BLACKBURN HUNDRED 



WHALLEY 



Alkincotes, on the end of the central ridge, with Holt 

 House to the east and Heir's House and Blakey Hall 

 on lower ground to the west. North, near the 

 reservoir, is Hob Stones. North of the town of 

 Colne is Langroyd ; to the east of it are Lidgett, 

 Standroyd and Heyroyd, Flass and Salter Syke ; to 

 the south-east, beyond Colne Water, is Carry Heys. 

 Further to the east is the hamlet of Laneshaw Bridge, 

 beyond which is Emmott Hall. To the north-east 

 of Piked Edge are Black Lane End and Ayneslack, 

 in the extreme corner. 



The principal road is that from Burnley through 

 Nelson ; it enters the township at Priniet Bridge, to 

 the east of Greenfield and below rising ground now 

 called Bunker's Hill ; thence it goes eastward past the 

 house known as Colne Hall * and through the town, 

 where it is called Market Street, and is crossed by 

 roads leading north to Foulridge and south by Water- 

 side to Marsden. The eastward road is continued 

 into Yorkshire by Laneshaw Bridge through WycoUer 

 and through Barnside ; it has branches also north-east 

 by Lidgett and south-east to Trawden. On the east 

 side of the town the Skipton road leads north. There 

 are numerous minor roads and several bridges in addi- 

 tion to those mentioned.' The Accrlngton and Colne 

 branch of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway Com- 

 pany ° has a station at the ivest end of the town near 

 Primet Bridge, and the line continues north, as part 

 of the Midland Railway, to Skipton.' The Leeds and 

 Liverpool Canal also crosses the west end of the town- 

 ship beyond Wanless Water. The Colne Light Rail- 

 way connects with the Nelson and Burnley electric 

 tramway system. 



There are a number of cotton manufactories, fancy 

 goods being made here ; there are also some iron 

 foundries and works for the manufacture of looms and 

 mill furnishings, a brewery and brick works. Coal 

 was formerly mined.* The agricultural land is almost 

 entirely in pasture, there being 3,676 acres in per- 

 manent grass, 36 acres of woods and plantations, and 

 24 J acres of arable. 



The annual wake w.is formerly held on 24 August. 

 The present market days are Wednesday and Saturday, 

 special cattle markets being held on the last Wednes- 

 day of each month. The fair days are the second 

 Wednesdays of March, May and October.' These 

 are of recent institution, as will be seen by the 



account of the town and neighbourhood given in 

 1795 : 



It is a small market-town, the market on Wednesdays. The 

 trade formerly consisted in woollen and worsted goods, particu- 

 larly shalloons, calamancoes, and tammies ; but the cotton trade 

 is of late introduced, the articles consisting chiefly of calicoes 

 and dimities. There is an elegant Cloth Hall — or Piece Hall, 

 as it is here called — where goods are sold during tlic ringing of 

 a bell, fines being levied on sales after the stated time. Much 

 money is turned in this town, in proportion to its size, it being 

 situated on the edge of the district of Craven, where cattle for 

 slaughter are procured for a large surrounding country. Colne 

 stands only a mile from the course of the Leeds Canal, at a part 

 where a subterraneous tunnel [Foulridge] is to be carried at 

 vast expense through a quick s^nd. The country about Colne is 

 hilly, and the town is seated upon coal, with stone beneath, and 

 slate for building. Lime is plentiful four miles on the Skipton 

 road. Roman coins have been found at Colne, but there are no 

 other marks of its being a Roman station.^" 



The Cloth Hall mentioned was erected by subscrip- 

 tion in 1775. It is now used for public meetings 

 and dramatic performances. 



There are around Colne numerous remains of the 

 ancient inhabitants of the district," and the name of 

 the place has led local antiquaries to suppose that it 

 was a Roman colony or to identify it with the Colunio 

 recorded by the Ravenna geographer.'' The history 

 of the place is quite obscure, but it may have been an 

 independent parish in 1 1 20, as mentioned below. It 

 had a church and school ; market and fair were insti- 

 tuted " ; and one of the halmote courts of the honor 

 of Clitheroe was held there. During the Civil War 

 there is some slight notice of the district ; the Parlia- 

 ment's forces were in 1643 stationed at Emmott Lane 

 Head to check the Yorkshire Cavaliers,'* and in 1644 

 there were skirmishes at Haggate and Colne. That at the 

 latter place on 25 June went in favour of the Royalists, 

 who under Sir Charles Lucas defeated the Parliamen- 

 tarians under Col. Shuttleworth." Somewhat later 

 the Society of Friends gained many members here. 

 The woollen manufacture was long the chief industry 

 of the town, and afterwards the cotton trade ; the 

 introduction of machinery here as in other towns led 

 to opposition and disturbance, as in 1819 and 1826.'^ 

 In I 840 there was a conflict between local Chartists 

 and the police." 



Two newspapers are published weekly, the Times 

 and the Observer. 



' Built on the site of the old court- 

 house. 



* The following bridges are named in 

 the Court Rolls: Colne Bridge, 1507; 

 Winewall Bridge, 1541 ; Stone Bridge, 

 1541 ; Nevir Bridge, 1543; Carry Hey 

 Bridge, 1546; Hatherald or Hatherholt 

 Bridge, 1549 ; Royd Bridge, 1556. 



' Part of the old East Lancashire Rail- 

 way, opened to Colne in 1848. 



^ Part of the old Leeds and Bradford 

 Extension Railway ; cuttings began at 

 Priestfield in 1846 ; opened 1847. 



8 A coal pit in Carry Heys is marked 

 on the 1848 map ; Coal Pit Lane led to it. 



Receipts from sea coal in Trawden are 

 recorded in 1296 and 1305. 



Lawrence Lister in 1464 complained 

 that several persons had been digging coal 

 in his land ; Pal. of Lane. Writs Proton. 

 4 Edw. IV. 



In 1488 the king granted a lease of the 

 sea-coal mine of Colne to Christopher 

 Lister, also the fishery there, and quarries 

 of slate stones at Accrington and else- 



where ; Duchy of Lane. Misc. Bks. xxi, 

 A 55. A similar lease was granted to 

 William Lister in 1509 ; ibid. A 61. The 

 coal mines in Colne and Trawden were 

 leased in 1639 ; ibid, xxv, loi d. 



^ In 1826 the market day was Wednes- 

 day and the fairs were held on 7 Mar., 

 13 and 15 May, 11 Oct., and 21 Dec; 

 Baines, Lanes. Dir, i, 619. Lewis in 

 1833 gives Wednesday and Saturday as 

 the market days. 



'" Aikin, Country round Manch. 279. 



1^ Very ancient earthworks are found 

 at CasterclifiF and hills to the south of 

 Cplne. 



^2 Thompson Watkin, iJow. Lanes. 199. 

 Roman coins, &c., have been found at 

 Greenfield and Emmott in Colne and 

 Catlow in Marsden; ibid. 233-4. For 

 older speculations see Leigh, Nat. Hist, of 

 Lanes, bk. 3, p. 10. 



18 The origin of this market is un- 

 known. Nothing Is said of it in the Lacy 

 accounts or in the Plac. de Quo Warr. 

 of 1292. It is named in W. Smith's 



hst of market towns in the county in 

 1588. 



The fairs at Colne, Padiham, Burnley 

 and Haslingden were in 1632 granted to 

 Roger Kenyon, who was to pay 20J. a 

 year to the king; and in 1633 '^ was 

 ordered that the fairs should be held 

 strictly on the days named in the lease 

 and not moved about at the pleasure of 

 the inhabitants or neighbouring gentry, 

 except that the fairs falling on Sunday 

 should be kept the following day ; Duchy 

 of Lane. Decree Bks, 7-10 Chas. I, fol. 

 464^. 



!■* War in Lanes. (Chet. Soc.), 43. 



^^ The Earl of Newcastle's forces were 

 defeated near Colne in July 1643 ; Ci'vii 

 War Tracts (Chet. Soc), 147. The 

 Royalists were victorious in a skirmish 

 there in June 1644 ; ibid. 201. A local 

 tradition says it took place near the site 

 of the cemetery ; Carr, AmmU of Colne^ 



77 n- 



1^ Carr, op. cit. 92. 

 ^"i Ibid, 94. 



