Lancashire History Website and Blog
Sometime during the first couple of decades of the 1800s, William Spencer set up a factory in an area of Edgworth known locally as Old Russia. This would become the Quarlton Vale Print Works, and was a relocation of his business from a site at nearby Higher Russia. Following his death in 1826, his family [ ]
Hog Lowe Pike- an intriguing name for an intriguing place. The humpback hill sits high on the surrounding moorland and despite its modest size, it is a prominent landmark easily seen by travellers on the Grane Road. The earliest evidence of human activity on the hill comes from the Mesolithic era. This was a time [ ]
Quarrying at Musbury Heights was an industry that lasted a hundred years. Today the site is open to the public to explore, and contains a wealth of structures dating back to the quarry’s heyday. It existed to extract stone known as Lower Haslingden Flag. This is a form of Millstone Grit, a sandstone formed in [ ]
Ashurst s Beacon stands atop Ashurst Hill in the parish of Dalton, West Lancashire. What is now a monument was originally constructed to be a watch tower, with men standing ready to light a warning beacon if an invasion from Napoleon s France was imminent. Constructed in 1798, it is commonly thought to have been commissioned by [ ]
Hidden amongst the trees, just off the path by Calf Hey Reservoir, lies the well preserved ruin of Bentley House. Named for the family that originally had it built, it was clearly once a substantial structure. If it appears secluded now, it would have been far more so in the Victorian era long before the [ ]
Rivington Pike stands high on the moors over Horwich, easily recognisable with its familiar short tower. At 1300 feet above sea level the hill must have always been a landmark, even to some of the earliest settlers of the area. Some local writers have speculated that there could have once been a Bronze Age burial [ ]
In July of 1845, the River Improvement Committee for the Lune requested the construction of two new lighthouses on the Lancashire Coast. These would guide ships from the Irish Sea safely into the mouth of the River Lune, from where they could then head upstream to deposit their cargoes for Lancaster. Money came from the [ ]
Sudley House dates from 1821 and was originally the home of merchant Nicholas Robinson. He commissioned architect John Whiteside Carson to build the house on land purchased from the Tarleton family estate. Robinson made his money importing ivory, produced as part of the slave trade of the time. Such an association was no bar for [ ]
Standing on Railway Road in Clitheroe is a larger-than-life sculpture of a black dog. Created by Marjan Wouda, it was inspired by her love of Lancashire history and folklore. The sculpture depicts Dandy, a supernatural creature said to be in league with James Device, one of the so-called ‘Pendle Witches’. James was a young man [ ]
Visitors to Appley Bridge may be intrigued to see street signs informing them they are travelling along Skull House Lane. It is named after an old large house, which has had a skull in residence for as long as anyone can remember. But what is the origin of the skull, and why has it been [ ]