essay disproving Eternal and Unconditional Reprobation,*' 1821. 

" A Reply to Peter Edwards, on Infant Baptism,*' 182 1. This was written 
at the request of Mr. William Jones, author of " The Waldenses." 

The Essay on Reprobation enlarged, 1825. 

" Essays and Letters on Important Theological Subjects,'* published at 12s. 

1833. 

In addition to the above, Mr. Hargreaves published a number of 
addresses, sermons, and circular letters ; and contributed largely 
to the Baptist periodical literature of the day. At his death he 
left several works in manuscript. He died at Waltham Abbey 
Cross, September 16th, 1845, ^g^ seventy seven years. 

Lawrence Heyworth was born in 1786, at Greensnook, Bacup, 
and was the youngest of four sons of Peter Heyworth and his wife 
Elizabeth, who was daughter of Lawrence Ormerod of the same 



242 History of the 

place. His father and grandfathers, paternal and maternal, were 
the principal woollen manufacturers at Bacup. 

He received the first rudiments of learning at the old school, on 
whose site is now erected the Bacup Mechanics' Institution, of 
which latter he was President from its establishment in 1839, until 
his death. 

At the age of thirteen he lost his father, a man highly respected, 
whose good sense and extensively-cultivated understanding enabled 
hira to impress on the youthful mind of his youngest son the 
general outlines of, and love for the study of natural philosophy, 
geography, geology, aslronomy, history ; such politics as have in 
view equal privileges and the greatest good for the greatest number ; 
the science of political economy, and commerce, which seeks not 
gain by others' losses, like gambling, but aims at self-enrichment 
by making others rich. So prepared, Lawrence became a pupil of 
the eminent Dr, John Fawcett, of Ewood Hall, near Halifax, and 
finished his education at the Grammar Scliool of Hipperholrae, 
conducted by the Rev. T. Hudson, also near Halifax, which he 
left in 1 802, being then sixteen years of ;^e, and went to assist his 
brothers, who had succeeded their father in the woollen business. 
Bacup and its vicinage had then a population of not 
more than fourteen or fifteen hundred ; and the trade 
of the few manufacturers of the district was entirely 
with the Rochdale, Yorkshire and London houses. But, 
as the goods made by the firm of Peter Heyworth and Sons 
were for the Portuguese and Spanish markets, Lawrence, who was 
of an enterprising disposition, soon began to advise his brothers thai 
they should themselves trade direct with Lisbon and Oporto, and 
so combine the profits of manufacturers and merchants ; he also 
luged them to send him as their agent to those places. The 
brothers saw no objection to the plan, but very much doubted the 
probabiUty of one so young, with (save a little Latin) no knowledge 
of any language but English, and scarcely any commercial ex- 
perience, being able to push a trade as an entire stranger amongst 
foreigners. His mother, however, thought differently, "The idea 



X 

Forest of Rossendale. 



243 



was his own, he should be allowed the chance of working it out, 
and she had no doubt of his success," and used the words, " I have 
confidence in Lawrence." In the October, therefore, of 1805, 
being just nineteen years of age, Lawrence Heyworth set forth from 
Greensnook, Bacup, to Lisbon. His route for foreignparts lay 
through Birmingham and Bristol. The latter part of this portion 
of the journey was at night, and inside the coach was but one 
fellow-passenger. He and Heyworth sat at opposite corners, 
each with the window open all night. In the morning, the ground 
being covered with hoarfrost, both felt excessively cold, and each 
explained that he had kept his window open in the belief that his 
fellow- passenger wished it. The mutual politeness made them 
acquainted, and the acquaintance afterwards ripened into a 
friendship which led the way to Mr. Heyworth's commercial 
success. His companion was a young German of the name of 
Grunin, a traveller for a commercial house in Hamburgh, and 
himself on his way to Portugal ; but he had first to visit London, 
and Mr. Heyworth parted from him with not even the hope of 
ever meeting him again. At Falmouth, however, there was a 
strong east wind blowing; the only packet outward-bound was 
about to take out the Russian ambassador and suite, and would on 
no condition, not even as a steerage passenger, (to which he would 
willingly have submitted in the prosecution of his object,) take 
Heyworth. There was nothing for it, therefore, but to wait the 
chances of wind and weather for the next packet. 

During the delay, which was three weeks, and in course of which 
came news of Trafalgar and Lord Nelson's death, down came the 
German to Falmouth, accidentally put up at the same lodging 
with Mr, Heyworth, and they were fellow passengers to Lisbon, 
During the voyage, which occupied nine days, the latter worked 
hard at Portuguese, his knowledge of Latin was of assistance to 
him, and within a month he could speak with sufficient fluency for 
all commercial purposes. Thus his first difficulty was overcome ; 
but at Lisbon he met with little success, and therefore resolved to 
make trial of Oixirto. Removed thither, he again found himself 



244 History oj the 

in the same lodging with Gninin, who introduced him to tlie' 
leading merchants of the place, from whom he speedily received 
not only more orders for goods of ihei^ own make than his 
brothers could execute, but also such large orders for other articles, 
that be -at once proposed to undertake a general commission 
business, to which his brothers agreed. This, as well as their own 
direct business, rapidly increased in extent, and became largely 
profitable. Nor was this the sum of his good fortune. Lodging 
also in the same house with him was a young Frenchman, who 
took so much interest in his progress as to introduce him to the 
French Consul, who in his turn made him acquainted with several 
of the chief Spanish houses, with whom he was enabled to do 
extensive business. The Consul was afterwards still more truly 
a friend to Mr. Heyworth, for, on the approach of the French 
army in 1807, be gave him such confidential information of their 
progress, day by day, as enabled him to remain three weeks after 
all the other English residents had left ; and having collected and 
remitted every farthing of debt due to him, (which otherwise would 
have been confiscated by Napoleon^a matter not accomplished 
by any other British commercial house at the place), to leave by an 
American vessel the very day before the French entered. 

The success of the two years in Portugal had convinced his 
elder brothers ihat Lawrence had a gift for foreign commerce, and, 
after some persuasion, they agreed that he and his next brother, 
James, should establish a commission house at Rio-de-Janerio. A 
circular was accordingly issued stating their intention, and so high 
stood the name of the old firm of Heyworth Brothers & Co. that 
they at once received large consignments from the manufacturers of 
Lancashire and Yorkshire, Lawrence sailed from Liverpool in the 
Paris, in the March of 1808, without convoy, and James in the 
May of 1808 from Hull, with convoy, as supercaigo, with a full 
freight, in the Laicelles. So successful were the brothers in this 
new field, that in the following year they found it necessary to 
establish a Liverpool shipping and commission agency ; and at the 
recommendation of Lawrence, his brother Ormerod resigned the 



Forest of Rossendale. 245 

management of the manufactory to the eldest brother, and estab- 
lished at Liverpool the firm of Ormerod Hey worth & Co. 

From Rio the firm soon extended itself, establishing branches 
at Bahia, Pemambuco, Buenos Ayres, Lima, Monte Video, 
Valparaiso, and Hamburgh. The plan adopted by the Hey- 
worths was to raise to the position of junior partners such 
of their young men as showed distinguished ability, and to give 
them the management of branches ; the several branches worked 
well together. 

With the exception of a short visit to England, Lawrence Hey- 
worth remained for seven years in South America. In 181 2 he 
sailed again on 'his return to Rio-de- Janeiro, in the new ship 
Wellwood^ which was wrecked on the third day after setting sail 
from Liverpool on a sand-bank ofi" Wexford on the Irish coast ; 
and if Mr. Heyworth (as the Captain's energies were paralysed) 
had not taken in charge the management, and given directions to 
the sailors about getting the boat afloat at the critical moment 
when the vessel was breaking up, the passengers and crew would 
have all perished. Escaping from the broken masts and yards of 
the sinking ship in the open boat, with a terrible sea running, 
which every moment threatened to swamp them, they safely landed 
on the coast of Ireland ; Mr He]n¥orth without any clothing except 
his shirt 

In 1 81 5 Sir James Chamberlain went out to Rio as Consul- 
General, with a patent from George IV., allowing him to levy a 
tax of half per cent upon all English goods imported to Rio, 
which would have brought him some six or seven thousand 
pounds a-year. This imposition Mr. Heyworth at once resisted, 
urging its injustice towards British Merchants, and the 
impossibility of their being legally compelled to pay it The 
resistance brought him some persecution from the Consul, but he 
was successful in preventing the impost ; and the whole matter is 
remembered in Rio with scarcely less regard than Hampden's 
resistance of ship money is in this country. In 181 6 Mr. 



246 



History of the 



Heyworth returned to England. Our restrictive Tariff upon 
sugar, coffee, and other produce of South America, made it 
necessary for his firm to have an establishment at Hamburgh ; 
and he accordingly formed in 1817 an agency under the name of 
Jackson, Heyworth, and Co. In 1817 Mr. Heyworth visited their 
commercial agents at Trieste and Leghorn, extending their 
transactions with those ports, and saving at the former place a 
valuable cargo from a failing house. In 1819 he again visited 
Hamburgh, sold a large stock of coffee which the partner was 
holding over, and realised by that single transaction a profit of no 
less than _:^2o,ooo ; delayed sale of which would, by a sudden fall 
in the market, which shortly took place, have resulted in a loss 
almost to that amount. On his return in the same year, Mr. 
Heyworth purchased the estate of Yew Tree, near Liverpool ; and 
in i8ao married Elizabeth, his second cousin, daughter of Mr. 
Aked. From [his time he took no very active part in commercial 
affairs. He was one of the first to perceive the practicability and 
importance of railways ; and was one of their earliest promoters, 
inducing his brothers to join him in withdrawing his capital from 
commerce, and investing it in the Ironways. This he did, not 
only on the ground of profit, but of national advantage, In 1836 
the firm disposed of their several establishments at home and 
abroad to junior partners, who still continue to prosper in the 
several branches of business founded by the subject of this memoir. 
Mr, Heyworth 6rst look an active part in pohtics upon the 
agitation of the repeal of the Corporation and Test Acts. He 
was the second chairman of the Liverpool Free Trades Association ; 
was appointed in 1839 one of the three deputies to the Erst great 
conference at Manchester, when the deputies were charged to go 
only for a fixed duty, to which, however, he refused to consent, 
and produced a powerfijl impression upon the meeting, which 
afterwards influenced the entire agitation, by his assertion of the 
moral importance of Free Trade, and the right of the people to 
untaxed bread. From that time he was one of the most zealous 
members of the I-eague,— was the first to offer a subscription of 



Forest of Rossendah. 247 

^000, on the condition of fifty others giving a like amount ; and 
was on all occasions by far the largest subscriber in Liverpool. 

He was also from the first a-zealous supporter of the Temper- 
ance cause, opening his house to its advocates from all parts of the 
world ; and himself incurring no small amount of labour in its 
advocacy, In 1845 he refused a seat for Stafford, because it was 
to be gained only by bribing, and keeping open house for the 
electors, so encouraging corruption and drunkenness. Being a 
director of the Midland Railway, and a popularly known political 
reformer, led to his receiving an invitation to contest Derby, on the 
unseating on petition, after the general election in 1847, of Messrs, 
Strutt and Gower^ and in August 1848 was returned for that 
Borough, with Mr. M. T. Bass. 

Notwithstanding the unprincipled contest, on the part of his two 
opponents, at his two elections for Derby, he persisted in maintain- 
ing inviolable his resolve made at Stafford, not to owe to bribery 
his seat in his country's honourable House of Commons ; in which 
resolve he was nobly sustained by his constituents. Besides having 
an abhorrence of bribery, Mr. Heyworth denounced the payment 
of charges at elections of what are called legitimate expenses. He 
held these demands to be a most vicious usage, pregnant with 
political prostitution. He deemed it an outrage on the first 
principles of political economy, that an honest servant, be his 
engagements private or public, should be obliged, or even allowed 
to invest money in obtaining the onerous duty of serving in 
Parliament ; and that there is but a step from this legalised 
obligation to an act of bribery and political dereliction. Mr. 
Heyworth spoke but seldom in the House. His chief speech was 
in support of one of Mr. Cobden's motions for Financial reform, 
wherein be urged the importance of direct over indirect taxation, 
and was heard with full attentioa He was in favour of Universal 
Sui&age, and Vote by Ballot ; and opposed to Church rates. His 
^e exempted him from serving on Committees, but he expressed 
his willingness to do so; and was in other respects a diligent 
Member of Parliament- 



248 



History of ike 



After sitting through two Partiaments, extending over a period 
of about nine years, as one of the tepresenutives for the Borough 
of Derby, Mr. Heyworth experienced, at the age of threescore 
years and ten, something of the coming infirmities of advancing 
years, and especially that of a defective hearing. He, therefore, 
in 1857, relinquished his seat in the House of Commons ; but in 
his retirement he never ceased to take an active pan in promoting 
the movements agitated for Political, Social, Commercial, and 
Moral Reform. Mr. Heyworth was the author of a multitude of 
pamphlets, and published letters on the above and kindred subjects ; 
and his views are enunciated at length in his work entitled, " The 
Origin, Mission, and Destiny of Man." He died on the 19th 
April, 1872, at the ripe age of 86 years. 

John Crabtree, M.D., was born at Meanwood, Newchurcb, 
September igth, 1804. When a youth he was sent toa school at 

Gawsworth, taught by his uncle, the Rev. Crabtree; and 

afterwards lo Droniield Academy in Derbyshire, kept by Mr. 
Butterman, where he remained for the space of four years and a 
half. In i8za, at the age of eighteen, he was apprenticed to Mr. 
Wolfenden, surgeon, of Congleton, and served for a period of five 
years. By the assistance of his elder brother, James Crabtree, who, as 
a merchant in South America, {being a junior partner with the Hey- 
worths,} had amassed a considerable fortune, he was enabled to go 
through a course of studies at the Colleges of Edinburgh and 
Dublin respectively ; at the former of which, in the year 1S19, he 
took the degree of M.D, On the t jthof Junein the same year he 
obtained his Surgeon's diploma at the Royal College of Surgeons, 
London, and on the 18th of June his Apothecary's diploma at the 
Apothecaries' Hal!, Unassuming in manners, he was yel gifted 
with abilities which would have graced the highest offices of his 
profession. An accident which befell him in his youth brought on 
a chest affection, which clung to him during the remainder of his 
hfe, and probably influenced him in deciding to settle in the 
locality of his birth, He began practice at Fearns, near New- 
church, in 1829, when iweniy-five years of age, and continued to 



Forest of Rossendale. 249 

pursue his professional duties in the district with eminent success 
till within a few years of his death. His delicate health towards 
the close of life prevented him from devoting much time to 
his profession. Under a seeming abruptness of manner, more 
assumed than real, he possessed a kind heart. He was a gentleman 
in the true sense of the word. His charity was large and 
unostentatious ; and, during his latter years, he kept open surgery 
for the poor of the district. He died at his residence, Springfield, 
Newchurch, June 6th, 1867, in the sixty-third year of his age. 

Robert Munn, the subject of the present sketch, was a man who 
at one time exercised greater influence than any other in the 
Rossendale valley, and whose name was widely known and 
esteemed in commercial circlej; throughout Lancashire and else- 
where. He was bom at Holt Mill, Waterfoot, on February 22nd, 
1800, and was of Scottish descent, his ancestors having sought 
refuge in England during the civil wars, in which they had in some 
way been involved. The family originally settled at Manchester, 
and it is known that the grandfather of the deceased kept a 
considerable farm and grazed his cattle on land which is now. 
occupied by a portion o^ Deansgate and some of the other streets 
diverging thence towards Salford. It is certain that during last 
century the Munns of Manchester were fairly well to do in the 
world, and associated with many of the best families there and in 
the surrounding neighbourhood. It was probably through the 
friendship existing between them and the Lord family, of 
Broadclough, that led to the father of the deceased eventually 
settling in Rossendale, where he engaged in business and amassed 
a small competency. 

In the year 1824, Mr. Munn entered into partnership with his 
younger brother John in the cotton trade at Old Clough Mill, 
Irwell Springs, near Bacup. Previous to that time the cotton 
manufacture in the Forest of Rossendale, as elsewhere, was in 
quite an embryo state ; but the improved machinery then coming 
into use began to lend it importance, and money was being made 



250 History of the 

by those who embarked in it. The trade had gained a footing in 
the Rossendale district at the beginning of the century, but at that 
early time the spinning machinery was rude, and the old handloom 
was in vogue. The firm of Robert and John Munn was one of the 
first in Rossendale to avail themselves of the improved machinery, 
which eventually, in 1826, fell a sacrifice to the blind fury of the 
" powerloom breakers " who invaded the Rossendale valley fix)m 
Chatterton to the source of the river IrwelL Nine years later, in 
1833, the firm built Stacksteads Mill, at that time by £ar the 
largest cotton factory in the district In 1838 they purchased 
•Irwell Mill, Bacup, which had been erected in 1825, and in the 
year 1844 they built Edgeside Holme Mill, at Newchurch. These 
were each important enterprises in their day, and their proprietors 
ranked amongst the foremost cottOQ spinners and manufacturers of 
the time. Prior to the last mentioned date, the brothers had 
established the now well-known firm of John Munn and Co., of 
Fountain-street, Manchester, the younger brother having removed 
to the latter place to superintend the business there. Robert 
remained in Rossendale, residing at Heath Hill, which house he 
had erected, and to which he was through life fondly attached, and 
continued for many years to be the life and soul of the mills 
belonging to the firm within the valley. 

Mr. Munn was a thorough man of business : his knowledge of 
the cotton manufacture in its minutest details was of the most 
intimate kind, and he took pride in excelling in the quality of the 
productions of his looms. He was strictly temperate and metho- 
dical in his habits throughout a long and active life, and vigilant 
and untiring in his business and in whatever else he undertook. It 
was due to men of his stamp that ** Cotton " grew to be a power in 
the land, and eventually came to be spoken of as " King." 

Though somewhat exacting as a master, and scarcely distin- 
guished for liberality in the remuneration of his most trusted and 
valued servants, he yet gained their confidence and esteem by the 
appreciative manner in which, with his own intimate knowledge of 
business, he was prompt to recognise a similar knowledge in 



Forest of Rossendale. 251 

others. Whilst sufficiently dogmatic in his ideas regarding 
machinery and methods of manufacture, he was tolerant of views 
that differed from his own, and was always ready and even eager 
to enter into discussion with his managers on such subjects. Mr. 
Munn also possessed the valuable quality of being able to dis- 
criminate and judge of the character of men, and, though singularly 
undemonstrative in his friendships, he was tenacious of the 
material welfare of those for whom he cared, and seldom omitted 
an opportunity of promoting by his word and personal influence 
the interests of those of whose character and abilities he had 
formed a favourable opinion. In this way, if he was chary at 
helping them with his piurse, he did what is better — he enabled 
them to help themselves. 

In the pursuits and habits of Mr. Munn there was nothing 
approaching to luxury, though his considerable wealth might well 
have justified a more hberal expenditure. His establishments 
both in Rossendale and in Scotland, whither he annually resorted 
for a few weeks to enjoy the relaxation of a little shooting on the 
moors, were plain and unostentatious. Personally he was noted, 
especially in his younger years, for his neat dapper appearance, 
and, loyal to his business as a cotton manufacturer, he wore a 
check cotton neckerchief to the last. He was an expert rider, and 
twenty-five years ago was to be seen almost daily on horseback in 
the valley riding to and from the different mills belonging to the 
firm. 

Mr. Munn qualified as a magistrate of the Hundred of Black- 
burn in the year 1847, ^^^ o^ '^^ death of Mr. James Whitaker, 
of Broadclough, he became chairman of the Rossendale bench of 
justices, a position he held for twenty-two years till his death. As 
in his business, so on the bench, he was characterised for the 
clearheadedness of his judgment, and his decisions were generally 
tempered with as much of mercy as was compatible with justice. 
He was a guardian in the Haslingden Union, and chairman of the 
Board for the space of eighteen years. He took part in most of 
the different educational and other movements in the district, and 



as 2 



History of the 



furthered them with his influence, if not to any great extent with 
his purse. 

We have remarked above that Mr. Munn at one time in his 
career exercised greater influence in Rossendale than any other 
man. We might safely have said, than any other dozen men put 
together. But it was not so during the last twenty years of his life. 
During that period his name, though still in the first rank of 
Lancashire capitalists and cotton spinners, had gradually ceased 
to be " a name to conjure by." This result was unquestionably 
due to the change that some time after the repeal of the Com 
Laws took place in his political opinions. In the prime of his 
life there was no more ardent Libera! than the deceased, associated 
as he was with Cobden, Bright, Henry Ashworth, of Bolton, and 
the other leading spirits of the great Anti-Corn Law League. In 
those days he was a prominent figure in what was unquestionably 
the ablest coalition of men of business and of natural genius that 
ever before in the history of this or any other country associated 
t(^ether for a beneficent pohtical purpose. The leaders of the 
League, both individually and collectively, were men who towered 
above their fellows, and Rossendale was proud of its representative. 
In clear-headedness, in business tact, and in wealth, Mr. Munn 
was equal to most of his associates of those days ; he came behind 
some of them only in his power of expression, for he never was a 
public speaker, though he essayed to appear once or twice in that 
capacity. But in private conversation, and in the committee room, 
his vigorous words, the enthusiasm that would at times glow in his 
eyes and hurry his speech to his lips, were all well suited to 
stimulate the spirits of his compeers. It is well known also that 
he was a large contributor to the funds of the League. When 
afterwards he fell away from the political faith of his younger years, 
there was silent grieving in Rossendale, for it was well known to 
his best friends that in no true sense could he ever sympathise 
with the doctrines of his new alUes, whilst it was seen that his 
influence as a man and a politician would suffer declension. The 
result proved the truth of these anticipations, for he eventually 



Forest of Rcssendale. 



253 



became a mere nonentity in politics. Mr. Munn undoubtedly 
felt his altered position acutely at times, for, to salve over his 
political conscience, he was often in the habit of asserting, and 
even laboured to prove to his intimate friends, that it was not X/V 
opinions that had undergone a change, but those of the able men 
with whom he had been wont to associate. Mr. Munn was a 
bitter and persistent opponent of the Ten Hours Factory Bill, and 
he never was reconciled to the loss, as he declared it to be, of the 
" two golden hours " of the working day. 

In his religious views he was unobtrusive and widely tolerant, 
and, although he attended the Established Church, in matters of 
faith he inclined to the opinions of Emanuel Swedenborg. 

Mr. Munn married Miss Howorth, sister of Mr, John Howorth, 
of Bacup, and had a family of two sons and five daughters. His 
wife died in 1873. The melancholy death of his eldest son, 
James, a gentleman of considerable promise, and possessed of a 
genial and kindly temperament, who was drowned by the upsetting 
of a yacht at Lytham, affected him more severely than to a 
superficial observer might appear, and helped to cloud his latter 
years. At the time of his death, on Saturday, the 19th April, 
1879, he was in his 80th year. 

John AiElcen was bom at Kidderminster in the year iSzo, but 
came early to Rossendale, where he spent the greater part of hia 
life. For many years, he, with his brothers, and latterly on his own 
account, carried on the business of cotton spinning and manu- 
facturing at Bacup. He was appointed a County Justice in 1862, 
and became an active and useful member of the bench. Mr Aitlten 
took a prominent part in the Volunteer movement at its inception, 
and was eventually gazetted as Captain of the Rossendale Corps. 
In politics he was an ardent Liberal, and for many years was a 
leader of the Party in Bacup and the district, He succeeded Mr. 
Lawrence Heyworth as President of the Bacup Mechanics' 
Institution, and in that capacity delivered many interesting and 
thoughtful addresses. His literary and scienlific attainments were 



=54 



History of the 



of no mean order. As a local geologist he took a foremost 
position, being F.G.S., and twice elected the President of the 
Manchester Geological Society. He was an authority on the 
G^olc^y of this district, as his contribution to the present work 
bears witness, and his papers on his favourite subject in the 
different geological magazines are numerous and valuable. Mr. 
Aitken died at Urmston on the 29th July, 1884, in his 64th yeai. 



Henry Cunliffe was bom at High Field, Rossendale, on the 13th 
October, 1825. He was the author of " A Glossary of Rochdale- 
with-Eossendale Words and Phrases" (published after his death), 
and other works, amongst which is a Novel entitled " Forest and 
Factory : A Tale of Northern England," the scene of which is 
placed chiefly in Rossendale. In his preface to the first named 
work he has the following interesting remarks on the Rossendale 
and adjacent dialects : "This Glossary, although dealing with the 
forms current within a very small area, contains all the best words 
used by a greatly extended population, and upwards of fifteen 
hundred which do not occur in any Glossary hitherto published. 
My endeavour has been to give orthographical consistency, or, in 
other words, literary form, to the dialect — or rather dialects, for 
there are two — prevailing within the parish of Rochdale. . . . 
It appears that Rooley Moor and the ridge westward, which cross 
the parish and constitute the division between the two dialects, 
have at some early period been the barriers obstructing communi- 
cation between two distinct peoples dwelling on their opposite 
sides and in the adjacent vallej's. On the northern or Rossendale 
side, from Bacup to Edenfield, the ' Rossendale twang,' as the 
local dialect is called, prevails in its full strength ; while nowhere 
in the valley of the Roche— on the southern side — is the patois 
which gives immortality to the writings of Tim Bobbin more racy 
than it is in the doughs and hamlets on the slopes of Rooley Moor. 
The mountainous belt which separates the two districts is some 
three miles broad, but, narrow as it is, I have resided on both sides 
— in each instance for a period of twenty-five years— and neces- 



Forest of Rossendale. 255 

sarily mixed much with the common people, without perceiving 
the least tendency towards a fusion of the two tongues, or any 
nearer approach to uniformity than as education does away with 
the local forms of both. This, I think, indicates that Rossendale 
was originally peopled by an incursion from the north, which, as 
the student of the Glossary will perceive, introduced the many 
northern sounds which still exist in the vernacular. On the other 
hand, the valley of the Roche, up to the summit of Rooley Moor 
and the foot of Blackstone Edge, would appear to have been 
conquered by an invasion from the west." 

Mr. Cunliffe was bom and reared in the humblest circum- 
stances, and earned his living from early childhood. Notwith- 
standing that he was self-taught, he attained to a high degree of 
culture, and became a fluent and versatile journalist ; pursuing his 
literary labours, and at the same time attending to his business as a 
cotton mill manager. Had he been at full liberty to follow the 
bent of his mind, he might have taken high rank in literature. 
Whilst of a modest and retiring disposition, Mr. Cunlifife was a 
strong politician, holding advanced Liberal views, and during many 
years was a contributor and leader writer to various provincial 
newspapers. He died at Rochdale on the 21st April, 1886, in his 
6ist year. 

William Hoyle, eminent as a Political Economist and Statisti- 
cian, was bom in the Rossendale Valley in 183 1 : he was the fourth 
child of his parents, who were members of the Methodist body. 
The family removed to Brooksbottom when he was in his fourth 
year, and returned to Crawshawbooth twelve years later. His 
parents being poor working people, he had but scant opportunity 
for education. After attending a dame's school, he became a 
half-timer in a mill at the age of eight, and when sixteen, he 
worked as a cotton weaver, having charge of two power looms in the 
factory. His thirst for knowledge and self-culture led him to rise 
betimes from bed in the early morning, and he usually devoted 
two or three hours to reading and study before going to his work 



256 History of the 

at 6 o'clock* He also attended an evening school. Thus, by 
unwearying assiduity, he acquired proficiency in arithmetic and 
mathematics, and skill in grammar and composition. By wide 
reading and observant habits he also attained to an intimate 
knowledge of the world and human character. At the age of 
fifteen, he became from principle a total abstainer, and, soon 
afterwards, a vegetarian ; and later in life he was well known as an 
earnest and peisistent advocate of the policy of the United 
Kingdom Alliance. 

Frugal in his habits, he saved money, and became an employer 
of labour. In 185 1 he entered into partnership with his father as 
a cotton manufacturer at Crawshawbooth. In 1859 he married, 
and shortly afterwards removed to Tottington, where the firm 
built a large mill Mr. Hoyle aspired to Parliamentary honours 
in 1880 by contesting the seat for the representation of Dewsbury, 
but was defeated. 

" The keen interest he took in the Alliance agitation led him to 
fonnulate the scheme for raising a guarantee fund of ^100,000. 
This project was e3cplained to the aimual meeting in 187 1, and 
was received with enthiisiasm. His speech at the meeting of 1876 
showed the intensity of his feelings on the subject, and no one who 
listened to his earnest voice could doubt the depth and sincerity of 
his declaration : " (^) 

" I would much rather leave my children penniless in a country 
without liquor shops, than leave them a great fortune as things 
are. I have made up my mind to leave no fortune to my children, 
if I have also to leave the Hquor traffic in the country. A good 
share of my income shall therefore go towards this great move- 
ment If the agitation lasts twenty years longer, my subscriptioQ 
will amount altogether, at this rate, to ^10,000 ; but if in ten or 
twelve years we can remove the liquor traffic, the prospects of the 
coimtry will be so bright, that we need have no j^)ixeheQsioo 



(h) Obituary Notice in the M^tukesttr Guardimm, Maich ist, 188S. 



Forest of Rossendale. 257 

about not leaving fortunes to our children. We shall leave them a 
far handsomer legacy in their sober and industrious surroundings." 

Mr. Hoyle was a prolific writer in the newspapers on Temperance 
and Economical subjects, and, in addition, published the following 
works, which were widely circulated, and exerted no little influence 
in the country : 

"Food, its Nature and Adaptability," 1864, 

"An Inquiry into the long-continued Depression in the Cotton 
Trade," 1869. 

" Our National Resources and how they are Wasted," 187 1: 

" The National Drink Bill" This volume consists of annual 
letters contributed by Mr. Hoyle to the Times and other 
newpapers. 

"Crime in England and Wales in the Nineteenth Century," 1876. 

In 1884 his health began to fail, owing, doubtless, to the strain 
put upon it by the exacting labours to which he subjected himself; 
but to the last he applied himself to literary work in advocacy of 
the principles for which he had fought so strenuously and so long. 
His death took place at Southport in April, 1886. "As a speaker, 
Mr. Hoyle was remarkable, not for the art of the orator, but for 
the force and lucidity with which he marshalled facts and statistics 
in support of his arguments. His language, whilst devoid of 
common-place rhetoric, abounded in the higher qualities of 
directness and earnestness. There have been few men more 
generous and more disinterested, and his death is lamented by all 
who value these qualities in our public life." {c) 

(c) Ibid. 



CHAPTER II. 

'* For the harmony 
And sweet accord was so good music, 
That the voice to angels* most was like.'* 

—Chaucer, "The Flower and the Leap." 

" Compared with these, Italian trills are tame." 

— Burns. 

" An* thee, too, owd musicianer, 

Aw wish lung life to thee — 
A mon 'at plays a fiddle weel 

Should never awse to dee !** 

— Waugh. 

IN a memorandum book or diary kept by Sir Ralph Assheton, 
a hospitable Lancashire Baronet of the seventeenth century, 
and under date the year 1676, occurs the following entry : — 

Xtmas. [Christmas], given the Rossendale players 10/ — ." 

The Musicians of Rossendale Forest are not of yesterday's 
growth — they are a venerable race, and can count their congeners 
back through the centuries. Our truest of Lancashire Poets, 
Edwin Waugh, had them vividly before his mind's eye when he 
penned his droll story of " The Barrel Organ," over which may 
often be seen " Laughter holding both his sides." But though they 
may be taken at a disadvantage with the formal and new-fangled 
"squalling boxes" which are regulated by clockwork, and troll 
forth their music by the yard, as a carding-engine measures out its 
sliver, — place before them the glorious choruses of Handel and 
Haydn, and the melting melodies of Beethoven and Mendelssohn, 



Forest of Rossendale. 259 

and the creations of these masters in the empire of Harmony find 
ready interpreters and strongly-appreciative minds. Neither of 
late years has the renown of the " Rossendale Players " diminished. 
This is the more gratifying, when it is remembered — as an old 
admirer of theirs remarked — that "they are nearly a' working 
lads." 

In no part of England has the musical art been more cultivated, 
or even at the present day is music more appreciated, than in the 
two northern counties of Yorkshire and Lancashire. The 
interpretation of musical thought and expression, it is true, is now 
left more to the professional singer and performer, and people 
crowd to the concert hall to listen to the strains as rendered by the 
cultured exponent of musical language. In former days the practice 
of music was more of a subjective pursuit. The people themselves 
were to a greater extent than now the exponents of the art in 
which they delighted. Like the woven fabrics of the time, much 
of their music was home-made, and nearly all their power of 
interpreting the compositions of the great masters was of home 
growth and nurture ; and if in those the superficial gloss of the 
later day was wanting, there was generally more of verve and 
earnestness in the singer, and of substance in the music, with a 
blessed freedom from adulteration. 

The inhabitants of the Dean Valley have long been celebrated 
for their excellence as musicians, both vocal and instrumental; 
and it is from this fact that their appellation of " Deighn Layrocks" 
has arisen, (a) From records nearly two centuries old, we learn 

(a) The following truthful picture is from the pen of Edwin Waugh : — "Up 
10 the forest of Rossendale, between Derplay Moor and the wild hill called 
Swinshaw, there is a little lone valley, a green cup in the mountains, called 
' Dean.' The inhabitants of this valley are so notable for their love of musici 
that they are known all through the vales of Rossendale as ' Th' Deighn 
Layrocks,' or ' The Larks of Dean.' In the twilight of a glorious Sunday 
evening, in the height of summer, I was roaming over the heathery waste of 
Swinshaw towards Dean, in company with a musical friend of mine, who 
lived in the neighbouring clough, when we saw a little crowd of people 



26o History of the 

that they were in the habit of meeting in each other's houses by 
turns, and practising together the compositions, sacred and 
secular, which our Country can boast in such rich abundance. 
Many pieces of their own composing bear the impress of ability far 
beyond mediocrity, and deserve to be more generally known. 
Some of these have, indeed, already gone abroad in the world, and 
are sung in places widely apart ; being admired by those who are 
unable to recognise either their origin or authorship. 

I have in my possession a collection, in manuscript, of no fewer 
than fifty sacred pieces, consisting of Psalm tunes and Chants, 
composed by residents in the Dean Valley, and in other parts of 
Rossendale, several of whom are still living. Large as this number 

coming down a moorland slope far away in front of us. As they drew nearer, 

we found that many of them had musical instruments ; and when we met, my 

friend recognised them as working people living in the district, and mostly well 

known to him. He inquired where they had been, and they told him that 

they had 'bin to a bit ov a sing deawn i*th' Deighn.' ' Well,* said he, * can't 

we have a tune here ?' * Sure, yo con, wi' o' th* plezzur i* th* world,* replied 

he who acted as spokesman ; and a low buzz of delighted consent ran through 

the rest of the company. They then ranged themselves in a circle around 

their conductor, and they played and sang several fine pieces of psalmody 

upon the heather-scented mountain top. As those solemn strains floated over 

the wild landscape, startling the moorfowl untimely in his nest, I could not help 

thinking of the hunted Covenanters of Scotland. The altogether of that 

scene upon the mountains. * between the gloaming and the mirk,' made an 

impression upon me which I shall not easily forget. Long after we parted 

from them we could hear their voices, softening in sound as the distance grew, 

diaotiog on their way down the echoing glen, and the effect was wonderfully 

fine. Tlus little incident on the top of Swinshaw is representative of many 

things winch often occur in the country parts of Lancashire, showing how 

ihdespread the kive of music is among the working-classes there. Even in 

great manniMturing towns it is very common, when passing cotton-mills at 

work to hear some fine psalm tune streaming in chorus from female voices, 

■w^ wijugting with the spoom of thousands of spindles. The ' Larks of Dean,' 

lint thfc tett of ti« Laacaslure operatives, must have suffered in this melan- 

cMvtiint. bm 1 tope that the humble musicians of our country will never 

wv*!; WBiion to faug tiMi harps upon the willows."— //oww Life of the Lan- 

iMMiuTi Fawr\ FiAk durifig ike Cotton Famine, c 23. 



Forest of Rossendale. 261 

is, I have reason to believe that it is but a fractional part of what 
might be collected in the locality. Some of the names given to 
the pieces are characteristic of the dry humour of the authors — a 
quality which is largely possessed by many of the old inhabitants of 
the Forest. Among the list we find " Happy Simeon," " Little 
Amen," " Booking Warp," " Strong Samson," " Old Methuselah," 
and " Spanking Rodger." {b) 

Numerous are tCie stories that are told of the modes in which 
the enthusiasm of the " Layrocks " is or was displayed in their 
pursuit of the musical art. In hand-loom days, when every man's 
house was his workshop, it was usual for the ** Deighners " to 
repair to each other's houses alternately, after the Sunday's service 
at the chapel, and continue their practice of music far into the 
small hours of the Monday morning ; and, on rising, after a brief 
repose, the Monday was spent in a similar manner. Very often the 

(Jb) One piece, of a secular character — the words and music of which are by 
the same hand — always affords amusement. It is sung by four voices, and 
consists of a like number of verses, one being taken by each singer at one 
and the same time. It professes to describe and ridicule the abortive efforts 
of a local musical genius, who is endeavouring to initiate into the mysteries 
of the divine art a class of unimpressionable pupils, and is usually given with 
all the tunmftuous energy of which the Singers are capable. The words, as 
follows, without pretensions to any special merit, are interesting as a Local 
cariosity : — 

"OLD SIMON: 

"A CATCH FOR POUR VOICES. 

" Simon, I have heard thy singers, 

Squeaking, squalling. 

Shouting, bawling, 
Ranting, roaring — what a din 1 
Enough to make one's blood run thin 1 

" I compare thy snaffling choir 
To tumult at a house on fire ; 

To hunters in full chase, 

Or riots in a market-place ; 
Or howling dogs, or angry cats. 
Or scolding wives, or brawling brats. 



262 History of the 

Tuesday also was devoted to the like purpose. But sound, how- 
ever sweet, is "but sorry food for empty stomachs, and, consequently, 
during the remaining days of the week, the loom had to be plied 
with unremitting vigour to supply the ever-recurring wants of the 
household. 

It is related of two of the " Layrocks " — Father and Son — 
that they had long been busy trying to master a diflficult piece of 
music, one with the violin, the other with the violoncello, but Were 
still unable to execute certain of the more intricate movements to 
their satisfaction. They had put their instruments aside for the 
night, and had retired to rest After his " first sleep," the younger 
enthusiast, in ruminating over the performance of the evening, 
thought that if he might only rise and attempt the piece then^ he 
should be able to manage it. Creeping from under the bed- 
clothes, he awoke his father, who also arose ; and soon the two in 
their shirts might have been seen, through the unscreened window, 
flourishing their bows at an hour when ordinary mortals are laid 
unconscious in the arms of Somnus. The lonely traveller, had 
there been one at that untimely hour, would, surely, like Tam o* 
Shanter, as he passed " By AUoway's auld haunted kirk," have 

" Fie upon their dismal din! • 

When I did hear it, 

I do declare it, 
My hair it stood upright, 
I trembled with affright. 
With fear my knees did smite I 

Such snaffling, snarling, 

Stamping, staring, 
Sure I thought the fools would fight. 

" Sol, sol, sol. 

Fa, fa, fa. 
Well done, lads ! 

Stamp, stamp, stamp ! 
Mind your time ! 

Fa, sol, sol. 
Well done, old Syh 1" 



Forest of Rossendale. 263 

felt his hair rising on end at the sight of the two ghostly individuals 
scraping music at the dead of night, and in such unwonted attire. 

The impression produced upon my mihd by a visit paid some 
years ago, in the month of June, to the oldest chapel at Lumb, on 
the occasion of the anniversary services there, will not easily be 
effaced from my memory. It was quite a " field day " among the 
" Deighn Layrocks," and they mustered in strength, as though 
bent on maintaining the reputation they had acquired for their 
musical displays. The Singers* Gallery was thronged to excess. 
In the fore-front was a dazzling row of buxom girls, with ruddy 
faces and sparkhng eyes, the picture of that rosy health which the 
fresh and bracing air of the hill-side imparts ; and all were decked 
out in bonnets newly trimmed with artificial flowers and ribbons of 
the brightest hue, in every variety of colour and arrangement. 
Neither in their other apparel was there any lack of neatness, many 
of the girls displaying superior taste, and dressing in a manner 
approaching to elegance. For weeks before the anniversary 
Sundays of the various places of worship throughout Rossendale, 
those who " ply the needle and thread " have a busy time of it ; 
for it is the custom of the single lasses to appear at church or 
chapel on those occasions in the finery which has to serve the 
purpose of dazzling the eyes, and captivating the hearts, of the 
rural swains during the intervening twelve months. But this is a 
digression. Behind the girls were the males of every age, from 
the youthful tjn'o to the hoary and spectacled patriarchs of the 
valley ; and in the rear, with scarcely room to exert their powers, 
were the Instrumentalists, amongst whom the Fiddlers, large and 
small, predominated. The mellow flute and the clarionet had their 
representatives \ and dotted here and there might be seen a brass 
instrument, reflecting the bright sunshine that gleamed through the 
windows of the humble edifice, (c) 

(r) It may indicate a want of taste on my part, but I confess to having 
experienced a pang of regret on learning that the old-fashioned instruments 
at Lumb Chapel had been supplanted by the more fashionable, but also more 
formal, Organ— 

" Old times are changed, old manners gone I " 



264 History of the 

I entered just as the Musicians were completing the tuning of 
their instruments, and found the chapel crowded in every part 
Soon the minister ascended the pulpit, and opened the service by 
giving out the noble Hymn of Dr. Watts : — 

" Come let us join our cheerful songs 

With angels round the throne ; 
Ten thousand thousand are their tongues, 

But all their joys are one." 

The tune selected by the Leader of the choir was " Nativity," and 
with a precision which long practice had rendered easy, and which 
Charles Hall6 would have admired had he been there to listen, 
the whole body of singers and instrumentalists struck briskly off 
into the fine old lilting measure ; the deep bass of the violoncellos 
and manly voices, alternating with the treble and alto of the lesser 
instruments, and the sweet, clear, silver tones of the females, in the 
frequent repetition of the lines. With reverent voice the minister 
then perused the Sacred Volume ; his lucid comments enforcing 
the truths of Holy Writ, and with marvellous power bringing home 
the Bible narrative to the experiences of our common humanity. 
Not less impressive and effectual was his earnest prayer, spoken in 
that homely, vigorous Saxon, which, needing no interpreter, is 
all-powerful to touch the heart. The hymn which followed the 
prayer was one familiar to many of my readers : — 

"God of the seas, thy thund'ring voice 
Makes all the raging waves rejoice ; 
And one soft word — 'tis Thy command — 
Can sink them silent in the sand." 

And this being sung to "Glad Tidings," the effect which would 
be produced by the noble lines of the poet, and the weird, 
exultant music, upon the unsophisticated mind, may be more easily 
imagined than described. 

" Compared with this, how poor Religion's pride 
In all the pomp of method and of art, 
When men display to congregations wide 
Devotion's every grace, except the heart 1" 



Forest of RossendaU. 265 

But the great treat of the afternoon was when, the sermon being 
concluded, the " HaUelujah Choras " was given by the choir. The 
fervent, enthusiastic countenances of the men, many of whom 
were awkward and even clownish in their dress and appearance, 
contrasting finely with the less serious, but not less earnest and 
expressive fapes of the female portion of the rural choir, as the 
grand Anthem, "within no walls confined," rose heavenward to 
the great Eternal, who is the subject and burden of its strain. 
Neither was the singing limited to the choir — the majority of the 
COi^regation were familiar with the song, and loud hallelujahs 
filled the house of God. 

What an unspeakable legacy those glotious musical productions 
are to mankind, for all time ; and how consoling to reflect that, 
however humble our station in life, and however coarse our fere 
and homely our attire, we can enter into their spirit, and enjoy and 
appreciate their beauties equally with the rich and noble of 
the land. 




CHAPTER III. 

" Some call me witch, 
And being ignorant of myself, they go * 

About to teach me how to be one : urging 
That my bad tongue — by their bad usage made so, 
Forespeaks their cattle, doth bewitch their corn, 
Themselves, their servants, and their babes at nurse. 
This they enforce upon me ; and in part 

Make me to credit it 

'Tis all one 
To be a witch as to be counted one." 

—The Witch op Edmonton. 

T N the present chapter I have jotted dowji a few fragmentary 
-■- items of information, traditionary, and authenticated. 

Rossendale has on occasions been favoured with the visits of 
several remarkable men. The Rev. John Wesley, as we have 
already seen, {a) visited this district four times at least, and from 
the hill-sides preached to the assembled population. On the 
occasion of his visit on July 14th, 1761, he opened the first 
Methodist Chapel in the Forest. 

The renowned Whitefield also, in the course of his peregrina- 
tions, passed through Rossendale more than once. In a letter 
addressed to Lady Huntingdon, and dated Leeds, October 30, 
1749, he says, — " I have preached to many thousands at Rosindale, 
Ay wood, and Halifax." (if) 

Tradition says that on one occasion he preached from the old 
" Riding Steps " which formerly stood near to the " George and 

(a) See ante, p. 217. 

{b) Whitefield's Letters, Vol. ii. p. 288. 



Forest of Rossendale. 267 

Dragon," Bacup, to a vast congregation, which the fame of his 
eloquence had attracted from far and near. In the year 1750 he 
also preached in the district, and a letter {c) to a friend, breathing 
the earnest and devoted spirit of the man, was indited from 
Rossendale at this time. 

Mr. Christopher Hopper, famous as a preacher in the early days 
of Methodism, officiated, on one occasion, in the original Methodist 
Chapel in Lane-Head-Lane, Bacup ; and in his diary, under date 
January 23, 1780, he records, — "I met with a perfect hurricane 
at Bacup. I was shut up with mountains of snow with a poor old 
woman till the 27th, with little fire and small provisions. The 
same day I set out with James Dawson and John Earnshaw over 
the hills to Colne." 

The eccentric WilUam ^adsby occasionally visited Rossendale. 
Once, when preaching at Goodshaw, a company of the Dean 
" Layrocks " had crossed over the hill to assist the local choir, and 
fiddling and trumpeting were the order of the day. At the con- 
clusion of the proceedings, Mr. Gadsby, who was always jin advon 
cate of extreme simplicity in the services, in his usual blunt manner 
expressed his disapproval of the musical performances, remarking 
that the presence of so many instruments of music savoured more 
of the playhouse than the house of God ; and expressed a hope 
that if ever he came amongst them again, the fiddles and trom- 
bones might be dispensed with. 

Turning from preaching to politics, it may be noted that Fergus 
O'Connor, the celebrated leader of the Chartists, paid a visit to 
Bacup when in the heyday of his popularity. Rossendale, how- 
ever, never contributed many supporters to the cause of Chartism, 
though there were a few who enthusiastically embraced the views, 
and laboured to propagate the opinions, of this political section. It 
would appear that Fergus was not very well received when he 
came to Bacup, for the o;ily room which could be procured for 
him in which to deliver an address was the old kiln, used for 

(c) No. 842 in his published correspondence. 



268 History of the 

smelting malt, {d) situated in Rochdale Road, and now occupied as 
a cartwright's shop. Here he broached his " Land Scheme," and 
inaugurated a Branch Society, with what results we all know. (^) 

In the diary of the late Dr. Raffles, of Liverpool, published in 
his life by his son, (1864, p. 123,) the following entry occurs: — 

" July 22nd, 1 8 14. Rode with Mr. Mather to Todmorden 
in the centre of the beautiful vale of that name. On our way, 
called on Mr. Maden, near Bacup, where I saw and conversed 
with Mary Harrison, aged 104. She had been in the family ever 
since she was twelve years old, and is in full possession of every 
faculty except that of hearing." 

Mary Harrison, whose remains are interred in the graveyard of 
Ebenezer Baptist Chapel, Bacup, lived to the remarkable age of 
108 years. The date of her death is 21st December, 181 8. She 
was bom at Chatham, in Cliviger Dean. I have been at some 
pains to find the register of her birth, but have not succeeded. 
The register at Holmes Chapel, near to her place of birth, extends 
no farther back than the year 1742. Her age, however, is well 
authenticated. She entered the family of the late James Maden, 
Esq., of Greens, Bacup, in her thirteenth year — lived in it some 
time— left— and returned again, remaining in it until the day of 
her death. She nursed three generations of the family in succession : 

(d) Hence Smelt, the present name of the locality. 

(e) With much to condemn and more to deplore, there was also a good 
deal to admire in the character of O^Connor. The " Land Scheme " was 
his fatal mistake ; its failure was inevitable ; the tendency of the small 
allotment system could only be to reduce our operatives to the unenviable 
condition of Irish peasant farmers. With all his faults, however, O'Connor 
was a friend of the working man, and laboured to the best of his judgment to 
promote his welfare, and improve his condition. He could not be considered 
a statesman in any sense of the term ; though there are statesmen who have 
committed graver mistakes than those which can be laid to his charge. For 
Fergus O'Connor's heart, if not for his head, there are those who entertain, 
and with ample reason, the profoundest respect, and this, notwithstanding 
years of obloquy and indiscriminating abuse. 



Forest of Rossendale. 269 

the youngest child after she was 102 years old, and was able to 
employ herself in light work till a short time before her last illness. 
Her complaint was natural decay ; and she retained most of her 
faculties and memory to the last. 

Sharneyford Mill is the highest in England, being about 1250 
feet above the level of the sea. The Rossendale man's answer, 
which Tim Bobbin so much admired, had reference to the water- 
shed of which Sharneyford forms part : — " I am always well 
pleased when I think at the Rossendale man's answer, who, being 
asked where he wunned, said, * Iwun attK Riggin 0^ tK Woard 
—at tK Riggin 0' th! Woard— for tK Wetur 0' tK tone Yeeosing 
faws into tK Yeeost, on tK tother into tK West Seeo: " (/) 

The site of what we now term Bacup has undergone quite a 
transformation within the memory of " the oldest inhabitant." The 
cluster of houses which at one time composed the village of Bacup, 
used to be called " Giddy Meadow " by the old people of last 
century. The reason of the name I have not been able to 
ascertain. Not very long ago the land all down on each side of 
Greave Water was quite a swamp that swung under the feet. The 
whole of what is now called Tong, in Bacup, used to have quite 
a park-hke appearance, being thickly studded with trees, on which 
the crows annually built their nests, as they do at Broadclough at 
the present day. The slope betwixt Tong Lane and Todmorden 
Road was a series of gardens in a high state of cultivation. So 
also was the site of the " Club Houses" and St James' Street 

The early Baptists used to immerse in the river Irwell, at Lumb 
Head. A story is related of an irreverent wag who placed a 

(f) This occurs in a letter from Collier (Tim Bobbin) to Robert Whitaker, 
whose brother, Henry, was also > a friend and correspondent of the celebrated 
Lancashire humourist. See Westall's ed. of Tim Bobbin, 1819, p 297. '' The 
two Whitakers were brothers from Rossendale ; one of whom, Henry, was a 
schoolmaster at Manchester, and the other, Robert, a land surveyor and 
steward to Colonel Townley." (Canon Raines.) "Collier occasionally 
assbted the latter, and both were his constant friends." The S^uih Lancashirg 
Dialect^ by Thomas Hey wood, F.S.A. Chetham Miscellanies, vol. Ill p. 47. 



270 History of the 

prickly thorn at the bottom of the pool when old " Abb o*th Yate," 
was baptized. On complaining of the injuries he had sustained in 
the process of immersion, Abb was consoled by being assured that 
it must have been his sins that were pricking him. 

Bull-baiting was formerly a common sport in Rossendale. The 
Baiting ground at Bacup was on " Hammerton Green,"* (^) as it 
was called— the site of the present Corn Mill yard, and near to a 
low building known as the " Witching hoile." A stake was fixed 
in the centre of the ground, to which the Bull was tethered by a 
rope, when its canine tormentors were let loose upon it, amidst the 
yelling and cursing of a brutalised mob. At Boothfold, until within 
recent years, the stake with a ring attached stood near to the 
" Pack Horse." 

To show that the practice of Bull-baiting was at one time 
familiar to the inhabitants, a little circumstance may be mentioned. 
A very old Rossendale man, recently deceased, one day attended 
a Camp Meeting held in a field at Sharneyford. An acquaintance 
afterwards inquired if he had got to the meeting in time. " Yea," 
was the reply, " I just geet theer as they were teein' t* bull to th' 
stake," meaning, of course, that the preacher was just about opening 
the services. 

But Rossendale was by no means singular in its relish for this 
degrading practice. In Manchester, in former times, " amongst 
the heaviest fines, or, as they were called, * amercements,' on the 
butchers, were those for selling bull-beef, the bull not having been 
previously baited to make the flesh tender enough for human food." 
(A) A strange commentary this on the morals and civilisation of 
oar fore&thers. 

Tndition says that the narrow defile or gorge, called the 
•Tlnutdi," through which the river Irwell, the turnpike road, and 

III JqIr HaaBMnerton, probably the owner of the Green in question, was 
«Mii«liftTPBftMSQf the " Old School House/' Bacup, in 1773. 

i% liitaiiKlilMi to tlie Manchester Court Leet Records published by the 

by John Harland, F.S.A. p. 2. 



Forest of Rossendale. 271 

the railway now run in close juxtaposition, was at one time so con- 
tracted at its summit, that it might have been cleared at a leap. 
A bold hunter of the name of Foster, it is said, actually performed 
the feat, and the place, until recently, was known as " Foster's 
Leap." 

At the foot of the hill Coupe Law, is a place named " Th' Arks 
o* Dearden," where in former times, it is said, horse races were run. 
A similar race ground is reported to have existed at Pike Law, 
near to the base of Cribden. 

At one corner of the field adjoining Stackstead's Mill is a large 
irregularly-shaped mound, made up of earth, clay, and coarse 
gravel. The railway train, on its way to and from Bacup, passes 
over a portion of this mound. The material of which it is 
composed has probably been washed down out of Hell Clough, 
which is immediately opposite, and deposited at this place, by 
some operation of Nature, at a remote period of time. But there 
is a legend connected with it, the recital of which must not be 
omitted here. It is said that before the river Irwell had scooped 
out its present channel through the Thrutch Glen, the whole of 
the valley extending thence up to Bacup foot, was covered by a 
vast sheet of water — a great Lake, embanked by the surrounding 
hills. In the deep gorge, in Brandwood, which bears the name 
of " Hell Clough," it is further said, his Satanic Majesty had his 
country seat ; and was accustomed to perform his ablutions in the 
Lake in question. One day the water, swollen by heavy rains, 
and lashed into fury by the wind, overflowed its banks at the 
Thrutch, ploughing out a passage through the rock and shale 
which had hitherto barred its progress. His Majesty of the cloven 
foot, who stood upon the edge of the Lake enjoying the storm 
himself had raised, began to perceive the sudden withdrawal of the 
water from his feet. Divining the cause, he slipped on a large 
apron, and hastily filling it with soil and gravel, made with all 
speed to repair the breach. But, just as he reached the place 
where the mound above described is situated, his apron strings 



272 History of the 

broke; and the mass of rubbish which he carried fell to the 
ground, where it has lain to this hour. 

It is some such tradition of the close proximity of the Devil to 
the district which has given rise to the following saying, quoted by 
Bamford : (/*) — " There's a fine leet i* th' welkin, as th* witch o* 
Brandwood sed when th' Devil wur ridin' o'er Rossenda." 

The belief in Witchcraft, and in the existence of evil spirits, was 
at one time very prevalent amongst the lower classes in the 
district. Remnants of such superstitions still exist At the 
present day it is not uncommon to find a horeshoe nailed behind 
the outer door, or on the lintel over the entrance, intended to 
scare the witch from the dwelling, or prevent her devilish cantrips 
from taking effect upon the inmates. The inquisitive eye may 
also detect over the stalls in the sbippons of some of the old farm- 
houses, the " lucky-stone," pendant by a thread from a nail in the 
ceiling. This was thought to be an infallible charm to protect the 
cattle from being "witched," and to prevent the cream from 
breaking in the chum. 

The doings of the notorious " Tong Boggart " are familiar to 
almost every one in Bacup, and few but have heard rehearsed the 
story of his unearthly bowlings and knockings that kept the 
neighbourhood in a ferment of terror for weeks together. 

The " Goodshaw Witch " was a noteworthy personage in her 
day ; but even against her black art there was an all-sufficient 
antidote. The superstitious people of the neighbourhood would 
place a piece of oaten cake underneath their pillow at night on 
retiring to rest; and this, if eaten in the morning when they 
awoke, but before opening the eyes^ was a safeguard to shield them 
during the day from the unholy influences of the withered beldam; 
failing to take this precaution, the worst mischiefs were liable to 
befall them. An unfortunate girl, who had neglected the necessary 
preservative, was one morning sent by her mother to the old 
woman to borrow a handful of salt. The reputed witch, not over 

(i) Life of a Radical, chap. vi. 



Forest of Rossendale. 273 

pleased, turned or twisted her eyes upon the girl, who began to 
squint from that moment, and was never afterwards able to look 
straight before her. 

In Harland and Wilkinson*s " Lancashire Folk-Lore,"(pp. 208-9,) 
the following account is given of the killing of a Rossendale Witch 
or Wizard : — " Some years ago I formed the acquaintance of an 
elderly gentleman who had retired from business after amassing 
an ample fortune by the manufacture of cotton. He was possessed 
of a considerable amount of general information — had studied the 
world by which he was surrounded — and was a leading member of 
the Wesleyan connexion. The faith element, however, predomin- 
ated amongst his religious principles, and hence both he and his 
family were •firm believers in witchcraft. On one occasion, 
according to my informant, both he and the neighbouring farmers 
suffered much from loss of cattle, and from the unproductiveness 
of their sheep. The cream was bynged [soured] in the churn, and 
would bring forth no butter. Their cows died mad in the 
shippons, and no farrier could be found who was able to fix upon 
the diseases which afflicted them. Horses were bewitched out of 
their stables through the loopholes, after the doors had been 
safely locked, and were firequently found strayed to a considerable 
distance, when they ought to have been safe in their stalls. 
Lucky-stones had lost their virtues ; horse-shoes nailed behind the 
doors were of little use ; and sickles hung across the beams had no 
effect in averting the malevolence of the evil-doer. At length 
suspicion rested upon an old man, a noted astrologer and fortune- 
teller, who resided near New Church, in Rossendale, and it was 
determined to put an end both to their ill-fortune and his career, 
by performing the requisite ceremonials for * killing a witch.' It 
was a cold November evening when the process commenced. A 
thick fog covered the valleys, and the wild winds whistled across 
the dreary moors. The farmers, however, were not deterred. 
They met at the house of one of their number, whose cattle were 
then supposed to be under the influence of the wizard ; and having 
procured a live cock-chicken, they stuck him full of pins and burnt 



274 History of the 

him alive, whilst repeating some magical incantation. A cake 
was also made of oatmeal, mised with the urine of those hewitched, 
and, after having been marked with the name of the person 

suspected, was then burnt in a similar manner The 

wind suddenly rose to a tempest, and threatened the destruction 
of the house. Dreadful moanings, as of some one in intense 
agony, were heard without, whilst a sense of horror seized upon 
all within. At the moment when the storm was at the wildest, the 
wizard knocked at the door, and in piteous tones desired admit- 
tance. They had previously been warned by the ' wise man ' 
whom they had consulted that such would be the case, and had 
been charged not to yield to their feelings of humanity by allowing 
him to enter. Had they done so, he would have regained all his 
influence, for the virtue of the spell would have been dissolved. 
Again and again did he implore them to open the door, and 
pleaded the bitterness of the wintry blast, but no one answered 
from within. They were deaf to all his entreaties, and at last ihe 
wizard wended his way across the moors as best he conld. The 
spell, therefore, was enabled to have its full effect, and within a 
week the Rossendale wizard was locked in the cold embrace of 
death." 

Another formidable Witch is said to have practised her black 
art in Rossendale fifty or sixty years ago. A person who had 
suffered from her evil influences applied for advice under the 
circumstances to a famous Witch doctor and Fortune-teller who 
resided at Wardle. The doctor gave him a small packet contain- 
ing some unknown mitture, with instructions to hold it over the 
fire in a glazed earthenware pot, about the hour of midnight. 
He cautioned him, however, to beware of allowing it to drop into 
the fire, as, if he did so, it would assuredly burn the Witch to 
death. At the time named, having first carefully bolted the door 
before performing the spell, he took the mixture and held it as 
directed. Very soon an unearthly groan was heard outside, as if 
proceeding from some one in great distress. This so terrified the 
operator that he allowed the dish and its contents to drop from his 



Forest of Rossendale. 275 

hand into the fire, when the whole exploded with a report which 
shook the adjoining cottages, and awakened the inmates. Next 
morning it was reported that the reputed Witch was dead, having 
been found lying underneath the bed in her own house, with her 
right arm burnt almost to a cinder ! 

A number of the youths of the village of Crawshawbooth were * 
amusing themselves at football on a Sunday afternoon in the field 
lying between " Pinner Lodge " and Sunnyside House. A 
gentlemanly personage, dressed in black, approached and stood 
looking at them for some time, apparently interested in the game. ^ 
The ball at length rolled to his feet, and, unable to resist the 
temptation, he took it in his hand, and gave it a kick that sent it 
spinning into the air; but instead of the ball returning to terra 
firtnay it continued to rise until it vanished from the sight of the 
gaping rustics. Turning to look at the stranger who had performed 
such a marvellous feat, they espied what they had not observed 
before — ^the cloven foot and barbed tail (just visible from under- 
neath the coat) of his Satanic Majesty. The effect of this 
unexpected discovery on the onlookers may be imagined but not 
described. Had the wall of the field been twelve feet high instead 
of four, it could not have prevented their exit * As for the cause of 
their sudden dispersion, he vanished in a blaze of fire, and the 
smell of the brimstone fumes produced by his disappearance was 
felt in the village for many weeks afterwards. 

A correspondent in a local newspaper relates the same story with a 
slight variation. One of the players thinking he would give the gentle- 
man the chance of a knock, turned his foot towards him and kicked 
the ball The latter availed himself of the opportunity, and gave the 
ball a tremendous kick, which struck it into a blue blaze ! The 
same correspondent (under the signature of Oliver Dingle) states 
that " he has often heard an old Crawshawboothian relate a story 
of a bewitched cow, the owner of which, seeing that something was 
wrong with it, but not being able to tell what, called a number of 
his friends and neighbours together to look at it, the person who 
related the story being one of these. The cow was turned out into 



276 History of the 

the fold, and a man stood before the shippon door to prevent it 
going in again ; but it walked up to what the narrator called a 
loophole in the bam, and slipped through like a cat ! The hole 
was so small that not one of the lookers-on could have put his head 
through it, and the bam referred to is the one near Hudson Mill 
The narrator said, * I saw it with my own eyes, and therefore could 
not be deceived.' " 

In the prose writings of Edwin Waugh, the Lancashire poet, are 
to be found many curious and interesting references to Rossendale. 
For example, in his sketch of " Rochdale to Top of Blackstone 
Edge," he remarks, " When visiting relations of mine near Buckley, 
I met with a story relating to one of the Buckleys of old, who was 
a dread to the country-side ; how he pursued a Rossendale rider 
who had crossed the moors from the Forest, to recover a stolen 
horse from the stables of Buckley Hall by night, and how this 
Buckley of Buckley overtook and shot him at a lonely place called 
Th* Hillock, between Buckley and Rooley Moor." Waugh refers, 
with some variations, to the same legend in his sketch on 
"Dulesgate." In his story of " Dan o' Tootlers," the old fiddler, 
one of his best productions, Waugh remarks that the " fiddler had 
been specially invited, quite as much in the character of a guest as 
of an itinerant musician, to enliven the rustic gathering which 
thronged the old house at the Nine Oaks Farm at the annual churn 
supper, as the feast of the hay-harvest is called in South 
Lancashire. The chum supper at Nine Oaks was famous all over 
the Forest of Rossendale, no less on account of the guests and the 
bounty of the cheer, than on account of the presence of a minstrel 
so well known and so universally welcomed as Dan o' Tootlers 
was in those days." There are two curious references to 
Rossendale places and character in the sketch, *' Owd Cronies." 

" Robin at th' Crawshaw Booth has a lad 

AS can creep through a cat hole!' and again, "Here, comej if 
we're o' gooin* to talk at once, like Rossenda' churchwardens, I'll 
wait a bit till there's a better chance." In the "Dead Man's 
Dinner," there is a description of Newchurch with its old church 



Forest of Rossendale. 



277 



and surrounding!!, of which it is a faithful and beautiful picture. 
From a considerable acquaintance with Edwin VVaugh's writings, I 
have observed that in his prose sketches, wherever his references 
lo Rossendale occur, they are in his choicest pieces. The very 
mention of the name seems to open up within his mind a fine vein 
of poetic inspiration which is reflected on the page. For example, 
in " Dulesgate," and in " The Old Fiddler," to which I have 
already referred, in his "Letters written during the Cotton Famine," 
where he speaks of the " Deighn Layrocks," in the " Barrel Organ," 
and in others. 




BOOK EIGHTH 



> » ♦ » < 



CHAPTER I. 

" The King he is great on his throne, 
The Knight at his Lady's knee, 
The Bishop exults in his lawn, 
But the Tradesman's the metal for me." 

" Work apace, apace, apace, apace. 

Honest Labour bears a lovely face." — Dbckbr. 

"He strains the warp 
Along the garden walk, or highway side. 
Smoothing each thread."— Dyer. - The Fleece. 

"n OSSEND ALE has had two distinct periods in its history which 
•^^ we are able to trace. First, its existence as a Forest, harbour- 
ing " nothing else but deer and other savage and wild beasts ;" and, 
second^ its industrial condition, agricultural and manufacturing. 
The earlier time we have endeavoured to realize and describe from 
the meagre records of the past which have been preserved ; the 
second, also, as regards thfe agricultural or pastoral developments of 
the district, we have noted. Its growth in manufactures and trade 
will now engage our attention. The first was a period of scanty 
population ; the other is marked by a growing number of inhabi- 
tuitSL The poetry and romance of the first have gradually given 
pbiTf. to the matter-of-fact circumstances which exist to-day, and 
vhkh haTe efiaced most of the traces of its earlier condition. The 



Forest of Rassendale. 279 

trees and under-growth have disappeared from the face of the 
country. True, the hills remain as of yore, which is something to 
rejoice at, and the Irwell and its tributaries still meander down 
the valleys, though sadly wanting in the pellucid brightness that 
characterized them in the past. The change is one that has 
overtaken other places besides Rossendale, and it seems as though 
it were an inevitable result of the presence of a human population, 
where the numbers are considerable. Let it be hoped that the 
time will come when it will be possible to reconcile the now 
opposing conditions, or at least to render them less marked and 
objectionable. The dream is one which is worth cherishing, and 
it may perhaps be turned into a reality when a sincere and united 
effort is made for its accomplishment. 

The immediate result of the fulfilment of the decree of Henry 
VH., for the disforesting of the Forest of Rossendale, was to 
cause an influx of population into the district, who were afterwards 
to introduce those manufacturing and industrial pursuits which 
have since proved an inexhaustible fountain of enrichment, such as 
the agricultural itnprovement of its soil is powerless to supply. 
Ever since that period Rossendale has been growing in ii^portance, 
by slow gradations at first, sometimes so as scarcely to be perceived, 
but afterwards with rapid and surprising strides. The advances 
which have been made during the present century are remarkable. 
We are each accustomed to listen to the stories of the Patriarchs of 
the villages — those who have passed a long life-time in the district 
— how that things are strangely altered since the time when they 
knew every face in their different localities, and could salute each 
inhabitant as a familiar acquaintance. 

During the reign of Henry VII., we have seen that the 
population of Rossendale numbered only about twenty souls, 
whose occupation was that of keeping the Deer. After the Forest 
was apportioned out into vaccaries or booths, and granted to 
certain of the inhabitants by the king's commission, the population 
began to increase, and agricultural pursuits constituted their chief 
daily employment. 



28o History of the 

It is interesting to note our gradaal emeigeiioe from die ideas 
and methods of restriction which in times past prevailed, and kept 
the trade of the country — ^the most important trade or businesa^ 
that of agriculture — bound and fettered within confined and 
narrow limits. I do not now refer to the doctrine of prohibition as 
applied to the keeping out the produce of other countries from our 
own, but to the interference which at one time existed with internal 
freedom of trade. 

Take, for example, the grinding of com. The practice was 
general, in f^ast times, throughout the country, of compelling the 
grinding r/f corn to be done at certain favoured mills in the 
diflerent districts ; and it was even a punishable offence to evade 
this custom by carrying, or attempting to carry, the com grown 
in the district, or that purchased outside the district, to be ground 
at other than the special mills named. 

The Corn Mills in Rossendale, anciently called the ^'Boke 
Mills," were situated in Wolfenden Booth, Newchurch, and 
Oakenhead Wood Booth, Rawtenstall. They existed here from a 
comparatively early period. It is probable that they were built in 
the sixteenth century. They were originally the property of the 
Sovereign, who was then lord of the manor, and were erected for 
the convenience di the inhabitants of the Forest ; who, in return 
for the accommodation thus provided, were compelled to bring to 
those mills to be ground all their Corn grown in the Forest, and 
also all Malt, whether grown in the Forest or out of it, used or 
spent ground, in their respective houses ; for which grinding they 
were to pay mulcture at the rate of a thirtieth part, except for the 
grinding of bought Shelling or Groats grown out of the Forest \ — 
for these they were only to pay half-mulcture or one in sixty. The 
inhabitants of Musbury, and Yate and Pickup Bank, owing to their 
distance from the mills, were not bound by the above regulations. 

This rate of mulcture was fixed by a decree of the Duchy 
Court, dated May 1638, on consideration of a certificate returned 
into the Court by Sevile Radcliffe and John Starkie, Esquires, who. 



Forest of Rossendale. 281 

under the direction of the Chancellor of the Duchy, the Right 
Hon. Edward Lord Newburgh, were appointed to inquire into 
certain differences which had arisen between Edward Rawstome, 
Esq., his Majesty's Copyhold tenant, and some inhabitants of the 
Forest, respecting the same. This decree was afterwards confirmed 
by the same Court in the year 1785, on a trial between the owners 
of the mills and certain of the inhabitants who had evaded the 
mulcture by having their grain ground elsewhere. 

I am by no means certain that the decree of 1638 can not be 
legally enforced, but to attempt it in these days would simply be 
absurd. Imagine being compelled to have all the yam produce 
woven into cloth in the district, or all our cowhides converted into 
leather and manufactured into shoes in the district. The cases are 
parallel — it is only the times and the ideas that are changed 

No doubt in earlier days, when travelling and conveyance were 
difficult, the establishment of the soke mills was a boon to the 
inhabitants, and therefore there was some show of justification for 
enforcing the support of the mills so established, and yet it seems 
strange to us, in these days of free and unrestricted trade, that a 
person, if he cared to incur the cost of transit of his com, should 
not in past times, as well as now, have had the right of grinding it, 
or of having it ground, wherever he chose. 

I have in my possession copies both of the original decree (^ 
1638 and the confirmatory decree of 1785. They are interesting 
documents, but they need not be given at length. I may mention 
that the millers were under obligation to grind the com within 
twenty-fours hours after it was brought to them, otherwise the 
owner had hberty to take it elsewhere to be ground. The 
payment for grinding was at the rate of a thirtieth part for corn 
grown in the Forest, and the sixtieth part for corn grown "forth of" 
or out of it. Coin was scarce in those days, and therefore payment 
was made in kind. 

As late as the year 1859, a placard was extensively posted 
throughout Rossendale, reciting the old decree of 1638 relating to the 



282 History of the 

soke mills, as confirmed by the decree of the Duchy Court in 
1785, and giving notice to all the inhabitants of the Forest, that it 
was the firm determination of John Brooks, Esq., of Sunnyside, 
and S. A. Lord, Esq., of Newchurch, the then owners of the mills, 
to rigorously enforce the ancient custom, and offering a reward of 
five pounds to any person giving such evidence as would be 
considered sufficient proof to ground an action, or other legal 
proceedings against defaulters. The explanation of this is, that in 
the year named (1859), the late William Sutcliffe, being in treaty 
for the lease or purchase of the mills from the then owners, 
questioned whether any actual and assessable value attached to the 
ancient exclusive rights; and consequently he declined to take 
into account any such supposititious value unless its tangibility 
were proved. It was therefore with the object of affording proof 
of such alleged value that the placard was issued. It is needless 
to add that the result was to corroborate the view entertained by 
Mr. Sutcliffe as to the want of value in the claim. 

The corn mill at Bacup was built in 1826, by Hoyle and 
Atkinson, on a portion of a close of land called "Stansfield 
Meadow ;" but this firm having failed before commencing to work 
the mill, it was assigned, in 1827, to Peel (engineer). Bates 
(millwright), and Holt (builder). A further transfer of the 
property was made in 1828 to Richard Hey worth and Edmund 
Whitaker, who in turn sold it to William Thompson, John Hill, 
and William Sutcliffe, in the year 183 1. This latter firm began to 
work it as a corn mill, under the name of James Thompson and 
Son. Hill died shortly afterwards, and Thompson, in 1859, sold 
his share to Sutcliffe, who then became the sole owner. In 1863 
the name of the firm was altered to William Sutcliffe and Son. 
For a consideration of ;^30 per annum, paid to S. A. Lord, the 
owner of Boothfold mill, the mill at Bacup takes the mulcture of 
the district down to Stacksteads. Rawtenstall mill was rebuilt in 
^^57? by Jo^'i Brooks, Esq., of Crawshaw Hall; and is also 
worked by the Messrs. Sutcliffe. Another extensive com mill, also 
at Rawtenstall, was built in 1886 by the latter firm. 



Forest of Rossendale. 283 

In the latter years of the reign of Henry VIII. the Woollen 
Manufacture was introduced into the district, and during a period 
of about three hundred years this formed the staple trade of 
Rossendale. The clothing of the inhabitants in earlier times was 
chiefly of " self " material ; that is, it was of home manufacture — 
not bought in the finished piece. In lieu of oil, which was diflicult 
and expensive to procure, the wool was greased with butter raised 
from the farms. The process of carding, spinning, reeling, and 
weaving were performed by hand. The hand-loom of those early 
days is as much surpassed in efficiency by the hand-loom of 
modem times, as the latter is by the power-loom of our factories. 
The weft, instead of being conveyed across the^oom by means of a 
shuttle, was rolled into a ball, and thrown or " picked " by hand 
from one side to the other, by two persons alternately. The 
shuttle was a great improvement on the earlier system, but owing 
to its ponderous and unwieldy size, a person was still required to 
be stationed at each side of the machine, to propel it through the 
shed of the warp, The application of wheels to the shuttle (said, 
as before mentioned, to have been the invention of John Maden of 
Bacup) greatly added to its efficiency by lessening the friction, and 
enabled one person sitting in front of the loom to perform with 
greater ease that which before required the labour of two. As 
water power came to be applied in turning the machinery (a) the 
trade rapidly increased, and a regular flow of population into the 
manufacturing 'districts was the consequence. 

As bearing on the trade of Rossendale in past days, the 
following is interesting : — In the " Travels through England," in 

t 

• 

(a) To the application of water-power in turning the machinery which had 

been invented to supplant hand labour, there were at first strong prejudices 

openly expressed ; as witness the old Rossendale man's prayer in a time of 

drought, — 

" The Lord send rain to till the ground, 

But not to turn the Engines round,*^ 

The woollen-carding engines are here referred to, these being put in 
motion by the water-wheel. 



284 History of the 

the years 1750, 1751, and later years, of Dr. Richard Pocoke, 
successively Bishop of Meath and of Ossory, published by the 
Camden Society in 1888, vol. i., p. 205, the following entry occurs : 
" Ascending the hills from Holme, we came to Bacup, a large 
village, where they have a great manufacture of woollen clothes 
which they send white to London, They are mostly Presbyterians, 
and have, as they call them, two chapels. (^) We left the mountains 
and came to Rochdale, which has its name from its situation in a 
narrow vale on the river Roche." 

There is another mention of the extent of the woollen trade of 
Rossendale. The following is a copy of an advertisement which 
appears in a Lancashire newspaper of 15th May, 1746 : — " This 
is to give notice that the bay makers in and about Rossendale who 
have formerly frequented Rochdale Market, intend for the future 
to expose their goods for sale every Wednesday at Newchurch in 
Rossendale. N.B. The Forest of Rossendale manufactures and 
consumes a much larger quantity of the above mentioned com- 
modities than any other place of its extent in Lancashire." In the 
latter quarter of the i8th century Arkwright's inventions for 
spinning cotton gave another stimulus to the woollen trade in 
Rossendale as elsewhere, the machinery being equally well adapted 
to the latter manufacture. But it was reserved for the application 
of steam power to give that vast impulse to the employment of 
machinery in manufactures, which, in its extent and adaptability, 
has far exceeded the forecasts of the most sanguine. 

From forty to fifty years ago there were in the town (or village, 

as it then was) of Bacup alone, eleven mills engaged in carding 

* 

wool ; and in the other parts of Rossendale, seventeen more mills 
were at work. These places, as a rule, were of small dimensions, 
because they were restricted in their use to but two branches of 
trade— those of devilling and carding. The spinning, reeling, (r) and 

(6) The two chapels referred to are doubtless the Old School House, and 
the original Baptist Chapel in Lane Head Lane. 

(c) In an old newspaper for 1777 I find the following " On Monday last 
Betty, wife of Robert Lee, of Burnley, zxA Ann^ wife of John Harlling^of 



Forest of Rossendale. 285 

weaving were entirely domestic processes, almost every cottage and 
farmstead having its loom-house, or chamber, containing one, two, 
or more looms, and very often its spinning-loft. The proximity of 
the Forest of Rossendale to Rochdale, formerly, if not still, the 
centre of the flannel and baize trade, naturally favoured the growth 
of the manufacture in this district The father of the Hardmans 
of Rochdale, (d) wool-staplers, celebrated for their enterprise as 
merchants during last century, was a Rossendale man, and is said 
to have had Spotland literally covered with sheep for the purposes 
of his business. Prior to the erection of our large factories, and 
the congregating of numerous workers under one roof, the capital- 
ists engaged in the woollen manufacture '' put out " the warp and 
wool to their several hands living in the district. The warp which 

Bacup, were conyicted for reeling fabe and short yarn, and paid the respective 
penalties by statute inflicted upon them, with all costs of prosecution." This 
evidently refers to an Act passed in \he previous year, entitled — 

An Act for the more effectually preventing frauds and abuses committed 
by persons employed in the manufacture of combing wool, worsted yarn, and 
goods made from worsted, in the counties of Yorkshire, Lancashire and 
Cheshire; which recites that 

It shall be lawful to and for every inspector or inspectors from time to time, 
as occasion shall require, to demand entrance at all seasonable hours into the 
dwelling house or dwelling houses, shop or shops, outhouse or outhouses, of 
any agent or persons hired or employed to put out wool to be spun within 
the said counties of York, Lancaster and Chester, to inspect the yarn in the 
custody of any such agent or person hired or employed as aforesaid within the 
counties of York, Lancashire and Cheshire, where he has any information, or 
suspects any false or short reeled yarns ; and in case of refusal by any agent 
or person hired or employed to put out wool to be spun into worsted yarn to 

« 

permit or suffer such inspection, he, she, or they so refusing shall forfeit and 
pay such sum of money not exceeding ;f lo nor less than £St as such justice 
or justices before whom he or they shall be convicted shall think proper to be 
recovered. — Note by Fred Leary, 

id) Lawrence, the father of John and James Hardman, was born at Greens, 
near Acre Mill, Spotland, in the year 1664. At 17 years of age he removed 
to Rochdale, and shortly became established as a wool-stapler in that town. 
At hb death, which occurred in the year 1715, at Toad Lane, Rochdale, his 
two sons, John and James, succeeded to the business, and carried it on in 



286 History of the 

was spun ready for the loom, had to undergo the process of sizing 
before being *' gaited up." This was also a domestic process, and 
an important one, requiring the supervision of an experienced hand. 
A large cistern or pan containing the size was placed upon the fire, 
and the material being boiled to the proper consistence, the warp 
was immersed in it. After remaining for a time, it was taken out 
again, stripped of the superfluous liquid, and carried into the open 
air to be dried. 

Forty or fifty years ago, when the woollen trade was in the 
ascendant in the district, and before modem skill had displaced 
with machinery the slower modes of manipulation, the face of the 
country on a fine day presented a very different appearance to 
that which it assumes at the present time. Standing upon the 
slope of one of the hills, the spectator would have seen stretching 
along the edges of the highways and lanes, and skirting the fields 
on every side, long wavy wreaths, .varying in shade from hodden 
gray to almost snowy white, motionless in the still air, or answering 
in undulations to the wind that stole briskly down the valley. These 
were the warps which the weavers had stretched out to dry after 
sizing ; the yarn being made to rest on wooden stakes about four 

partnership. After having been in trade for some time, John, the eldest, 
removed to Liverpool in order to devote attention to the concerns of the firm 
there ; while James continued to reside at Rochdale. They were successful 
in their undertakings, and became wealthy merchants, owning their own 
trading ships. 

The following additional particulars of the family are extracted from Greg- 
son's " Fragments of Lancashire,'* pt. 2. p. 198. — " John Hardman, of 
Liverpool, merchant, who married Miss Cockshutt, and was M.P. 1754 for 
Liverpool ; and James Hardman, who married Jane Leigh, of Oughtrington, 
gave for the estate at Allerton (near Liverpool) ;f 7,700. £^00 per acre has 
subsequently been paid for this land, which was divided between Mr. Clegg 
and Mr. Roscoe. Before and since Mr. Clcgg and Mr. Roscoe's purchases, 
several suits have been instituted at Lancaster by various claimants. The 
source of these litigations has been the circumstance of no provision or future 
settlement having been made of the estate in contemplation of the death of 
Mr. James Hardman's children, who all died before they came of age. Mr. 

James Hardman. surviving his brother, died November 22, 1759; and Mrs. 
Jane Hardman, February 12, 1795." 



Forest of Rossendale. 287 

feet in length each, inserted in the crevices of the fence walls in a 
horizontal position, and supported at the other end by upright 
stakes — or " stanners," as they were called. Rossendale was much 
more thickly timbered in those days ; and the houses had scarcely 
begun to be built in unpicturesque rows, but were seen to stud the 
valley and the green hillsides either in detached groups, or as 
single residences. With the numerous busy hands arranging the 
drapery described above, it is easy to imagine how much more of 
pleasing variety the landscape, untainted with factory smoke, would 
present, when compared with its present bare and somewhat 
monotonous aspect. 

The wool intended to be made into weft was weighed and 
delivered to the workpeople in its natural state. To prepare it for 
weaving, it was first oiled or greased ; it was then taken to one of 
the small mills in the district, where it underwent the operations of 
devilling and carding — ^the fibres of the material were made to lie 
parallel with each other, and the wool was also run into slivers or 
cardings of three to four feet in length. These were now taken 
home to be spun into weft on the Spinning- Jack. The latter was 
turned by hand by the spinner, the Jack-rim being at one end of 
the machine. Turning the wheel with one hand, he regulated the 
spinning and guided the winding of the weft on to the cops or 
bobbins with the other. Behind the Jack was the piecer, con- 
stantly on the move, keeping up a continual supply of the carded 
wool, now being drawn out and spun into thread ready for the loom, 
where it was applied in the ordinary way. On the completion of 
the piece, it was cut from the loom, hooked on pegs rudely fixed 
to the joists in the ceiling of the house, folded, and carried on the 
back of the weaver to the warehouse whence the material composing 
it had originally been obtained. The web was afterwards subjected 
to the fulling and finishing processes at mills in the district. In 
this way the cloths called baize, bockings, super-bockings, and 
mocks, were manufactured. Bacup was at one period famed for 
producing these goods. At the present time, within the Borough 
boundary, there is but one solitary Woollen mill. 



. J 



,• ■ .' 



-.*■ -"xn^ 






\-^. 



■t ffl 



Forest of Rossendale. 289 

panniers over the backs of donkeys or Shetland gals) came 
regularly out of Yorkshire to make their purchases at Hareholme. 

The mill was the first building in Rossendale lighted with gas. 
This mode of illumination was then so rare, and thought so 
wonderful, that visitors from all parts, for miles round, came to 
witness the unusual sight which it presented when lighted up at 
night From the time of its erection down to 1851, it continued 
to be a worsted mill, and during that period passed through several 
hands. It has now fallen into disuse. 

In addition to the Woollen Spinning and Weaving Trade, the 
Combing of Wool was an industry rather extensively practised in 
Rossendale during the first quarter of the present century. Many 
of the inhabitants have a vivid recollection of the time when the 
festival in honour of Bishop Blaize, the patron saint of the wool- 
combers, was celebrated with much pomp and ceremony in 
Rossendale ; (f) on which occasion the handsomest female in the 

(f) " St. Blasius is generally represented as Bishop of Sebaste in Armenia, 
and as having suffered martyrdom in the persecution of Licinius in 316. The 
fact of iron combs having been used in tearing the flesh of the martyr appears 
the sole reason for his having been adopted by the wool-combers as their 
patron saint. The large flourishing communities engaged in this business in 
Bradford and other English towns are accustomed to hold a septennial jubilee 
on the 3rd of February, in honour of Jason of the Golden Fleece and St. 
Blaize ; and not many years ago this fete was conducted with considerable 
state and ceremony. First went the masters on horseback, each bearing a 
white sliver; then the masters' sons on horseback ; then their colours ; after 
which came the apprentices, on horseback, in their uniforms. Persons 
representing the king and queen, the royal family, and their guards and 
attendants followed. Jason, with the golden fleece, and proper attendantsi 
next appeared. Then came Bishop Blaize in full canonicals, followed by 
shepherds and shepherdesses, wool-combers, dyers, and other appropriate 
figures, some wearing wool wigs. 

"Apparently for no better reason than the sound of the prelate's name, it 
was customary to light fires on this day, or evening, on hill-tops or other 
conspicuous places. So determinedly anxious were the country people for the 
celebration by a blaze, that they would sacrifice articles of some importance 






I 



1 



I.'.' 



n 



290 History of the 

Forest was chosen to act the part of Queen for the day, attired in 
her regal robes, with her train of attendants dressed in the most 
grotesque habiliments, and these of every colour and shade. Those 
were the merry days of the past which the Poets sometimes sing. 
We have neither time nor relish for such displays now, having 
grown too precise and matter-of-fact The greed of gain is so ab- 
sorbing as to prevent our paying attention to such old-world 
manifestations of the poetry of every-day life. 

For the following approximated particulars of the woollen trade 
of the district at the present time, I am indebted to the kindness 
of a gentleman engaged in that business, and familiar with the 
facts. The number of woollen manufacturers is six. . These 
employ 1,200 hands; there are 500 looms at work; the wages 
paid weekly amount in the aggregate to ;^i,ooo, and the Capital 
employed is about ;^35o,ooo. 

The sum of the capital may seem large to those not conversant 
with the Woollen trade. Two of the most affluent firms in the 
district, however, export the great bulk of their manu&ctured 
goods, and together employ probably about two-thirds of the 
amount. The staple goods produced are baizes, used as clothing 
by the troops and natives of the Brazils, and the East and West 
Coasts of South America, in which places are stationed representa- 
tives of some of the Rossendale firms. 

Another branch of this important industry is the Felt and 
Tapestry Carpet trade. In this there are four manufacturers 
engaged, employing 400 hands, and paying in wages about ;;64oo 
per week. The production is 46,000 pieces, or nearly 3,700,000 
yards of Carpet per annum, the Capital employed being about 
;^ 1 6 0,000. 

The Printing of these, and some few woven goods, form? an 
important item in the industry of the district. Of works engaged 

to make one. Country women went about during the day in an idle merry 
humour, making good cheer; and if they found a neighbour spinning, they 
thought themselves justified in making a conflagration of the distaff." — 
Chambers* s Book of Days ^ vol. i. p. 219. 



\ > 
\ 



Forest of Rossendale. 



291 



in this trade there are four, employing 360 hands, and paying in 
weekly wages ;^4oo; whilst the Capital invested is close on 

;^20,000. 

Bringing the different departments of the trade together, we 
have the following result : — 

Table showing the Extent of the Woollen Trade 

IN Rossendale in 1893. 



Department. 


Hands 
employed. 


Paid 

in Wages 

weekly. 


Caoital 
employed. 


Spinning and Weaving, 
Felt and Tapestry, . 
Printing, . 

Total, 


1,200 
400 
360 


£ 

1,000 
400 
400 


£ 

350,000 

160,000 
20,000 


1,960 


1,800 


530,000 



About nineteen years ago a new industry, which may be mentioned 
here (as it is closely allied to the woollen and felt), the Slipper 
trade, was introduced into Rossendale. It is not only new to the 
district, but it possesses original features in itself, and it was not 
an importation from any other part of the coimtry. It came 
opportunely. The Cotton trade of Rossendale was suffering, and 
is still suffering, owing to the competition with India, at one time 
its best customer, where cotton goods of a similar class to those 
made in Rossendale are now being largely produced. 

The Slipper trade is located chiefly at Waterfoot, in the very 
heart of the Rossendale district, and the story that is told of its 
origin is interesting. Mr. Samuel McLerie, now the oldest slipper 
manufacturer in the trade in Rossendale, has been resident here 
since 1859 ; and his sister, Mrs. Wylie, who had previously been 
employed at the Busby Printworks, near Glasgow, came about 
that time to reside at Waterfoot It appears that the females 
employed at the Busby works are accustomed to make a kind 



292 History of the 

of slipper out of the used-up pieces of blanketting from the 
printing machines for wear during the working hours, and some 
years after her arrival in Rossendale Mrs. Wylie obtained a piece 
of felt from Bridge End Mills, and out of this fashioned a pair of 
slippers. Their neat and cozy appearance was admired by several 
persons, amongst the rest by Mr. Henry Rothwell, who was the 
occupant of the mills, and he induced her to make similar slippers 
for his wife and himself. 

Subsequently, about the year 1874, Mr. J. W. Rothwell (nephew 
of the above), a woollen printer by trade, began to manufacture 
these felt slippers at his house in Miller Barn Lane. About 1876 
he went into partnership with two other printers, Messrs. Clegg 
and Spencer, and this firm also began the manufacture. Mr. 
Samuel McLerie likewise entered into the trade shortly afterwards. 
The goods gradually found a market both in Rossendale and out-' 
side of it. Shortly after this, yiz., about 1880, the firm of Messrs. 
Jas. Gregory & Company commenced a similar manufacture at 
Whitewell Bottom, and although their business was not very 
successful at first, it eventually became so, mainly owing to the 
tact and energy of Mr. H. W. Trickett, whom the firm engaged 
as traveller. 

In 1883, Mr. Trickett began business on his own account 
at Carr Lane Mill, and later he purchased the large and com- 
modious cotton mill at Gaghills, which he transformed into a 
slipper factory. At first the whole of the slippers were made by 
hand. Finding in the earlier years of his business at Carr Lane 
that the Germans had almost sole possession of the English 
market, and believing that it would be impossible to compete 
with them by hand, Mr. Trickett began and invented various 
machines, and adapted others for producing the goods. In this 
he has been entirely successful He now is making at his two 
mills over 40,000 pairs of slippers weekly, sending them out to 
all parts of the world. 

There are at the present time ten slipper factories in the district. 
The number of workpeople, mostly yoimg men and women. 



Forest of Rossendale. 293 

employed is about 1,300, who are earning higher wages than they 
could eam in the cotton mills. The number of slippers produced 
by the whole of the Rossendale factories is about 70,000 pairs 
weetly. These are of all descriptions, felt, carpet, Venetian, aiid 
a variety of other kinds, with linoleum, woodpulp, and leather 
soles; canvas shoes for the seaside are also lai^ely produced. 
The amount paid in wages weekly is estimated at ;£i,ioo to 
^\,z<3o, and the capital invested in the trade is over ^50,000. 
Rossendale derives a further benefit from the new Industry in the 
large amount of money that is spent with other firms in the district 
— felt manufacturers and others — not less a sum than ^2,000 per 
month being paid over to them for goods supplied. In looking at 
the whole circumstances of the trade, one cannot but admire the 
enterprise that has been at its foundation and evolution, and the 
dictum of Dean Swift naturally recurs to us, that they are greatly 
deserving of esteem who, metaphorically speaking, make two 
blades of grass to grow where only one grew before. 

The trade of Silk Weaving was at one time, near the beginning 
of the century, followed to some extent in Rossendale ; so also 
was the manufacture of Ginghams — a fabric having a cotton warp 
and linen weft — but these never assumed proportions of any 
magnitude, and at the present day are not found anywhere in the 
locahty. The Cotton Manufacture was destined to take deeper 
root in the district ; and to this, the staple industry of our time, we 
shall now direct attention. 



CHAPTER II. 

** First with nice eye emerging^ Naiads cull 
From leathery pods the vegetable wool ; 
With wiry teeth revolving cards release 
The tangled knots, and smooth the raveird fleece ; 
Next moves the iron hand with fingers fine, 
Combs the wide card, and forms the eternal line ; 
Slow, with soft lips, the whirling can acquires 
The tender skeins, and wraps in rising spires ; 
With quickened pace iuccesHve rollers move, 
And these retain, and those extend the rove ; 
Then fly the spoles, the rapid axles glow. 
And slowly circumvolves the labouring wheel below." 
— Da&win.— T^ Loves of the Plants^ canto IL 

"Cotton is King I" 

" To every clime his labours stalk. 



From pole to pole they hawk the work 
Made by this English wight«" 

SoNos OF THE WiLSONS.— 2%« Weaver. 

rriO the Cotton Trade, more than to all other causes combined, is 
-*- undoubtedly due the remarkable increase which has taken 
place in the population of Rossendale within the present centiiry. 
To the development of that trade are also to be attributed the 
accumulation of wealth in many hands, the greatly-augmented 
value of the rateable property, and the advancement of the inha- 
bitants in material prosperity and comfort As has been 
already shown, (a) the increase in the amount of the population 

(a) See ante, pp. 229-30. 



^j: 



Forest of Rossendale. 295 

between 1801 and 1891, a period of ninety years, is 380 per cent ; 
(3) while the annual rental of the Forest for 1891 is 560 per 
cent above the valuation of the year 18 15. 

It is probable that the Cotton Manufacture, which first began to 
assume importance in this country about the middle of the 17th 
century, did not find its way into Rossendale till near the end of 
the century following. It is not easy to determine with certainty 
the exact date when cotton first began to be worked in the district ; 
there is, however, good reason for conjecturing that no cotton 
goods were manufactured in Rossendale prior to the year 1770. 

Between the latter year and 1780, a kind of muslin or fine cotton 
lawn was woven in a small " factory " (so called) which stood in 
Lane-head Lane, Bacup. Fustians also began to be made soon 
after this time. '* Cotton Dealers " residing in the neighbourhood, 
and others from a distance, put out the warp and weft to the 
weaver, who brought back the manufactured cloth. In some 
cases the raw cotton was taken and put through the entire pro- 
cesses of batting, carding, spinning, and weaving. As with the 
woollen warp, so with the Fustian, the sizing was performed by the 
weaver. But instead of drying the sized warp in the open air, it 
was stretched on a machine called a '' D'eeting frame," and a bar 
of iron which had been made red hot moved backwards and 
forwards over its surface. This rod or bar was named the 
'* Deeting iron," and it required a dexterous and steady hand to 
use it so as to dry the warp quicklywithout injuring the yam. 

The following extract is from a Deed of Partnership under date 
the year 1795, and is probably one of the earliest existing records 
of the Cotton manu&cture in the district It exhibits in a very 
striking manner the meagre dimensions of trade then, as compared 
with its present vast proportions. 

(3) The increase in the population of England and Wales during the same 
ninety years is 270 per cent. 



296 



History of tht 



"ARTICLES OF AGREEMENT 

" Indented and made, and fully concluded upon, the eighteenth 
day of June, in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred 
and ninety-five, Between Christopher Hargreaves, of Haslingden, 
in the County of Lancaster, Cotton Spinner; Henry Whitaker, of 
Bacop, in the Forest of Rossendale, and County aforesaid, Cotton 
Dealer; John Lord, of Bacop, aforesaid. Cotton Dealer; and 
Edmund Lord, of Bacop, aforesaid. Cotton Dealer. 

"And first of all the said parties have joined themselves to be 
Co-partners together in the Art or Trade of Spinning and Roving 
of Cotton, and all things thereunto belonging ; or such other 
business in the cotton line as they shall hereafter pursue. And 
also in buying, selling, vending and retailing of all sorts of wares 
and goods belonging to the said Trade of Spinning and Roving 
Cotton ; which said Co-partnership is to continue for the Terra of 
Eight years and Ten months, from tlic eighth day of July next 
ensuing. And for the carrying on of the said joint Trade, each of 
the said Parties doth covenant and f^ree, that they will each of 
them bring into the said Joint Trade and Stock in Money and 
Goods to be used therein, on or before the eighth day of July next, 
the full sum of Twenty-five Pounds sterling, And it is hereby 
mutually covenanted and agreed upon by the said Parties, thai 
their trade of Spinning and Roving of Cotton shall be carried on 
at their Joint Engine or Factory House situate at Lane-side, near 
Haslingden, 01 any other place which they, the said parties, shall 
mutually agree upon for that purpose, &c, (Signed), Christopher 
Hahgreaves, Henry Whitaker, John Lord, Edmund 
Lord. Sealed, signed, and delivered on parchment, duly stamped 
in the presence of James Whitaker and John Piccop." 

From the small sum of the Capital subscribed to the concern by 
each of the four partners, it may be concluded that their operations 
were but of very hmitcd extent. A further deed of Partnership, 
dated 1803, to which the above mentioned Edmund Lord was a 
party, along with Joshua Lord, of Meadows, near Broadclough, 



Forest of Rossendale. 297 

clothier; and James Maden, of Lane Head, Bacup, Cotton 
Spinner, shows an advance in the extent of the trade. The sum of 
the Capital subscribed is larger; and along with the carding, 
roving, and spinning of the cotton wool, was combined the manu- 
facturing of the cotton goods. This partnership was to continue in 
force for the term of six years, and each partner brought one 
hundred pounds into the concern. 

The old mill at the comer of Burnley road, Bacup, was the first 
considerable Cotton Factory erected in the district, and dates back 
to the end of last century. About the year 1800 James and William 
Clegg began to spin cotton yarn at '' Little Baltic," near Waterfoot, 
and at the old " Soke Mill " at Mill end, in Wolfenden-Booth fold. 
It is probable that these were the earliest cotton-spinners in the 
immediate vicinity of Newchurch. At this early time the cost of 
a Hand-Loom was five pounds, (the price paid for a Power-Loom 
at the present day,) and the newly-married couple who could boast 
the possession of a pair of such looms on the day of their wedding 
were looked upon as being well provided for. 

From 18 1 5 to 1830 the trade of cotton- weaving on the hand- 
loom was at the briskest In the latter year there were, at the 
lowest computation, thirty Weaving Shops, apart from t^e looms 
in dwelling-houses, in the Forest of Rossendale. The cloth made 
varied in quahty and strength, and, in addition to the ordinary 
calico, consisted of " Fustians," " Pillows," or " Twills," " Bangups," 
and " Sattecns," the latter having a fine velvety covering. 

For a lengthened period after its introduction into Rossendale, 
the Cotton Manufacture was in quite an embryo state. The 
Woollen trade held a position far in advance; nor could the 
most sanguine advocates of the claims of Cotton ever have 
anticipated that during the first half of the present century the 
old-established Woollen trade of Rossendale would have been so 
completely outstripped in extent and importance by its younger 
rival 

Amongst those who, at an early date, took a leading position as 
Cotton-Spinners and Manufacturers in Rossendale, special mention 



< • 



298 History of the 

must be made of Robert and John Munn. This enterprising firm 
entered into the Cotton trade at Old Clough Mill, Irwell Springs, 
about the year 1824. The regular business habits and vigilant 
attention exercised by the firm, who, in the erection of Stacksteads 
Mill had launched Iwldly out into the business, secured their 
success; and this had the effect of greatly encouraging and 
stimulating the growth of the Cotton trade in Rossendale, with 
which trade thetr name will always continue to be intimately 
associated. 

At Rawtenstall the brothers Whitehead were amongst the 
earliest, and eventually became the largest, Cotton Spinners and 
Manufacturers, and it is mainly to tlieir energy and enterprise that 
this portion of the district has made such rapid and substantial 
progress in population and wealth. The firm of Hardman 
Brothers are also of old standing here, both as Woollen and Cotton 
Manufacturers, and give employment to a large number of opera- 
tives in both departments. 

There are a number of Limited Companies having Mills in the 
immediate vicinity of Rossendale, a large proportion of the capital 
of which is contributed by persons residing in this district 

From the beginning of the century down to the year 1830, 
about twenty-three of the smallest of the mills at present engaged 
in the Cotton Manufactiue, and the greater portion of the Shoddy 
Mills, were erected. Most of these were, however, originally 
intended for, and were used in, the Woollen trade, From 1830 to 
1839 eleven Cotton factories were built. From 1840 to 1849 
twenty more had sprung into existence. The next decennial 
period, from 1850 to 1859, witnessed the greatest extension of the 
trade in Rossendale, forty-five mills being erected in that time. 
From i860 to 1867 eighteen of the largest Cotton Mills in the 
diMtrict were built. Since the latter year to the present, the 
number has only been increased by three, whilst some of the 
older mills have been abandoned, the buildings being unsuitable 
fur liic trade under existing conditions. 



Forest of Rossendale. 299 

The raw cotton consumed annually in the Rossendale mills is 
about 76,000,000 lbs.; the yarn produced, 68,000,000 lbs.; cloth, 
210,000,000 yards. The number of spindles at work is 835,000, 
and of looms, 22,000. The operatives employed are about 20,000, 
and the wages paid weekly amount to between ;^ 12,000 and 
;^ 1 4, 000. The total capital invested is over ;^2,ooo,ooo. A 
surprising result truly, when it is remembered that at a time within 
the present century, the whole of the cotton consumed in Ros^gn- 
dale was brought into the district on the backs of pack-horses. 

Of trades directly dependent upon the cotton manufacture, we 
have in Rossendale Cotton Warp Sizers, Reed and Heald 
manufacturers, and other subsidiary trades, employing 500 hands, 
paying in wages, weekly, about ;£^4oo, with an invested capital of 
;£^35><5oo. A large and important business in Calico Printing and 
Dyeing is also carried on. 

The upper part of the district is supplied with water by the 
Rossendale Water Works Company, and the lower from the works 
of the Bury Corporation. The district is lighted by the Rossendale 
Union Gas Company, which includes nearly the whole of Rossendale 
within its area of supply. The Company was incorporated by 
special Act of Parliament in 1854. 

The line of Railway which traverses the Rossendale Valley 
diverging from the main line at Stubbins, near Ramsbottom, and 
extending to Bacup, where it terminates, is a branch of that vast 
network* of iron which permeates the two chief manufacturing 
counties of England, and known by the name of " The Lancashire 
and Yorkshire Railway." 

Previous to the amalgamation of the East Lancashire with the 
Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway Company, the line which threads 
the Rossendale valle^ constituted a Branch of the former. The 
town of Bury claims the honour of having given birth to the 
undertaking. A number of capitalists there were desirous to 
connect their town by railway with Manchester, and, with that 
object in view, instituted a canvass in the town and surrounding 



300 



History of the 



districts. This was so satisfactory in its results as to lead them not 
only to carry their project into effect, but also to extend their 
operations so as to include the Rossendale valley to Rawtenstall. 
The first prospectus of the Company was issued in the year 1S43, 
and is a sufficiently modest document. From this it appears that it 
was originally contemplated to lay down a single line of rails only, 
the Capital proposed being ^£'300,000. The undertaking was 
designated "The Manchester, Bury, and Rossendale Railway," 
and the first Act of Parliament of the Company received the royal 
assent on the 4th July, 1844. The line from Manchester to 
Rawtenstall, a distance of iS miles, was opened for the convej-ance 
of passengers on the 28th September, 1846, and for goods traffic in 
May, 1847, A further Act obtained by the Company authorising 
the continuation of the line from Rawtenstall to Crawshawbooth 
and Bacup, received the royal assent on July 27th, 1846. The 
proposed extension to Crawshawbooth has not been carried out 
The line from Rawtenstall to Newchurch {two miles) was opened 
for passenger and goods traffic on the 27th March, 1848. The 
subsequent extension to Bacup, the most costly portion of the 
Branch line, owing to the construction of the tunnels through the 
heights at "Thrutch," was not completed for several years after- 
wards, being opened for passenger conveyance on the ist October, 
1851, and for goods traffic on February ist, 1853. The Company 
first took its name of "The East Lancashire Railway Company" 
on the 3rd August, 1846. The new line from Bacup to Facit was 
o]M;ned in 1881, and was subsequently continued to Rochdale, 

The introduction of the Railway into Rossendale, by increasing 
the facilities of transport and intercommunication, gave a marked 
Stimulus to trade and manufactures, which, it may be safely 
BKEumed, could otherwise scarcely have reached their present 
proportions. 

To one important branch of industry in the district, the Railway 
may almost be said to have given birth. This is the Stone Trade, 
respecting which we will now slate a few particulars, 

Slone alxjunds m ilie district in considerable variety, and of 



Forest of Rossendale. 301 

excellent quality, being very durable, and of a good colour. Prior 
to 1848, the trade in this article was of very limited extent, being 
confined chiefly to the immediate district Since that year, 
however, it has been gradually increasing, and at the present time 
gives employment to a large number of workmen, skilled and 
otherwise, and absorbs a considerable amount of capital. The 
stone, which is suitable for all ordinary Building and Engineering 
purposes, is obtained from the various Quarries in the district, 
from blocks of many tons' weight each, and of almost unlimited 
length, width, and depth, down to gray slates of half-an-inch in 
thickness. Some of the varieties for appearance and durability are 
not to be surpassed. 

The export trade is very large, extending to Manchester, Preston, 
Liverpool, some parts of Yorkshire, Birmingham, London, and 
other places. Some idea of its magnitude may be gathered from a 
knowledge of the fact, that ;^2,7oo and upwards is paid per month 
for carriage by Railway to the various places abov6 enumerated. 
From Liverpool and London, considerable quantities of the 
Rossendale Stone are also trans-shipped to the East Indies, South 
American, and other foreign ports, and this export traffi is rapidly 
increasing. The rent paid as Delphage for some of the Quarries 
amounts to many times what would otherwise be considered the 
value of the Fee-simple of the land, and the latter still remains 
available, to some extent, for farming and building purposes. 
Several Mills for the polishing of flags have been erected in the 
district by which the value of the stone is much enhanced. Large 
quantities of the Rossendale flags, however, have a natural face 
almost as smooth as those which have undergone the polishing 
process, and by many persons are considered better than the latter, 
inasmuch as they are exceedingly hard, and are often found to 
possess a beautiful grain. As regards the extent of the Stone 
Trade of Rossendale, the following statement may be taken as 
being a close approximation to the facts. Number of persons 
employed, 1,200. Amount paid in wages weekly, ;^i,2oo. Weight 
of Stone of all kinds obtained from the several Quarries weekly. 



302 



History of the 



3,000 tons, Capital invested, ;£65,ooo. The Homcliffe delphs, 
though not within the boundary of Rossendale Forest, are yet in 
such close proximity as to warrant their being embraced in any 
estimate of the extent of the stone trade in the district. They are 
accordingly included in the above statement. • 

Coal abounds in Rossendale almost throughout lis entire extent, 
and has probably been got in quantities more or less for about 
three hundred years. Old workings, regarding which no records 
are known to exist, are often met with in the mines at present 
being worked, (c) Some of these are of considerable extent In 
the mine of Messrs. Hargreaves and Co., at SUcksteads, one of 
such workings was discovered some years ago ; and a poor fellow 
who attempted to make on exploration, not having taken proper 
precautions, lost his way and was unabJe to return. On search 
being rnade a few days afterwards, he was found dead. Rude 
implements of labour, chiefly wooden shovels, are occasionally met 
with in these deserted excavations. The supply of coal for the 
different manufactories in the district is chiefly obtained from local 
mines, which are numernus, employing many hands and a large 
capital. 

It is proper here to refer to the attempts that were made during 
last century to establish another mining industry in the district 

In the year 1754, an advertisement appeared on the walls in 
Rossendale and the other districts comprised within the Honor 
ot Clitberoc, in the shape of a placard or handbill, giving notice 
dkit the lessors of the lead mines, veins or beds of lead, copper, 
koi or tin in the copyhold lands in the Honor of Clitheroe, 
fwyoa n i to let any mears of ground therein with free liberty to 
aoMfa far the minerals aforementioned to any person or persons 
CK « WOk to be screed upon. In response to this announcement 
r eC gCRtlemen came forward, formed themselves into a 
«y, »Bd took the property for a terra of twenty-one years. 



'. 1h^ traME of oU tokl-pit worldngs nu; alaobeseenoDtheTodmorden 



Forest of Rossendale. 303 

The lease bears date 26th February, 1754. The firm or company 
styled themselves ** The Company of Mine Adventurers within the 
Honor of Clitheroe." The rent they undertook to pay for the 
privilege of mining was " One hundred weight of lead ore, feoose 
and smithum, copper, iron and tin, out of every eleven hundred 
weight, or one-eleventh part found and gotten within the liberties 
aforesaid." But it was also stipulated that the rent was to be paid 
in kind or in money as the same might be required by the lessors. 

The shares of the company were sixty in number, and each person 
held ten shares. Meetings of the company w6re held on the Monday 
in every month next the full moon, at the Roebuck Inn, at 
Rochdale, or such other place as might be appointed. Each 
proprietor had a vote for every share or sixtieth part, and there was 
no voting by proxy. The chairman was appointed at every 
meeting. Thomas Percival was the first treasurer, and without 
salary. George Crompton was appointed first clerk, at a salary of 
I OS." 6d. a week. The company commenced operations and 
prosecuted them vigorously for a time, and the evidences of their 
work may still be seen along the sides of the hiir ridges and in 
other parts of Rossendale, in the shape of " bloomeries," in which 
the ore found was smelted. 

I am not able to give a full statement of the pecuniary results of 
the enterprise, but I conclude that they were not successful, as the 
company was dissolved in 1762, eight years after it was formed. 
From memoranda in my possession I find a sum of ^3,413 was 
paid in calls on the shares. These were probably jQioo each, so 
that more than one-half the capital was paid. So far as I can 
ascertain, the value of the lead ore found amounted to only ;;^855. 
IX would appear, however, that, notwithstanding these unsatisfactory 
-results, faith in the enterprise was still strong, because a new 
company was organised in 1 766, but with what results I am unable 
to say. 



CHAPTER III. 

" God helps those that help themselves." — Old Maxim. 

"And we shall sit at endless feast, 
Enjoying each the others' good ; 
What vaster dream can hit the mood 
Of love on earth ?" — Tennyson. — "/« Memoriam" 

rilHE sentiments expressed in the mottoes which appear at the 
-■- head of the present chapter, are peculiarly appropriate in 
their application to the principles which are embodied in. the 
maxims and work of the co-operative classes in this country. 

The Co-operative movement is essentially an effort on the part 
of Labour to work out its own salvation. As such, it deserves, 
and will eventually command, the sympathy of all thoughtful minds. 
In the face of the perils with which its path is beset — all the 
greater because they arise more from within than from without — 
the wonder is, not that it occasionally fails of its object, but that it 
should have achieved so much substantial success. Rossendale 
has borne a conspicuous and honourable part in furthering this 
great movement ; and this counts for something in its history. 

About forty-seven years ago, a few earnest working men were 
accustomed to meet in the room over the old Co-operative Store, 
Rochdale Road, Bacup, for which they paid a rent of fifteen pence 
per week. Their primary object in assembling together was to 
improve themselves in the rudiments of education — reading, 
writing, and arithmetic ; and to discuss projects for the ameliora- 
tion of their condition in life. To these subjects they added, by 
way of recreation, a little vocal and instrumental music, which they 



Forest of Rossendale. 305 

practised on occasional evenings. Being men who were indepen- 
dent enough to think for themselves, they naturally took a strong 
interest in politics, and in consequence entered warmly into the 
exciting questions which agitated the minds of the people at that day. 
But while contributing their quota to the political life of the nation 
at the period to which I refer, they deemed it prudent at the same 
time to put forth a local and personal effort to improve their circum- 
stances. With wise instinct they laid hold of Co-operation. The 
fact that many of the articles of daily consumption in their families 
were grossly adulterated was known to each of them ; to provide a 
remedy for this, more than the prospect of direct pecuniary gain, 
prompted their first essay in Co-operation. The original society 
numbered fourteen persons, and each of these laid down sixpence, 
making seven shillings, the sum total of the first capital with which 
they ventured into the market. The number seven has always been 
esteemed lucky. This sum they spent in coffee, at the shop of a 
wholesale dealer at Todmorden, and shared it equally amongst 
them. They were pleased with the result of this their first 
transaction, for not only had they obtained an unadulterated 
article — they had purchased it at a cheaper rate than they other- 
wise could from a retail dealer. Here was an eloquent and 
practical argument in favour of their venture, which the most timid 
or querulous member amongst them was unable to gainsay. A 
grand vista was at once opened up to their mind's eye. To the 
more thoughtful of them the prospect would be almost over- 
powering, and they probably looked into the future with anxious 
forebodings. To stimulate them in their exertions they had, how- 
ever, the noble example of the Rochdale Pioneers before them, the 
success of whose enterprise, begun in 1844, was already making 
itself known. They steadily increased in number, and their capital 
grew in proportion. The range and value of their purchases 
extended. Tea, coffee, sugar, soap, and other articles of common 
domestic consumption were now purchased in quarter cwts. at 
once ; and the corn-mill carts were employed to convey the goods 
over the hill from Todmorden to Bacup. A neighbour who was 



3o6 History of the 

friendly to the movement lenthis scales to weigh out the goods, and 
the members carried their tea-caddies and coffee-canisters to the 
room, to save the trouble of wrapping the articles in paper. Their 
business continued steadily to grow. Many more were becoming 
alive to the advantages which the system offered to working men. 
The more careful and industrious amongst the operative classes 
flocked to the new Store. Still the business grew, and the upper 
room was found inconvenient, and quite unsuited to the carrying 
on of an extensive trade. A meeting of the members was called, 
and it was decided to take the entire building on a lease for twenty- 
one years. At first it was under consideration to let off the back 
part of the shop at fifteen pence per week, but more members 
continuing to come in, they abandoned their intention in this 
respect. In the course of a few years the premises were found to 
be too contracted for their trade, and had to be enlarged by the 
addition of a frontage to the shop ; and even growing beyond these 
bounds, the society resolved to build a Store of their own, — the 
present handsome and commodious building, to which they 
removed in 1863. 

Clreat were the difficulties which the early Co-operators in 

Roasendale had to encounter in introducing and carrying out their 

favourite theories. They were unpopular with the multitude. 

Stereotyped Ignorance shook its head and called them Chartists . 

Mid infidels, innovators and levellers. Their visionary projects, as 

It^y were at first considered to be, were scouted and laughed at ; 

Md^PMMny were the prophecies of speedy insolvency and disgrace. 

flvjid s)^ originally was open only in the evenings. This was a 

W^QS^^ ^ the shopmen, who were chosen to serve for three 

mpuljl^ ^ 9^ Ime^ were employed in other manual labour during 

4l|t<J|lK^ fl#y i^C^ived no remuneration for their time and work 

'^K^ ^9mf^ \^ th^ foce of the opposition which was displayed, 

flil^HllIK^'^ illti^a^fi^Hencet considerable diffidence was at first 

imfimf^^'^ mfk ^ the dUcharge of their duties ; and it was 

'^ Wi mmjfmmm WH NiHH them to draw cuts who should remove 

%i <t WW Ii|i t W iPW^1>»^ iiW l w i T OP opening in the evening. Their 



Forest of Rossendale. . 307 

awkward manner of wrapping up the articles was also watched, and 
formed the occasion of amusement to those who tried to load the 
movement with derision. But perseverance and a conscience void 
of offence will carry a man through many difficulties, and the 
Rossendale Co-operators still struggled on, till a success, greater 
than was anticipated, crowned their enterprise. 

It is to be expected that mistakes would at first occasionally 
be made, through inexperience, in " buying in." Some of these 
assumed a ludicrous aspect : one example will suffice. Two of the 
members were deputed to purchase a number of cheeses. They 
invested in fourteen. But on arrival they were found to be so 
hard as to need cutting up with a saw ; and where the instrument 
had passed through, they shone like a piece of glass or ivory» being 
nearly as difficult to masticate. These cost, sixpence per pound 
wholesale, and had to be retailed out at fourpence ; turning the 
penny, certainly, but not increasing the profit. 

The Share and Loan Capital of the Bacup Co-operative Store 
amounted in December 1892 to ^79,880; the number of 
members at the same period was 2813. They turned over their 
stock eight times during the year, and realised a profit of ^16,635, 
their working expenses being 7*9 per cent upon the returns. 

The Society possesses a news and reading-room, plentifully 
supplied with newspapers and journals; a circulating and 
reference library, containing in the whole 12,500 volumes; all free 
to members ; and a spacious assembly-room capable of seating 
1 200 persons. The business portion of the premises is ample and 
commodious. The whole buildings and fixtures belonging to the 
Society cost ;£28,273. It is free from debt, never having had any 
mortgage or encumbrance on it whatsoever. The Society has a 
Reserve-fund amounting to ^3,179. In connexion with the parent 
establishment are seven branches and a large central shoe and 
clog department 

Such is a brief outline of the rise and progress of the oldest 
Co-operative store in Rossendale. On the question of Co-operation 



3o8 . History of the 

in general, and by way of encouragement to the Co-operators of 
Rossendale in particular, let me make the remark, that the size and 
regularity of its dividends are not to be viewed as the measure of 
what it has achieved, and is capable of achieving ; though we shall 
not be so squeamish as to deny that this is the mainspring of the 
successful progress of the Co-operative movement : and it is right 
that it^should be so. The soul with the finest sensibilities is still 
wedded to the clay of our common humanity, and that same clay 
must eat if it would continue to live. The fine sensibilities will 
avail it nothing in this life if it gives not heed to the bread which 
perisheth. It is sheer sentimentalism to pretend to deplore that 
the movement is altogether selfish, and that the dividend is the 
keystone of the whole system. This is about as wise as to make 
show of despising the poet for being so vulgar as to eat his dinner. 
Even the wheels of State would drag heavily were it not for the 
ample contributions of the people. Gold is a wonderful lubricator ! 
and life at the best would be but a series of jerky movements with- 
out it. But besides the all-powerful dividend which it secures for 
its members. Co-operation has given a direction to*the thoughts 
and actions of thousands who had either thought and acted at 
random, or had not previously thought at all. It has been a grand 
teacher of political and social economy to thousands more. The 
cloud by day, the pillar of fire by night, to guide many a poor child 
of bondage from the Egypt of debt, with all its hard task-masters, 
to the promised land of independence and self-reliance. Many an 
unthrifty parent — unthrifty, not so much from inclination or choice 
as from lack of purjxjse, has been led by its agency to become a 
careful and thoughtful provider. But it will accomplish more even 
than this. Co-operation is a fulcrum on which to rest the lever 
that will move the State. A quiet argument for the moral and 
intdlectiial fitness of the people to exercise their just political 
rig^ which will certainly prevail ; 



II 



Nought can make it rue, 

If Labour to itself prove true." 



Forest of Rossendale. 309 

The following Table of Industrial and Provident Societies in 
Rossendale is compiled partly from Returns furnished to Govern- 
ment, and, where these were not supplied, from the managers of 
the Stores themselves: — 



1 


1 


WtButmp 


^S"~ .".-..".-.. 


R 


JO J oiU'JtlV 


■<i| :":S ::""::: : 


8 


■J «d PUJ 
ofUMy 


^ n^?10^^H10^«0 -"-h 




1 


Pllfi 


-pin^aipii 


° 
3 


1 s 


H 


lift 


^|?gfl.« IP SSI's 


1 


1 ^ 


||ll! 


-IlilPlllltfl 


1 


il 


< 


ilii 


-|E?|r-5lli^P 


1 


1^ 


m 


^IJSKSSJ^JfSS.g 




11 


m 




llll-it 


g 


1^ 


slil^P 


1 


3 


m 


^P«*^TO.sS-.« 


1 




m 


.H^j,l||«-:fs: 


1 


i .e 


111! 


-1111111111111 


1 


ii 


i 


JO pill 


pMIHf«5Ma 


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.! ■ ■ : 

1 ji ■ 

11: 


|l i i 

Hi; 

U.S : ; 


ill 


1 



Forest of Rossendah. 



311 



From the foregoing Table, which deserves a careful perusal, we 
learn that the total members in the different stores in Rossendale 
amounted in December iSga, to 9264. These figures may be. 
taken to represent a population of from 30,000 to 35,000 as being 
directly and indirectly connected with the Societies. 

The Rawtenstall Society, like the one at Bacup, has a well- 
fumished Library and Newsroom for the use of, and free to, 
members. 




CHAPTER IV. 

•' The flesh will quiver where the pincers tear !" 

—Young.—" The Revenge" 

" Hungry ruin had me in the wind." 

"There's stakes an' watch-bills, just loik poikes. 
'Ot Hunt an' aw th' reformink toikes, 
An' thee an' me, an' Sam o' Moiks, 
Once took a blanketeerink." 

— "Songs op the Wilsons." 

rilHE 23rd and three subsequent days of April, 1826, are marked 
-■- with a red letter in the annals of Popular Outbreaks. On the 
26th of the month an angry crowd of rioters advanced through the 
Rossendale valley towards Bacup, marshalled by ringleaders 
bearing in their hands, and over their shoulders, such formidable 
instruments as pikes, axes, cleavers, and huge fore-hammers. 
Their followers were a motley crowd of dirty, hungry-looking men 
and youths, and a sprinkling of bareheaded, unkempt women ; the 
latter by far the most noisy and demonstrative of the crowd. The 
men indeed scarcely exchanged a word as they proceeded on their 
unlawful mission, but a strange mixture of fear, revenge, and 
defiance was visible upon their countenances. These were the 
Power-Loom Breakers of April 1826. 

Property is a sacred and weighty word in Lancashire — nowhere 
ipore sacred and weighty than in Rossendale, and its possession 
coants for a good deal. It is a serious thing to damage or destroy 
pcoperty. Those who purpose undertaking its destruction should 
«t down and count the cost before beginning. If their 



Forest of Rossendale. 313 

countenances were a true index of their feelings, the Power-Loom 
Breakers of the 26th of April 1826 had counted the cost of their 
undertaking. Riots had broken out in different parts of East 
Lancashire in the same week, not exactly by preconcerted 
arrangement, though the simultaneous risings might justify such an 
opinion. The feeling of opposition to the power-driven machinery 
had become so strong and general throughout the manufacturing 
districts, that, like a match applied to a train of gunpowder, the 
first outbreak lighted up a wide-spread conflagration. Detachments 
of the mob were found at Blackburn, Accrington, Helmshore, 
Ramsbottom, Summerseat, Chatterton, Rossendale and elsewhere; 
and each, so far as they were able, pursued their work of destruc- 
tion. Upwards of xooo Power-Looms, woollen and cotton, and a 
quantity of Dressing and other machines were destroyed before 
the several crowds of rioters were dispersed. 

The Rossendale valley, from Edenfield to the source of the river 
Irwell, suffered greatly from the violence of the incensed multitude; 
from three hundred and fifty to four hundred looms (considered a 
large number sixty years ago) were broken to pieces in this district 
alone. At Helmshore the rioters came in collision with the 
military; and near to the mill of Messrs. Aitken and Lord, 
Chatterton, the Looms in which had been totally destroyed, the 
soldiers, who arrived too late to save the property, fired Mpon the 
mob, killing five men and one woman. 

In Rossendale nothing occurred to check their progress. Our 
present system of Police surveillance throughout the country was 
then but in its infancy, and had not been introduced into 
Rossendale. The Constables of the Forest, "Jim Blacksmith," 
"BiU i'th Loin," "Long Sam," "Long George," and their 
ungainly compeers, were powerless to prevent the mischief, and 
with the instinctive sagacity of the " Watch," wisely kept aloof 
from the scenes of outrage and spoliation. The mob had free 
course through the entire district, and thoroughly they performed 
the work they had undertaken to do. "Tackle-ti-mash" (the 
nickname of one of the leaders of the Rossendale mob) and his 



314 History of the 

brethren in anns, were all-powerfiil for tbe time beii^ and earned 
the day. After leaving Edenfield, where they demolished one 
hundred looms, the crowd visited RawtenstalL Here the mills of 
the Messrs. Whitehead and Mr. Eay were the objects of their 
vengeance, and they destroyed about one himdred and twenty more; 
Gradually augmenting in numbers and strength, the lioleis 
proceeded up the valley. At Holt-holme Mill they left the marks 
of their presence. After passing the Thrutch, the turnpike rood 
through which was then in course of formation, they halted at the 
mill of the Messrs. Ormerod, WaterbariL Here the ringleaders 
entered, while their followers kept guard outside. "An eye-witness 
states that they first cut out the Warps, and destroyed the Reeds 
and Healds, and then with a few well-aimed blows they demolished 
the Looms. Tunstead Mill contained a number of the obnoxious 
machines, and these next fell a prey to the vengeance of the 
destroyers. Irwell Mill, Bacup, at that time occupied by Mr. 
Holden, was the next on the route, and was visited by the mob 
with similar results. From thence the crowd made their way to 
the mill of Messrs. R. and J. Munn at Irwell Springs, where, 
having repeated their work of havoc, they brought the day's 
proceedings to a termination. It is easier to break down than to 
set up, to overthrow than to restore, and the labour of many weeks 
was thus destroyed in a few hours. 

The women, as has already been hinted, were not unmoved 
spectators of these lawless proceedings. It is well known that 
some of them, forgetting the decorum of their sex, took actual part 
in, and afterwards prided themselves on having materially assisted 
at the demolition. So enthusiastic in the fray was a certain 
misguided female, that on the approach of the mob to one of the 
factories named, she ascended the belfry, and rang out a welcome 
to the rioters. 

The strong arm of the law eventually asserted its might, and 
such of the perpetrators of the outrages as were arrested, suffered 
fines, imprisonment, or transportation, according to the magnitude 
of their offences. Others of them contrived to elude the grasp of 



Forest of Rossendale. 315 

the authorities by retiring for a time to obscure hiding-places 
amongst the hills and surrounding moorlands, where they were 
supplied with the necessaries of life by friends cognizant of their 
hiding-places, (a) 

(a) The following are the names o£ those belonging to Rossendale and the 
immediate vicinity charged with being concerned in the Riots: — 

From Musbury. — ^James Sborrock| Mary Hindle, and Thomas Emmet, 
found guilty. 

From Lower Booths. — ^Thomas Ashworth, found guUiy, Agunst Alice and 
Peggy Lord there was no bill. 

From Haslingden. — Alexander Norris, John Orrell, Margaret Yates, Mary 
Marsden, and Ann Entwistle, found guilty, Betty Haworth, William Taylor 
and William Almond, acquitted. 

From Dearden-Clough. — Anthony Harrison, acquitted. 

From Tottington Higher End. — Aaron Gregson, acquitted. 

In the encounter between the Military and Rioters at Chatterton, the 
following persons were either killed on the spot, or died shortly afterwards: — 

Richard Lund, by trade a blacksmith, but who kept a small shop at 
Haslingden ; shot through the belly. 

James Rothwell, a weaver at Haslingden ; through the breast. 

James Ashworth, a weaver at Haslingden ; through the body. 

James Lord, a fulling-miller at Newchurch ; through the body and head. 

James Whatacre, dresser for Messrs. Rostrons* power-looms ; through the 
body. 

Mary Simpson, the wife of Simpson, a weaver at Haslingden; through 

the left thigh. 

Three of these left families ; and one of them — Whatacre — was not engaged 
in the riot, but unfortunately had got amongst the mob. The female, it is 
supposed, had bled to death for want of assistance. Of the number wounded 
nothing certain could be ascertained, as they were carried away by their 
friends. 

Judgment of death was recorded against the rioters to the number of 
forty-two, including seven females. The jury, however, having recommended 
them to mercy, the capital sentence was not carried into eifect. 

The following is from the Liverpool Mercury of September ist, 1826 :— 

Proceedings against the County. — The actions brought against the 
different Hundreds of the County, to recover compensation for the damages 
sustained by breaking power looms, during the disturbances in the month of 
April last, were twenty-three in number, two of which — namely, one by 
Messrs. W^almesleys of Oswaldtwistle, and one by David Ashworth, of 



3i6 



History of the 



The conduct of the rioters was reprehensible, but it would be 
invidious and unfair to attribute the entire blame of these reckless 
and unjustifiable measures to the ignorant multitude who were the 
immediate instruments of such wanton destruction. 



Newchurch — were not commenced in time for these Assizes, and consequently 
stand over to the next. Of the remaining twenty-four actions, the great 
majority were undefended, and verdicts were taken by consent, in the Sheriffs 
Court, for sums fixed on by a comparison of the valuations made by the 
claimants with those made under the directions of the magistrates. Three 
or four actions were, however, defended ; but in each a verdict was obtained 
for the plaintiffs. The following is a summary of the different amounts 
recovered: — 

AGAINST THE HUNDRED OP BLACKBURN. 

No. of Looms. 



Messrs. Sykes, Accrington, . . 

Mr. Marquis, do. 

Mr. ]as. Bury, do. 

Messrs. Eccles, Blackburn, . • 

Mr. John Haughton, do. 

Mr. Jas. Garsden, Darwen, . . 

Messrs. Cars, Darwen, 

Messrs. Turner, Musbury, 

Messrs. Whitehead, Lower Booths, 

Mr. Kay. Coupe Lench, 

Messrs. Ormerod, Newchurch, 

Messrs. Hargreaves & Co., Newchurch, 

Messrs. Munn, Newchurch, . . 



60 
4 

94 
212 

25 

36 

16 

106 

96 
20 
20 
28 



£ s. 

1039 17 

44 13 
1889 o 



d. 
6 

9 
o 



3178 IS 10 

284 II 9 

413 8 2 

196 13 o 

1651 3 8 

1049 6 I 

273 16 6 

363 1 II 

348 9 2 

860 19 7 



AGAINST THE HUNDRED OP SALPORD. 

Messrs. Rostron, Tottington Higher End, 

Messrs. Aitken and Lord, do. 

Messrs. Hamer and Sons, Elton, 

Mr. Hutchinson, Bury, 

Mr. John Clegg, Crompton, . . . • 

Mr. Hugh Beavers, Manchester, no Looms 



768 


;£i 1,593 16 


II 


VLPORI 
58 


). 

jgiSoo 





46 


568 





38 


253 7 





49 


244 12 





28 


418 I 


6 




1474 





219 


;fi4458 


6 



Forest of Rossendale. 317 

The period under review was a sad one for the working classes. 
A lengthened season of commercial distrust had succeeded the 
previous years of prosperous, though speculative, and therefore, in 
a measure, unsound trade. The general want of confidence had 
caused a run on the Banks, and in the provinces no fewer than 
fifty-eight had succumbed to the pressure of the times. Each day 
brought news of the failure of large mercantile and manufacturing 
firms of long standing. Low wages, diminished employment, and 
in many districts entire cessation of labour, were the consequences 
of the universal want of confidence which prevailed. 

But this was not all. Our Legislators, unwise in their day and 
generation, by their restrictive imposts on food and merchandise, 
contributed more than all the other causes put together to cripple 
commerce and manufactures, and to bring about the all but 
universal national distress, most severely felt in the manufacturing 
districts, and the consequent disaffected condition of the Lan- 
cashire operatives. With Legislators ignorant, as a body, of the 
first principles of Political Economy, how could it reasonably be 
expected that the untutored worker should be alive to the evils 
which pressed like a hideous nightmare upon the industry of the 
country ! If men professedly bom to hold the reins of Government, 
and shape the destinies of the state, could be found sixteen years 
later (in 1842) to condemn the increase of machinery, (^) is it 
matter for surprise that the operatives of 1826 should have 
entertained mistaken views on the self-same question ? 

AGAINST THE HUNDRED OP LBYLAND. 

No. of Looms. £ s. d. 
Mr. Sudell, Chorley, . . .. .. 100 £^Z o o 

The total sum recovered is ;£ 16,534 17s. 5d., and the costs of the several 
actions will amount to about ;( 3000 in addition. In the two actions yet to be 
tried, the damages are estimated at ^^253 gs. 6d.— the total cost to the 
County amounting to nearly ;( 20,000. 

(6) A distinguished member of the Government in 1842 informed a depttta- 
tion that waited on him from the manufacturing districts, that the whole of 
the distress arose from the increase of machinery. 



3i8 History of the 

The excesses which people commit are often in their results 
found to recoil upon themselves. The largest share of the 
burdened county rates, out of which the manufacturers were 
compensated for the losses they had sustained, had necessarily to 
be contributed by the very class which the rioters hoped to benefit. 
But let us not be too severe in our judgment ; destitution and 
hunger, when they speak from the tearful eyes of wives and 
children, are unscrupulous monitors, and strike home too deeply to 
admit of the exercise of calm reasoning, (c) 

But it was not the operatives alone in Rossendale who viewed 
with such dread apprehension the advent of the steam-loom. At 
this day it will scarcely be credited that the merchants and woollen 
manufacturers of the Forest of Rossendale should have bitterly 
opposed the introduction of the obnoxious machines into the 
district ; yet such is the fact. At a numerously attended meeting 
of the merchants and woollen manufacturers of the Forest of 



(0 A write 
just remarks: 
liiBlory of thi 
introdui 



mof 



commenting upon popular outhteaks, makes the following 
" It was at the period when one of those feverish crises in the 
cotton manufacture threatened a servile war ogainst the 
some remarkable improvements in machinery, which appeared 



likely to displace hand-hliour to a great extent. Neither experience nor 
political insight had yet taught workmen the truth, thst England was by 
these means about to make the penccful conquest of the commerce of the 
world, by clothing a large part of its varied peoples in almost everything but 
articles of luxury. The starving spinner and weaver in the lone cottages and 
homesteads on the edges o[ wild moors and ancient forests, or in the straggling 
villages of the rugged valleys, couM not be expected lo discern the plenty to 
be lavishly strewn by the new spinning- jenny, which deprived the family of 
work at the spinning-wheel, or, at a later time, by the iron steam-toom, which 
silenced the twelve hours' jingle and rattle of the cottage hand-loom. Any 
such inventions seemed a devilish triclt to rob the poor of bread; to drive 
them from the comparative liberty of their lives in rural scenes to the close 
alleys of the towns, and the hot atmosphere of the factory, in which they were 
under a discipline more exact than that of the soldier, and more regular and 
engrossing than that of any other form of labour. Starvation for a large part 
of the people, and a lot worse than slavery for the rest, seemed a fate to 
resist which a few Uvea would not be thrown away," — " Scarsdale," vol. I,, pp. 
38, 119. 



Forest of Rossendale. 319 

Rossendale, and places adjacent, held at the house of Mr. George 
Ormerod, the Black Dog Inn, Newchurch, on Thursday, the 7th 
November, 1822, the following Resolutions were adopted : — 

" Resolved— ThdX it appears to this meeting that the invention of 
Power-Looms for weaving by the aid of steam or water, is 
calculated to transfer manual labour from the cottages of the poor, 
and to leave them destitute of employment, by substituting the use 
of machinery ; as unnecessary as it is uncalled for. 

^^Resolved-^ThaX this meeting cannot but deplore the evil conse- 
quences that must result to a very numerous and industrious 
population, throughout the manufacturing districts, if some method 
be not speedily adopted to restrict the use of such machinery. 

^^ Resolved — That as well-wishers to society, and to the general 
prosperity of trade and manufactures, we cannot contemplate the 
increase of unnecessary machinery (which is calculated to rob the 
poor of their domestic employment, and thereby endanger the 
peace of the country) without painful apprehensions ; and whilst 
we admit the benefits of machinery to a certain degree, we are 
aware that it may be multiplied to a most ruinous and mischievous 
extent. 

** Resolved— That this meeting strongly recommends some 
legislative enactment for the protection of manual labour ; and is 
of opinion, that an assessment upon Power-Looms for the relief of 
the poor, annually made in every parish where they are used, 
would be the most fair and equitable ; such an assessment to be 
laid by a majority of lay-payers in vestry assembled, estimated and 
proportioned according to the extra profit derived from the use of 
Power-Looms, over that of weaving by manual labour. • 

" Resolved — T4iat, for the purpose of carrying these resolutions 
into effect, a committee be appointed of all the gentlemen present, 
five of whom may be competent to act. 

^^ Resolved— 'TYiBi these resolutions be published in the Man- 
Chester Chronicle^ the British Volunteer^ the Leeds Intelligenar^ 
the Blackburn Mail^ the London Courier^ and the St, fatness 
Chronicled 



320 



History of the 



To snch a lame and impotent conclusion did Uie collected wis- 
dom of this important local assembly arrive in the year of grace 
1822, That the invention of the Power-Loom was calculated to 
transfer manual liibour from the cottages o( the poor was a correct 
judgmentof the meeting, as subsequent events have clearly testified ; 
but that its tendency was to leave them destitute of employment is 
an opinion which has been just as clearly refuted by the march of 
events. This very transfer of manual labour which the Capitalists 
of Rossendale deprecated so strongly, is one of the chief advan- 
tages which, by the introduction of the Power-driven Machinery, 
has accrued to the operative classes. Whether viewed from a 
moral, a social, a sanitary, or a pecuniary point of view, the benefits 
are so obvious as to preclude the necessity of argument in its 
favour. Idleness and dissipation during one portion of the week, 
and incessant toil approaching to slavery during the remaining 
portion, were the usual and almost inevitable concomitants of the 
domestic labour system. 

The views of the Rossendale manufacturers were, by means of 
the press, widely promulgated throughout the country. While 
awarding to the ignorant rioters of 1826 their proportion of blame 
for the lawless proceedings which entailed so much destruction of 
life and property, let us not foi^et to ask ourselves how much of 
their folly was due to the teaching of those who, from their position, 
might have been expected to discern more clearly the signs of the 
times. 

Among the remedies suggested, is the old one of Protection, in 
opposition to Free Trade. The desire to stifle progress and 
improvement with the burden of taxation is a doctrine, now happily 
effete, which at one time found favour in the eyes of many of our 
countrymen. Let us suppose for a moment that the recommenda- 
tion of the meeting had been carried out, and that the Hand- 
Loom had been bolstered and " protected " so that it might have 
continued successfully to connpete with its more efficient rival ; 
have we any guarantee that the foreign manufacturer would have 
taken the same narrow view of what was best for his interests ? Is 



Forest of Rossendale. 321 

it not more reasonable to believe that the inventive genius of 
Britain would have sought scope for its development in situations 
more favourable to its growth? The cost of production would 
necessarily have been such as to debar our goods from every 
foreign market. And what then about robbing the poor of their 
domestic employment, thereby endangering the peace of the 
country ? The whole thing is so preposterous that it would be a 
waste of words to discuss the propositions, were it not that by scru* 
tinising the errors of our fore&thers, we may gather some lessons 
of wisdom that will prevent our falling into the same quagmire of 
folly, and lead us rather to pursue that more enlightened and 
liberal policy which has contributed so largely to the advancement 
and prosperity of our cotmtry. 

In 1820-1 Power-Looms began to be introduced into the district, 
and in the following year the meeting referred to was held to pro- 
test against their use, as being calculated to injure, and eventually 
to destroy, the system of domestic employment. The writer of a 
Pamphlet, dated 1823, reviewing an article which had appeared in 
the Manchester Guardian criticising and ridiculing the views of 
the manu&cturers expressed at the meeting in question, strongly 
reprobates the conduct of those who, in the pamphleteer's opinion, 
were unpatriotic enough to countenance the use of the Power- 
Loom. His remarks, perused by the light of the present 
unexampled extension of the cotton trade, and the vast sums of 
money, in the shape of wages, which it distributes amongst the 
operatives, are amusing enough. In one place the writer, who 
styles himself "A Friend to the Poor," remarks ; — " It is impossible, 
humanly speaking, to find any adequate employment proportionate 
to the hand-loom. Whether machinery can be multiplied to an 
extent beyond its demand, will be proved if power-looms become 
general, and the experiment may perhaps be made when it is too 
late to recall it." And again — **It remains, therefore, to be 
proved who are the best benefactors to their coimtry — ^they who, 
from motives of avarice and self-interest, encourage the use of 
power-looms, regardless whether the poor be employed or not ; or 






322 



History of the 



they who from motives of benevolence endeavour to promote their 
domestic employment, and consequently their moral happiness and 
comfort. Notwithstanding the many self-interested individuals 
who advocate the use of power-looms, (and I am well aware thai 
wherever self-interest and undue prejudice prevail, all just 
reasoning loses its effect,) the time may not be far distant when the 
subject must be brought to a fair trial. The argument resolves 
itself into a narrow compass. Power-looms will produce cheaper 
goods than hand labour ; if so, those who employ them have a 
decided advant^e over those who do not; therefore, they must 
either become general, or a tax must be imposed upon them lo 
make the wages equal to that of hand labour. If ]>ower-!ooms be 
generally introduced, what is the substitute for hand labour, to 
support the groat number of people who will thereby be deprived 
of employment ? These questions must be answered unequivo- 
cally, and until ihey be so practically, the peace of the country may 
be endangered, and a lawless rabble will make it a pretext for 
committing all the mischief in their power." 

Further on the writer says : — "After all that has been, or can be 
■Aid upon the subject, speculative individuals will pursue their own 
interest ; but that ought not to be suffered without restrictions, 
where, as in this case, the daily bread of millions is at stake. It is 
ImiKiiDiblc to view the subject disinterestedly, without the most 
IKtlnful apprehensions, whether as it involves domestic employment, 
the iwnce of families, the removal of our manufactures, or the 
depopulation of the country. All these, and many more calamities 
tttAt might bo mentioned, are connected with it." And by way of 
cIlniaK lio Addi, — " The employment of the labouring poor ought 
ht lx< una of the tint objects, either in a pohtical or moral point of 
viMw— «* It regntUs the prosperity of the country, or the welfare of 
•i«iely, 'I'll uwful mechanical improvements, having a tendency 
In )itunU)t< lh9»e end«, no well-wisher to society can have any 
|Htultil« oltjMtioti : and ihoso i^rsons who encourage speculative 
||i«tn Itutl Win deprive the poor of their bread, let them answer for it. 
'Vh»«» HwlwHii'ol inventions which are calculated to lake from the 



Forest of Rossendale. 323 

labouring classes their employment, should never be permitted 
amongst such a numerous population as we have, and no invention 
in^machinery, I conceive, has a greater tendency to do so than 
Power-Looms." Comment is unnecessary. 

In the minds of many of the operatives the prejudices against 
the power-loom were as strong as amongst the more short-sighted 
employers of labour ; and these prejudices, stimulated by a season 
of bad trade, led to the unjustifiable riots already described. So 
tenaciously did many of the weavers cling to the old hand-loom, 
that in order to compete with the more productive rival, the 
" dandy loom " was introduced. This invention consisted of an 
adaptation of two looms in such a way as to admit of their being 
worked simultaneously by one person. The weaver sat betwixt 
the two, and by an ingenious arrangement gave motion to both. 

A still further combination was attempted with success by 
John Hargreaves, a weaver, residing at Trice Bam, Dean, who, 
by an application of cords, pulleys, and levers, contrived to put 
four hand-looms in motion, thus weaving four distinct pieces of 
calico at one and the same time. These the inventor continued 
to work for several years, and only abandoned their use when his 
employers ceased to " put out " the warp and weft. 

The Luddite outbreaks of 181 2, and the Plug Riots of 1842, in 
both of which Eossendale participated and suffered to some extent, 
are examples of popular delusions similar in their manifestations to 
the Power-Loom Riots of 1826, though differing from the latter in 
the objects intended to be accomplished. The former, whilst 
aiming at the destruction of machinery, partook more largely of the 
political element. Both were ill-advised attempts on the part of 
the distressed operatives to take the law into their own hands, and 
both were consequent on a lengthened season of dull trade, low 
wages and dear food. 

The Luddites were so designated after Ned Ludd, a man 
reputed as an idiot, who in 1782 had broken two stocking-frames 



■s;. 



324 History of the 

at Nottingham. The name afterwards came to be applied to 
breakers of machinery in general. It is to these that allusion is 
made in the lines— 

" As the Liberty lads over the sea 

Bought their freedom, and cheaply, with blood, 
So we, boys, we 
Will die fighting or live free, 
And down with all kings but King Ludd." 

In every town and village such means as were at the command 
of the authorities were employed to quell the disturbances. In the 
Book of the Greave of Rossendale Forest for this year we find 
entries relating to numbering the rate-payers, and summoning them 
to attend under the " Watch and Ward Act." Special constables 
were attested and sworn, and a register of Expenses on account of 
the Militia also appears. The riots soon assumed the magnitude 
of an armed insurrection. Bands of hair-brained enthusiasts in 
Lancashire, Yorkshire, and Cheshire assembled, and determined 
to march up to London and remodel the Constitution. They 
would 

" Beard the Lion in his den," 

and having ejected him by force, like the " Liberty lads over the 

sea," (rf) would commence government on their own account. 

With this object in view, they armed themselves with pikes, scythe 

blades stuck on the end of poles, and other rude implements of 

warfare. With these and a few other necessaries, including each a 

blanket for protection from the weather when bivouacking on the 

way, ihey commenced their mad enterprise. Their campaign, 

however soon came to a disastrous termination, and the leaders, to 

the number of twenty-four, having been seized, were tried, and 

cfterwards executed— eight at Lancaster and sixteen at York. 

Tbe Fine RkAs of August 1842 did not assume the proportions 

M^ioiuly described. Bands of men entered the mills 

in tlie War of Independence. 



Forest of Rossendale. 325 

which were ninning, and stopped the machinery by knocking out 
the boiler plugs, thus allowing the water and steam to escape. The 
object of the rioters was to provoke a general uprising of the 
operatives, for the purpose of compelling the Government to yield 
by force what they seemed unwilling to concede to milder 
measures. It was "an attempt on the part of the Chartists to stop 
all work until the Legislature should concede the doctrine of 
universal suffrage in the election of the House of Commons." {e) 

This was a period of dire and appalling distress, and as usual 
the cotton manufacturing districts suffered most severely. The 
correspondent to the Liverpool Mercury^ speaking of this neigh- 
bourhood and places adjacent, writes : 

" This part of the country is in a deplorable state, for hundreds 
and thousands have neither work nor meat. They are daily 
begging in the streets of Haslingden, twenty or thirty together, 
crying for bread. Meetings are held every Sunday on the neigh- 
bouring hills, attended by thousands of poor, hungry, haggard 
people, wishing for any change, even though it should be death. On 
Sunday last a meeting' was held on the hills near Accrington, and 
tlie persons present, it is said, covered an area of 4420 square 
yards of ground. They stood very near together in order to hear 
the speakers, who were stationed in a waggon in the centre of the 
ground, so that calculating six to the square yard, there must have 
been 26,000 persons present The speakers, ten in number, were 
very violent, advising their hearers never to petition Parliament 
again, but to be determined to have a redress of grievances 
immediately. Resolutions to that effect were put to the meeting 
and carried unanimously. The people say they are determined to 
have their just rights, or die in the attempt, and say they will 
neither support delegates nor conventions, for present relief they 
want, and present relief they will have before another winter makes 
its appearance. They say they might as well die by the sword as 
by hunger." 

(e) " Lancashire and the Cotton Faniine," by Dr. Watts, p. 32. 



326 History of the 

One very gratifying exception to the prevailing distress of the 
time is mentioned in the following extract from a review of Dr. 
Taylor's "Notes of a Tour in the Manufacturing Districts of 
Lancashire in 1842." (/I) 

"At the village of Rawtenstall, in the Forest of Rossendale, the 
tourist on a morning witnessed the Factory System under the 
fairest auspices, in the large establishment of the Messrs. White- 
head, where all was harmony and happiness. Here were to be 
seen comfortable and ample houses, clean and well-furnished ; neat, 
healthy, and intelligent children ; a school, well attended and on 
the best foundation ; a handsome chapel ; teetotalism in many 
cases ; and money in the Savings Bank. He found the villagers 
healthy, happy, and contented. The operatives one and all 
declared that their only anxiety was, lest the progress of distress 
should reach the establishment of Holly-mount, and deprive them 
of the employment they possessed, and the comforts they produced." 
Unfortunately the distress did eventually extend to Rawtenstall, 
but the latter did not at this period suffer to the extent of other 
districts in the immediate vicinity. 

There can be no question that "protection" was again at the 
root of the wide-spread misery and depression. The Com Laws 
bore heavily on the poorer classes. Flour had risen to an enor- 
mous price ; the produce of foreign countries being held in bond 
by the ruinous rates imposed upon its importation. Our great 
champions of Free Trade, Cobden and Bright, and a host of 
lesser stars in the political firmament — not forgetting Ebenezer 
Elliott, the Laureate of the people — were in the midst of their 
repeal agitation. But certain of our Legislators, as usual blind to 
the real evils that afflicted the nation, endeavoured to mitigate the 
distress by resorting to every proposed remedial measure but the 
true one. Emigration and colonisation found favour with many 
who were called statesmen, but who either were unable to perceive, 
or were indifferent to the fact that the only effect of these, on an 

(/) In Ta\V% Magaxinef September, 184a. 



Forest of Rossendale. 327 

extensive scale, would be to rob the country of the flower of its 
population of both sexes, leaving behind the aged, the infirm, and 
the lazy, to be a still greater burden on labour at home. 

Time, with healing on its wings, gradually brought relief to the 
sufferers; and a few years later (in 1846) the Corn Laws, which 
had been the cause of unspeakable evils for a space of thirty years, 
were swept away. 

Such is the story of the changes, the vicissitudes, and the 
progress of the Forest of Rossendale ; and on a review of all the 
facts, we must be ready to commend the foresight of those who 
nearly four hundred years ago, entertained the belief, that, " If the 
Deer were taken out of and from the said Forest, that then the 
same was likely to come and be brought and applied to some good 
purpose, so as that the commonwealth might be increased thereby." 




APPENDIX 



MUSTER OF SOLDIEBS IN LANCASHIRE— I. MART. 

In a curiously written manuscript, quoted in Gregson's 
Fragments of Lancashire^ part i., p. i8, et seq.^ is given 
an account of the Muster of Soldiers in the County Palatine of 
Lancaster in I. Mary, 1553, from which it appears that 
" Rossendall Forrest " furnished thirty-six men, and " Pendle 
Forrest," thirty-six. Each being more than double the number of 
men raised by any town within the Hundred. 



In the list of the Nomina Liheri Tenentes in Lancastriae 
Comitatu, i8th James I., a.d. 1621, the following belonging to the 
Forest of Rossendale appear : — 



Ra. Haworth de Husberrie. 
Geof . Taylor de eadexn. 
Law. Taylor de eadem. 
Joh. Tattersall de Tunstead. 
Job. Pillage (? Pilling) de eadem. 



Job. Lord de Bacop. 
Ja. Wbitacre de Broadcloagb. 
Geo. Hargreayes de Goodahaw. 
Job. Ormerod de Gamleyside. 



COPYHOLDERS IN ROSSENDALE DURING THE REIGN 

OP JAMES I. 

The assessment of the mean rates of the Copyholders of the 
Forest of Rossendale towards the Composition Contribution for 
their estates by authority from the Commissioners, rated and 



Forest of Rossendale. 



329 



assessed by Robert Holden of Holden, Esqre, during the reign of 
James I. The list is contained in a MS Vol. of the period, in 
the possession of Mr. W. Waddington, of Burnley. (See Ante 
page 84.) 



DONKOOKBHAW. 

£ 6. d. 

Bichard Townley, Esqre. . . 1 18 

John Townley, Gentleman.. 118 

Henheads 10 



£2 4 2 



GUCBLBBIDB. 

John Birfcwisle.. ••••••.. .. 114 

Oliyer Orznerod 1 6 8 

JohnOrmezod 1 12 

£4 



LoTB Cloxjoh. 

John Holt, and George, his 

son 1 6 3 

Richard He/ 6 8 

Wm. Birtwisle, and Richard, 

his son 16 8 

George Dearden 1 3 9 

Peter Hej 8 4 

Richard Iaw 5 

Henry Ramsbottom, and 

reter, his son 6 8 

E. Ghadwick, in right of his 

wife 6 8 

Henheads 1 9 

£5 19 



G00D8HAW. 

George Hargreaves 1 19 11 

G«org^ Birtwisle, and Rich- 

wi, his son 1 6 8 

JohnNuttaU, of Deadwen- 

dough 6 8 

Alec Haworth 13 4 

George Haworfh, of Craw- 

£awbooth 13 4 

Richard Hey 6 8 

Henheads 1 9 

£5 8 4 



Gbowshawbooth. 

£ 8. d. 

George Haworth 2 3 4 

Dennys Haworth ,2 1 8 

James Haworth 1 10 

Hugh Haworth, and John, 

his son 1 10 

OKver Ormerod 10 

HughHalstead 6 

Francis Nuttall 0*10 

Richard Dearden 3 4 

John Haworth de Constable 6 8 

Henheads 1 11 

£9 1 11 



GOKSTABLAT. 

John Haworth 12 6 

John Ashworth 48 9 

Edmund Ingham 12 6 

Edward Rawstom, of New- 
hall 12 6 

Demiys Haworth 12* 6 

George Haworth ,,,.^ 1 5 

Thomas Holt 6 3 

Henheads 110 

£5 J 10 

ROWTONSTALB. 

Edward Rawsthome, de 

NewhaU 17 1 

James Lord • 4 7 

Thomas Oranshawe ,0 4 7 

Richard Ormerod 0-6 2 

PeterHey...., 1 

Richard Heape 6 2 

Robert Hey, and Jolm, his 

son 6 2 

John Nuttall, of Dedwen- 

douffh 4 10 

Henry Nuttall 6 2 

John Piocop ,, 9 8 

Henheads • 1 

£3 15 10 



330 



History of the 



DBDWSNCL0X7OH. 

£ 8. d. 

Francis Brifirg ^ 3 ^ 

JohnKuttall,ofKewhallhey 16 9 

Alexander Ha worth 1 3 6 

Wm. Heaton de Clough ..169 

Thomas Growshaw 11 10 

James Tattersall 17 10 

John Nuttall de Clough, for 
Lands chargoablo to the 
Minister of the New- 
church in Bossendale.. 13 6 

John Eamsbottom 3 4 

Adam Bridge 18 

Bobert Broughton 9 11 

Robert Rowe 6 

John Bradley^ 5 

James Birtwistle Oil 8 

John Dearden, of Wolf enden t 6 

Wm. Heaton deBule Eye.. 3 4 

Henheada 1 9 



Baoop. 



£10 14 4 



WoLPBNDKC Booth. 

Edward Rawsthome, of 

Newhall 

Edward Rawsthome, of Lum 1 

James Walton 

James Wolf enden 

Edward Taylor 

James Ashworth, jonr 

James Ashworth, senr 

John Ormerod 

John Ashworth 

Robert Ashworth , 

William Taylor 

OUrer Ashworth 

Richard Ormerod 

John Scholefield 

John Ashworth 

Henheada 



6 

7 

11 

7 4 

8 11 
1 

9 1 
8 



3 
1 
6 
6 
8 
1 
6 
1 




4 

4 




5 



£4 18 7 



TXTKSTBBD. 

John Tattersall 1 9 

JohnPilling 13 

Henry Cowoppe 7 

John Kay 7 

John Korshawe 1 8 

Anthony Nnttall 13 

John Laws • 7 

Henry Lawe 7 

£5 12 








4 
4 
4 



£ B. d. 



John Ashworth, for Lands 

there 

Edmund Tattersall, junr. . 

James Tattersall, junr. . . 

James Tattersall, senr. . . 

James Lord alt Boulton . , 1 

James Lord alt Chapman . . 

John Nuttall de Clough . . 1 

John Tattersall 1 

John Lord 

Samuel Robertshawe .... 

James Lord de Wear .... 

Edmund Lord 

James Whittaker , 1 

John Haworth -0 

Lawrence Lord 1 

Edmund Tatterstdl, senr. . . 1 
Edward Rawsthome de 
Newhall, for Roddiffe 

Wood 



10 
3 

6 8 

7 6 



14 
8 



13 
6 
9 
1 
8 



OowoppB. 



2 




13 8 
6 



1 
2 
6 


4 



2 11 
7 6 




16 8 



£11 16 8 



RichardHill 2 

Robt. Chadwick 10 

G^rge Haworth 7 

Ralph Leach 5 

Bartholomew Tattersall . . 5 

George Ormerod 1 1 

John Ashworth 6 

Richard Holden 6 

Oliver Holden 3 

Ralph Nuttall, and John, 

his son 10 

Edward Nuttall 10 7 

Richard Ormerod 12 2 

James Piccop, and John, 

his son 14 2 



2 

i; 

3; 

10 
3: 



£5 13 4 



LSNCHSS. 

Edmund Pilling 11 8 

Richard Ormerod 1 1 8 

John Ashworth, and James, 

his son 16 3 

James Hoult, and John, 

his son. Ill 8 

Richard Taylor 6 5 

£4 6 8 



Forest of RossendaU. 



331 



NSWHALL HeT. 



B. 

2 
17 
14 



JohnNattall 3 

Thomas Crondiaw 

Charles Ramsbotham .... I 
Henry Bamsbotham, and 

Peter, his son 1 14 

Wm. Heaton de Clough . . 3 
Kichard Ashworth 1 



d. 

11 

1 

2 

2 
4 
8 



£7 13 4 



Oakbnheadwood . 

Peter Hey 1 8 11 

Edward Ramsbotham, and 

Adam, his son 1 8 11 

Thorston Bamsbotham, and 

Henry, his son 14 h\ 

Oliver Bamsbotham 14 5 J 

George Haworth 1 1 8 

Henry Haworth 1 1 8 

Francis NuttaU 15 11 

Balph Haworth 2 7 

Beynold Haworth Oil 

Henry Barnes 2 9 

Agnes Haworth, widow, 

for Henry Haworth, 

her son 4 11 

Thomas Lord 4 

James Haworth 1 10 

Lawrence Bawsthome de 

Newhall 5 6 

Edward Bawsthome de 

Newhall 6 2 

Henry Bamsbotham, and 

Peter, his son 1 

John Nuttall de Newhall- 

hey 3 

Edward Bawsthome de 

Newhall, for two 

Milnes,with such soken 

and all appurtenances. 13 4 

£9 8 3 



MUBBU&T. 

Balph Haworth 3 5 

John Holden, and Mar- 
garet, his wife 16 3 

Tho. Kenyon 8 \\ 

Oliver Bridge 8 ij 

George Haworth, and John, 

Ms son 1 12 6 

Je£ferev Taylor, and Ed- 
ward, his son 1 12 6 

Carried forward ..£8 2 6 



MusBURY— eonlifttt^i. 

£ 
Brought forward .... 8 

Lawrence Taylor 1 

Christopher Cronshawe . . 

Thomas Duckworth • 

John Duckworth 

Bichard Entwistle 

Bichard Cronshaw 



B. 

2 

12 
18 

9 

14 
19 

5 



d. 
6 
6 
11 
1 
2 



;t 



£13 1 8 



HODDLESDEN. 

Nicholas Grimshawe .... 7 

Thurstan Mawdsley 12 

George Holden, senr 16 

George Holden, junr. .... 16 

GUbertHey 8 

Wm. Yate, senr 11 

Gyles Holme 11 

Bobt Yate 12 

Henry Baron 14 

John Welch, jure Uxoris 
[by right of his wife] . 

BS X J 



8 

\ 

6;: 


Hi 
4 



6 








Gyles Yate 

James Yate 

James Knowles alt Haworth 

Elizabeth Sharpe 

George Yate 

Bobert Brindle 7 

Wm. Yate, junior 17 



11 
14 
14 
17 
3 
2 





10 
8 

10 
8 
8 
8 



} 



£9 19 11 



WOLPBNDEW. 

Edward Bawsthome, of 

Newhall 16 1 

John Heyward 8 8 

Boger Pilling 7 3 

Dennys Hargreaves ...... 11 

George Ormerod, senr.... 3 1 

Bobert Heyward 9 4 

Henry Nuttall 2 

John Har^eaves 12 8 

James Smith alt Lowe .... 4 

Erice Clayton 2 

James Clayton 2 

Bichard Ashworth ."- 6 10 

Bobert Haworth 4 

George Lord de Da^cey 

Lever 6 4 

James Tattersall 6 4 

John A Aworth 6 4 

James Lord de Horold- 

long 2 

Carried forward ..£4 6 10 



-«j'.'°.rt&. V 



332 



History of the 



WoLTKSjyws—eont inued, 

£ 8. d. 

Brought forward 4 6 10 

Elizab. Ashworth by Robert 

Hey ward for Gardeine .038 

Thomas Lawe 5 6 

Hugh Pilling 6 

John Nuttall do Clough ..008 
And for Lands in Dcd- 
wcn Clogh chargeable 
to the Minister of T^ew- 
church in Kossendale ..032 

Henry Haworth 2 10 

John Dcarden 1 6 

Richard liargreaves 2 3 

John Hargreaves, junr 111 

RalphHey 1 4 

Richd. Piccop 3 3 

George Ormerod, junr 6 2 

Henry Haworth, ecnr 1 8 

Charles Haworth 1 8 

James Haworth 3 4 

James Haworth, of Crow- 

shawbooth 4 4 

Alexander Haworth, of 

Clough 2 10 

John Holt, and George, his 

son 12 8 

Robert Hey, and John, his 

son 2 

John Tattersall de Tunstead 5 4 

Richard Ormerod 4 10 

James Whittaker de Bacop .032 
John Ormerod de Gamble- 
side 10 

Oliver Ormerod, senr 8 4 

Oliver Ormerod de Edge . . 110 

John Birtwisle 6 8 

George Hargreavos, of 

Goodshawe 6 8 

Carried forward.... £10 6 



£ 8. d. 

Brought forward 10 6 

G^rge Birtwisle, and 

Richard, his son...... 6 4 

John Haworth de Barnes ..04 4 

G^rge Hargreaves de Nabb 6 4 

John Haworth de Constable 2 

John Ashworth 6 

Edmund Ingham 1 

Dennys Haworth 3 4 

Richajd Heape 1 8 

John Nuttall, of Newhall 

Hey 2 10 

Samuel Robertshaw 8 

Thomas Crondiawe 1 6 

James Tattersall de Dedwen- 

clogh 2 

Edward RawsthomdeLumm 3 2 

James Birtwisle 1 5 

James Ashworth 3 2 

Oliver Ashworth 1 7 

James Walton 3 2 

Abraham Taylor 6 4 

Francis Bridge 2 11 

Adam Bridge 2 

Willm. Heaton de Dedwcn- 

clogh 3 3 

Willm. Heaton de Bule Eye 18 
John Kershaw de Tunsteea, 

and Henry, his son. . ..064 

£13 5 1 



Total year's Rental ....£131 3 8 



Total 12 years* rental con- 
tributed bv the Rossen- 
dale Copyholders ..£1574 4 



LIST OF THE OVERSEERS OF THE POOR, FOR THAT PART 
OF ROSSENDALE BELONGING TO NEWCHURCH, FROM 
THE YEAR 1681 TO I790.--Copied from an old MS. Book in the 
possession of Geokoe Haeoreaves, Esq., J. P., Newchurch. 

1681. Alexander Haworth of Deadwenclough, and James Taylor, Dean 

Height. 

1682. Adam Bridge, Dcadwenclough, and Crofer Nuttal of Sisclough. 

1683. Jno. Heywood of Newhouse, and Jno. Law of Bacup. 



Forest of Rossendale\ 



333 



[684. Henry Ormerod and James Hargreayes. 

1685. Robert Hargreayes and James Law. 

1686. Richd. Heap and Jno. Ashworth. 

1687. Henry Law, of Tunstead, and Geo. Ashworth of Newchurch. 

1688. Henry Hargreayes, Nabb, and Law. Ashworth of Wolfenden. 

1689. Jno. Lord of Bacup, and Edmd. Ashworth of Feames. 

[690. Kichd. Ashworth of Wolfenden, and James Haworth of the same. 
.691. Saml. Lord of Bacup, and Law. Ashworth of Brockclongh. 

1692. Eichd. Ormerod of Wolfenden, and Jno. Heyworth of the same. 

1693. Law. Lord of Bacup, and Jno. Hoyle of the same. 

1694. Geo. Hargreayes of Wolfenden, and Jno. Haworth, Deadwendough. 

1695. Richd. Heyworth, Harrast Hills, and Geo. Haworth of Bankhouse. 

1696. Edwd. Ashworth of Whitewell Bottom, and G^. Hargreayes, Dead- 

wendough. 

1697. Richd. Heaton of Deadwendough, and James Taylor of Walls. 

1698. Jno. Lord of Broadclough, and Robt. Heyworth of Water. 
[699. Oliyer Ormerod, of Wolfenden, and Geo. Ashworth of Newchurch. 

TOO. James Law of Greenlaw, and John Ashworth of Chapel Hill, 
roi. Henry Law of Tunstead, and Geo. Hargreayes, Edgeside. 
r02. James Law of Greenlaw, and Abram Taylor of Dean Height. 
r03. Robt. Whitaker, of Heald, and James May din, Broadclough. 
r04. Richd. Ormerod, of Tunstead, and Geo. Hargreayes of Nabb. 
r05. Law. Lord of Greensnook, and Oliyer Ashworth, Feames. 
^06. Henry Hargreayes, Fold, and Law. Lord, of Newchurch. 
r07. Richard Heyworth, Derply, and Henry Shepherd of Bacup. 
r08. Law. Ashworth of Brockdough, and Robt. Heyworth, Deanhead. 
f09. James Hey of Boothfold, and James Mitchell of Tunstead. 

10. Abram Law of Holmes, and Jno. Lord of Derplydough, being hired 
by James Heap of Bacup. 

11. James Piccop of Heightside, and Jno. Lord of Derplydough. 

12. Henry Ashworth, Smallshay, and Jno. Hoyle. 

13. Jno. Rishton, Newchurch, and Jno. Lord of Lane Head. 

14. Wm. Heap of Huttock, and Jno. Ashworth of Miller Bam. 

15. Henry Hargreayes of Newchurch, and Jno. Lord, Simis. 

16. Jno. Haworth, Bank Top, and Jno. Heap. 

17. James Ashworth, Lane Head, and Jno. Ashworth, Scout. 

18. James Lord, Boothfold, and Dayid Greenwood, Heald. 

19. Jno. Hoyle, Fall Bam, and Robt. Heyworth, Water. 
^20. Henry Law of Tunstead, and Abram Law of Brex. 
r21. Edmd. Whitaker of Deals, and Law. Ormerod of Edgeside. 
f22. Jno. Mills of Hareholme, and James Heyworth of Deanhead. 
723. Jno. Nuttall of Tunstead, and Saml. Lord of bid Meadows. 



334 * History of the 

1724. Geo. HargreaveS) Newchurch, and Law. Ashworth, Bankend. 

1725. Jno. Taylor, Newchurch, and James Taylor of Walls. 

1726. Geo. Haworth, Bankhouso, and Jno. Hey worth, Harrest Hills. 

1727. Jno. Ramsbottom, Tunstead, and Jno. Ormerod, Shayclough. 

1728. Jno. Pilling, Sisclougli, and Jno. Lord of Sodhouso. 

1729. Saml. Hawortli of Wear, and Law. Ormerod, Edgeside. 

1730. Jno. Baron of Lum, and Richd. Lord of Nabb. 

1731. Jno. Ha worth, Waterside, and Jno. Piccop of Sowclongh. 

1732. Saml. Haworth of Shayclough, and James Law of Acre HiU. 

1733. Jno. Pilling, Wheet Head, and Gteo. Piccop of Wainyate. 

1734. Jno. Lord of Broadclough, and James Taylor, Dcanheight. 

1735. Jas. Law of Greenlaw, and Henry Ash worth of Miller Bam. 

1736. Abram Taylor of Height Top, and Joshua Lord, Broadclough. 

1737. Geo. Harg^caves, Chapel Hill, and Robt. Hey worth, Bacup. 

1738. liichd. Ashworth of Boothfold, and Jno. Ash worth. Bank Top. 

1739. Abram Nuttal of Heyhead, and Jno. Lord, Groensnook. 

1740. James Pollard, Whams, and Joshua Romsbottom, Brex. 

1741. Jno. Hargreavos for Feamos, and Jno. Whitaker, Broadclough. 

1742. Christo. Hargrcaves, Muckt Earth, and Geo. Law, HuttockEnd. 

1743. James Ormerod, Edgeside, and Robt. Hargreavos of Harg^oaves Fold. 

1744. Oliver Ashworth of Height Side, and Geo. Ormerod of Conliffe 

Clough. 

1745. Jno. Ingham, Fern Hill, and Richd. Lord of Greens. 

1746. James Piccop of Boothfield, and Richd. Lord of Lum. 

1747. Richd. Ashworth of Wolfenden, and Jno. Heap of Huttock. 

1748. Edwd. Lord of Bottom, and Oliver Pilling of Tunstead. 

1749. Henry Hargreavos, Fanhouse, and Jonathan Ashworth, Tunstead, 

1750. Richd. Pollard, Broadclough, and James Lord, Derplyclough. 

1751. Jno. Law, Banksos, and James Lord of Lane Head. 

1752. Jno. Haworth, Brockclough, and Jno. Law of Briggdough. 

1753. Robt. Scholfield, Newchurch, Tenant to Mr. Cobham, and Adam 

Scholfield, of Bucup. 

1754. Hugh Taylor, Newchurch, and Abraham Tattersall, Top of Huttock. 
1756. Hugh Taylor, hired by the Town for 12 Guineas. 

1756. Mr. Ormerod, Tunstead, and Jno. Heyworth, Deanhead. 

1757. Jno Hargreavos, Newchurch, and Jno. Ashworth, Holling. 

1758. Robt. Heyworth, Water, and Jno. Lord, Groensnook. 

1759. James Lord, Boothfold, and Jno. Lord, Old Meadows. 

1760. Jno. Nuttal, Tunstead, and Joshua Hoyle, Rockcliffewood. 

1761. Geo. Ashworth, Whams, and Richd. Lord, Old Meadows. 

1762. James Taylor, Wills, and Jno, Whitaker, Scar End. 



Forest of Rossendale. 



335 



1763. 

1764. 

1766. 

1766. 

1767. 

17*8. 

1769. 

1770. 

1771. 

1772. 

1773. 

1774. 

1775. 

1776. 

1777. 

1778. 

1779. 

1780. 

1781. 

1782. 

1783. 

1784. 

1786. 

1786. 

1787. 

1788. 

1789. 

1790. 



Jno. Law, Bankses, hired by the Town. 

Do. do. do. 

G^. EEaworth, Shawclough, hired by the Town. 
Do. do. do. 

Do. do. do. 

Jonathan Ashworth, Tunstead, do. 
Do. do. do. 

Do. do. do. 

Do. do. do. 

Oliver Ashworth, hired by the Town. 



Do. 
Joshua Harg^reaves, 
Do. 
Do. 
Do. 



do. 
do. 
do. 
do. 
do. 



Jno. Whitaker, Tunatead, hired by the Town. 

Do. do. * do. 

ThoB. Nuttal, Edgeside, do. 

Do. do. do. 

Do. do. do. 

Do. do. do. 

Do. do. do. 

Jno. Hasthom, Brex, hired by the Town. 

Do. do. do. 

Do. do. do. 

Do. do. do. 

Do. do. do. 

Do. do. do. 



The following are interesting as showing the money value of 
cattle, and the various articles named, at the date of the in- 
ventories : — 

EXCERPTS FROM **AN APPRISALL OF THE GOODS OF EDWd. 
BUTTERWORTH, OF ROUND HOUSE, APPRAIZED THIS 
3 DAY OF NOVEMBER, ANNO DNI. 1716." 

1 Black Cow, 
1 Red Cow, 
1 Stirk, 

1 Provinder Ark, 
1 Hay Mowe, 



£3 


6 





3 


6 


8 


1 


6 


8 





4 





1 


10 






336 



History of the 



1 Wheel barrow and Ladder, 


£0 


2 





1 Calf Crib, . . . , 








10 


2 Spinning Wheels, 2 pair Stock cards, . 





4 


6 


1 Pair Combs and Stock, 





1 


6 


Turf e and Coal, 





1 





1 Couch Chair and Quiahand, 





18 





1 Arm Chair, . . . . 





4 


6 


6 Chairs and 6 Qnishands, 





6 





1 Flagon, 2 peuter Cans, . 





4 





10 Peuter Cupps, • . • , 





2 


6 


1 Brass Morter and pestel, 





3 





1 Chaveing Dish, . . . . 





1 





1 Bedstead, . . . . 





3 


6 


1 Brown Cadow, . . . . 





9 





2 Blanketts, . . . . 





4 





30 Harrow teeth, . . . . 





3 





4 Sides, . . ^ • 








4 


1 Bridle and Sadie, 





2 


4 


1 Truclebed, 





4 





1 Green Cadow, . . . , 





9 





1 Ceild Chest, > 





8 





13 Picktures, 





1 


1 


12 Table Napkins, . 





4 










6 





1 do., • • . 





1 


6 



A TRUE INVENTORIE OP ALL THE GOODS CATTELL8 AND 
CHATTELLS AND SUBSTANCE OF ROBERT HAEDMAN OF 
GREENS, WITHIN SPOTLAND, AND PARISH OF ROTCH- 
DALE AND COUNTY OF LANCASTER DECASED, VALUED 
AND APRISED THE TWENTITH SIXTH OF SEPTEMBER, 
IN THE YEAR OF OUR LORD GOD 1717, BY US, JAMES 
HOYLE, JAMES MILL, GAORGE LAW, AND HENRY 
HARDMAN. 

Imprimis, his Apperrell and money in his purse, 

Item, f oure Cowes, 

Item, two stots and three twinters, 

Item, three Calves and three Stirkos, . 

Item, one Horse 

Carried forward 



>» 


£4 00 00 


• 


12 00 00 


• 


12 00 00 


• 


6 00 00 


• 


4 00 00 


• 


£38 00 00 



Forest of Rossendale. 



337 



Brought forward 


K 


. £38 00 00 


Item, twenty sheepe, . 


» < 


4 00 00 


Item, hay and Gome, • 


1 


10 00 00 


Item, one Swine, 


\ « 


1 00 00 


Item, three Arkes, 


1 


1 10 00 


Item, three Chifits, 


1 


1 00 00 


Item, io\a Beds and hedding, . 


A 


8 00 00 


Item, one prass and one Oubhard, 


< 


1 10 00 


Item, two tables and one buflett. 


» i 


1 00 00 


Item, one Couch Cheare and Cheares, . 


\ 


10 00 


Item, in brass and peuter, 


■ 


1 00 00 


Item, in odd Husslements, 


1 


10 00 


Item, 


. £68 00 00 


Item, money to draw, . . . . 


26 10 00 




£94 10 00 


Datt to pay. 


73 10 00 


totel. 


. £21 









EXCERPTS FROM « AN APPRISALL AND INVENTORY OP ALL 
THE GOODS, CATTLES, AND CHATTLES OP JOHN LORD 
OF BROADCLOUGH, DECEASED, APPRISED THE FIVE- 
TEENTH DAY OF DECEMBER, ANNO DOMINI 1724." 

Item, Six Oxen, two Stirks, two CaUfs, one 

Why and a Bull, standing at ye New Bam, 
Item, Four Cows standing at Home and a 

Swine, t • • • 

Item, Three Mares and Eleven Sheep, 
Item, Two Ovil Tables, . . . 

Item, Two Oak Chears, 
Item, Ten Ash Chears, . 
Item, A Longsettle, A Table with Drawers, 
Item, A Clock, .... 
Item, All his Books and Case, . 
Item, Tongs and Fire Iron, 
Item, a Chest and Thirty Trenchers, . 
Item, A Cuboard and Two Glasscases, 



, £30 00 





. 15 00 





. 15 10 





. 01 10 





. 00 08 





. 00 09 





. 01 05 





. 01 05 





. 01 00 





. 01 01 





. 00 15 





. 00 13 






338 History of the 



Item, A Close Stool, .... £00 05 

Item, A Great Ark, Meal and Wheal, . . 10 00 

Item, A Hulfe headed Bed and Bedding, . 01 05 

Item, Oradley, Goo Wane, Little Table, . 00 06 



"THE OLD SCHOOL," BACUP. 

The following Memorandum, relating to the " Old School " at 
Bacup, which formerly stood on the site of the present Mechanics* 
Institution, is copied from a volume of printed Sermons in the 
possession of the late Samuel Howorth, of Tunstead. The 
memorandum is written on the margin of the fourth and fifth 
pages of the last sermon in the volume : — 

"4: Oct'. 1747 this day Ould Mr Houlden Burnley parish Came 
to Baccop chapil Being the fourt gurinney [? journey] So the doars 
were made by the Schoolmastor by John Lord Broadclough Order 
& John Heape huttock top Brake in at an Ould Doare that were 
made with Ould boards and Stoans & so Crept in as he Could & 
Opened y® Other doars then Henry Lord Boulton went in & the 
[? three, or they] of his partey this were in the forenoone & then 
aftor dinor Mr Uttley went into this Chapil or Scoole house* and 
Red & preached the word of God & doctorin of Jesus Christ : 
Joel : 2 Chap' vers 13. Rent your harts & not your Garments & 
turn vnto the Lord your God for he is Gracious and mercyfull slow 
to anger and of Great kindness and Repenteth him of the Evil. 

"Judith Howorth. 

" 9 Oct' 1747 Mr Houlden Came again to Baccop & Ordered 
Vttley 2 days in a month & Richard Ashworth i & Hen^ Lord 
Boulton I to preach & teach the word of God & the Gospil of 
Jesus Christ in the Schoole house or Baccop chapil." 

And apart from the above is the following, written on the margin 
at the foot of the page : — 

" the [? they] should have Cufenanted one with another these 
flfefies & it is But them & thair Heirs. 



Forest of Rossendale. 



LIST OF HOSSBNDAIB MAGISTRATES, FROM THE FIEST 
AFPOINTUEKT IN ISM TO THE TEAR 1B92. 



Pluaot Abode. 



James Whltaket* 



Georm Oi 
John Bioi 



Bobrrt Mami,* , 
Jafan Lotd,* 
neoree Buereoveg,* 
TboinsK OrfDialiiiw* 
Dnrkl Whjlebcad,- . 



Loid Ccawehaw, 

John Wbltabei.t 
- ■ iDawBon.* 

ca MndeD Holt. M.J 

BobeiE IttuiD, iUD., 
(Lt.-Col..) t . . 



Job. Wood Whilsbead* 



HeniT HoflG Bardinui, ' 



Tbomu WhitBkcr, , 
Klcbwd TDwuuua,. 



Joa. HardmAD Wc 
TbOB, Hajte (Vbileheod, 



JohD Warbnrton, 



JoBhDa BoTle, Jan.. 

J. B. HatilaiBD (Ll.-Col.), 

James Edward BolC 

Edward Martfo WllRht. 



Broiulelotiiib, Bacap, 
Stubbv Iff 0. Bacnp. 
MoanC FlflaeaDt, Ba«Dp, 
ISaDlCBlde, Bacnp, 
Fcm Bill. BaoDD, . 
Crawghaw Hall, Craw- 

BbmibooUi, . 
Heatb Hill, Btackatfada, 
trwell Terraoe, Baoop, 



Uranebair Hall, Cia 
Broadcloo^h, Bacnp, . 



A8b<lHy Lea, Ravtenetall. 



KlaimoBH. Hnalineden. 
Wsllbank, HaaliEKdeo, . 
Rent Qate, HaflfFigdea, 
VoceaC Boota, He- 

Bochdale' Boad, Ba 
HeaUiHlU, BLackti 
Hollf Moont. Bf 

Htall, 
BannyBlde, Rawtcoatall, 

mo KB, Haaltngdeti, 
OreeiiBeld, HaallngdaL, 
Begent SUeeE, HuOlUK- 



Belgbtalds, Nave 
Holmas VUla, BaoL,, . 
Feni Hill, Stacbaleadi, 
Bpifoit Uoant, Baeop, 
BankBldE, Boeop, . 
Oak Hill, Ba»leuBtall. 
BolmeBeld Houk, Bbw- 



O&k BousB, Baoop, 



April 
Apiil .=, 
April 19. 



Oct. SO, 
Not. B, 
April ■ 
ApcU 

June 30, 



ApiU 
AprU , 
Uay W, 



Ua; W, 
April 8. 



Foby. 
Ma; 

Jane as. 



Baltocd Bundnd, 

Do. 
Blackbora Bandied. 



Sallord HnndteO. 



Blackbom Hnndnd. 



aUoTd Bundled. 



Bladkbarn Hmdial. 



Saltord Bundled. 



T bait lh.e oetg&bonrbood. 



340 History of the 

On the 29th July 1857 the Bacup Court-House was opened^ 
the first Petty Sessions there being held on that day. Prior to 
that date, the Bacup Petty Sessions were held at the George and 
Dragon Inn. 

The first Petty Sessions at Rawtenstall were held at the Queen's 
Arms Hotel, on the 4th May, 1857. 



VERTICAL SECTION OF THE STRATA IN THE FOREST OF 
ROSSENETALB, BY JOHN AITKEN, F.G.S. 

The thickoesses here g^ven are oot in all cases from actnal mcasnrement. 
Wbererer Dot measared, however, they have been carefally estimated, and 
may be taken as close approximations. It is scarcely necessary to state 
that no two sections are exactly similar. 

Bacccsalon r*. t« 

of Strata. I't. In. 

DBIFT AND SURFACE SOIL. 

1 Gray rock separating into flags and sets, bnt not of good 

quality; surfaces mnoh ripple marked — Derplaj Hill, 
Shameyford, Longshaw, Easden Wood, . . . 10 

2 Shale yery black, near the bottom — Derplaj Hill, Easden 

Wood, Shameyford, . . . . . 60 

3 Rock. Fine grained yellow laminated sandstone, separates 

into roofing tiles and flags — Heald, Shameyford, and 

Easden Wood, . . . . . .50 

4 Shale, strong and dark coloured, . . . . 12 
6 Rook. Fine yellow tile and flag-rock, similar to No. 8, .60 

6 Shale, top of Dalesgate, aboat . . . 30 to 45 

7 Fine-grained free yellow rock; produces capital building 

stone ; rather flaggy towards top, but stronger and more 
massiro in the lower part — dip, 8° to the west, Clough 
Head, Shameyford, . . . . . 27 

8 Shale, top of Dalesgate Valley, .... 120 

9 Coarse, soft, friable sand rock, showing good examples of 

false bedding — top of Tooter Hill, and at Culrert coal- 
pit, Dulesgate, varying much in thickness, say* . 30 
10 Shale, sides of Tooter Hill, Dalesgate, . . . 65 

^At Culvert it has a thickness of about 60 feet. Frequently absent. 



Forest of Rossendale. 341 

of Strata. ^' "*• 

11 Hard blnish-graj rook ; on Bnrfaces of the several layers 

are numerons indentatiSns and trail-like markings — 
Heaps Moss, Old Meadows, Broad Clongh Heights, 
Dnlesgate, &c., • •« ... . . 11 

12 Black and brown shales — Hojle Hej Clongh, Old Shaw 

Dean ; remains of fishes in the lower portion oyerlying 

the 40 yards of coal, . . . . . 70 

13 Coal, 40 yards mine, (half -yard mine,) worked at numerous 

places in the neighbourhood, .... 

14 Fire-clay, much used for brick-making, • • . . 

15 Bocky bands and shale — Park Mill, Shameyford, Old Shaw 

Dean. Frequently absent, .... 

16 ^ Brown shale — Hoyle Hey Clongh, Greaye, Duleeg^te, &c., . 

17 Coal — Higher Change, Hoyle Hey, near Bay Horse Inn, 

Dnlesgate, Old Shaw Dean, &c., 1 inch to 

18 Fire-clay, •....•. 

19 Shale — Greave Clongh, Old Shaw Dean, Dnlesgate, 

» 

20 Coal— Higher Foot, Clongh east of Shawforth, Holmes 

Clongh Bacup, Small Shaw Dean. This mine unites 
with the underlying Qannister Mine, about 1^ miles east 
of Bacup, and forms the 5 feet mine, • . .08 

21 Fire-clay, . . . • . . .16 

22 Seat rock, soft shaly rock — Greaye, . . . .16 
28 Shale, or soft valueless fal86-b.edded rock, irregularly 

stratified — Oaken Clough, Greave, Higher Broad Clongh. 
This becomes shale after the union of the two mines 
referred to above, • • • . . 40 

24 Coal — Gannister or Mountain Mine, Oaken Clongh, Dnles- 

gate, Hogshead, Bowley Moor, &c., from 6 feet to .26 

25 Fire-clay, full of aiigmaria ficoides, , , . .26 

26 Seat rock, or Gannister, fine-gained, light-coloured, silioeona 

rock, very irregularly bedded, full of vegetable remains 
and carbonaceous markings. On Bowley Moor, it is a 
fine crystalline Gannister,* • • . . 12 

27 Black shale ; contains fish remains in the lower portion — 

Greave, Oaken Clough, Old Shaw Dean, . . .90 

* This rock does not occur under the Qannister Mine at Oaken Cloush. 



1 


6 


8 





5 





86 








2 


4 





56 






V. 



I.' 



342 History of the 

of Strata. ^^ "*• 

28 Coal — Lower Foot, or Spanish Juice Mine, || Oaken Cloagh, 

Oroave, Old Shaw Dean, Baj Horse Inn, Dolesgate, 
Ilolines, &o.} • • • . • .OS 

29 Firo-clay — Greave, Rowley Moor, and other places, . 4 
80 Light gray shale —Shawforth, Oaken Clongh, . . 12 
31 Dark shales, . . . . • . . 14 

82 Shaley impure ooal— Bassj or Salts Mine. Shale, with 

hands of coal, at Holmes Qaarry Bacnp, Walmesley 
Clongh, Intac, Bowley Moor, . . . .20 

83 Brown strong shale — Holmes Quarry, Bacnp, Meadow Top, 

Deansgreave, . . . . . .60 

84 Fine-grained hrown sand-rock, Woodhead Hill rook,* mach 

false bedded, and yields bat an indifferent building 
stone in this neighboarhood— Holmes and Kat Mill 
Bacnp, Undcrshore, near Britannia Mill, Dalesgate, Ac, 

35 Shale — Undershore, Dalesgate, &c., .... 

36 Goal, Deansgreave, Bacnp, Had Cloagh Colliery Facit, 

Greens Cloagh near Portsmouth, 
87 Underclay, ....... 

38 Upper rongh-rock ; f •coarse rough grit full of rounded 

water- worn quartz pebbles— Bai)k Houde, Sheep Hoase 
Clongh, behind the Co-operative Store Bacup, along 
Brandwood Moor, Banks' Mill Dulecgate, Sent Naze, Ac, 15 

39 Very black shale, fall of vegetable impressions — Deans- 

Cleave, Hudclough Facit, { . . . .10 

4(1 Coal — Feather Edge, or Sand -Rock Mine, Co-operative 

Store, and Bank House Bacnp ; Deansgreave, Shaw- 

forth and Banks' Mill Dalesgate, . . .14 

41 Uuderclay, always found with the coal, . . .30 

•42 Lower rough-rock, similar to the higher section, but a 

little stronger and more massive — localities similar to 38, 24 

43 Strong brown shale — Hell Clongh, Shawforth flag quarries, 
Dalesgate, under the Bank House rock, along the north- 
westerly side of Newchurch Road, Bacup, § . . 80 
is a little thicker at Ending, where it has been worked to a small 



24 





50 








10 


1 


6 



3CiaE«d tram being found highly developed at the Woodhead Hill Tunnel, on 
I VL &. and L. Bailway. 

Hill, this rook attains a thickness of 66 feet. 
' does not ooour in any of the sections at Baoup. 
: » dd» plafli the shale is considerably in excess of the 30 feet named above. 
^ llhte Wrai it nms up to about 190 feet, and on the Orawahawbooth side of 

a tMclmess of 810 fMt At Holoombe it is only a few inches. 



Forest of Rossendale. 



343 



of Strata. 

44 Good, hard smootli bedded flags, known as Haslingden 

fl^kgs — ^Hell Clough, Shaw forth, Fo' Edge, Cragg, &c., . 

45 Strong brown shale — ^Bake Head, Grawshawbooth, &c., 

46 Flag-rock, similar to 44 — at Bake Head, Hirdle Heights, 

Grawshawbooth, &c., . . . . . 

47 Strong brown shale, with layers of rook and rocky bands — 

Thmtch, top of Gonpe Valley, Grawshawbooth, &o.y 

48 Goal — HomclifFe Wood, Goupe, Dnlesgate, Brooksbottom, 

Balladen, and Grawshawbooth, .... 

49 Shale — Homcliffe Wood, Dnlesgate, .... 

50 Goal — Homcliffe Wood, Grawshawbooth, Holden Wood, 

Brooksbottom, &c., 

51 Goarse sharp grit — railway cutting, New Hall Hey, Brooks- 

bottom, &c.) ••...• 



Ft. In. 



18 
72 




25 








20 



150 



9 




6 



24 





ELEVATIONS. 


Feet. 


Pendle Hill, 


■ • • • 


1881 


Top of Leach, . 


• • • • 


1550 


Whittle Pike, . 


• ■ • • 


1534 


Higher Hill, 


• • • • 


1500 


Trough Edge End, 


near Hogshead Law, 


1475 


Thievoley Pike, 


• • ■ • 


1474 


Hogshead Law, 


• ■ • • 


1460 


Gonpe Law, 


• • • 1 


1438 


Derplay Hill, . 


• ■ ■ 


1429 


Tooter Hill, 


• • • 


1420 


Heald Moor, 


• • • i 


1417 


Flonr Scar Hill, 


• • • 


1380 


Fo* Edge, 


• ■ • I 


1350 


Gribden, 


■ • • « 


1317 


Nntshaw Hill, . 


■ • ■ 


1260 


Holcombe Hill, (b( 


stse of Peel Monument,) 


1162 


Hyle, . 


• . . 


1150 


Mosbnry Tor, . 


... 


1115 


Seat Naze, 


... 


990 


Bacap. (St. John's 


Ghurch,) 


849 


Newchnrch, (Ghnrch,) . 


794 


Haslingden, (Gommercial Inn,) 


794 



344 



History of the 





Feet. 


Holoombe Church, 


776 


Edenfield, (Horse and Jockey,) ' 


677 


Hawtenstall, (Church,) . 


557 


Bamsbottom, .... 


. . 488 


Todmorden, .... 


409 


Burnley, (Church,) 


888 



THE ROSSENDALE PARLIAMENTARY DIVISION. 

Rossendale was created a Parliamentary Division on June 25th, 
1855- 

The Division embraces the whole of the Forest of Rossendale 
proper (with the exception of certain detached portions) and the 
Town of Haslingden in addition. 

The first Parliamentary Election for the Division took place 
27th November, 1885, when Lord Hartington (now Duke of 
Devonshire) was returned as its first representative in the House 
of Commons. 




i. " » 



INDEX 



A. All Saints' Church, GKxxlBhaw, 176, 

Abb o' th* Yate, baptized, 270. ^,}^^' „ „ ^ v x * rt^ j 

Abbot, PhiUp, Incumbent of New- ^^> *^- f» Incumbent of Good- 
church, 161. ®^^» ^^*» °' ^^' John's, Baoup, 

Accounts of the Greave of the Forest, ,, }^^: . „ ,. „ , ,.- ^_ 

108; Bridle for Scolds, 114; '^^^J^^^^^C •^''S^®' J^' ,«c 

Preston House of Correction, 116 ; ^'^^ « ^y<^» Samt, Ed^e Side, 196. 

Finger or Guide Posts. 117; Annual Value of Townships in Ros- 

Jacobite RebeUion of 1715, 118; ^ ^'^^^^ ?^»o^* o.. 

Trophy Money, 118 ; The Plague in Appendix, 328 to 344. 

France, 119; ^Runaway Sailor? 120 ; Asheton, i^ph, and Aujtor Fan- 
RebeUion of 1745, 120; Taking of f^'fj* ,H^*?^*^,' disputing Copy- 
Carlisle, 123; Taking of Stirling, holders title to land, 81. 

123;StocksatGood8haw, 127;Sab- Ash worth, Lawrence, Incumbent of 

bath-breaking and Profane Swear- , >«ewchurch, 160. 

ing, 128 ; The Town Box, 129 ; Assart Land, see Essart. 

Stocks at Bacup, 130; Impressing Assheton Papers, extract from, re- 
fer the Navy, 130 ; Dungeons, 131 ; ^I\^S *? J^P>'^°^^o ^^ ^ ^® 
War with France, 132; Militia, Honor of Cli^eroe, 84. 

132; Peace of Amiens, 133; Meet- Attachment or Woodmote, one of the 
ings for the defence of the nation, forest Courts, 54. 
133 ; Prisoners conveyed to Holmes 
Chapel, 135 ; Notices in the Church, 
136 ; Pinfold at Cloughfold, 136. B 

Aocrington, Forest or Chase of, 32, 

48, 66f 86 ; Newhold, 86. Back-bear, meaning of the term, 68. 

Acreage of Townships in Rossendale, Balladen Brook, 28. 

227. Bacup, 7 ; derivation, 7, 8, 40 ; made 

Agisting of Goats and Sheep, 58; a consolidated Chapelxy in 1839, 
Cattle, 58 ; Hogs and Swine, 58. 190 ; Stocks at, 130 ; DunKeona at. 

Agistments, explanation of the term, 131 ; Borough of, 230 ; BuU-baiting 
46. at, 270. . 

Agistors, 64. Bacup Booth, 69, 70 ; dispute with 

Agricultural capabilities of Rossen- Cliviger, 23 ; Grant of, 70. 

dale, 233. Badger or Brock, 5 ; Badger Cote, 6. 

Aitken, John, on the remains of Red Bailiffs, 54. 

Deer and Wild Oxen in liossendale, Bailey, cited, 6. ^r^ t%K 

3, 4 ; Sketch of his life, 253 ; on Bainos, cited, 25, 33, 60, 70, 78, 90, 95. 

the Vertical Strata of Rossendale, Baldwin, M.A., Nicholas Kigby, in- 
340. cumbent of Newchurch, 161. 

Ale-taster, 138; Oath of, 139; Baptist Denomination, 20 1; iiwfj."^ 
Memorial by Richard Taylor, 142 ; Dedwenclough, 201 ; '^^^*°^. SiV 
his redgnation, 144. chel, first Minister at Olou^lifoW, 



^^^^^^H 346 History of RossendaU. ^^^k 


^^^^^^H 303 1 David OrosBley, first Pnstor at 


Byron family. 78; Letter of Lord 


^^^^^^H Bacap, 203; Old School House, 


Byron. 7U. 






^^^^^H wnt posdtion of 


C. 


^^^^^^H Baxter, cited, 6. 




^^^^^^^^B BeaMD rGmaina on Thievoloj- Pike, 1, 


Oamdeu, cited, 8. 


^^^^^^H 13 : Uses of Beooaiu. 19. 


Canute, King, promnl^tea ths 


^^^^^^^^1 Beasts ot Forost, Park, ChaM and 


Coattituiiorui dc Foreita, S3. 


^^^^^^^^K Warrea, t\. 


Carr gate, 75, 


^^^^^^H Bannuliaw Tower. 


Caruonto of land, meaning of the term, 


^^^^^^H BeavoT, the, S. 


3*. 


^^^^^^H Bedel or Beadle of the Forest, S4. 


Uat. the wild, 6. 


^^^^^^^^1 Beehiree in RosAendale, 162. 


Catholics, Romaji, 197. 


^^^^^^H Bell-nngera <A Newchurch, 1S7. 


CatUe within the Forest, agisting ol. 




68. 


^^^^^^^^^^1 Bluckbum Hundred. Account of, in 


Celtic Britons, 2. 


^^^^^^^^1 Domesday Book. 


Cemetery, Bacup, 230. 


^^^^^^H BlaokburnHhire. Forest of. 32, 


Charity CommiBBionere, the, 148. 


^^^^^^^^^ Bbizo. Biebop, festival in hoaoar of, 


Chapel Hill, 2Z0, 231. 


^^^^^■' 


Ch&HO and Forest, difference between. 


^^^^^^^H Bloody-hand, meaning of the t«rm, fiS. 


Si. 


^^^^^^^^^H Boar tribe, names haviOK reloreace to 


Chase, Beasta of. Si. 


^^^^H 


Chases, Parks, and Forests, 54. 


^^^^^^^H Boursgreave, 


Chief Justice in Eyre of the Forest, 


^^^^^^M Book of Sports, ITS. 


26. 64. 


Christ Charoh, Bacup, 193. 


^^^^^^B Booth, John, of Barton, reoetvea 


Church wardons, old custom of the, 129. 


^^^^^^B f grant of Bocup Booth, and New- 
^^^^^^^B hnllhey pasture, 70. 




a Clergyman. 136. 
CUroalo of Rossendale, 232, 


^^^^^H Boothfold, buU-baiting at, 270. 


^^^^^^^^k Bta Frimlgeniut, horn of, found in tlie 


Clitheroe, Honor of, 32. 


^^^^^^H Valley the Irwell, i. 


Cliviger. 2 ; Moor, 5. 22, 28. 






^^^^^^M 




^^^^^^^^^H Bovate of I^nd, meaning of the term, 
^^^^^^H ' Bowland, expeditation in, 57. 


Forests, 67, 80. 
Coal Mines, 302. 


^^^^^^^H Brandwood, origia of the name, SS : 


Compotus of Blaokbumshire, 70. 


^^^^^^H granted to the Monastery of Stan- 
^^^^^^H W, 38; separated from Rochdale 


ConsUble-lee, B9, 70. 


Couiliiutionti <U Foreita. 53. 


^^^^^^H Manor, 79; Annual Value, 227 ; 






3or 


^^^^^^H Brandwood Higher and Louver End, 




^^^^^^H 69 : Freehold rights in, 74. 


EsUtes, time-James 1., 328. 


^^^^^^H Brandwood Uoor, 5, 


foundaUon of titles to, 85. 


^^^^^^H Bridle for Scolds, IH. 


^^^^^^H Brindle, U.A.. Rev. J, F.. Incumhent 


Com or Soke Mills, 280. 


^^^^^^H of St. John's, Bacup, 199. 


Corry, cited, 32. 


^^^^^^^B BrittliSe, I.,awreDce, 201. 






Cow Pastntee, 69. 


^^^^^H 


Cowpe, 69 ; Lench, Newhallhey and 




Hall Carr, annual value, 227; 


^^^^^^H Buccleuch. Duke of. Lord of tlie 


acreage, »6. ; population. 22a. 
Cowpe Brook, 28 ; Cowpe Law, 6, 20, 


^^^^^^^^M Honor of Clitheroe, 36, 


^^^^^^H Buckearth, 4. 


331 ; Cowpe Valley. 8. 




Courts, Forest, 61, 




Orabtree, M.D„ John, 248. ' 




Crag, 2, 




Crawshawboolh, 8, 69, 70; VaUey, 231, 



Index. 



347 



Oriddan or Cribden, 2, 4, 6, 16, 20. 

Grooflley, David, 202. 

Oanliffe, Henry, on the derivation of 
the name RoMendale, 6, 8 ; on the 
Thratch, 28 ; Sketch of life of, 265. 

Cntwolph, liwlphuB, Dean of Whal- 
ley, 63. 



D. 



<< Dandy " Looms, 323. 

Damey, William, 214, 219. 

Dedwendough, 7, 69, 70. 

Deans of Whalley, 62. 

Dean Valley Brook, 6 ; Dean Musi- 
cians, 209, 268. 

Deansgreave, 63. 

Dearden, th' Arks o*, 271. 

Dearden, James, Lord of the Manor 
of Rochdale, 76 ; Action against 
James Maden of Greens, Bacup, 
77 ; Letter from Lord Byron to, 76. 

Deaths and Births in Rossendale, 234. 

Deer tribe, names having reference to 
the, 3 ; Forest Laws relating to the, 
63. 

Derplay, 4, 7, 22, 23, 26. 

Dewhorst, Robert, Ldcumbent of 
Newchurch, 161. 

" Deighn Layrocks," the, 268, 267 ; 
Wangh on the, 269. 

Disforesting of the Forests, 67, 80, 279. 

Dog-draw, meaning of the team, 68. 

Drayton, Michael, on the Lrwell and 
Ribble, 29. 

Duke's Rent, 80. 

Dungeons in Rossendale, 131. 

Dunnockshaw, 28, 69, 70; Annual 
Value, 227 ; Acreage, ih. ; Popula- 
tion, 229. 

Dyke or Dykes, Broadclough, 9. 



E. 



Ebeneser Baptist Chapel, Bacup, 206, 

207, 211. 
Edge Side Baptist Chapel, 211. 
Edward II., Booths in Rossendale 

and their Annual Value in time of, 

69. 
Essart or Assart Land, meaning of the 

term, 81. 
Everett, cited, 219. 
Eneditation or Hambling, how per- 

lonii6d| 67* 



P. 



Faculty for the enlargement of the 

New Church, 167. 
Fawning of the Deer, 69. 
Pencemonth, meaning of the term, 59. 
Pish, formerly plentiful in Rossendale 

Streams, 6. 
Flour Scar, 5. 
Forest, Beasts of, 54 ; Boundaries of 

a, 58. 
Forests, the English, antiquity of, 63. 
Forests, granting of the, 67, 80. 
Forest of Blaokbumshire, 82. 
Forest Laws, the, 53. 
Forests, Parks and Chases. 54. 
Foresters, 54. 
*« Foster's Leap," 271. 
Four Lane Ends, 129. 
F0z,5. 
Poxhill, 5. 
Foxholes, 5. 
Freehold Land in Rossendale, 69, 74. 

G. 

Gadsby, William, visits Rossendale, 

267. 
Gambleside, 69 ; Baptist Chapel, 211. 
Gas Company, the Rossendale Union, 

299. 
Gastrell, Bishop, cited, 150, 158, 178, 

176. 
General Baptist Chapel, Baoup, 211. 
Genesis of the original imhabitants of 

Rossendale, 222. 
Ginghams, manufacture of, 298. 
Glen Top, 28. 
Goats and Sheep within the Forest, 

agisting of, 58. 
Goodshaw, 69, 70; Stocks, ISO; 

Chapel, 176; Incumbents of, 184; 

Baptist Chapel, 211. 
Goodshaw Witch, the, 272. 
Grammar School, Newchurch, 178. 
Granting of the Forests, 67, 80, 279. 
Greave Clough, 75, 76, 77 ; Water, 28, 

269. 
Greave of the Forest, 88 : Duties of 

the, 89; list of Greaves, 97; 

Accounts of the, 108. 
Greenhalgh, James de, lease of -Ded- 
wendough granted to, 69. 
Gregory, George, first Incumbent of 

Newchurch, 160 ; Will of, 162. 
Gregson, cited, 109. 
Greyhounds and Spaniels forbidden 

in the Forest, 67. 



'^^^ 



348 



History of Rossendale. 



H. 



Hag-i^ate, 28. 

Uallam, cited, 75. 

Halmot Court, or Court Baron, 89, 91, 

188. 
Haia Dominicalis, or Old Dyke, 28. 
Hambling, or Expeditation, how per- 
formed, 57. 
Hameldon Hill, 2, 5, 16. 
HammertoD Green, Bull-baiting on, 

270. 
Hardman Brothers, Rawtenstall, 298. 
Hardman family, of Greens, Spotland, 

285. 
Hardsough, 6. 
Hareholme Mill, the first important 

mill in the district, 288. 
Hargreaves, James, on the origin of 

the name, "Bacup," 7 ; sketch of his 

life, 238; list of his published 

works, 241. 
Harland, John, F.S.A., cited, 26, 88, 

90, 270. 
Harland and Wilkinson, Lancashire 

Folklore, quoted, 155, 273. 
Harrison, cited, 24. 
Harrison, Mary, aged 108 years, 268. 
Harthill, 4. 
Hartington, Lord, first Parliamentary 

representative of Rossendale. 
Haworth's, Robert, Charity, 172. 
Heap Bam, W. Damey preaches at, 

215. 
Heap's, William, beqpest to the Ros- 
sendale Baptists, 207. 
Henheads, 69, 70; annual value, 227; 

acreage, ib. ; population, 229. 
Hell Clough, legend connected with, 

271. 
Henry VII., Lord of the Honor of 

Clitheroe, 49, 67, 279. 
Henry VIIL, 71, 76. 
Heyworth, Lawrence, Biographical 

Sketch of, 241. 
Hide of Land, meaning of the term, 34. 
Higher Booths, Annual Value, 227; 

Acreage, ib. ; Population, 229 ; 

Births and Deaths, 234. 
Higher Tong, Bacup, 77. 
Hirst, John, 7 ; sketch of his life, 218. 
Hoddiesden, 69. 
Hogs and Swine within the Forest, 

agisting of, 58. 
Hothead, near Baoup, 72. 
Hollin,7. 



Holmes Chapel, prisonerB from Bo«- 
Bendale formerly conveyed to, 185. 

Holt, Thomas, of Gristlehurst, grant 
of land to, 75. 

Holy Trinity Church, Tunstead, 192. 

Honor, meaning of the term, 82 ; of 
Clitheroe, ib. 

Hopper, Christopher, visits Rossen- 
dale, 267. 

Horelaw Head, 28, 25, 71. 

Horrocks, William, Incumbent of 
Newchurch, 160, 164. 

Hoyle, William, sketch of his life, 256. 

Hulme's Foundation, 189. 

Hnlme Hall, 63. 

Hundred of Blackburn, 32 ; AccooDt 
of, in Domesday Book, 84. 



I. 



Ightenhill, 86. 

Incumbents of the Church at New- 
church, 160, 161. 

Independent Denomination in Ros- 
sendale, 221. 

Inventories and Appraiscls, old, 385. 

Irwell, the River, 3, 5, 279; Trout in 
the, 5 ; rise of the, 6, 22 ; Harrison 
on the, 24 ; origin of the name, 24 ; 
Tributaries of, 28 ; Poem on, 30. 

Irwell Terrace Baptist Chapel, Bacap, 
211. 



J. 



Jackson, Lettice, yests lands for use 
of the New Church, 158. 

Jacob, Law Dictionary, cited, 88. 

James I. and the Bossendale Copy, 
holders, 80, 328. 

James's Church, Saint, Waterfoot, 194. 

James-the-Less, Saint, Roman Catho- 
lic Church of, Rawtenstall, 199. 

John's Church, Saint, Bacup, 186. 

John's Church, Saint, Sunnyside, 184. 

John the Divine, Church of Saint, 
Cloughfold, 195. 

Johnson, W., Vicar of Whalley, con- 
test respecting right of Presenta- 
tion to *' Rossendale Chapel," 165. 

Joseph's School, Saint, Huttook Bnd, 
200. 

Jastioe Seat, one of the Forest Gourtf , 
64. 



Index. 



349 



K. 



Kay, Bichard, of BaldiDgsione, 

extracts from Diary of, 125. 
Keeper of the Forest, 54. 
Ktiru don, [Cribden] the Hill of 

Stags, 4. 
Kerr, U., on the origin of the name 

*' Irwell," 26. 
Kershaw, James, Incambent of New- 

charch, 160, 164. 
Kershaw, John, of Boothfold, donor 

of Estates to Newchnrch Grammar 

School, 178. 
" Kirk Gate, Th'." 185. 
Knight's Fee, its meaning, 75. 
Knight's Service, its meaning, 75. 



L. 



Lacy, the honse of, 84 ; Roger de 

Lacy, 88, 74 ; John de Lacy, 88, 40. 
Lancaster, Honor of, conferred by 

William the Conqueror upon Roger 

de Poictou, 88. 
Lancaster, the Forests of, 55. 
Lancaster, Thomas, Eurl of, 35. 
Lancaster, Henry, Duke of, 44, 47. 
Laws, Forest, 53. 
Lawsuit : Bacnp and Gliviger, 28 ; 

Whalley Abbey and Richard de Rat- 

oliffe, 41 ; Maden and Dearden, 77. 
Leigh, Thomas, Incumbent of New- 
chnrch, 161. 
Lenches, 69. 
lichford's, Robert, Bequest to the 

Cloughfold Baptists, 208. 
Limersgate, 6. 
limy Water, 28. 
Liwlphus Cutwnlph, Dean of Whalley, 

52. 
Lord, Henry, Baptist Minister, Bacup, 

206. 
Lord, John, Schoolmaster, sketch of, 

286. 
Lord of the Honor or Manor, 82. 
LoTe Clongh, 69, 70. 
Lower Booths, Annual Value, 227 ; 

Acreage, ib. ; Population, 229 ; 

Births and Deaths, 284. 
Lnddite Riots, 828. 
Lnmb Chnroh, 192 ; Lumb Baptists, 

209; Lumb Chapel, 268; Lnmb 

YaUey, 28. 
Lamb Head, 269. 



M. 



Maden, John, the first Rossendale 

Methodist, 214. 
Maden, James, suit with James 

Dearden, respecting manorial 

rights in Brandwood, 77. 
Magistrates, list of Rossendale, from 

1824 to 1892, 889. 
Man wood, on the Forest Laws, 58, 81. 
March, Dr., on the origin of local 

names, 7. 
Market, Bacup New, 280. 
Mary's Church, St., Roman Catholic, 

Bacup, 200. 
Mary's Church, Saint, Rawtenstall, 

191. 
Mastiff, admitted within the Forest 

when expeditated, 57. 
Meeting to protest ag^ainst the intro- 
duction of Power-looms, 818. 
Methodist Denomination in Rossen- 

dale, the, 214, 219. 
Michael's Church, Saint, Lumb, 192. 
Militia, Posts for Rossendale, 122. 
Miller Bam, first Methodist Society 

in Rossendale, formed at^ 215. 
Mills', Samuel, Charity, 184. 
Mitchel, William, first Minister at 

Cloughfold, 202. 
Mitchell-field-nook, 155. 
M'Laughlan, Rev. T., cited, 27. 
Morrell Height, 176. 
Munn, Robert and John, 298; Sketch, 

life of Robert Munn, 249. 
Musbury, Roman road through, 1 ; 

Laund or Park of the Forest, 1, 47, 

60; Musbury Tor, 5, 20; Booth, 

69 ; annual value, 227 ; acreage, 

ib. ; population, 229. 
Musical taste displayed by the inhabi* 

tants of Rossendale, 258. 
Muster of Soldiers in Rossendale and 

Pendle, I. Mary, 828. 



N. 



National School, Newchnrch, 172. 

Newchurch, 8, 150 ; National School, 
172 ; Grammar School, 178 ; Bell- 
ringers, 157^ 

Newchurch, Dedwenolough, Bacnp 
and Wolfenden Booths, annual 
value, 227 ; acreage, ib. ; popula- 
tion, 229 ; Births and Deaths, 234. 

New Church, the, 150, 224 ; Decree 
of Duchy relating to, 161; iradi- 



History of Rossendale. 



1G5; 



of 



InonmbenM, 1 

New hat I hey, 69. 

Nicbolua's Chorch, Saint, 167, Vli\ 
Bphool, 172. 197- 

Soviina Libtri Tencniee in Rossen- 
dale, 326. 

O. 

OakenhoadwDod, 69. 

Oath, taken b; th» inhabitanls «f n 

Forest. ES ; Ale-tagteT'e, 13<l, 
O'Connor, Fergue, rieits Kosaendale, 

267. 
OBicers of a Forest, 54. 
Ogdeo, Joseph, Inoambent of St. 

John's, Bncnp, 1"" 
Old Djke, the, 23. 



Fioknp, Geor^, donor of laud for 

Sohool at BawteDstall, 221. 
Pike Law, 22, 23, 271. 
Pinfold at Clonghfold, 186; List of 

Finders, ift. 
Plnp Drawing Riots, 324. 
Poioton. Koger de, 33 ; first Lord of 

the Honor of nhioh BossendaJe 

forms part, ib. 
Popalation of Koaaendale, 229. 
Fortar, William, Inoumbent of St. 

John's, Baoup, 187. 
Power-Loom BraaliiDg Biots of 18SG, 

812. 



Ormorod'B Charitj, 175. 

Otter, 5. 

Oxen, wild, recnsinsof inltossendale.S 

Oi-gang of land, meaning of the 



Pannage, meamnti of the term, 68, 
Park, Beast of, 54. 
FarkB, Chases and Forests, 6*. 
Pttrliftwentary Divisiuo of Bosaondale, 

344. 
Paslew. John, Abbot of Wballey, 71, 

76. 
Pater, Walter, cited, 171. 
Pendle, Forest or Chase of, 32, 41, 42, 

47, 4S, 65. 
PetSf's Chnroh, Saint, Boman Catho- 
lic, Newobarch, im. 
Phillips, M.A., Uev. J. B„ Incumbent 

of Newchoroh, 168. IHl. 
'> Fhilonaotos Boeseudalienoia," Poem 

by, 1X3. 
Piccup, Joseph, Baptist Minister, 

Bacop, 209, 218. 
Pioknp and Yate Bank, G i Annaal 

Value, 227 ; Aoreage, ib. ; Fopola- 



Qaaken or Friends in Rossendale, 
220 1 Borjing Place on Chapel HUI, 
220; Crawshawbooth Chapel, 2Z0. 



BailffBj, the Boesendale Branch, 2&S. 
ItaincB, Canon, cited, 151, 173, 176. 
Bain-fall in Boasendale, 233 ; in other 

places, ib. 
Bangers of the Forest, 54. 
BatcIiSe, Bichnrd de, foreattr, S6 1 

gnit with the Abbot of Whalley, 

41. 74. 
Batenble Property in Boagendalo, 

Annual VaJae of, 2Z7. 
Bawsthom, Edward, and Biohard 

Townelcy, letter of, respecting 

Title to Copyhold Lands, 82. 
Knwtenstall, 3, 5, 7i Booth, 69, 70i 

Borough of, £30. 
Heaps Moss, 78. 
Bed Moss, iron arrow-headg found in 

the, 19. 
Beeve, »ee Greaia. 
Begarders, 64. 

Belies found in the locality, 19. 
Bhjmed Oath, taken by the Forest 

Inhabitants, GO. 
" Eiggin o' th' World," Shameyford, 

the, 269, 
Biots, the Power-loom, 812; the Lnd- 

dite, S23 ; the Ping Droning. 321. 
Biver Irweli, 8, G, 6, 22. 24, 2S, 80,279. 
Boobdale, Manor of, 74, 76 : Pariah 

of, 76. 



Index. 



351 



Booklifle or Booiyffe, 4; BoolTfffl- 
wood, 6, 72. 

Boeback, 4. 

Roman Gatholios in Rossendale, 197. 

Roman History of Rossendale, 1. 

Roesendale, derivation of the name, 
6; Referenoes to the name, 65; 
Genesis of the original people of, 
222 ; Character of people, 225 ; 
Population, 229; Annaal Valae, 
227; Acreage, ih,; Bain-fall in, 
288; Temperature, 283; Births 
and Deaths, 284; Parliamentary 
Division, 344. 

Rossyndale, Henry, 61 ; William, 62 ; 
Adam de, 68. 

Rough Lee, 146. 



S. 



Salford Handred, Brandwood em- 
braced within, 74. 

Sanders, Thomas, Inoambent of New- 
church, 161, 165. 

Saviour's Choroh, Saint, Baonp, 194. 

Saxon Ode on the Battle of Branan- 
burh, 17. 

Scarsdale, extract from, 318. 

Seat Naze, 162, 231. 

Shameyf ord, 5, 28 ; Mill, the highest 
in England, 269; "Th' Biggin o' 
th* World," 269. 

Sheep and Gk>ats within the Forest, 
agisting of, 58. 

Shorrock, A.M., John, Incumbent of 
Newchnrch, 161, 165, 170. 

Silk Weaving, 298. 

" Simon, Old," 261. 

"Sir," a title formerly g^ven to 
Clergymen who had taken a Uni- 
versity Degree, 162. 

Black House or Further Hey, 76. 

Slipper Trade in Rossendale, the, 291. 

Smelt, Bacnp, origin of the name, 268. 

Sowdough, 8. 

Spaniels and Greyhounds forbidden in 
the Forest, 57. 

** Spindle Dick," the Rossendale Ale- 
Taster, 140. 

Spotland, Township of, 74, 79. 

Squirrel, the, 5. 

Stable-Stand, meaning of the term, 58. 

Staoksteads, 4. 

Staghills, 4. 

Stanlaw, Monastery of, 37. 

Stocks in the different Tillages, 117, 
127. 



Stone Trade, the Rossendale, 800. 

Strong's, Mrs. Frances, Charity, 176. 

Stubby Lee, 76, 77. 

Suit between the Abbot of Whalley 
and Richard de RatolifPe, 41 ; be- 
tween James Dearden and James 
Maden, 77. 

Sunnyside Baptist Chapel, 211. 

Surnames of Old Rossendale Families, 
96, 225. 

Swainmote, one of the Forest Courts, 
54. 

Swine and Hogs within the Forest, 
agisting of, 58. 

Swinshaw, derivation of the name, 8. 



T. 



Tables: Baptist Denomination, 211; 
Annual Value, 227; Acreage, ih,; 
Population, 229 ; Births and Deaths, 
234 ; Woollen Trade, 291 ; Indus- 
trial and Provident Societies, 810 ; 
Elevations, 343. 

Taxation in the Eighteenth Century, 
109. 

Taylor, Richard, Ale-Taster for Ros- 
sendale, 140. 

Temperature of Rossendale Climate, 
233. 

Thieveley Pike, Beacon remains on, 
&c., 1, 16, 19, 20. 

Thrutoh, the, 6, 28, 271. 

Tim Bobbin, cited, 269. 

Tod Carr, 5. 

Tong, 76; Brook, 28; Baptist Chapel, 
211 ; Boggsrt, 272. 

Tonge End (near Whitworth) Rents 
time of Henry VIII., 71, 76. 

Tooter Hill, 5, 20, 28. 

Tottington, Manor of, 48. 

Tower Hill, 28. 

Townley MSB., cited, 60, 70. 

Towneley, Richard, and Edward 
Rawsthom, letter ofT respecting 
Titles to Copyhold Lands, 82. 

Townsend Fold, 28. 

Trawden, Forest or Chase of, 32, 47, 
48,55. 

Trinity Church, Holy, 192. " 

Trough, 72. 

Trout in Rossendale Streams, 5. 

Tunstead, 6, 28, 69 ; Church, 192. 

Tweedle, Benjamin, Incumbent of 
St. John's, Baoap» 189. 



History of RossendaU. 



UBBhott. [HogBhead], 72. 
Unitarian DenooiintttioD in Roaien- 
dale, 220. 

V. 

Vsloe. Annnal, of Rateable Property 
ia Bonsendalo, 227 i valae of land 
in Bouendale in 1445, 49. 

Teniion, explnnation of the term, 54. 

Vert, explanation of the term, 54, 

VenJorors or Tordurors, the Judgea of 
tlie Foroat Uourt'i. 51. 

Vertioal Strata in llonaendule, 310. 



Warden or Wardur, fit. 

Warrea. Beaats nnil FoitIb of, gl. 

Wapentake or Copyhold Landa i 



K»8 






Waterbirn llAjitisC Clmtxit, 211. 
Watertoot, 6, 8 ; Fit. Jnmrs's Church, 

194; liapligt Cliupul, 211. 
Water W.irka, BOB. 
" Watlinjt Strsot," Roninn nmd, 5. 
Wangh, Edwin, rufurunuea to ItoBSon- 

sendato, 2aS, 276. 
Wensel, 6. 
Welsh. John, Incumbent of New- 

church, llil. 
Wesley, John, riaite to Roitieiidatc, 

217, 2C6. 
Whalley Abbey, 87, 41, 45, 48, 65, 71, 

74, 79, 1 18. 
WUMker, Dr., citod, 4, 6, 9, 24, 26, 

67. 



WbiteBeld, Qeorge, visits to BosMn. 

dnle, 266. 
Whitelieud, the BroiberB, Bawten- 

Btall, 298. 
Whitewell Biver, 25, 28. 
Whitworth, 71. 

Wild Animals in the Foreil, 2, 3, 4, S. 
WilkioMn, F.B.A.S., T. T., cited, 10. 
Will of Sir George Oregoiy, Prieati, 

162. 
Williams on Ileal Property, oited, 75. 
" Witohing Hoile," Baonp, 270, 
Witohoraft in Rosiondale, 272. 
Wizard, a Nowohnroh, 273. 
Wnir, nanies hBring referenee to the, 8. 
Wolfendon, 3, 69, 70 ; Wolfenden 

Booth. S, 69, 70. 
Wolfatoncs, 3. 
Woi>dniute or Attaohment, one of the 

Forest Courts, S*. 
Wooilnards or Woodreeres, 64, 
WuiUea Trado in Bosseadale, 883; 

prt'sont fltatc of the, 291. 
Wooloombing, 2S9. 
Worlthous" Aoconnta, eicerpts from, 

for 1734.6, 137. 



Vate and Pickup Bank, S ; Annaal 
Value, 227 i Acreage, iii. ; Popula- 



Zion Baptist Chapel, Baonp, ill. 



X^, 




List of Subscribers. 



The following is a list of Subscribers to the present edition of 
" The History of the Forest of Rossendale," as received up to 
October 20th, 1893, the date on which the list was closed : — 

Allen, John, 24, Queensberry Road, Burnley. 

Anderson, Geo., C.E., 3Sa, Great George Street, Westminster. 

Appleby, Arthur, Enfield, near Accrington. 

AsHWORTH, E., J.R, Staghills, Waterfoot. 

Ashworth, Mrs., Lea Bank, Cloughfold. 

Ashworth, George, Bridge End House, Waterfoot. 

Ashworth, Richard, Ashlands, Newchurch (two copies). 

Ashworth, John, Holt Mill, Waterfoot. 

Ashworth, Robert, St James' Terrace, Waterfoot. 

Ashworth, Richard, Constablelee, Rawtenstall 

Ashworth, S. O., Gaghills Terrace, Waterfoot. 

Ashworth, A., Silver Street, Bury. 

Ashworth, Richard, 127, Rochdale Road, Bacup. 

Ashworth, G. W., Woodleigh Bank, Waterfoot 

Ashworth, Thos., Manager, Millgate & Facit Co., near Rochdale. 

Ashworth, William, West View, Cloughfold. 

Ashworth, John, 2, Marsden Street, Haslingden. 

Ashworth, Henry, Helmshore. 

Ashworth, Andrew, 25, Plantation Street, Stacksteads. 

Ashworth, John, Millfield House, Thorn Hill, RawtenstalL 

Ashworth, R., Millend, Newchurch. 

Ashworth, Miss Emily, Hollin Bank, Newchurch. 

Ashworth, John Edward, 186, Newchurch Road, Stacksteads. 

Ashworth, S., 5, Victoria Street Cloughfold. 

Ashworth, James, Ash Terrace, Bacup. 

Ashworth, Moses, 16, Spring Gardens, Dean. 

Ashworth, Edward, Spring Gardens, Dean. 

Ashworth, Robert, Shadlock House, Whitewell Bottom. 

Ashworth, Lawrence, Forest Holme Terrace, Forest Holme. 

AsHTON, R., Librarian, Free Library and Museum, Blackburn. 

AsTLEY, Councillor James, Newchurch Road, Stacksteads. 

BuccLEUCH AND Queensberry, His Grace the Duke of, 

Drumlanrig Castle, Thomhill, Dumfriesshire, &c 
Bacup Mechanics' Institution (two copies). 
Bacup Co-operative Society (seven copies). 



354 History of RossendaU. 

Barlow, R., Lodge View, Ramsbottom. 

Barlow, Alice, Hall Carr, Rawtenstall. 

Barlow, Josiah, Ansdell, Lytham. 

Barlow, Thomas, The Mount, Edenfield. 

Barnes, John, Victoria Hall, Queensbury. 

Barnes, Henry, Senior, Cawl Terrace, Cloughfold. 

Barnes, William, 144, Bacup Road, Hareholme. 

Barnes, Councillor Henry, Thornfield, Waterfoot. 

Baron, James, 10, Baron Fold, Waterfoot. 

Baron, William Henry, Dale Bank, Bacup. 

Balmer, J. E., Cheetham Hill, Manchester. 

Barton, John, Gas Works, Peterborough. 

Barrett, James, 51, Bank Street, Rawtenstall. 

Bailey, John W., Hawthorn House, Crawshawbooth. 

Bax, R., Ethelbert House, Rawtenstall. 

Bentley, Councillor Arthur F., Bury TimeSt Bury. 

Bentley, John, Cambridge Road, Southport (two copies). 

BiRTWELL, Councillor George, Bank Street, Rawtenstall, 

BiRTWELL, William Henry, 25, Bank Street, Rawtenstall. 

BiRTWisTLE, Alderman Alfred, 13, Thorn Bank, Crawshawbooth. 

BiRTWiSTLE, Councillor George, Cowpe, Waterfoot (two copies). 

BiRTWiSTLE, Robert, Bank Villa, Laneside, Haslingden. 

BiRTWiSTLE, James Henry, Deardengate, Hashngden. 

BiNNS, J. W., Highfield, Crawshawbooth. 

Blackley Co-operative Society, Limited. 

Blaney, Wm. H., Warner Street, Haslingden. 

Bloomley, M. W., Plantation View, Brooksbottoms. 

Bolton, H. Hargreaves, J. P., Newchurch. 

Bolton, R. H., Mill End, Newchurch. 

Bond, John Thomas, 74, Manchester Road, Nelson. 

Bond, Luke, Bank Street, Rawtenstall. 

Booth, A., 23, St. James Street, Bacup. 

Booth, Mrs., Regent Street, Haslingden. 

Booth, James, Ivy Cottage, Manchester Road, Burnley. 

Bogle, Robert, Atlas House, Darwen. 

BoococK, James, Blackthorn House, Bacup. 

Braddock, James, Radcliffe. 

Braddock, Joseph, 72, Windsor Road, Oldham. 

Bramwell, J. H., Bridgeholme, Gargave-in-Craven. 

Brindle, Geo., J.P., Westwood, Darwen. 

Brierley, Richard, Ashworth Arms, Cloughfold. 

Briggs, VValter, 4, Leamington Place, Blackburn. 

Bridge, G., Oak Bank, Rawtenstall. 

Brown, John, M.D., Vict, Burwood House, Bacup. 

Brown, J. W., Queen's Hotel, Rawtenstall 

Brown, V., Rochdale Road, Bury. 



List of Subscribers. 355 

Brown, Henry, 165, Rochdale Road, Bacup. 
Brooks, Joseph R., Gordon Works, Waterfoot 
Brooks, S. H., Slade House, Levenshulme, Manchester. 
Brotherton, George, Tennis Street, Burnley. 
Buckley, Thomas, Spring Terrace, Lumb. 
Buckley, Wm. H., Blackthorn Gardens, Bacup. 
Buckley, Richard, Gordon Street, Rawtenstall. 
Burnley Co-operative Society. 
Burrow, Jos., J. P., Agincourt, Bury. 
Bury Co-operative Society. 
Bury ATHENiEUM. 
Butler, Samuel, 43, Denton Street, Bury. 



Butterworth, 
Butterworth, \ 



ohn, Crawshawbooth. 
Joseph, 2, Market Street, Bacup. 
Butterworth, Robert, 71, Bury Road, Rawtenstall. 
Byrom, James, J. P., Woolfold, Bury. 
Calvert, John, Forest Mill, Water. 
Cartwright, Joshua, C.E., Albion Place, Bury. 
Cartwright, Frank, Albion Place, Bury. 
Carus, Alexander, J. P., Hoddlesden, Darwen. 
Carr, T. S., II, Victoria Street, Haslingden. 
Cawl Terrace Co-operative Society. 
Chadderton, J., 22, Bacup Road, Rawtenstall. 
Chadderton, J. W., 4, Princess Street, Haslingden. 
Chalk, William, Bank Street, Rawtenstall. 
Chew, John, 4, Rock Street, Haslingden. 
Chrystal, Robert Scott, Davenham Villa, Urmston (two copies). 
Clarke, James, Hillside House, Rawtenstall. 
Clegg, James, Aldine Press, Rochdale (two copies). 
Clegg, Councillor Robert, Dale Street, Bacup. 
Clegg, Thomas, Springside, Rawtenstall. 
Clegg, James, Milnrow Road, Rochdale. 
Clegg, Councillor Maden, Primrose Bank, Stacksteads. 
CoATES, George, Carr Mount, Rawtenstall. 
CocKCROFT, John, 302, Newchurch Road, Stacksteads. 
Cocker, James, J.P. (Mayor of Darwen), Woodlands View, Darwen. 
CocKRiLL, Mark, Rossendale House, Bacup. 
CocKROFT, G. S., Post Office, Waterfoot. 
Colbert, Thomas, Hannah Street, Bacup. 
CoLLiNGE, Alderman T., Haslingden. 
Co^LiNGE, John, 29, Park Street, Haslingden. 
CoLLiNGE, Jesse, Greenbooth, Rochdale. 

Compston, Councillor S., 11, Underwood Terrace, Crawshawbooth. 
Cooper, Arthur J., Dale Street, Bacup. 
CosTEKER, Chas., Town Clerk, Darwen. 
Coupe, Thomas, Bank Street, Rawtenstall. 



356 History of Ross$ndale. 

Crabtree, J., Ewood Court, Mytholmroyd. 

Crabtree, John, 4, Hamer Terrace, Brooksbottoms. 

Crankshaw, James, 30, Bridleway Bottom, Newchurch. 

Crawshawbooth Co-operative Society (two copies). 

Cronshaw, William, Clough Bridge, near Burnley. 

Crook, T. M., Stanley Grange, Hoghton. 

Crook, William, 29, Abingdon Street, Blackpool. 

Cropper, Abraham, Plantation House, Water. 

Cropper, James, 12, Spring Gardens, Dean. 

Cropper, John, Goodshaw Chapel. 

Cropper, Peter John, Thome, Bacup. 

Cryer, Thomas, Loveclough. 

Cunliffe, T. H., Rochdale. 

CuNLiFFE, Edward, J.P., C.C, Hazlehurst, Ramsbottom. 

Cunliffe, Thomas, 33, Co-operation Street, Bacup. 

Cunliffe, Arthur Richard, Portsmouth, near Todmorden. 

CuLPAN, Spencer, Holme Bank, Rawtenstall. 

Devonshire, His Grace the Duke of, Chatsworth, Derbyshire. 

Dale, John, Mill Manager, Stubbins. 

Davies, E. M., J.P., Darwen. 

Davies, Rev. W. Collins, B.A., Cloughfold. 

Darwen Co-operative Library. 

Dean, J. G., Helmcroft, Helmshore. 

Dean, Thomas, M.D., Burnley. 

Dearden, James, loveclough. 

Dearden, Arthur, 39, Cross Street, Haslingden. 

Dearden, Robert, 635, Pleasant View, near Accrington. 

Dewhurst, Elizabeth Alice, Townsend Fold, Rawtenstall. 

Dewhurst, G. H., 55, Market Street, Edenfield. 

Dickenson, Arthur, 29, Market Street, Bacup. 

DiLwoRTH, W., Villa Newton, Goss Flottbeck, Hamburg, Germany. 

Disley, Alderman Thomas, Knot Hill House, Stacksteads. 

Doxey, Rev. J. S., Bacup. 

Duckworth, J., Accrington. 

Duckworth, Alderman G., York Street, Crawshawbooth. 

Duckworth, James, Rochdale. 

Dugdale, Joseph, Claremont, Blackburn. 

Eastwood, Edmund Taylor, Bury Road, Rawtenstall. 

Eastwood, J. H., Manchester and County Bank, Bacup. . 

Eastwood, Chas, 126, Litherland Road, N., Bootle. 

Eastwood, James, 61, Greengate Street, Oldham. 

Eatough, Oliver, Gaghills, Waterfoot 

Ecroyd, William, J.P., Lomeshaye House, Nelson. 

Ecroyd, Edward, J. P., Edgend, Nelson. 

Eccles, Joseph, J. P., Oldfield, Darwen. 

Edward, Dr., Bank House, Rawtenstall. 



List of Subscribers. 357 

Ediiokdson, a. J., Market Street, Edenfield. 

Ediiondson, F.y Yarraville, Melbourne, Australia. 

Edmondson, Mrs., Duke of Buccleuch Hotel, Waterfoot 

Ellerbeck, J., Fletcher Bank, near Bury. 

Elliott, Joseph W., 9, Marsden Street, Bury. 

Elliot, William Hulme, Woodhill, Ramsbottom. 

Ellis, R., 17, Bold Street, Bacup. 

Emmett, R. H., Post Office, Lumb. 

Emmett, Thomas, Edenfield. 

Entwistle, J. E., 14, Bank Street, RawtenstalL 

Evans, E., Fern Bank, Haslingden. 

Eyre, J. W., Woodleigh, Waterfoot. 

Faed, Thos., R.A., 24A, Cavendish Road, St. John's Wood, London. 

Falconer, Rev. John, Tunstead Vicarage, Stacksteads. 

Fairbourn, E. H., Bank Street, Rawtenstall (three copies). 

Fenton, John, Spring Terrace, Tottington. 

Fenton, J. T., Rosehill, HasHngden. 

Fletcher, John R., Withnall Road, Blackpool. 

Forrest, Councillor T. W. A., 477, Bolton Road, Darwen. 

Forrest, Hannah, Spring Vale Terrace, Darwen. 

FouLDS, Aaron, Hawthorn Hill, Bacup. 

Franklin-Hindle, James, C.C, Birkdale, Southport. 

Free Public Library, Darwen. 

Freeman, Edward, Bury Road, Haslingden. 

Gladstone, Right Hon. W. E., Hawarden Castle, Flintshire. 

Gaskell, Wm., 66, Boothfold, Newchurch. 

Gaukroger, Benj., Hill Street, Brooksbottoms. 

Gendall, W. H. S., Manager, Gas Department, Bury. 

Gibson, G. Fred. H., Kersal Bank, Higher Broughton. 

GiLLiBRAND, J. W., J. P., Earlsfield, Darwen. 

GiNNS, Wm., Lyreden Road, London, S.W. 

Goldsmith, Frederick W., 14, Ash Street, Bacup. 

Graham, Thomas, Cloughfold. 

Gray, Councillor, Crawshawbooth. 

Gray, Hy., 47, Leicester Square, London, W.C. (two copies). 

Gray, James, Old Bank Road, Mirfield. 

Greaves, James, Rose Hill, Crawshawbooth. 

Greaves, William, Oak House, Bacup. 

Green, H. S,, Lloyd Street, Greenheys. 

Greenoff, Rd., 8, Wesley Place, Bacup. 

Grbenoff, H., Edgeside-holme, Newchurch. 

Greenwood, B., 46, Tythebarn Street, Darwen. 

Greenwood, James, Spring Bank, Rawtenstall. 

Greenwood, Ralph, Marsden House, Haslingden. 

Greenwood, Alderman D., J.P., Lane Ends House, Bacup. 



■•*'VL 



358 History of Rossendale. 

Greenwood, Rev. R., Vicar, St. Paul's, Westleigh. 
Greenwood, Wm., Park View, Currier Lane, Ashton-under-Lyne. 
Greenwood, Josiah, 2, Whitefield Terrace, Townley, Burnley. 
Greenwood, Paul, Market Street, Bacup. 



Greenwood, 
Greenwood, 



L., 38, Market Street, Bacup. 
OHN, Ormerod Buildings, Water. 
Greenwood, George, Spring Garden Cottages, Dean. 
Gregory, Joseph A., County Bank, Rawtenstall. 
Gregory, James, Manchester Road, Burnley. 
Gregory, Josiah, 22, Spring Gardens, Dean. 
Gregory, Rd., North Street, Water. 

Gregson, Wm., Astley Bank, Scarisbrick New Road, Southport 
Gregson, Jos., Rawcliffe Street, Blackpool. 
Grimshaw, Mrs., Blackburn Road, Haslingden. 
Grover, Henry LI, Clydach Court, Pontypridd. 
Grundy, Robert, 321, Walmersley Road, Bury. 
Guest, W. H., Arlington Place, Manchester. 
Hacking, W. H., Heathfield, Whitefield. 
Hall, Robert, 3, Union Square, Bury. 
Hall, R., 108, Walmersley Road, Bury. 
Hall, E., 2, Dale Street, Bacup. 
Hallard, Walter, St. Anne's Street, Manchester. 
Halliwell, John, J. P., Laburnum House, Bury. 
Halstead, Henry, 22, Bank Street, Rawtenstall. 
Halstead, Miss Viva, 22, Bank Street, Rawtenstall. 
Halstead, William, 8, Rock Terrace, Crawshawbooth. 
Halstead, John, Railway Inn, Waterfoot. 
Halstead, James S., 62, Church Street, Newchurch. 
Halston, William, i, Hamer Terrace, Brooksbottoms. 
Hamer, Edwin, J.P„ Brae Side Villas, Blackburn. 
Hamer, Abner, Greenbank Cottages, Cloughfold. 
Hamer, John, Crawford Street, Rochdale. 
Hamer, Richard, Myrtle Villa, Forest Holme. 
Hamilton, Councillor T. B., J. P., Ryefield, Haslingden (twocopies). 
Hanson, Benjamin, Brewer, Oldham. 
Hardaker, Henry, 63, Bath Street, Southport. 
Hardman, Richard, J. P., Cliffe Tower, Rawtenstall. 
Hardman, Captain George, J. P., Alder Grange, Rawtenstall. 
Hardman, H. Cunliffe, Prospect Villas, Newchurch. 
Hardman, George, Whitewell Bottom, Newchurch. 
Hardman, James S., Cloughfold. 
Hardman, William, 53, Callender Street, Ramsbottonu 
Hardman, Alderman Edwin, Stacksteads. 
Hargreaves, Richard, Gladstone Buildings, Bacup. 
Hargreaves, D., 17, Market Street, Bacup. 
Hargreaves, John, J.P., Greensnook House, Bacup. 



List of Subscribers. 359 

Hargrbaves, Miss, Regent Street, Haslingden. 

Hargreaves, Richard, C.C, Holmes House, Rawtenstall. 

Hargreaves, J. HowARTH, Bacup. 

Hargreaves, R. Hardman, Bacup. 

Hargreaves, Alexander, Woodleigh, Waterfoot. 

Hargreaves, John, Leebrook Foundry, Rawtenstall (two copies). 

Hargreaves, Elijah, Fleece Hotel, Bradshawgate, Bolton. 

Hargreaves, John, 83, New Line, Britannia. 

Hargreaves, Richard, Robin Road, Summerseat. 

Hargreaves, Carey, 3, Bacup Road, Waterfoot (two copies). 

Hargreaves, George, Townsend Street, Waterfoot. 

Hargreaves, John Willie, Ivy Cottage, Water. 

Hargreaves, Alfred, Parrock, Lumb. 

Hargreaves, Wm., Pippin Bank Mill, Bacup. 

Harling, Joseph, 6, Derby Terrace, Rawtenstall. 

Harris, Dr., Bacup. 

Harrison, W., 402, Rochdale Road, Britannia. 

Hartley, Albert, 51, Pleasant View, Rawtenstall. 

Hartley, John, Phillips Town, Whitewell Bottom. 

Hartley, John Thomas, Nelson Square, Burnley. 

Haslingden Industrial Co-operative Society (two copies). 

Haslingden Road Sunday School Library. 

Ha WORTH, J. E., Springside House, Rawtenstall (three copies). 

Haworth, James, J.P., Spring Mount, Bacup (two copies). 

Haworth, W. H., 8, Industrial Cottages, Cloughfold. 

Haworth, James, 10, High Field, off York Street, Crawshawbooth. 

Haworth, Rd. J., 22, Beehive Cottages, Rawtenstall. 

Haworth, Hargreaves, Green Hill, Bacup. 

Haworth, Haworth, Grane Road, Haslingden. 

Haworth, Hardacre, 12, Ormerod Street, Rawtenstall. 

Haworth, John William, Annis View, Lumb. 

Haworth, John, Foresters' Buildings, Forest Holme. 

Haworth, Messrs. L., & Son, Rossendale House, Newchurch. 

Hay, James Kerr, Fairfield, Haslingden. 

Head, J., L.D.S., Millgate, Facit. 

Heap, Albert, 39, Burnley Road, Crawshawbooth. 

Heap, Moses, 3, Adelaide Street, Crawshawbooth. 

Heap, William Henry, Higher Cloughfold. 

Heap, John, The Crescent, St. Anne's-on-the-Sea. 

Henry & Henry, Deardengate, Haslingden. 

Hepworth, J., C.E., 18, Chatsworth Square, Carlisle. 

Hey, Clement, Spring Gardens, Dean. 

Heys, Henry, junr., Rakehead, Stacksteads. 

Heywood Co-operative Library. 

Heywood, Abel, 56 and 58, Oldham Street, Manchester. 

Heyworth, Rev. R., 8, Wood Lea Bank, Waterfoot 



3eo 



History of Rossendale. 



Heyworth, John H., 15, Park Street, HasUngden. 

Hevworth, Jas. Alfred, Cedar Bank, Newchurch. 

Heyworth, John, 17, Hartley Street, Bacup. 

Heyworth, James, Kiln Terrace, Stacksteads. 

Heyworth, James, Sunnybanfc, Bacup, 

Heyworth, John R., Park Mill, Britannia. 

HiBBERT, Rev. J. A, v., M..\, 117, York Place, Harpurhey. 

HiCGiN, John, i8. Ash Terrace, Bacup, 

HiGSOK, Thomas, Ivy Mount, Loveclough. 

Higson, Samuel, 12, Wood Bank, Helmshore. 

Hilton, W. H., 29, Bootle Street, Manchester. 

HiNDLE, Thomas, Sciiofield Road, Rawtenstall. 

HiNDLE, James Franklin, C.C, Birkdale, Southport 

HiNMEKS, Ea, St. Arnold's, Broad Oak Park, VVorsley (four copies). 

Hirst, J. H., Whitewell Bottom, Waterfoot. 

HoBSON, Samuel, Ivy Cottage, Rawtenstall. 

Holden, WitLfAM, Bank Street, Rawtenstall. 

HoLLiDAY, Rev. E., The Vicarage, Cloughfold, 

Holmes, Jos. P., 22, Regent Street, Bacup. 

Holt, Thomas, Schofield Road, Rawtenstall. 

Holt, John, Swan Hotel, Haslingden. 

Holt, Edgar, jg, Bank Street, Rawtenstall. 

Holt, Richard, Calder Lea, .Avondale Road, Southport. 

Holt, John, 5, Todmorden Road, Bacup. 

Holt, Albert, Rawtenstall. 

Holt, Crowther, Ijne Ends, Bacup. 

Holt, James, Sunnybank, Newchurch. 

HORNE, W. H., Queen's Buildings, Rawtenstall 

Hornsbv, Frank, Rossendale Villa, Lymm (two copies). 

Horsfall, John, F.C.S., Plantation House, Cloughfold. 

Howarth, Thomas, 9, Old Road, Stacksteads. 

HowORTH, George, 41, Whitewell Terrace, Waterfoot. 

HowoRTH, Richard, 13, Stanley Street, Bacup. 

HovLE, Joshua, junr., J. P., Bankside, Bacup. 

Hoyle, William, 336, Sykeside, Haslingden, 

HOYLE, Edward, J. P., Moorlands, Bacup (two copies). 

HoVLE, W. T., Irwell House, Rawtenstall. 

Hoyle, Caleb, Todmorden. 

HoYLE, Joshua T., Thorn, Bacup. 

Hoyle, Joseph, 17, Bank Street, Rawtenstall. 

HoYLE, Parker, and Co,, Piercy Mill, Newchurch. 

Hudson, Eli, Bombay, India. 

Hunt, Charles J., A.C.O., St. Mary's Terrace, Rawtenstall. 

Hunt, Henry, Headmaster National Schools, Rawtenstall 

Huntington, C.P., M.P., Asttey Bank, Darwen (two copies). 

Ibbotson, Geo., Smith Brook, Chapel-en-lc- Frith. 



List of Subscribers. 361 

Irving, D., Stapleton Gasworks, Bristol. 
IsHERWOOD, T., B.A., University School, Southport. 
Jackson, J. Brood, c/o Bentley & Jackson, Ironfounders, Bury. 
Jackjson, Wm. Smith, 181, Clough Road, Sheffield. 
Jackson, Samuel, 10, Kensington Road, Douglas. 

ACKSON, Thomas, 5, Wheatholme Cottages, Cloughfold. 

ACKSON, T. E., M.A., Head Master, Grammar School, Newchurch. 

AMES, C. H., 4, Derby Road, Burton-on-Trent. 

EPSON, John E., Park Lodge, Feniscowles, near Blackburn. 

EPSON, Nathaniel, Sudell Road, Darwen. 

ONES, Chas. Edwin, C.E., Water and Gas Offices, Chesterfield. 
Kay, Jacob, 64, Bolton Road, Pendleton. 
Kay, James, 192, Walmersley Road, Bury. 
Kay, James, 10, Bacup Road, Rawtenstall. 
KLay, Richard, 3, Hamer Terrace, Brooksbottoms (two copies). 
Kay, Robert, 22, Manchester Road, Bury. 
Kemp, W. H., 9, Bury Road, Haslingden (two copies). 
Kenyon, James, J. P., VValshaw Hall, Bury (four copies). 
Kenyon, Captain Arthur, Brynbella, Rawtenstall (two copies). 
Kenyon, John, Brynbella, Rawtenstall (two copies). 
Kenyon, Ernest C., Rose Bank, Rawtenstall. 
Kenyon, Joseph, Larbreck, near Garstang. 
KiDD, William, Bishop Blaize Hotel, Rawtenstall. 
King, Samuel, 12, Dorset Street, Hulme. 
Kitching, C. R., 29, Travers Street, Burnley. 
Klein, Rev. P., St. James' Rectory, Rawtenstall. 
Knott, Oliver, Victoria Park, Manchester. 
Landless, William, Clowbridge, near Burnley. 
Lane, Rev. J., St. Mary's Church, Bacup. 
Law, Herbert, VVoodleigh Bank, Waterfoot 
Law, Ashworth, The Square, Newchurch. 
Law, Richard, Springside, Reedsholme. 
Law, I. J., Willow House, Waterfoot. 
Law, Richard, Meadows Farm, Water. 
Law, Edward, 26, Farmer's Grove, Water. 
Laycock, John, Quarry House, near Keighley. 
Leach, J. F., 39, Belgrave Road, Darwen. 
Lee, Robert, 8, Hill Street, Brooksbottoms. 
Lee, L. B., 33, George Street, Manchester. 
Leah, Albert, 12, Manchester Road, Haslingden. 
Leake, Robert, M.P., Lockers Hemel, Hempstead. 
Leaver, Thomas, Fearn Holme, Prestwich. 
Ledsham, James B., 10, Corporation Street, Manchester (two copies). 
Levell, James W., Bank Street, Rawtenstall. 
Lewis, EpHraim, Myrtle Grove, Hareholme. 
Lightbown, T., B.A., C.A., J.P., Falcon House, Darwen. 



^i . • . 



362 History of Rossendale. 

LocKETT, Rev. F. H., M.A., Lumb Vicarage, Rossendale. 
LoMAS, Rev. George, The Vicarage, Helmshore. 
Lonsdale, James, Albert Street, Hareholme. 
Lonsdale, James, Church Street, Newchurch. 
Lonsdale, Mark, Church Street, Newchurch. 
Lord, Richard, Sunnybank House, Rawtenstall (two copies). 
^ Lord, Alderman William, Cowpe. 
Lord, Albert, Nabb Farm, Lumb. 
Lord, Sam, Newchurch. 
Lord, Willie, Professor of Music, Bacup. 
Lord, David, Daisy Cottage, Stacksteads. 
Lord, J. H., The Mount, Stacksteads. 
Lord, J. T., Gaghills, Waterfoot 
Lord, Lawrence, Rockliffe Bank, Bacup. 
Lord, James, 4, Ash Street, Bacup. 
Lord, Edmund, Belmont, Rawtenstall. 
Lord, Richard, Isle of Man Street, Forest Holme. 
Lord, Edward, Albion Street, Burnley. 
Love, William A., Bacup Road, Rawtenstall. 
Lumb Baptist School Library. 
LuPTON Bros., Manchester Road, Burnley. 
LuPTON, Benjamin, Cumberland Place, Burnley. 
LuPTON, Joseph Townend, 7, Carlton Road, Burnley. 
LuPTON, Arthur, Holly Mount, Burnley. 
LuPTON, Albert, Holme View, Burnley. 
LuPTON, William, Trafalgar House, Burnley. 
Maden, J. H., M.P., Rockliffe House, Bacup. 
Maden, Councillor Henry, Prospect Villas, Newchurch. 
Maden, J., 60, Blackpool Terrace, Waterfoot. 
Maden, W. H., L.D.S., Bury Road, Rawtenstall 
Maden, T., Chapel Street, Crawshawbooth. 
Maden, Richard, 14, Spring Gardens, Dean. 
Manchester Free Public Library. 
Marsden, John, 182, Rose Bank, New Line, Bacup. 
Marshall, James, junr., Stacksteads. 
Mather, Rev. J. Marshall, Oakley Manse, Rawtenstall. 
Mather, John H., Godalming, Surrey. 
Mayor, Mrs., Newchurch, Rossendale. 
McGuiRE, James, Deardengate, Haslingden. 
McLerie, John, i 2, Heys Street, Cloughfold. 
McLerie, Samuel, Holt Holme Mill, Waterfoot. 
Mlad. Daniel, Waterfoot. 
MucER. Thomas, Great Hey, Edenfield. 
itrcisTOX. George, Poppythom, Prestwich. 
:z:gl2T. Cocndllor S., Market Street, Bacup. 

97. Rochdale Road, Bacup. 



List of Subscribers. 363 

MiDGLEY, James, 41, Rockliffe Terrace, Bacup. 

MiLLiGAN, William, Queen's Terrace, RawtenstalL 

Mills, William, Ivy Cottage, Waterfoot. 

Mitchell, J. W., Woodleigh, Cloughfold. 

Mitchell, Robert, 14, Marchhall Road, Edinburgh. 

Mitchell, Colonel, Rosslyn, The Downs, Wimbledon. 

Mitchell, J., Greensnook, Bacup. 

Mitchell, C, Station Master, Rawtenstall. 

Mitchell, R. J. C, Springfield House, Waterfoot. 

Mitchell, James, Constablelee, Rawtenstall. 

Mitchell, Milton, 5, Rose Mount, Newchurch. 

Monk, Josiah, C.C, Brookfoot, Padiham. 

Monks, Fred, Fir Trees, Bacup. 

Monks, James, 47, Rockliffe Terrace, Bacup. 

Moore, Peter, Queen's Buildings, Rawtenstall. 

MooRHOUSE, Fred R., Kingston Mount, Didsbury. 

Morgan, Rev. William, Ormerod Street, Rawtenstall. 

Mould, Edward J., 70, Bank Street, Rawtenstall (three copies). 

Mould, John E., 43, Springside, RawtenstalL 

Moulds, E. J., 70, Bank Street, Rawtenstall. 

MuRGATROVD, Harry, Rose Bank, Prestwich. 

Neill, R., Spring Bank, Sharpies, Bolton. 

Neill, J. C, Deardengate, Haslingden. 

Nelson Co-operative Society. 

Nichols, A. F., Manchester Road, Haslingden. 

Noble, The Misses, Oakley, Rawtenstall. 

NoRRis, Rev. J., M.A., The Vicarage, Rawtenstall. 

North, D. L., 49, Pleasant View, Rawtenstall. 

NuTTALL, James, Park View, Walmersley Road, Bury. 

NuTTALL, Francis James, 4, Charles Street, Darwen. 

NuTTALL, J. W., Kay Street, Rawtenstall. 

NuTTALL, R. W., Storncliffe, Rawtenstall. 

NuTTALL, J. H., Gaghills, Waterfoot. 

NuTTALL, Lewis, Scoutbottom, Waterfoot. 

NuTTALL, John, 63, Briercliffe Road, Burnley Lane, Burnley. 

NuTTALL, John, North Street, Water. 

NuTTALL, James Adam, Terra Cotta Buildings, Culvert. 

Nutter, H., Bank Street, Rawtenstall. 

Oddie, Truman W., Bacup Road, RawtenstalL 

Oddie, Miss L. E., Bacup Road, Rawtenstall. 

Ogden, James, 143, Rochdale Road, Bacup (two copies). 

Ogden, W. J. H., 143, Rochdale Road, Bacup. 

Oldham Free Public Library. 

Ormerod, J. P., Castleton, near Manchester. 

Ormerod, Miss, Brookland House, Higher Cloughfold. 

Ormerod, Richard, Brookland Cottage, Higher Cloughfold. 



364 History of Rossendale. 

Ormerod, Peter, 3, Co-operation Street, Bacup. 

Ormerod, Abraham, 21, Co-operation Street, Bacup. 

Ormerod, T. L., Green Mount, Bury. 

OvEREND, Rev. F., Blackthorn House, Bacup. 

Overstall, VV. J., Rawtenstall. 

Palmer, J. E., i, Strasburg Buildings, VVaterfoot. 

Parker, Thomas, 45, Lower Mosley Street, Manchester 

Parker, J. H., Poplar Grove, Crawshawbooth. 

Parker, Richard Albert, i i, Albert Terrace, Crawshawbooth. 

Parkinson, Herbert W., Rawtenstall. 

Parkinson, J. T., 4, Schofield Road, Rawtenstall. 

Paterson, T. O., Gas Works, Birkenhead. 

Patrick, Captain Charles, Cloughfold. 

Pearson, Thomas, Parramatta Street, Rawtenstall. 

Peebles, D. B., Tay House, Bonnington, Edinburgh. 

Peel, Roger, Highfield House, Walmersley Road, Bury. 

Peel, John, 21, Victoria Street, Cloughfold. 

Pickup, Edward, Springside House, Lumb-in-Rossendale. 

Pickup, William, Britannia, Bacup. 

Pickup, Richard, 44, Smith Street, Trafford Road, Salford. 

Pickup, Edwin, Bacup Road, Rawtenstall. 

Pickup, John, 18, Beech Street, Brook sbottoms. 

Pickup, James, Hope View, Edenfield. 

Pickup, J. H., 104, Newchurch Road, Bacup. 

Pickup, George, Spencer Street, Crawshawbooth. 

Pickup, John Scott, Helmshore. 

Pickup, James, East View, Water. 

Pickup, John, Osborne Terrace, Whitewell Bottom. 

PiLKiNGTON, Samuel, 15, Rochdale Road, Bury. 

PiLKiNGTON, Wm. Edward, 2, Garden Street, Brooksbottoms. 

PiLKiNGTON, Joseph, 73, Bank Street, Rawtenstall. 

Pilling, John, Market Place, Waterfoot. 

Pilling, Councillor James, Larkhill, Bacup. 

Pilling, James, Market Street, Bacup. 

Pilling, Alderman J. H., Fair View, Rawtenstall. 

Pilling, Thomas, 3, Woodbank, Helmshore. 

Pilling, W., Baptist Minister, Ulverston. 

Pilling, James, 28, St. James' Street, Bacup. 

Pilling, James, Todmorden Road, Bacup (two copies). 

Place, W. H., J. P., Ashleigh, Darwen. 

Platt, Robert, Duven Strasse, Nulfort, Germany. 

Porritt, H., St. Anne's-on-the-Sea, 

Porritt, W. J., J. P., C.C., Tor Side, Helmshore. 

Priestley, L. J., St. James Street, Bacup. 

Priestley, 8, Glen View, Lylesland, Paisley. 

Proctor, Richard, Oak Mount, Burnley. 



List of Subscribers. 365 

Proctor, John, 45, Rectory Road, Bumley. 

Radcliffe, R. C, Balderston, Blackburn. 

Ramsbottom, Joshua, Oak Street, Rawtenstall. 

Ramsbottom, J. W., 7, Crawshaw Buildings, Rawtenstall. 

Ramsbottom, Councillor J.R., Crawshawbooth. 

Rankine, Oswald Barclay, Royal Hotel, Waterfoot 

Ratcliffe, James, 13, Market Street, Bacup. 

Rawlinson, Rowland, C.C, Claremont Park, Blackpool 

Rawsthorne, J., 240, Blackburn Road, Haslingden. 

Rawtenstall Industrial Co-operative Society. 

Richardson, Phillip, Millend, Newchurch. 

RiGBY, Thomas, 120, Spring Street, Bury. 

Riley, George, 92, Newchurch Road, Bacup. 

Riley, Hollows, 92, Newchurch Road, Bacup. 

Riley, George, Junr., 20, Blackwood Road, Stacksteads. 

Roberts, Henry, 36, Lee Road, Bacup. 

Rochdale Equitable Pioneers* Co-operative Society. 

Rochdale Free Public Library. 

RossENDALE LIBERAL Clubs' ASSOCIATION (ten copies). 

RoTHWELL, John, 4, Sough Road, Darwen. 

RoTHWELL, J. W., Brighton View, Newchurch. 

RoTHWELL, James, Royal Warehouse, Waterfoot 

RoTHWELL, Mrs. P. E., Fowlcoles House, Holcombe Brook. 

RoYDS, Mrs., 55, York Road, Birkdale, Southport. 

RusHTON, Thomas, 12, Industrial Cottages, Cloughfold. 

RusHTON, Mrs., Forest House, Newchurch. 

Sadler, C. E., 8, Well Bank, Haslingden. 

Sagar, William, 232, Piper Bank, Edgeside, Newchurch, 

Salmon, Alderman H., J. P., Sand field, (Mayor of Bacup). 

Scarr, W. H., 19, Sunny View, Crawshawbooth. 

ScHOFiELD, G. W. Law-, New Hall Hey, Rawtenstall (six copies). 

Schofield, Henry, 44, Irwell Terrace, Cloughfold. 

IScHOFiELD, Councillor Sagar, Scoutbottom, Newchurch. 

Schofield, E., L.D.S., R.C.S., Waterfoot. 

ScoTT, George Alderson, 70, Burnley Road, Bacup. 

Shaw, John Walker, Park Hill View, Bury. 

Shaw, Giles, 72, Manchester Street, Oldham. 

Shorrock, Robert, Belgrave Road, Darwen. 

Shorrock, John W., J. P., Longmarsh, Darwen. 

Sharples, James, West Lea, Haslingden. 

Sharples, John, Crawshawbooth. 

Sharples, Councillor R. O., Forest Bank, Crawshawbooth. 

Shepherd, John, 10, Esther Place, Bacup. 

Shepherd, Theodore, Regent Street, Bacup. 

Shuttleworth, James, Ash Terrace, Bacup (two copies). 

Shuttleworth, Miss, Stanley Street, Tunstall. 



.\ 



366 History of RossendaU. 

Shenton, Thomas, Goodshaw Chapel. 

Shutt, Thomas, Horncliffe, Blackburn. 

SiMPKiN, H., Derby Terrace, Heywood. 

SiMPKiN, Edmund, C.E., 9, Spring Street, Bury. 

Simpson, F. E., Cawl Terrace, Cloughfold. 

Simpson, Thomas, Manchester Road, Burnley. 

SiDEBOTTOM, WALTER, Market Street, Shawforth. 

Smalley, Henry, Mellor, near Blackburn. 

Smith, George Ashworth, Westbourne, Helmshore. 

Smith, Edwin, Bank Street, RawtenstalL 

Smith, Joshua, J. P., Arncliffe, Eccles. 

Smith, Thomas, Greenbank Lodge, RawtenstalL 

Smith, Councillor Ben, Bacup. 

Smith, E. W. B., 5, Haymarket Street, Bury. 

Smith, Allan, 100, Bury Road, Edenfield. 

Smith, Henry, Post Office, Edenfield. 

Smith, Henry, 95, Manchester Road, Haslingden. 

Southwell, Charles, Woodbine Cottage, Brooksbottoms. 

Sparks, Rev. G., Fearns Cottage, Stacksteads. 

Spencer, John Henry, F.G.S., 3, Mayor's Street, Crawshawbooth. 

Spencer, Rev. A., M.A., The Vicarage, Haslingden. 

Spencer, Samuel, Thorn Bank, Stacksteads, 

Stansfield, Wiluam, Mytholme, Waterfoot. 

Stansfield, James, Olive Terrace, Reedsholme, RawtenstalL 

Stansfield, Joseph, Tup Bridge, RawtenstalL 

Stansfield, C, 75, Peel Brow, Ramsbottom. 

Stansfield, Abraham, White well Terrace, Whitewell-bottom. 

Steele, Joseph Henry, 18, Chapel Terrace, Whitewell-bottom. 

Stephens, Patrick. Newchurch. 

Stewart, John, Rossendale Villa, Southix)rt. 

Stewart, Robert, Bacup. 

Stockdale, Councillor William, Rookhill, Stacksteads. 

Stonehouse, George, Queen's Buildings, RawtenstalL 

Stones, J. Herbert, Scarsgarth, Blackburn. 

Stott, John, Springfield Lodge, Haslingden. 

Stott, William J., M.D., Haslingden. 

SuGDEN, S., Waterfoot. 

SuGDEN, Dr. E., M.B., Ch.M., Greenfield House, Waterfoot 

SuGDEN, W. A., 319, Harrow Road, Paddington, W. 

SuDALL, Robert, 44, Railway Road, Darwen. 

Subscription Library, Bolton. 

SuTCLiFFE, Fred, Bank Terrace, Bacup. 

SuTCLiFFE, John, Hareholme. 

SuTCLiFFE, John, Junr., 3, Wheatholme Cottages, Cloughfold. 

SuTCLiFFE, Joseph, Linden Place, Haslingden 

SuTCLiFFE, W., Market Street, Bacup. 



List of Subscribers. 367 



SUTCLIFFE, 
SUTCLIFFE, 
SUTCUFFE, 



OHN, Ormerod Street, Rawtenstall. 

. W., C.E., 5, Norfolk Street, Manchester. 

AMES W., Lark Hill, Bacup. 
SuTCLiFFE, Miss, Agncw Street, Lytham. 
SuTCLiFFE, John Stansfield, Causeway End, Burnley. 
SwiNDLEHURST, J. E., C.E., Burton-upon-Trent. 
SwiNDALE, W., Rookhill, Stacksteads. 
Sykes, W., Providence House, Chesham, Bury. 
Tattersall, Mrs. E., 38, Prospect Hill, Rawtenstall. 
Tattersall, Henry, 59, Cateaton Street, Bury. 
Tattersall, Thomas, Pack Horse Inn, Boothfold. 
Taylor, J., Albion House, Rawtenstall. 
Taylor, Alex., St. Mary*s Place, Bury. 
Taylor, Mrs., Holmfield House, Rawtenstall. 
Taylor, John Crawshaw, Brownsville Road, Heaton Chapel. 
Taylor, George, Bank Street, Rawtenstall. 
Taylor, John, Bacup Road, Cloughfold. 
Taylor, Thomas, Oakfield, Wood Top, Rawtenstall. 
Taylor, John, 3, Fearns, Stacksteads. 
Taylor, Councillor Alexander, St. Mary's Place, Bury. 
Taylor, John, 6, Heywood Street, Bury. 
Taylor, Robinson, Railway Terrace, Rawtenstall. 
Taylor, James, Rose Bank, Rawtenstall. 
Taylor, Samuel, Edenfield. 
Taylor, Richard, Egypt Terrace, Rawtenstall. 
Taylor, William, 89, Holmes Terrace, Rawtenstall. 
Taylor, John, Stack Bank, Rawtenstall. 
Taylor, Arthur W., Bury Road, Rawtenstall. 
Taylor, David, Ash Cottages, Stacksteads. 
Taylor, Geo. Wm., hi, Earle Road, Edge Hill, Liverpool. 



Taylor, \ 
Taylor, ] 
Taylor, \ 



W., Gresham Street, Manchester. 

AMES, 2, Christ Church Street, Bacup. 

OHN, 12, Co-operation Street, Bacup. 
Thornley, John B., 24, Market Street, Darwen. 
Thompson, John, 50, Market Place, Blackburn. 
Thompson, Joseph, Broadclough Hall, Bacup. 
Thompson, Councillor William, 46, Bank Street, Rawtenstall. 
Thompson, Harry K., Glenville, Waterfoot. 
Thomas, Thomas, Laund House, Rawtenstall. 
TiTHERiNGTON, JOHN, 2, Manchester Road, Haslingden. 
ToMLiNSON, Henry, Well Bank, Haslingden. 
ToMLiNSON, Councillor W., 20, Ormerod Street, Rawtenstall. 
ToMLiNSON, Thomas, Gaghills Terrace, Waterfoot. 
ToMLiNSON, J., Union Street, Rawtenstall. 
TowNSEND, T. H., Carr House, Rawtenstall. 
Townsend, John, Brookfield, Rawtenstall. 



368 History of RossendaU, 

TowNsi^XD, Joshua, The Holme, RawtenstalL 

Towns END, Wilua3«, 65, Hampton Road, Sonthport. 

TowNSEXB, Richard, J P., Bent Gate, Hasiingden. 

Topp, Alfred, J. P.. Famworth, near Bolton. 

Trickett, Councillor H. W., J. P., Gaghills Hoose, Waterfoot 

Trickett, Joshua, Roughlee, Waterfoot. 

Trickett, James, Bank Top, RawtenstalL 

Trickett, John, Daisy Hill, RawtenstalL 

Turner, Myles, 184, New Line, Bacap. 

Turner, Samx.'el, Edgeside Holme, Newchurcfa. 

Union, William, Christ Chuich Street, Bactip. 

Unitarian Sunday School, RawtenstalL 

Varley, J. H., New Line, Bacup. 

Wadsworth, Sam, Old Rood. Stacksteadsw 

Walmsley, J., Tenterfield Street, Waterfoot 

Walton, Robert, 66, Rectory Road, Burnley. 

Walker, John, Bank View, Preston New Road, Bbckburn. 

Walker, G. H., Kay Street, Brooksbottoms. 

Wardley, John, 8, Arch Street, Darwen. 

Wardleworth, J. S., I, Gordon Street, RawtenstalL 

Wardleworth, John, Blackburn Road, Accrington. 

Wardleworth, William, 67, Lord Street, Southport 

Wardleworth, Albert William, Queen's Road, Llandudno. 

Wardleworth, T. R., 18, Brown Street, Manchester. 

Watson, William, Greenbank, RawtenstalL 

Watson, William T., Baltic, Waterfooi. 

Watson, P. O., 12, Hill Street, Brooksbottoms. 

Watson, B., 9, Beech Street, Brooksbottoms. 

Webb, Henry, J. P., Brentwood, Bury. 

Webb, George, West Bank, Bury. 

Webster, J., Rainford. 

Wesleyan Sunday School Library, Newchurch. 

Whalley, James, Pleasant View, RawtenstalL 

Wheelton, John H., 56, Bank Street, RawtenstalL 

Whittaker, Miss Louisa Alice, 3, Carr Mill Street, Haslingden. 

Whittaker, James, The Collieries, Accrington, 

Whittaker, W. W., Combrook House, Manchester. 

Whittaker, G. H., Bank Street, RawtenstalL 

Whittaker, Sam, Bank Terrace, Bacup. 

Whittaker, J. H., 138, Peel Brow, Ramsbottom. 

Whitakrr, Richard, Oak Bank, RawtenstalL 

Wmitakkr, J. Lawrence, Pleasant Street, HasHngden. 

WniTAKRR, J. H., Rakefoot House, Crawshawbooth. 

Wiiitakrr, Gkokor, Spring Terrace, RawtenstalL 

Wiiitfjirai), Joseph, 5, l^nch View, Newchurch. 

Whitrhrai), Haworth, hright Street, South Shore. 



List of Subscribers, 369 

Whitworth, Obobob E., Fadt, near Rochdale. 

Whittles, Lawrsnce, Post Office, Britannia, near Bacup. 

Whittles, John T,, Post Office, Britannia, near Bacup. 

WiGGLKSwoRTH, J. D., Higher House, Newchurch. 

WiLKiNSOM, Tattkksall, RoggerhaiD, Swindon. 

Wilkinson, James, Heys Street, Cloughfold. 

Wilkinson, James, Providence Cottage, Water. 

Williamson, Joshua, Woodbine House, Darwen. 

Williams, The Misses, Queen's Buildings, Rawtenstall. 

Wilson, John, Hurst Piatt, Rawtenstall. 

WiLcocK, James, J.P„ 56, Ainsworth Street, Blackburn. 

WiNT, Isaac, Black Dog Inn, Crawshawbooth, 

Wood, W. R., Fire Station, Rawtenstall. 

Woodcock, Thomas, 89 and gi, Bank Street, Rawtenstall. 

WooDALL, Corbet, C.E,, Palace Chambers, Westminster, S.W. 

WoRswiCK, Councillor Robkrt, J. P. (Mayor of Rawtenstall). 

WoRswicK, Robert, junr.. Oak Mount, Rawtenstall. 

WoRSWiCK, John, Greenbank, Rawtenstall. 

Worswick, Miss, Greenbank, Rawtenstall. 

Wrigley, W., Bacup Road, Rawtenstall 

Wright, Richard D'Aubnsv, 18, John Dalton StreetjManchester. 



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STANFORD, CALIFORNIA 94305-6004 

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