Bowland-with-Leagram is a civil parish

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 Ribble Valley

Ribble Valley

Ribble Valley is a local government district with borough status within the non-metropolitan county of Lancashire, England. Its council is based in Clitheroe. Other places include Whalley, Longridge and Ribchester. The area is so called due to the River Ribble which flows in its final stages...

 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, covering part of the Forest of Bowland

Forest of Bowland

The Forest of Bowland, also known as the Bowland Fells, is an area of barren gritstone fells, deep valleys and peat moorland, mostly in north-east Lancashire, England. A small part lies in North Yorkshire, and much of the area was historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire...

. According to the census, the parish had a population of 181 in 1951 and 128 in 2001.

As the only part of the historical Forest of Bowland

Forest of Bowland

The Forest of Bowland, also known as the Bowland Fells, is an area of barren gritstone fells, deep valleys and peat moorland, mostly in north-east Lancashire, England. A small part lies in North Yorkshire, and much of the area was historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire...

 that lay within the historical bounds 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...

, the area was known for many centuries by the name of Little Bowland and this name remains in common use today.

History

Leagram was a hunting park from at least the early twelfth century, being part of the ancient Lordship of Bowland

Lordship of Bowland

The Lordship of Bowland, an ancient English title connected with the Forest of Bowland in the northwest of England, was once thought lost and was only recently rediscovered. It disappeared from sight in 1885 when the estates of the Towneleys, one of Lancashire’s great aristocratic families, were...

 which comprised a Royal Forest

Royal forest

A royal forest is an area of land with different meanings in England, Wales and Scotland; the term forest does not mean forest as it is understood today, as an area of densely wooded land...

 and a Liberty

Liberty (division)

Originating in the Middle Ages, a liberty was traditionally defined as an area in which regalian rights were revoked and where land was held by a mesne lord...

 of ten manors spanning eight townships and four parishes and covered an area of almost 300 square miles (777 km²) on the historic borders 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...

 and Yorkshire

Yorkshire

Yorkshire is a historic county of northern England and the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its great size in comparison to other English counties, functions have been increasingly undertaken over time by its subdivisions, which have also been subject to periodic reform...

. The manors within the Liberty were Leagram, Slaidburn

Slaidburn

Slaidburn is a village and civil parish within the Ribble Valley district of Lancashire, England. With a population in 2001 of just under 300, it covers just over 5000 acres of the Forest of Bowland...

 (Newton-in-Bowland, West Bradford

West Bradford

West Bradford may refer to:*West Bradford Township, Chester County, Pennsylvania*West Bradford, Lancashire*Bradford West...

, Grindleton), Knowlmere

Slaidburn

Slaidburn is a village and civil parish within the Ribble Valley district of Lancashire, England. With a population in 2001 of just under 300, it covers just over 5000 acres of the Forest of Bowland...

, Waddington

Waddington, Lancashire

Waddington is a small village, 2 miles north-west of Clitheroe, within the Ribble Valley district of Lancashire, England. It is also a civil parish. Prior to the 1974 county boundary changes, Waddington just fell within the boundary of Bowland Rural District of the West Riding of Yorkshire...

, Easington

Easington, Lancashire

Easington is a civil parish within the Ribble Valley district of Lancashire, England, with a population in 2001 of 52. Prior to 1974, it formed part of Bowland Rural District in the West Riding of Yorkshire. It covers just over 9000 acres.-History:...

, Bashall Eaves

Bashall Eaves

Bashall Eaves is a village and civil parish in the Ribble Valley district of Lancashire, England, about four miles west of Clitheroe. The placename element eaves is Old English and refers to Bashall's location on the borders of the Forest of Bowland.According to the 2001 census, the parish of...

, Mitton

Great Mitton

Great Mitton is a village and a civil parish in the Ribble Valley, Lancashire, England. It is separated from the civil parish of Little Mitton by the River Ribble, both lie about 3 miles from the town of Clitheroe...

, Withgill (Crook)

Great Mitton

Great Mitton is a village and a civil parish in the Ribble Valley, Lancashire, England. It is separated from the civil parish of Little Mitton by the River Ribble, both lie about 3 miles from the town of Clitheroe...

,Hammerton and Dunnow (Battersby)

Slaidburn

Slaidburn is a village and civil parish within the Ribble Valley district of Lancashire, England. With a population in 2001 of just under 300, it covers just over 5000 acres of the Forest of Bowland...

.

As Lady Queen of Bowland, Elizabeth I alienated the park and granted the manor of Leagram to her favourite, the Earl of Leicester

Earl of Leicester

The title Earl of Leicester was created in the 12th century in the Peerage of England , and is currently a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom, created in 1837.-Early creations:...

, in 1563. It was purchased shortly afterwards by Sir Richard Shireburne of Stonyhurst

Stonyhurst

Stonyhurst is the name of a rural estate owned by the Society of Jesus near Clitheroe in Lancashire, England. It is dominated by Stonyhurst College, its preparatory school Stonyhurst Saint Mary's Hall and the parish Church of St Peter's.-The Estate:...

. Shireburne served as Master Forester of Bowland until 1594. The Shireburnes held the manor until 1754 before it passed to their cousins, the Welds. The Shireburne family tombs are at All Hallows' Church, Great Mitton

Great Mitton

Great Mitton is a village and a civil parish in the Ribble Valley, Lancashire, England. It is separated from the civil parish of Little Mitton by the River Ribble, both lie about 3 miles from the town of Clitheroe...

. John Weld-Blundell is the present-day Lord of the Manor

Lord of the Manor

The Lordship of a Manor is recognised today in England and Wales as a form of property and one of three elements of a manor that may exist separately or be combined and may be held in moieties...

 of Chipping (Lawn).

Some of the earliest evidence of human settlement in eastern Lancashire has come from this corner of Bowland. In 1946, archaeologists uncovered artefacts, including pottery, indicating Bronze Age

Bronze Age

The Bronze Age is a period characterized by the use of copper and its alloy bronze as the chief hard materials in the manufacture of some implements and weapons. Chronologically, it stands between the Stone Age and Iron Age...

 occupation at Fairy Holes, a cave situated on New Laund Farm, near Whitewell

Whitewell

Whitewell is a hamlet within the Ribble Valley borough of Lancashire, England, in the Forest of Bowland Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Historically, it lay on the border of the former West Riding of Yorkshire. It stands above a picturesque bend in the River Hodder.The hamlet comprises Upper...

.

Governance

The civil parish of Bowland-with-Leagram was created from the civil parishes of Little Bowland and Leagram in 1935 (both created from townships

Township (England)

In England, a township is a local division or district of a large parish containing a village or small town usually having its own church...

in the ancient parish of Whalley in 1866).