A HISTORY OF lANCASHIRE 



Stutt.irJ, ministcrcJ there lor nearly fifty years.' ' The 

 church, now known ns Trinity, was rcl>uilt in i ^S^. 

 A second chapel has liecn opened. 



The Unit.irians have a chapel {\ ^"6). Tnerc arc 

 also two Free Gospel Halls, a Free Christian Church 

 and Bethel Ch.ipel. The memberi of the Society of 

 Friends were formerly numerous in the chapelry, but 

 their meeting-place is in M.irsden.'" 



The names of a number of convicted recusants 

 appear in the time of Charles I, but there is little 

 other evidence to prove the permanence of the 

 Roman C.uholic religion. '*' Mass was publicly said 

 in 1850 for the first time after the Reformation in 

 an upper room of the Angel Inn ; the priest had 

 usually to be guarded by a policeman, and after a 

 time the service ceased. In 1872 a resident priest 

 began to minister, a room over a shop being used ; 

 the school-chapel of the Sacred Heart was opened 

 in 1888, and the present church in 1897. 



A grammar school existed in 1558, when it had 

 4 marks rent as endowment."' Archbishop Tillotson 

 ij said to have been a scholar there about 1640. In 

 1687 the school received a gift of £^0 to provide 

 £2 a year for the education of four poor children. 

 Further endowments uere obtained, but the school 

 languished, and in 1SS7 came to an end."" The 

 income, over £^0 a year, is employed in giving exhi- 

 bitions at the municipal day school, under a scheme 

 made in 1X98. The free school at Laneshaw Bridge 

 uas founded by John Emmott and others in 17S3. 



Inquiries were made into the chari- 

 CHJRiriES ties of the chapelry in 1826 and 1899, 

 and the following details are taken 

 from the report issued in 1 900. The endowments 

 for education amount to j^i49 a year ; there are none 

 for ecclesiastical purposes or almshouses ; but about 

 £28 is available for the poor. A number of charities 

 have been lost."-' 



For Colne chapelry Alice Hartley in 1600 gave 

 ;{^6o for the poor, and a rent-charge of £^ 10s., 

 known as the Spead Dole, now represents it.™ It is 

 d stributed in money doles. Lord's Ing Dole, repre- 

 sented by a rent of ^^5 a year on land covered by the 

 Foulridge reservoir of the canal, was in existence in 

 1671, a meadow called Lord's Ing having been given 

 to the poor. It is managed like Hartley's charity. 

 Other ancient benefactions by Ambrose Walton, ^^40, 

 and Willi.im Rycroft, ^50, were augmented and 

 applied in 1724 to the purchase of land at Dow- 

 shay Clough which now produces j^l6 a year. It is 

 given in small sums to poor per 011s in the townships 

 within the chapelry. M.iry Anderton, ividow, in 



1^76 left /"lOO fcr a distribution of bread every 

 Sabbath da)- by the rector and church\\ardcns. The 

 rector (Mr. Clifford) refused tu accept a trust which 

 required a Sunday distribution, and thus the interest, 

 £^ js. a year, has been left to accumulate in the bank. 

 The rector stated that the charity would be more useful 

 if a distribution of flour were allowed, because nio-t 

 of the inhabitants baked their own bread. 



.MARSDEN 



Merkesden, i 195 ; Merclesden, Merkelstene, I 242; 

 Merclisden, 1258. 



The township of Marsden is or was divided into 

 two paru, Great Marsden, at one time called A>ke 

 Marsden,' with an area of 3,108 acres, and Little 

 Marsden to the south-west, with an area of 1,581 

 acres — 4,689 acres in all. The boundaries are to a 

 great extent marked by streams. Colne Water is the 

 northern boundary, and flows into Pendle Water, 

 which forms the western one ; Great and Little 

 Marsden are separated by Walverden Water, flowing 

 north-west to join Pendle Water near Reedyford, 

 while Catlow Brook, an affluent of the Walverden, 

 forms the southern boundary of Great Marsden. On 

 the north-east the brook flowing down Foxclough 

 divides Marsden from Trawden and part of Colne. 

 In Great Marsden, Shelfield in the south-east attains 

 1,110 ft. above sea level, and the surface descends 

 from it to the bounding streams in all directions 

 except the south-east, on \\ hich side after some fail 

 higher levels are attained on the moorlands, 1,1 17 ft. 

 near the Deerstones, and 1,200 ft. on Willy Moor. 

 In Little Marsden, in the south-east, an elevation of 

 900 ft. above the sea is reached near Marsden Height, 

 from which point the surface descends in all directions. 

 The lowest ground is of course along the streams 

 forming the north and west boundaries, the fall of 

 the water being from 450 ft. at Colne to 375 ft. at 

 Reedyford and 320 ft. at the border of Reedley. 



In Great Marsden near the centre is Marsden 

 hall with the ancient earthwork known as Caster- 

 clifT' to the north-east ; further away are Birchenley 

 and Lenches, this last being by Waterside Bridge, 

 where there is a crossing into Colne.' East and 

 south-east of the hall are Slitterforth and Shelfield ; 

 to the south are Townhouse, Southfield and Catlow ; 

 to the west Hendon and Bradley ; to the north- 

 west Lee and Swinden ; and to the north White 

 Walls, Grindlestone Hurst and Whackersall, this 

 last being near Primet Bridge, another passage into 

 Colne. In Little Marsden the village of Marsden is 



'" A. J. Parn , a -ugJifolJ Bapt. C. . 

 10;. In 1798 It w.-is reported that the 

 cause had * suffered awfully by the defec- 

 tion of those members -who see ned to be 

 pillars,' but a revival was hoped for ; 

 Ripron, Biif>t. Reg. iii, 20. 



^^•' An American Friend who v.'sited 

 England about 1752 reported of Colne : 

 ' N 1 members of our society. ... A 

 poor dark town in respect to religion ' ; 

 W^'fJ'^'' Ckurch-r.ar, 146. 



^^ Car^, 0?. cit. 27 ; see also p--- 

 ceding n< te. 



"•" Clitheroe Ct. R. of 4 & 5 PhiL and 

 Mary (Halmote of IghtenhiU). 



^'~ EfiJ. Char. R.:p. 1900. The boys 

 forme r:v demanded a gift from each 

 newly-married pair; /V. and Q. fSer. 9", 



'■'' L . .'.r- r.ce ManknoUs of 1fyt:n 

 House in Marsden in 1660 left land pro- 

 ducing ^10 a year for the impotent 

 poor of the chapelry. Payment seems 

 to have been refiised from 1837 onvarl'. 

 John MaUiam of Reedyford (before 1733) 

 give ^i 131. ^i, a year, paid in 1S26 

 out of land caKed the Poor Fields in 

 Great Marsden, but when the land was 

 sold about 1857 the purchaser refused to 

 pay the charge. The gifts of Mary 

 Starkie, Thomas Smith, John Smith and 

 Lawrence Roberts had been lost 

 1826. 



by 



James Robinson in 1764 c'ave loj. t 

 year to the curate for a sermon on :; Ja 1. 

 and 5;. for bread for the poor attcndiii;,' 

 to hear the sermon; al:o anather loi". 

 for a sermon on 8 June. The purchaser 



of the land charged has since 1869 re- 

 fused to pay. 



*•" The charge ii paid out of Brown 

 Hill Farm. 



' Farrer, Clitheroe Cr.R.i, 227 (149;), 



'' KC.H. Lanes, ii, 514. It was called 

 Castell Clifin 1515 ; F irrcr, op. cit. i, 261. 



'In 1762 the inhabitant! and land- 

 owners of Great MjrsJen were indicted 

 for not repairing the king's highway from 

 the south end of Waterside Bridge to 

 C'<ldwell, being part of the road from 

 Colne to Halifax ; also the same highway 

 from the south end of ' Primote ' Bridge 

 to the Three Lane EaJs at Delves (and) 

 Catlow Rake Foot, being part of the road 

 from Colne to Rochd-ile ; fr jm the j-« 

 W. Wadamgton'i MSS. 



