Barrowford
Encyclopedia
Barrowford is a large village and civil parish
in the Pendle
district of Lancashire
, England
. It is situated to the north of Nelson
on the other side of the M65 motorway
, and forms part of the Burnley
/Nelson conurbation. It also comprises the area of Lowerford and sometimes gets confused with its neighbour Higherford. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 6,039.
Barrowford is situated on the Marsden
–Gisburn
–Long Preston
Turnpike
. One of the original toll house
s, dating from 1804-05, can still be seen at the junction with the road to Colne
, complete with a reproduction of the table of tolls which were paid. The toll house was restored in the 1980s and is owned by the trust which operates nearby Pendle Heritage Centre
. Barrowford is located about a mile from the Leeds and Liverpool Canal
, and a set of seven locks leads to the highest section of the canal between Barrowford and Barnoldswick
. About a mile on from the locks heading towards Leeds
is Foulridge Tunnel known locally as the mile tunnel. The packhorse bridge
near Higherford Mill is the oldest in Barrowford, dating back to the end of the 16th century. It formerly lay on the old main road to Gisburn
which was superseded by the Turnpike road built in 1804. In September 2006 this mill was featured on the BBC
's Restoration programme.
The village has a modern Anglican
church (St Thomas') built to replace the original church of 1839 which burnt down in 1964. St Thomas's Primary School recently moved from its Victorian premises to a new building next door to the church.
The village has two rivers. Pendle Water
flows through the town with trout
that can often be seen in the gin clear waters. The other river is Colne Water
, which joins Pendle Water behind the site of the now demolished Samuel Holden cotton mill and this river flows down from the moors above the town of Colne
, again this river holds good trout.
Barrowford has been a centre for textile production since at least the 16th century, when a fulling
mill is recorded in the village. Until the late 18th century, the manufacture of woollen cloth was the primary industry, but in 1780, the fulling mill was rebuilt by Abraham Hargreaves as a cotton spinning mill. It was powered by a water wheel
and fed by water drawn off at the weir on Pendle Water. What was the mill reservoir is now the ornamental pond in Barrowford Park, whilst remains of the mill survive in the corner of the nearby children's playground. For the next 50 years, cotton cloth was woven in the many handloom weavers' cottages which can still be seen along the main road through the village. As power looms were introduced into the cotton industry in north east Lancashire in the 1820s, weaving gradually became a factory industry and production moved from the home to the massive weaving sheds which began to be constructed. Until recently, one of the last examples of a working weaving shed could be seen at the East Lancashire Towel Company, but the firm – which still produces traditional Terry towelling on Lancashire looms – recently moved to premises in Nelson. The site of the former mill is being redeveloped by a local supermarket chain. Another weaving shed at Higherford Mill has been converted to artists' workshops. By the 1860s, the village was heavily reliant on the cotton mill
s for employment, and during the American Civil War
was badly affected by the Cotton Famine
, along with the rest of Lancashire. The wall alongside the river opposite Barrowford Park was built during this period to provide work for unemployed weavers - the milestone which projects from the wall is dated 1866. However little remains of Barrowford's industrial past, and the village today is a tourist destination and home to commuters who work across the county.
Civil parish
In England, a civil parish is a territorial designation and, where they are found, the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties...
in the Pendle
Pendle
Pendle is a local government district and borough of Lancashire, England. It adjoins the Lancashire boroughs of Burnley and Ribble Valley, the North Yorkshire district of Craven and the West Yorkshire districts of Calderdale and the City of Bradford...
district of 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...
. It is situated to the north of Nelson
Nelson, Lancashire
Nelson is a town and civil parish in the Borough of Pendle in Lancashire, England, with a population of 28,998 in 2001. It lies 4 miles north of Burnley on the Leeds and Liverpool Canal....
on the other side of the M65 motorway
M65 motorway
The M65 is a motorway in Lancashire, England. It runs from just south of Preston through the major junction of the M6 and M61 motorways, east past Darwen, Blackburn, Accrington, Burnley, Nelson and ends at Colne.-History:...
, and forms part of the Burnley
Burnley
Burnley is a market town in the Burnley borough of Lancashire, England, with a population of around 73,500. It lies north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River Brun....
/Nelson conurbation. It also comprises the area of Lowerford and sometimes gets confused with its neighbour Higherford. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 6,039.
Barrowford is situated on the Marsden
Nelson, Lancashire
Nelson is a town and civil parish in the Borough of Pendle in Lancashire, England, with a population of 28,998 in 2001. It lies 4 miles north of Burnley on the Leeds and Liverpool Canal....
–Gisburn
Gisburn
Gisburn is a village, civil parish and ward within the Ribble Valley borough of Lancashire, England. It lies northeast of Clitheroe. The parish of Gisburn had a population of 506, and the ward had 1287, recorded in the 2001 census....
–Long Preston
Long Preston
Long Preston is a village and civil parish in the Craven district of North Yorkshire, England, in the Yorkshire Dales. It lies along the A65 road, and is 12 miles from the larger town of Skipton and four miles from the town of Settle...
Turnpike
Turnpike trust
Turnpike trusts in the United Kingdom were bodies set up by individual Acts of Parliament, with powers to collect road tolls for maintaining the principal highways in Britain from the 17th but especially during the 18th and 19th centuries...
. One of the original toll house
Toll house
A tollhouse or toll house is a building with accommodation for a toll collector, beside a tollgate on a toll road or canal. Many tollhouses were built by turnpike trusts in England, Wales and Scotland during the 18th and early 19th centuries...
s, dating from 1804-05, can still be seen at the junction with the road to Colne
Colne
Colne is the second largest town and civil parish in the Borough of Pendle in Lancashire, England, with a population of 20,118. It lies at the eastern end of the M65, 6 miles north-east of Burnley, with Nelson immediately adjacent, in the Aire Gap with two main roads leading into the Yorkshire...
, complete with a reproduction of the table of tolls which were paid. The toll house was restored in the 1980s and is owned by the trust which operates nearby Pendle Heritage Centre
Pendle Heritage Centre
Pendle Heritage Centre is a museum and visitor centre in Barrowford, Lancashire, England, dedicated to the history and heritage of Pendle. The heritage centre occupies Park Hill, a two-storey former farmhouse which has a 1661 date stone but was developed over an extended period between the 16th...
. Barrowford is located about a mile from 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 a set of seven locks leads to the highest section of the canal between Barrowford and Barnoldswick
Barnoldswick
Barnoldswick is a town and civil parish within the West Craven area of the Borough of Pendle in Lancashire, England just outside the Yorkshire Dales National Park and the Forest of Bowland Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The town is built in the shadow of Weets Hill, and Stock Beck, a...
. About a mile on from the locks heading towards Leeds
Leeds
Leeds is a city and metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. In 2001 Leeds' main urban subdivision had a population of 443,247, while the entire city has a population of 798,800 , making it the 30th-most populous city in the European Union.Leeds is the cultural, financial and commercial...
is Foulridge Tunnel known locally as the mile tunnel. The packhorse bridge
Packhorse bridge
A packhorse bridge is a bridge intended to carry packhorses across a river or stream. Typically a packhorse bridge consists of one or more narrow masonry arches, and has low parapets so as not to interfere with the horse's panniers.Packhorse bridges were often built on the trade routes that...
near Higherford Mill is the oldest in Barrowford, dating back to the end of the 16th century. It formerly lay on the old main road to Gisburn
Gisburn
Gisburn is a village, civil parish and ward within the Ribble Valley borough of Lancashire, England. It lies northeast of Clitheroe. The parish of Gisburn had a population of 506, and the ward had 1287, recorded in the 2001 census....
which was superseded by the Turnpike road built in 1804. In September 2006 this mill was featured on the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
's Restoration programme.
The village has a modern Anglican
Church of England
The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...
church (St Thomas') built to replace the original church of 1839 which burnt down in 1964. St Thomas's Primary School recently moved from its Victorian premises to a new building next door to the church.
The village has two rivers. Pendle Water
Pendle Water
Pendle Water is a minor river in Lancashire.Rising on Pendle Hill, Pendle Water cuts a deep valley between Barley Moor and Spence Hill, where it feeds the two Ogden Reservoirs, before making its way eastward through Roughlee, collecting Blacko Water, draining the valley near Wheathead, at Water...
flows through the town with trout
Trout
Trout is the name for a number of species of freshwater and saltwater fish belonging to the Salmoninae subfamily of the family Salmonidae. Salmon belong to the same family as trout. Most salmon species spend almost all their lives in salt water...
that can often be seen in the gin clear waters. The other river is Colne Water
Colne Water
Colne Water is a watercourse running through the Lancashire town of Colne.Colne Water is formed at Covey Bridge near Laneshaw Bridge by the confluence of the River Laneshaw and Wycoller Beck....
, which joins Pendle Water behind the site of the now demolished Samuel Holden cotton mill and this river flows down from the moors above the town of Colne
Colne
Colne is the second largest town and civil parish in the Borough of Pendle in Lancashire, England, with a population of 20,118. It lies at the eastern end of the M65, 6 miles north-east of Burnley, with Nelson immediately adjacent, in the Aire Gap with two main roads leading into the Yorkshire...
, again this river holds good trout.
Barrowford has been a centre for textile production since at least the 16th century, when a fulling
Fulling
Fulling or tucking or walking is a step in woolen clothmaking which involves the cleansing of cloth to eliminate oils, dirt, and other impurities, and making it thicker. The worker who does the job is a fuller, tucker, or walker...
mill is recorded in the village. Until the late 18th century, the manufacture of woollen cloth was the primary industry, but in 1780, the fulling mill was rebuilt by Abraham Hargreaves as a cotton spinning mill. It was powered by a water wheel
Water wheel
A water wheel is a machine for converting the energy of free-flowing or falling water into useful forms of power. A water wheel consists of a large wooden or metal wheel, with a number of blades or buckets arranged on the outside rim forming the driving surface...
and fed by water drawn off at the weir on Pendle Water. What was the mill reservoir is now the ornamental pond in Barrowford Park, whilst remains of the mill survive in the corner of the nearby children's playground. For the next 50 years, cotton cloth was woven in the many handloom weavers' cottages which can still be seen along the main road through the village. As power looms were introduced into the cotton industry in north east Lancashire in the 1820s, weaving gradually became a factory industry and production moved from the home to the massive weaving sheds which began to be constructed. Until recently, one of the last examples of a working weaving shed could be seen at the East Lancashire Towel Company, but the firm – which still produces traditional Terry towelling on Lancashire looms – recently moved to premises in Nelson. The site of the former mill is being redeveloped by a local supermarket chain. Another weaving shed at Higherford Mill has been converted to artists' workshops. By the 1860s, the village was heavily reliant on the cotton mill
Cotton mill
A cotton mill is a factory that houses spinning and weaving machinery. Typically built between 1775 and 1930, mills spun cotton which was an important product during the Industrial Revolution....
s for employment, and during the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
was badly affected by the Cotton Famine
Cotton famine
The Lancashire Cotton Famine, also known as The Cotton Famine or the Cotton Panic , was a depression in the textile industry of North West England, brought about by the interruption of baled cotton imports caused by the American Civil War. The boom years of 1859 and 1860 had produced more woven...
, along with the rest of Lancashire. The wall alongside the river opposite Barrowford Park was built during this period to provide work for unemployed weavers - the milestone which projects from the wall is dated 1866. However little remains of Barrowford's industrial past, and the village today is a tourist destination and home to commuters who work across the county.
Local media
The daily Lancashire Telegraph newspaper covers Barrowford in its Burnley, Pendle and Rossendale edition. The Nelson Leader which is a weekly publication also covers Barrowford.External links
- http://www.barrowfordpress.co.uk Barrowford history publications
- http://www.barrowford.org www.barrowford.org John Clayton's Barrowford and Pendle History Site
- Jim Sanderson's Barrowford - a selection of personal information and topics of historical interest
- Barrowford Parish Website
- BBC Sunday Stroll in Blacko, Higherford and Barrowford