100 



called Bishop's bouse, a new shed has lately been erected on the 

 site, it lies a few hundred yards to the left as you pass through 

 the Duke bar leading to Burnley Lane Head. The land is 

 known as the Bishop's House Estate, and once, with the 

 tenement, belonged to the Archbishop of Canterbury, though 

 formerly to Whalley Abbey. At the death of Paslew, the 

 last Abbot (1537), the Chapel of Burnley was conveyed to 

 the See of Canterbury in exchange for other property. I find in 

 a MS. I possess, a "Particular taken out of EoUs," of what com- 

 mons were allotted to several persons at several courts within the 

 Manor of Ightenhill, by Mr. Andrew Holden, Steward of the said 

 Manor in the year 1663, that George Archbishop of Canterbury 

 obtained 19f acres of land in Burnley for the sum of 9s.l0^d., 

 and that Henry Jackson for 4s.3:^d. obtained 2J acres of land 

 upon the top of Saxifield, and that Kichard Towneley got 53f acres 

 on Saxifield, 9 acres on Ightenhill-ridge, 2 acres on the Kidge 

 above Burnley, 1^ acres upon Turf Moor, 5^ acres upon Meanefield 

 Slacks, 4 acres on Thornell Moor, and 1 acre on the Royds. He 

 also obtains 5|- acres more common land upon Saxifield, whereof 

 2 acres are beneath Bishop's House, and the rest above, he also 

 gets land on Broadhead Moor, Nutshaw House, upon the great 

 hill on Broadhead Moor, near Whorely Pasture, some near 

 Timberhill Gate, some at Hayslacks, and Crownbrook, a total of 

 216 acres for £5 2s. l|d. I presume all these sums are yearly 

 rents, they come to about 6d. per acre. Abram Colthurst gets 

 between 3 and 4 acres above Bishop's House. The following 

 year George Archbishop gets about li acres on Broadhead Moor 

 for O^d. Hroadhead Moor was somewhere about Four Lane Ends. 

 Henry Walton, John Clough, Eobert Ingham, George Halstead, 

 Richard Towne, William Folds, Nicholas Towneley, Mrs. Isabella 

 Towneley, and others get about 120 acres on Saxifield, William 

 Foulds gets 2 acres for the glebe. The following year (19th 

 James) John Parker, gentleman, gets over 2 J acres of land for 

 Is. 2|d. upon Saxifield, for the use of the school and others joined 

 with him. In the same year Thomas Barcroft, Evan Haydock, 

 gent., got about 60 acres on Saxifield. I desire to call the atten- 

 tion of the Club to the circumstance that Saxifield is spoken of 

 as being, not only above, but below Bishop's House. Now as 

 Bishop's House estate was in Saxifield it follows that Saxifield 

 extended nearly to Burnley, a much more extended district than 

 Mr. Wilkinson could be aware of, so that there was, after all, 

 space for a large battle on Saxifield. The following list of the 

 common and waste lands in places round Burnley, are surveyed 

 by William Eanes and Roger Walkden in 1618, although not 

 necessary to the present subject, may prove interesting to local 

 historians and will at least show that the districts are much 

 altered. Briercliffe common consisted of 789 acres, Marsden 



