BLACKBURN HUNDRED 



WHALLEY 



of Francis Paslew and wifeof Thuistan Tomlinson of 

 Bailey then obtained Wiswell, and her son John had it 

 in 1666, when he paid the tax for six hearths.'^ His 

 son Thurstan Tomlinson in 1708 sold it to Sir 

 Nicholas Shireburne." 



Wiswell Hall stood about a mile to the north- 

 east of Whalley on the lower western slope of Pendle 

 Hill. It was described as being in bad repair in 

 1876, at which time it was used as a farm-house, and 

 was demolished in 1895. It was a stone building 

 with low mullioned windows, bold projecting chimneys, 

 and a porch of two stories on the north side, over the 

 door of which were the date 1636 and the arms and 

 initials of Francis Paslew, the owner. The house, 

 however, appears to have been of earlier date, the 

 porch being an addition in the 17th century when 

 the building underwent great alterations. An account 

 of the house written in 1883 " describes it as being 

 much patched and as having received in the course of 

 years many barbarous and incongruous additions. An 

 old font which used to be preserved in the hall is 

 now in WhaUey Church. 



In 1626 there were twelve convicted recusants 

 paying to the subsidy," and under the Common- 

 wealth Cuthbert Lowe" and Edward Parkinson'' 

 had their estates sequestered for recusancy. John 

 Alston as a ' Papist ' registered his freehold farm in 

 17.7.'' 



The land tax return of 1788 shows that Thomas 

 Weld and James WhaUey were the chief holders.'" 



For members of the Church of England there is 

 divine service in Wiswell school, the clergy of the 

 parish church maintaining it ; also in the mission 

 room at Barrow. 



The Congregational chapel at Wiswell was built 

 in 1 83 1, preaching having begun some ten years 

 before by the minister of Wymondhouses, and a 

 Sunday school having been opened. Services were 

 held there till 1879, and the building was afterwards 

 sold. Preaching at Barrow is mentioned about 1827, 

 but regular services began in 1875, and a school- 

 chapel was built in 1877. It is called JoUie's 

 Memorial Chapel, and may be regarded as representing 

 the older cause at Wymondhouses." 



CHtJRCH 



Chirche, 1202 and usually; Chiereche, 1203; 

 Chierche, 1204. 



The township of Church or Church Kirk lies on 

 the eastern bank of Hyndburn Brook, into which, at 



the northern boundary, flows another brook running 

 north-west from Accrington, and the older part of 

 the town lies between these brooks. At the north 

 end of it is Ponthalgh. The surface slopes down 

 from east to west. The area measures 528 acres.' 

 The population in 1901 was 6,463. The chapelry 

 embraces Oswaldtwistle and Huncoat also. 



The principal road is that from Blackburn to 

 Accrington, crossing the southern end of the town- 

 ship. The road from Blackburn through Oswald- 

 twistle enters the south end at Alleytroyds," crosses the 

 main road mentioned, and winds north to the church 

 and then turns west to Rishton. From the main 

 road another goes north, as Henry Street, by Church 

 Hall and Dill Hall to Clayton-le-Moors. Elmfield 

 lies to the east of it. The Blackburn and Accrington 

 line of the Lancashire and Yorkshire railway crosses 

 the southern end of the township, where there is a 

 station named Church and Oswaldtwistle. The Leeds 

 and Liverpool Canal goes north on the west side of 

 the township. 



A local board was constituted in 1878, and in 

 1894 this became an urban district council ; there 

 are twelve members. The town is supplied with gas 

 and water in conjunction with Accrington. The out- 

 fall works of the Accrington and Church Joint Sewer- 

 age Board, formed in 1884,' are at Coppy Clough in 

 this township. The cemetery in Dill Hall Lane 

 belongs to Church and Clayton-le-Moors, and is con- 

 trolled by a board of eight members.' 



Calico printing and dyeing are the principal indus- 

 tries' ; there are several cotton factories, also chemical, 

 naphtha and soap works, and iron foundries. Col- 

 lieries are worked. The agricultural land is returned 

 as 156^ acres in grass. The soil and subsoil are 

 clay. 



Windham William Sadler, one of the earliest of 

 British aeronauts, was killed at Parsonage Field, 

 Church, on 29 September 1824, his balloon being 

 dashed against a tall chimney by the wind during its 

 flight from Bolton to Blackburn.* 



To the county lay of 1624, when the hundred was 

 called upon for j^ioo. Church paid 17/., Oswald- 

 twistle ^l 5/. td., and Huncoat 17^. \\J. — a total 

 of j£2 19J. \o\d. from the chapelry.' 



In the 13th century CHURCH was 

 MANOR held of the lords of Clitheroe by a rent 

 of 6$." ; it was assessed as one plough- 

 land. There is nothing to show how it was first 

 obtained by the Church family, but in 1202 Uctred 

 de Church acquired half a plough-land there from 



*3 Lay Subs. Lanes, bdle. 250, no. 9. 

 George Long's house had seven hearths, 

 John Crombock's six ; there were seventy- 

 nine in all. 



s< Shireburne Abstract Bk. Dr. Lay- 

 cock supplies the descent thus : Francis 

 Paslew - da. Elizabeth, married Thurstan 

 Tomlinson - s. John, married Alice 

 Helme - s. Thurstan, 1677- 1752. 

 Elizabeth had a sister Alice Paslew, who 

 married John Nutter of Old Laund ; 

 they were found to be the aunts and next 

 heirs of Alice Townley in 1645. 



5* Trdm. Burnley Lit. and Sclent. Club, 

 iii, 121. 



^ Lay Subs. Lanes, bdle. 131, no. 317. 



5' The surname Law or Low was of 

 oU standing in Wiswell, for the executors 

 of John Law arc named in 1424-5 ; Pal. 

 of Lane. Writs of Assize 3 Hen. VI. 



John Lawe of Wiswell, Ellen his wife 

 and John Lowe their son are named 

 in 1511 i Writs Proton, file 3 Hen. VIII. 

 Robert Law occurs as plaintiff respecting 

 a messuage in Wiswell Eaves in 1577-90 ; 

 Ducatus Lane, iii, 57, 242. 



John Lowe (1624) had lands called 

 Newfield, Crookacre and Stony Corth- 

 long, which were sequestered for his 

 recusancy, or that of Cuthbert Lowe his 

 son, as to two-thirds ; Royalist Comp. 

 Papers (Rec. See. Lanes, and Ches.), iv, 

 I \o. 



^ Cal. Com. for Comp. iv, 3174. 

 The land was in Wiswell Eaves. Parkin- 

 son desired to compound for the seques- 

 tered two-thiris in 1653, but was dead in 

 .655. 



59 Estcourt and Payne, En^l, Cath, 

 Non-juror Sf 97, 



399 



^^ Land tax returns at Preston. 



^1 Nightingale, Lanes, Nonconf. ii, 

 196-9. 



^ The Census Rep. 1901 gives 529 acres, 

 including 21 of inland water. 



^ Apparently the Ollertrodea of 1618 ; 

 see below. 



^Acts 47 & 48 Vict. cap. 214 and 

 later. 



* Acts 49 & 50 Vict. cap. 61 and later. 



^ The print works on the Hyndburn 

 were first established by Jonathan Peel, 

 uncle of the famous Sir Robert ; Abram, 

 Blackburn, 222. 



^ Diet. Nat. Biog. 



^ Gregson, Fragments (ed. Harland), 



23- 



® Lanes, Inq. and Extents (Rec. Soc. 

 Lanes, and Ches.), i, 2 1 8 j De Lacy Compoti 

 (Chet. Soc), 9, 104, 



