Higham, Lancashire
Encyclopedia
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...
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, south of Pendle Hill
Pendle Hill
Pendle Hill is located in the north-east of Lancashire, England, near the towns of Burnley, Nelson, Colne, Clitheroe and Padiham, an area known as Pendleside. Its summit is above mean sea level. It gives its name to the Borough of Pendle. It is an isolated hill, separated from the Pennines to the...
. The civil parish is named "Higham with West Close Booth". The village is 2 miles (3.2 km) north-east of Padiham
Padiham
Padiham is a small town and civil parish on the River Calder, about west of Burnley and south of Pendle Hill, in Lancashire, England. It is part of the Borough of Burnley but also has its own town council with varied powers.-History:...
and about 4 miles (6.4 km) south west 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....
along the A6068 road. At the 2001 census
United Kingdom Census 2001
A nationwide census, known as Census 2001, was conducted in the United Kingdom on Sunday, 29 April 2001. This was the 20th UK Census and recorded a resident population of 58,789,194....
Higham had a population of 808 in 338 dwellings.
Facilities
The centre of Higham is a conservation areaConservation area
A conservation areas is a tract of land that has been awarded protected status in order to ensure that natural features, cultural heritage or biota are safeguarded...
. The buildings in the area are stone-built mainly from the 19th century with a few older. Several farmhouses and barns have been converted to houses. Outside the Conservation Area most buildings are from later periods including modern housing estates.
Amenities include a pub, the Four Alls Inn, est. 1798 where you can discover the meaning of "Four Alls"; the Church of St John the Evangelist (C of E) built 1874, Higham C of E (Controlled) Primary School, and the Village Hall.
Buildings and features
The Spout is an attractive village feature providing constantly running natural spring water and is popular with both villagers and visitors. Nearby is the historic site of a pinfoldPinfold
Pinfold, in Medieval Britain, is an area where stray animals were rounded up if their owners failed to properly supervise their use of common grazing land...
or poundfield, a walled area with grass and running water which was used to temporarily impound animals.
Other buildings of note include 'The Village Hall, 1837, was built as the National School and also used for Church of England services until St John's Church was built. Higham Hall, 17th century used for meetings of the court of the Forest of 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...
. Clover Croft Mill stood in the centre of the village having latterly been used as a furniture factory. The demolition was completed in 2006 to enable a housing development to be built on the site.
On the road to Nelson are three buildings of interest: Lower White Lee (18th century), Higher White Lee birthplace of Jonas Moore (see below), Ashlar House has a porch dated 1594 with the names Richard Grimshaw and John Box, but the house seems to have been rebuilt in the 17th century.
Notable residents
Herbert ButterworthHerbert Butterworth
Herbert Butterworth was an English professional footballer who played as a left-half. He played nine matches in the Football League for Nelson and also assisted several non-league clubs...
(1902–1938) professional footballer, born in Higham.
Harry Hargreaves
Harry Hargreaves
Harold 'Harry' Hargreaves was a professional footballer who played for Great Harwood, East Lancashire Regiment, Nelson, Wolverhampton Wanderers, Pontypridd, Tottenham Hotspur, Burnley, Rossendale United and Barnoldswick Town. Outside of football, he was also a keen cricketer and bowls player.-...
(1896–1975) professional footballer, born in Higham.
Jonas Moore
Jonas Moore
Sir Jonas Moore, FRS was an English mathematician, surveyor, Ordnance Officer and patron of astronomy. He participated in two of the most ambitious English civil engineering projects of the 17th century: the draining of the Great Level of the Fens and the building of the Mole at Tangier...
(1617–1679) later Sir Jonas Moore FRS, was an English mathematician, surveyor, Ordnance
Board of Ordnance
The Board of Ordnance was a British government body responsible for the supply of armaments and munitions to the Royal Navy and British Army. It was also responsible for providing artillery trains for armies and maintaining coastal fortresses and, later, management of the artillery and engineer...
officer and patron of astronomy, born at White Lee, now Higher White Lee Farm, Higham.
Pendle Witches One of the families swept up in the Pendle Witch Trials of 1612 was the 'Chattox' clan, based in West Close where the old crone Mother Chattox lived and her family pursued their work of professional begging. In Alizon Device's confession she told that "Anne Whittle, alias Chattox, was suspected for bewitching the drinke of John Moore of Higham, gentleman" and for causing one of his sons to die. The landlord of the pub, The Four Alls, accused Chattox of putting a curse on his brew. The suspected witches were first examined at Ashlar House, by local Magistrate Roger Nowell of nearby Read Hall.