Aspden
Encyclopedia
Aspden is the historic name of a valley a mile west of Church
Church, Lancashire
Church is a large village in Hyndburn, Lancashire, England; situated a mile west of Accrington. The local travel links are located less than a mile from the village centre to Church and Oswaldtwistle railway station and to Blackpool Airport. Also, the main road running through the village is the...

 and a mile north of Oswaldtwistle
Oswaldtwistle
Oswaldtwistle is a town within the Hyndburn borough of Lancashire, England. It lies on the course of the Leeds and Liverpool Canal, east-southeast of Blackburn and is contiguous to Accrington.-History:...

, between Accrington
Accrington
Accrington is a town in Lancashire, within the borough of Hyndburn. It lies about east of Blackburn, west of Burnley, north of Manchester city centre and is situated on the mostly culverted River Hyndburn...

 and Blackburn, in Lancashire
Lancashire
Lancashire is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in the North West of England. It takes its name from the city of Lancaster, and is sometimes known as the County of Lancaster. Although Lancaster is still considered to be the county town, Lancashire County Council is based in Preston...

, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

. The modern name of this location is Aspen.

By 1990, there were three houses there: Aspen Cottage, a large ruinous farm, and a large house, apparently Elizabethan, which has in its grounds a small plain house, said to be older. The valley is bounded on three sides by a loop of the Leeds and Liverpool Canal
Leeds and Liverpool Canal
The Leeds and Liverpool Canal is a canal in Northern England, linking the cities of Leeds and Liverpool. Over a distance of , it crosses the Pennines, and includes 91 locks on the main line...

, and on the fourth by a high railway embankment (Aspen Viaduct). On the other side of the canal, overlooking the valley, is the Accrington and District Golf Club.

The road into the valley is now called Lower Aspen Lane upon which is located Lower Aspen Farm. The OS grid reference is . The postcode is BB5 4NY. A map of the location may be found here.

Aspen Colliery (disused by 1930) is now a scheduled ancient monument: details of this (including another map of the valley) may be seen here.

The national and international significance of Aspden is that it is the source of the surname
Surname
A surname is a name added to a given name and is part of a personal name. In many cases, a surname is a family name. Many dictionaries define "surname" as a synonym of "family name"...

 Aspden which is common in east Lancashire and has now spread elsewhere in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 and the English speaking world. Adam de Aspden is seen witnessing charters through a period beginning in 1262. By the 1380s the Aspden estate (inherited by Elizabeth, daughter of Roger de Aspden and wife of John Grimshaw) amounted to some 400 acres (1.6 km²), of which 40 was land, 40 was meadow, 20 was wood and 200 was pasture.
The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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