HABERGHAM EAVES
Habringham, 1241 and commonly; Habercham,
1269; Habringgeham, 1296; Habringham Evez (or
Eves), 1526. The g is hard.
This township is not distinguished from Burnley
proper in the more ancient records, (fn. 1) while in recent
times, as the town grew, the mills and dwellinghouses extended across the Calder, which was in
general the township boundary, and the northern
part of Habergham Eaves became part of the town,
and was recognized as such under the Improvement
Acts and in the borough charter. In 1894 the
historical township was accordingly dissolved, nearly
half being added to the extended township of Burnley,
and the remainder with a small exception becoming
the present township or civil parish of Habergham
Eaves, (fn. 2) governed by a parish council. The industries
of the former part are those of Burnley; in the latter
part the land is mostly used for pasture, but coal
mines and quarries exist over a large part of the
township, some being still worked. The area of
the historical township is 4,217½ acres, that of the
present one 2,218 acres, including 25 of inland
water; the population in 1901 numbered 52,229
and 396 respectively.
The dominating physical feature is the hill called
Horelaw or Whorlaw in the centre of the southern
end of the township. It has a height of 1,153 ft.
above the sea, and from it the surface descends in all
directions, but chiefly towards the north, being broken
by many cloughs, some of them still wooded; and
the Calder, along the northern boundary, falls from
420 ft. at the east to 320 ft. at the north. South of
Horelaw the land falls and rises again towards the
boundaries, attaining 1,240 ft. at Crown Point on
the south-east and 1,200 ft. near Nutshaw on the
south-west. The road from Manchester by way of
Rawtenstall enters the township near the last-named
corner, having Nutshaw to the left and Cronkshaw
to the right, and goes north on the west side of
Horelaw, passing Oakeneaves, Gibfield and Hudhouse; after turning east by Healey and Pickup, it
goes north again into the centre of Burnley. (fn. 3) The
other principal roads are those leading into Burnley
from Blackburn by Padiham and from Accrington,
which cross the north end of the township, and going
eastward join before entering Burnley as Westgate.
The former road also makes a less direct entrance
into the town by Sandygate. The Lancashire and
Yorkshire Railway Company's line from Accrington
to Burnley and Colne runs east near the highway,
and before turning north to enter Burnley a branch
from it leads east and south-east towards Todmorden.
There are stations on the former line at Rose
Grove and Burnley Barracks, and on the branch at
Manchester Road and Towneley. The Leeds and
Liverpool Canal also winds along through the northern
end of the township, till at Finsley it turns sharply
to the north to go through Burnley. Near Gannow
it passes through a tunnel a third of a mile long.
The Burnley electric tramways go to Padiham, and
have branches to Rose Grove, Manchester Road and
Towneley.
Habergham Hall, of which there are now no
remains, stood near the western edge overlooking
the boundary clough. In a projecting part in the
north-west is Gawthorpe, on the western slope of
Ightenhill. Towneley, the other principal hall, stands
in its park on the eastern border of the township,
with Castle Hill to the south and the district called
Burnley Wood to the north of it. In addition to
those named there are a number of houses and placenames of interest on account of their former possessors. Micklehurst lay south of Habergham Hall,
Hollingreave, Moseley and Hufflen Hall are to the
west of Burnley Wood and Small Hazels to the
south-west of Towneley. Gannow is a hamlet to
the west of Burnley; its progress was due to its
position near the roads and canal. To its northeast are Whittlefield and Clifton, to the south and
south-west are Hargher Clough, Sep Clough, Smallshaw and Kellor House, and to the north-west and
west are Palace House (modern), Tipping Hill,
Kiddrow (or Kidroe) and Thornhill Holme or Lower
Houses. This north-west part of the township was
formerly called Ightenhill. The barracks were built
by subscription in 1819. (fn. 4) The Burnley cemetery
is on the western boundary near Habergham Hall.
The sewage works are north of Gannow. There
are a number of recreation grounds maintained by
the Corporation of Burnley. South of Healey there
was formerly a race-course. To the south-west of
this is Hollin Cross. There are remains of an
ancient cross in Cross Field. (fn. 5)
Leigh about 1700 noticed several springs in the
neighbourhood; one near Handbridge, Burnley
Wood, was medicinal, (fn. 6) as was another near Barn
Lane in what is still known as Spa Clough, where
about seventy years ago baths and a well-house were
built.
Manors
Although in some early deeds Habergham is described as a 'vill,' in others it
is called only a hamlet in the vill of
Burnley, and this appears to have been its position till
comparatively recent times. It is not mentioned by
name in the hearth tax return of 1666, although in
1650 the parochial chapelry of Burnley was stated to
embrace the 'townships' of Burnley, Habergham
Eaves and Worsthorne. (fn. 7) The greater part of the
land was held by copy of court roll, (fn. 8) but there were
some freehold estates described as manors. Of these
was
HABERGHAM, which gave a surname to the
owners. Roger de Lacy, who died in 1211, gave an
oxgang of land in Habergham to Matthew de Habergham and his heirs for their homage, a rent of 3s. to
be given yearly at St. Giles's Day. (fn. 9) Matthew de
Habergham, with the assent of Peter his eldest son,
somewhat later gave a moiety of the land he held of
John (de Lacy), the constable of Chester, to another
son Henry, at a rent of 6d. (fn. 10) The tenement thus
appears to have been divided into two parts and the
descent is not altogether clear. Peter and Henry
had sons, and various alienations were made, though
Peter de Habergham was recorded as holding the
oxgang of land by the old rent of 3s. in 1258. (fn. 11)
Geoffrey son of Peter de Habergham gave to Adam
son of Robert de Holden all the land which he had
from Adam son of Matthew through default of
homage till the heir should come of age and satisfy
Adam. (fn. 12) Geoffrey made other grants to Adam his
son, (fn. 13) Adam de Holden (fn. 14) and John de Birtwisle. (fn. 15)
In 1311 the free tenants were Adam de Holden and
Henry de Birtwisle, who held 2 oxgangs of land
by rendering 6s. yearly; this is twice the amount
granted by the extant charter. (fn. 16)
It is probable that Adam the son of Geoffrey was
father of the John de Habergham to whom in 1335
Mabel daughter of William son of Matthew de
Habergham surrendered all her lands in the hamlet
of Habergham in the vill of Burnley, together with
the reversion of her mother Ellen's dower. (fn. 17) There
is again a defect in the evidence. Ellis de Habergham, chaplain, who was a son of John, and acting as
trustee, in 1363 granted to feoffees various lands in
Habergham, with the reversion of the dower of
Margaret widow of John de Habergham. (fn. 18) Richard
de Habergham, whose parentage is not recorded, received
possession about 1366. (fn. 19) The
estate or manor descended (fn. 20)
to Lawrence Habergham, who
died in 1615 holding the
'Hall of Habergham,' with
lands and coal mine there,
part of the adjacent Bradley
in Hapton and land in Foulridge; his heir was his son
John, aged sixteen. (fn. 21) John
Habergham in 1631 paid £10
as composition for declining
knighthood, (fn. 22) and in 1638
gave lands to feoffees on marrying Anne daughter of
George Pollard of Mill Hill in Hapton (fn. 23) ; but
though he lived through the Civil War nothing is
recorded of him, and his descendants sold the estate
piecemeal, George Halsted becoming the owner of
the hall in 1689 on the foreclosure of a mortgage. (fn. 24) After a time the hall, which was rebuilt
in 1754, came by bequest into the possession of
the Halsteads or Halsteds of Rowley in Worsthorne. It was sold in the middle of last century to
Mr. Holt of Goodshaw Fold, who left it to William
Preston of Mearley. He took the name of Holt,
and was succeeded by his son Mr. Thomas Preston
Holt. (fn. 25)
Habergham. Argent three crosses hermetty sable.
A Halstead family occurs in Habergham much
earlier. Hugh Halstead was a freeholder in 1600 (fn. 26)
and George Halstead compounded in 1631 for
refusing knighthood. (fn. 27) The Birtwisle (fn. 28) and Holden (fn. 29)
families long continued to hold land in Habergham;
Palace House was formerly the residence of John
Greenwood, one of the Holden heirs. (fn. 30) The Sagers'
estate at Cowden Brook or Cole Clough descended to
the Veevers family. (fn. 31)
TOWNELEY (fn. 32) was about 1200 granted by
Roger de Lacy to Geoffrey son of Robert the Dean
of Whalley, who was authorized to maintain a dwelling-place there for use when hunting in the district.
The land was assessed as 2 oxgangs and was to be
taken from a tract of country the bounds of which
began at Thorny Clough, went down the Calder,
and followed this stream as far as Bradbridge; going
thence to Dedsyke, to Hawksnest Clough head,
Pikedlow, Crombrook to its head, Withenslack head,
Middlehill, Thornley syke head, and Thorny Clough.
Geoffrey was to share in the common pasture of
Burnley and have right of chase outside the lord's
demesne heys. Lands in Coldcoats and Snodsworth in
Billington were quitclaimed to him. For the whole
estate, 8 oxgangs of land in all, Geoffrey and his heirs
were to render the service due for the tenth part of a
knight's fee. (fn. 33)
The succession of the Deans of Whalley has been
related in the account of the church there. The
early descent of Towneley is far from clear. In 1242
Henry Gedleng held the tenth
part of a knight's fee in
Towneley, Coldcoats and
Snodsworth, all being included in the dower of the
Countess of Lincoln. (fn. 34) The
name 'Gedleng' does not
occur again; Henry was probably the Henry de Towneley
who, together with his brother
Richard and son William,
attested a charter by which
Adam Abbot of Kirkstall
(1249–59) granted to Walter
the chaplain of Towneley
certain land in Cliviger. (fn. 35) Henry de Towneley attested
a Worsthorne deed about the same time. (fn. 36) The next
in possession, so far as is known, was a Richard de
Towneley, whose heirs in 1295–6 paid 10s. as relief
on succeeding to the threefold estate, (fn. 37) but a Nicholas
de Towneley is named among certain county magnates in 1292. (fn. 38) In 1302 John de Catterall and his
parceners held the eighth part of a fee in Towneley
and its members. (fn. 39) Cecily de Towneley in her
widowhood in the following year granted to John
son of Gilbert de la Legh all the lands she had by
reversion of dower in Towneley, Brunshaw and
Worsthorne. (fn. 40) In 1311 the heirs of Towneley held
Brunshaw and Towneley for homage and by the
service of 18s. 3d., doing suit at the court of
Clitheroe from three weeks to three weeks. (fn. 41)
Towneley of Towneley. Argent a fesse with three mullets in chief sable.
Light is thrown on the succession by a pleading in
1315, when Robert de Gretton and Agnes his wife
complained that John de Legh and Cecily his wife,
Philip de Clayton and Isabel his wife had refused to
make partition of the manor of Towneley, which
Agnes, Cecily and Isabel had inherited from their
brother Nicholas de Towneley. (fn. 42) The three co-heirs
appear again in 1322 holding as in 1302. (fn. 43) John
de Legh was in 1323 charged with unlawful hunting
in the East Moors in Towneley and in Cliviger, but
he justified himself on the ground that it was his
wife's right. (fn. 44)
John de Legh was the son of Gilbert de Legh of
Hapton, otherwise Gilbert son of Michael, the head
stock-keeper of the Accrington vaccaries in 1296 and
later. (fn. 45) John de Legh was living in 1333 (fn. 46) and
1339, (fn. 47) but may have died before his father, (fn. 48) being
succeeded by his son Gilbert. Gilbert de Legh and
others held the tenth or eighth part of a knight's fee
about 1350. (fn. 49) In 1372 the feoffees of Gilbert son
of John de Legh granted to other trustees that third
part of the manor of Towneley which had formerly
been held by Philip de Clayton and Isabel his wife, (fn. 50)
and in 1381 William son of Richard the Parker released to Gilbert de Legh and John son of Richard
de Towneley all his right in that third part which
formerly belonged to his kinsman John son of John
de Catterall. (fn. 51) Thus the whole manor was reunited,
and Towneley was used for the surname of its lords.
In the year before a jury had found that Gilbert de
Legh might without loss to the king grant to feoffees
the fourth part of the bailiwick of Blackburn wapentake, held of the king in chief; he held also of the
Duke of Lancaster the manor of Hapton, two-thirds
of the manor of Towneley and the manors of Cliviger
and Birtwisle. His share of Towneley was held by
knight's service and a rent of 6d.; it was worth £10
a year clear. (fn. 52) Gilbert died before his wife Alice,
who dying in 1388 was found to have held his estate;
there being no issue of the marriage, the heir was
John son and heir of Richard de Towneley, brother
of Gilbert, then thirty-eight years of age. (fn. 53) This
Richard had died in 1379 holding a fourth part of
the bailiwick of Blackburnshire. (fn. 54) John son and heir
of Richard de Towneley had the usual protection in
1386 on engaging to go to Calais on the king's
business, but he forfeited it by staying in Kent
attending to his own affairs. (fn. 55) In 1397 the feoffees
regranted to John de Towneley his manors of
Towneley and Cliviger, (fn. 56) and two years later he died
in possession of them. He had married Isabel or
Elizabeth daughter and heir of William de Rixton,
and left a son Richard, aged twelve, as heir to
Towneley and the other manors and lands. (fn. 57)
Richard Towneley made a feoffment of his paternal
lands in 1410, (fn. 58) and accompanied Henry V in his
expedition to France in 1415, taking part at Agincourt. (fn. 59) He and the Abbot of Whalley in 1446 held
the tenth part of a knight's fee in Towneley, Coldcoats and Snodsworth, 5s. being due from each in
respect of relief. (fn. 60) Richard died in 1454 holding
the manor of Towneley of the king as of his duchy
of Lancaster by knight's service and a rent of 12s. 9d.;
holding also two parts of the bailiwick of Blackburnshire and various manors and lands in the hundred.
His son John was over forty years of age. (fn. 61) John
Towneley had in 1418 been contracted to marry
Isabel daughter of Nicholas Boteler of Rawcliffe, but
this marriage having been declared null on the ground
of pre-contract, (fn. 62) he in 1445 married Elizabeth
daughter of Richard Shireburne. (fn. 63) Soon after succeeding he made a settlement of his manors and
lands, including some at Flint in North Wales. (fn. 64) In
1456 he obtained the bishop's licence for a domestic
chapel at Towneley, Cliviger and Birtwisle. (fn. 65) He
was living in 1472 when his son Richard was contracted to marry Joan sister of Christopher Southworth. (fn. 66) He died soon afterwards, for in 1474
Richard Towneley granted Willisill in Hapton and
Nutshaw in Birtwisle to his brothers Lawrence and
Nicholas. (fn. 67)
Richard Towneley took part in the Scottish expedition of 1482, and was in Hutton Field made a
knight by Lord Stanley on 24 July. (fn. 68) He died in
the following September holding Towneley by
knight's service and many other manors, &c. His
heir was his son John, only nine years old, but already
married to Isabel daughter of Sir Charles Pilkington. (fn. 69)
This John took part in the expedition into Scotland
in 1497, and was there made a knight. (fn. 70) In the
following year he was summoned to show cause for
his claim to have free chase in Blackburnshire, as
appurtenant to his manor of Towneley. (fn. 71) He did
not prove his age till 1500. (fn. 72) Some of his charters
are known, (fn. 73) and he founded a chantry in Burnley
Church. (fn. 74) He dismissed the herald very curtly in
1533, telling him that 'there was no more gentlemen
in Lancashire but my lord of Derby and Mounteagle.' (fn. 75) He had been sheriff in 1531–2. (fn. 76) He
obtained the king's licence to impark all his lands in
Whalley. (fn. 77) He was probably too infirm in 1536 to
take any part in resisting the Northern rebellion,
but John the brother of Sir John Towneley was to
be ready with six or eight tall men. (fn. 78) A Towneley
rental, compiled 1 January 1536–7, has been printed. (fn. 79)
Sir John died in 1541, (fn. 80) when his son Richard
succeeded. (fn. 81) He had a son Sir Richard Towneley,
who was made a knight in 1547 at 'the camp besides
Roxburgh' by the Duke of Somerset, (fn. 82) but died in
1554 before his father, (fn. 83) leaving a daughter Mary as
sole heir. The elder Richard died soon afterwards, (fn. 84)
the heir male being his nephew John son of Charles
Towneley, the second son of Sir John, (fn. 85) who in 1556
married his cousin Mary by dispensation.
After a period of wavering John Towneley decided to refuse conformity to the religious changes
made by Elizabeth, and in 1568 was cited to appear
before the commissioners. (fn. 86) Their orders had little
or no effect upon him, and he became an unswerving
recusant. (fn. 87) In 1581 he is found in the Gatehouse,
Westminster, a prisoner for religion, being removed
to the New Fleet, Manchester, in 1582, (fn. 88) having
practically no freedom from that time till his death,
besides being compelled to pay the £260 a year
levied for recusancy by the Act of 1581. (fn. 89) He made
a settlement of his estates in 1594, (fn. 90) and died in
1608 holding the manors of Towneley and Hapton
of the king as duke by knight's service; also the
manors of Cliviger and Birtwisle, with lands, &c.,
there and in Burnley, Burnley Wood, Habergham
Eaves, Briercliffe, Extwistle, Hurstwood and Worsthorne in Lancashire, and the manors of Nocton and
Dunston and the advowson of Water Willoughby in
Lincolnshire. His wife had died before him, and
he was succeeded by his son Richard, then forty-two
years of age. (fn. 91) Richard Towneley followed his father's
steps in religion, but little is known of him. He
recorded a pedigree in 1613, (fn. 92) and died in London
in 1628, being buried at St. Clement Danes. (fn. 93) His
eldest son Richard in 1632 compounded for the
recusancy fines by an annual payment of £213 6s. 8d.
a year, (fn. 94) and dying unmarried in 1636 at Nocton,
was succeeded by his younger brother Charles, (fn. 95) who
had for a time been an ecclesiastical student in Rome,
but had left with the permission of the authorities. (fn. 96)
On the Civil War breaking out Charles Towneley at
once took the king's side, (fn. 97) and fell in the battle of
Marston Moor in 1644. (fn. 98) His estates were sequestered
and in 1651 declared forfeit and put up for sale. (fn. 99)
As in other cases portions of the inheritance were
secured for the children, and Charles's son Richard
succeeded to Towneley. He recorded a pedigree in
1664. (fn. 100) He lived quietly and devoted his leisure
to study. (fn. 101) In 1678, at the time of the Oates Plot,
he and other members of his family were indicted for
recusancy, (fn. 102) and remaining faithful to James II he
was made prisoner in 1689 and was accused of
participation in the fictitious plot of 1694. (fn. 103) He
died at York in 1707. (fn. 104)
His son Charles dying in 1711 was followed by
his son Richard, who married a daughter of Lord
Widdrington, (fn. 105) and being zealous for the Stuarts
joined the Jacobites at Preston in 1715. (fn. 106) He was
tried for high treason, but acquitted for want of
evidence. (fn. 107) In 1717 he registered his entailed estates
as worth £921 a year; others of his family also
registered annuities charged on Towneley. (fn. 108) His
brother John entered the service of France and was
made a knight of St. Louis; he translated Hudibras
into French. (fn. 109) Another brother, Francis, took an
active part in the Jacobite rising of 1745, and was
made colonel of the Manchester Regiment; being
captured at Carlisle, he was tried for high treason
and executed in 1746. (fn. 110) At home the family had
little chance of distinction, the laws shutting them
out of public life for their religion; but Charles
Towneley, grandson of Richard, who held the
Towneley estates from 1742 till 1805, had a European
reputation as a connoisseur. Educated at Douay, he
afterwards visited Italy and made a famous collection
of marble and other objects of art, purchased by the
British Museum after his death. (fn. 111) He was unmarried, and Towneley went to his brother Edward
Standish (fn. 112) (d. 1807) and then to his uncle John
Towneley (d. 1813). (fn. 113) The last-named was succeeded by his son Peregrine Edward Towneley, who
after the passing of the Catholic Emancipation Act
was able to take part in public life and served as
high sheriff in 1831. Dying
in 1846 he was succeeded by
his son Charles, high sheriff
in 1857. At his death in
1861 he left three daughters,
ultimately co-heirs of the
family estates (fn. 114) : Caroline
Louisa (d. 1873), who married
Viscount Norreys, now Earl
of Abingdon, and had several
children; Emily Frances (d.
1892), who married Lord
A. F. Gordon Lennox, and
left a son; and Alice Mary,
who married a distinguished
lawyer, Thomas O'Hagan,
twice Lord Chancellor of Ireland, created a baron of the
United Kingdom in 1870.
Lord O'Hagan died in 1885;
his eldest son and successor
died during the South African
War 1900, being a lieutenant
in the Grenadier Guards, and was succeeded in the
title by his brother. The estates were divided.
Lady O'Hagan, who seceded from communion with
the Roman Catholic Church in 1897, in 1901 sold
Towneley Hall and the grounds around it for
£17,500 to the Corporation of Burnley, who have
formed a museum and art gallery there, which was
opened in 1903. It does not appear that any 'manor'
has been claimed at Towneley for a long period, and
Dr. Whitaker could write thus a century ago:—
O'Hagan, Lord O'Hagan. Quarterly argent and azure, in the first quarter a shoe proper and on a canton per cheveron gules and ermine three covered cups or, in the second quarter a flag of the first charged with a dexter hand of the fourth, in the third quarter a lion rampant gold and in the fourth quarter a fish swimming proper.
The manors of Towneley and Cliviger have been recognised
in all the family conveyances down to the year 1685; but as
no courts have been holden from time immemorial, as the
superior lords have long exercised an uncontested right over the
commons, mines, and minerals, and the several freeholders over
the latter within their own estates; and moreover as a modern
park affords an easier supply of game and venison than an
ancient free chase, this shadow of feudal superiority has passed
away and is now forgotten. (fn. 115)
TOWNELEY HALL stands in a low situation
about a quarter of a mile from the west bank of the
Calder and about 1¼ miles south-east of Burnley. It
is a large three-story stone mansion built on three sides
of an open court and facing north-east, dating originally
in all probability from the 14th or early 15th century,
but altered so considerably from time to time since
that little or nothing of the early building is now
visible. Dr. Whitaker, (fn. 116) writing about 1788, states
that the house was, 'until about a century ago,' a
complete quadrangle with four turrets in the angles,
and that on the north-east side, which was then as
now open, there were 'two turrets in the angles, a
gateway, a chapel, and a sacristy, with a library over.
These,' he goes on to state, 'were removed by
Charles Towneley about a century ago and placed in
their present position, having been preserved entire.'
This statement of Whitaker's as to the existence of a
north-east wing seems to be the only evidence as to
the former plan and appearance of the building, the
structure itself showing no signs of any such violent
alteration, which it seems reasonable to suppose if
carried out at so comparatively recent a date as the
end of the 17th century would have left some trace.
It has been suggested, however, that the gate-house
and chapel may have existed in a detached building
whose removal would not cause mutilation to the
adjoining wings, (fn. 117) but so much work has been done
externally in the 18th century that it is extremely
difficult to come to any definite conclusion as to what
the building was like at the time when the destruction
of the north-east side of the quadrangle is said to
have taken place. The plan of the house now
consists of a south-west or middle wing containing
the great hall measuring externally 86 ft. in length
by 34 ft. in width, with long north-west and southeast wings at right angles forming the three sides of
a courtyard measuring 80 ft. by 76 ft. This
probably forms more or less the plan of the mediaeval
house, or part of it if it were entirely quadrangular,
and the south-east wing apparently retains its original
walls, 6 ft. thick, all round. This wing is 95 ft.
long by 40 ft. wide, and like the wing opposite
stands in front of the centre block some 75 ft.,
the internal angles being emphasized by square
staircase towers 15 ft. on the face, but with a
projection of only 4 ft. in front of the main wall.
The north-west wing is of the same length and may
have been originally of equal width, the outer
wall on the west side, which is 6 ft. thick, being
apparently of equal date with those of the south-east
wing. The north-east wing was, however, rebuilt
by Richard Towneley shortly before his death in
1628, and the wall facing the courtyard is of that
date. At a later period William Towneley, who died
in 1742, added a new building on the west side
against the old outer wall which had been retained
in the rebuilding, increasing the wing to its present
width of 53 ft. The junction of the old and new
work is not observable on the front elevation, the
end wall having been presumably entirely re-erected
at that time, but at the back it stands slightly in
front of the older wall. The back portion of the
outer building, however, which in the upper floor
contains the chapel, is said to have been part of the
old north-east wing removed at the time of its
destruction to its present position by Charles
Towneley, the stones having been marked and
numbered. However that may be, (fn. 118) the north-west
wing has now as completely lost all traces of its
mediaeval appearance as that opposite, the ancient
work there visible belonging to the 17th century.
In the rebuilding of 1628 the wall facing the
courtyard may have been erected within the line of
the older wall, supposing the wings to have been
originally of equal width, and the courtyard space
consequently increased, but this is not certain, the
wings possibly having been of unequal width from
the first.
The middle or south-west wing containing the
hall was entirely altered in 1725 (fn. 119) by Richard
Towneley, whose initials and crest are in the rainwater heads facing the court. It then assumed its
present form of a classic entrance-hall going the full
height of the building, the floor being removed and
a stone staircase with iron balustrade being introduced
at the south-east end. How much of the old walling
remains in place it is difficult to say, as all the windows
belong to the reconstruction, and indeed the appearance of the exterior of the whole of the building has
an 18th or even early 19th-century Gothic character
which deprives the house of any pretensions to architectural merit. The back elevation of the middle
wing, however, consists of a plain classic design and
suggests an entire rebuilding of the wall on that
side. (fn. 120)
Following on his remodelling of the hall Richard
Towneley in the year following entirely reconstructed
the south-east wing, taking out the first floor and
forming two lofty apartments 20 ft. in height on the
ground floor with large round-headed quasi-Gothic
windows under square hood moulds along the east side
and at either end. To this period, too, probably
belong the diagonal buttresses to the north-west and
south-east wings terminating in embattled turrets,
and possibly the embattled parapets, though these
may be of earlier date. There were further slight
additions in 1736 and also in the middle of the last
century, about 1849–50, when an addition, four
stories in height, forming a kind of tower, 15 ft. by
30 ft., was built rather awkwardly at the outer angle
of the north-west wing. There is also a low twostory wing on the north-west side forming outbuildings and a dwelling-house over 120 ft. in length.
The walls are constructed of roughly-coursed rubble,
but the porch and angle buttresses are of ashlar. The
older windows have mostly mullions and transoms,
but the later 'Gothic' windows mullions only with
heavy hood moulds. The walls terminate throughout
in embattled parapets, behind which the hipped roofs
are scarcely visible.
The principle entrance is by the porch, which is
of early 19th-century date, into the 18th-century
hall, occupying the middle portion of the south-west
wing. The oak door, which stands within the porch,
may have been brought to Towneley from Standish
Hall by Edward Standish (1805–7). It bears the
quartered arms of Standish and also the initials of
Ralph Standish. Across the door is an inscription—
R et Ahsoista | Tw Fec a Dni ModoXXX
The meaning is not clear, beyond that the door was
made in 1530. The hall, which is 42 ft. by 28 ft.
and 30 ft. in height, has a flagged floor and three
windows on the south side opposite the entrance, the
middle one forming a garden door, each flanked by
Ionic pilasters, a form of decoration which is continued round the room. There is a fireplace at each
end and doors leading to the staircase lobbies. The
pilasters support a deep entablature and carved plaster
ceiling with good centre ornament. Over the door
are the Towneley arms in a shield of eighteen pieces.
The staircase at the west end of the hall is of oak
with turned balusters and probably of about 1628
date, at which time most likely some reconstruction
of the plan would be necessitated at this point.
Towneley Hall
The two large 18th-century rooms in the southeast wing are of no particular interest, but the floor
being raised considerably above the level of the
ground outside allows of a basement story, in which
some ancient features may still be seen, the lower
part of a circular stone staircase being still in position
near the inner wall at the north end. The basement
is entered from the courtyard through a doorway of
unusual shape, the opening narrowing towards the top,
which is round-headed under a square hood mould.
This door is apparently of 16th-century date pierced
through the older wall and is 6 ft. high, though its
peculiar shape makes it appear much less. The
basement is also connected with the wing opposite by
a passage running along the front of the middle wing.
The upper floor of the south-east wing is now gained
by the 18th-century stone staircase at the east end of
the hall and is divided down its full length by a
narrow wall, the west side to the courtyard being
occupied by a long gallery 84 ft. by 12 ft., lit by a
window at each end and by two windows to the
courtyard. Five small rooms open from the gallery
on the west side, and it is panelled in oak, now
varnished but apparently of 17th-century date, with
a scalloped panelled frieze and square-moulded panels
below. The ceiling is quite plain.
The ground floor of the north-west wing is 4 ft.
below that of the hall and wing opposite, there being
a descent of six steps at the west end of the hall.
The kitchen is at the south end at the back,
presumably occupying its original position in the
mediaeval building, when it would be connected with
the hall by a direct passage. The original arrangement of the hall, however, has been almost entirely
lost, and the floor may have been raised. The
kitchen, which is 15 ft. in height, has a flagged floor
and is lit by a large double transomed window of
five lights. It has been 29 ft. by 23 ft., but later
alterations have reduced its size by the introduction
of wooden partitions, which form a passage-way on two
sides. On the west wall are two wide fireplaces and an
oak settle is still in position. The other rooms on the
ground floor are the offices and servants' quarters, and
are now mostly abandoned and quite without interest.
On the first floor the two principal rooms in the
north-west wing facing the courtyard are known as
the dining and drawing rooms, the former, which is
26 ft. by 22 ft. and 11 ft. 6 in. high, being an interesting 17th-century apartment with oak wainscoted walls
in diagonally set panels and ornamental plaster ceiling, the date 1628 being on the panelling in a recess
on the south side of the fireplace. It is lit by three
windows, and contains a long oak table dated 1613
and bearing the initials W.B., S.B., which formerly
belonged to Barcroft Hall. The drawing-room,
which leads from it on the north side, has been
modernized and is of little interest. It has, however,
a good stone angle fireplace.
The chapel, which, as before stated, is situated at
the back or south end of the added portion of the
wing, is 33 ft. by 18 ft., and about one-third of its
length is taken up by the sanctuary, the remaining
two-thirds constituting the nave. The sanctuary end,
which in reality faces south-west, is much loftier than
the rest of the room, the height of which is only
12 ft., and the 'east' window, which has a fourcentred head, being placed high in the wall gives a
very excellent lighting effect. The sanctuary has a
richly moulded oak cove and elaborately panelled
wainscot and ceiling, probably dating from the latter
half of the 15th century, and said to be the fittings
of the original chapel in the destroyed wing, which
is stated to have been the work of Sir John Towneley
in the reign of Henry VII. The rest of the panelling is of a later period, apparently having been
erected or restored at the end of Queen Elizabeth's
reign, since the date 1601 and the initials R.T., I.T.
are carved over the priest's door together with a shield
of sixteen pieces. There are three windows in the
west side and a door leading to a small priest's chamber,
whose projection externally breaks the long straight
line of the wall. The ceiling of the nave is supported by richly moulded oak beams and joists. The
other rooms on the first floor are without interest.
On the upper floor there were formerly five small
rooms on the inner side overlooking the courtyard,
but these have since 1902 been converted into a long
picture gallery lit from the roof, the windows on the
east side being blocked up.
In the grounds at the back of the house is the
Foldys Cross, dated 1520, which formerly stood on
the south side of Burnley Parish Church, but was
removed here in 1789. (fn. 121)
The Towneley MSS., now dispersed, are reported
upon by the Historical MSS. Commission. (fn. 122)
GAWTHORPE may have grown up from land in
the vill of Ightenhill, which was in 1389 surrendered
by John del Eves to the use of Ughtred de Shuttleworth. (fn. 123) In 1470 Lawrence son of Nicholas Shuttleworth married one of the four daughters and co-heirs
of Richard Worsley of Downham and Twiston, (fn. 124) and
from that time the descent of the estate seems clear. (fn. 125)
Richard Shuttleworth of Gawthorpe, a successful
lawyer, became chief justice of Chester and was made
a knight. (fn. 126) He married Margaret widow of Robert Barton
of Smithills, but had no issue. (fn. 127)
The accounts of his property
at this time have been printed
by the Chetham Society. (fn. 128)
He died in 1600, when his
estates went to a brother and
then (1608) to a nephew,
Richard Shuttleworth, (fn. 129) who
married the heiress of Richard
Barton of Barton near Preston.
He was sheriff in 1618 and
1638, member for Preston
in 1641, (fn. 130) took an active part
on the Parliamentary side
in the Civil War, (fn. 131) and was
a member of the Presbyterian Classis. He recorded a pedigree at the
visitation of 1664 (fn. 132) and died in 1669. His eldest
son Richard, who shared his father's principles, (fn. 133)
having died in 1648, he was succeeded by a grandson Richard, whose son and namesake was knighted
at Windsor in 1684. (fn. 134) Gawthorpe descended (fn. 135) to
Robert Shuttleworth, who died in 1818, leaving as
heir his infant daughter Janet. She married in
1842 Dr. James Phillips Kay, who assumed the
surname of Shuttleworth. He was created a baronet
in 1849, acted as sheriff in 1864 and died in 1877. (fn. 136)
His son Ughtred James Kay Shuttleworth, who succeeded to Gawthorpe on his mother's death in 1872,
represented the Clitheroe division in Parliament from
1885 to 1902, when he was raised to the peerage as
Baron Shuttleworth. He was made lord lieutenant
of the county in 1908.
Shuttleworth, Lord Shuttleworth. Quarterly; I and 4, Argent three shuttles sable, for Shuttleworth; 2 and 3, Argent three ermine spots between two bendlets sable and as many crescents gules.
GAWTHORPE HALL (fn. 137) stands near the western
boundary of the township about half a mile to the
north-east of Padiham in a valley close to the former
bed of the River Calder, 1½ miles to the west of its
junction with Pendle Water, where it swept through
flat meadows westward. The Calder was diverted
from the hall to the opposite side of the valley at
the beginning of the last century owing to its being
extensively polluted by manufacturing refuse, and
the surrounding scenery, once of great beauty, has
greatly suffered by the growth of industrialism.
The house, which is an admirable specimen of the
stone-built mansion of the late Elizabethan period, is
three stories in height over a spacious basement containing the kitchen and offices, and was designed
with much regard to external symmetry, with a
central porch set in a projecting square bay which is
carried up the full height of the building, and flanked
with similar semi-octagonal bays standing 7 ft. from
the angles, the wall being blank at either end. The
floors are marked externally by string courses dividing
the front horizontally into three parts, and the
mullioned windows, which stretch across the front
from bay to bay, are of equal height to each floor and
have a single transom.
The plan is comprised within a rectangle measuring 73 ft. 6 in. by 52 ft., the longer sides facing north
and south, but on the north and east sides there are
square recesses 15 ft. and 10 ft. wide respectively and
9 ft. 6 in. deep, and the whole mansion is grouped
round a tower measuring internally 14 ft. 6 in. by
17 ft., standing back from the north wall the depth
of the recess. The house was built between 1600
and 1605 by the Rev. Lawrence Shuttleworth, (fn. 138)
and may have incorporated in it the walls of the
keep or peel tower of an older structure upon which
the present tower was built. (fn. 139) The walls are constructed of squared local sandstone blocks in regular
courses with angle quoins, (fn. 140) and the roofs have lead
flats. The building appears to have been abandoned
and neglected in the latter part of the 18th century, (fn. 141)
but was refitted and refurnished by Robert Shuttleworth soon after the beginning of the last century, (fn. 142)
when the original oak staircase and panelling in the
tower had fallen so much out of repair that they
were removed and 'replaced in a style inconsistent
with the rest of the structure.' (fn. 143) In 1850 a more
thorough restoration took place under the direction
of Sir Charles Barry, who rearranged some of the
rooms, raised the tower and chimneys, and substituted a pierced parapet in the Elizabethan style for
the plain upper portion of the original one. (fn. 144) Barry
also altered the porch by raising the arch so as to
afford space for a mullioned window above, excavated a level garden on the south side, formed a
terrace on the north, and built a stone balustrade
all round the house inclosing the area to the basement. (fn. 145)
The porch, which projects 5 ft., preserves some of
its ancient features, but the round arch has been replaced by a four-centred one, and the flanking columns
now support a modern entablature filling up the space,
formerly quite plain, below the five-light window to
the floor above. Over the entrance in the frieze is
the Kay motto, 'Kynd Kynn Knawne Kepe,' and
above this three square stone panels, the centre one
being original, carved with the Shuttleworth arms
with helm, crest and mantling and the date 1605
above. (fn. 146) The others are modern and bear the arms
of Kay, and Shuttleworth and Kay quarterly. The
porch leads to a vestibule, to the right of which,
separated from it by a modern screen, is the entrance
hall 29 ft. 6 in. long by 12 ft. wide, lit on the south
side by a window of five lights and a recessed semioctagonal bay window 6 ft. 6 in. deep. The arrangement of the plan, however, in the south-east part of
the house has been altered, the present entrance hall
having been formed during the restoration of 1850.
Immediately before that date it was divided into
several small rooms, the work doubtless of a previous
alteration, but the original plan is difficult to reconstruct, the names of various rooms which occur in the
building accounts, some of which may have been in
this part of the building, being of little help. Previous
to the alterations of 1850 there was a panelled chamber,
apparently forming the eastern end of the present
hall, and lit by the bay window and a smaller window
on the east. On its north side two panels in the
upper part of the wall separating it from the hall
opened into the music gallery of that apartment.
The ceiling bore the date 1604 and some curious
mottoes, and over the fireplace was a marquetry tablet
bearing the initials and dates of various members of
the Shuttleworth family between the years 1443 and
1604. This room was done away with by Sir Charles
Barry, in order that the present entrance hall might
be carried to the south-eastern angle of the building, (fn. 147)
and in the course of removing the oak sill of the
window in the east side a quantity of old coins, chiefly
Portuguese, dating between 1709 and 1745, (fn. 148) were
discovered. The window at the east end above the
fireplace is modern, together
with the whole of the north
wall and all the panelling.
The genealogical tablet just
referred to, however, which
consists of a series of inlaid
oak panels with dates and
initials, has been preserved,
and is now fixed on the north
wall. (fn. 149) It is flanked by two
panels inclosed by geometrical
marquetry borders, each with
three more initials.
The plan is interesting as
showing the complete abandonment of the central hall
and end wings. The great
hall, now called the diningroom, is in the north-east
corner of the house, and the
old dining-room, now the
drawing-room, in the southwest, with a smaller apartment,
probably 'the little diningroom,' but now used as a
library, opening from it and
from the staircase tower. On
the east side is a circular stone
staircase (fn. 150) from the kitchen
and offices in the basement, and continued to the
top floor.
The hall (now the dining-room) is 30 ft. long by
20 ft. in width, with a large square recessed window
at the north-east corner 9 ft. square. At the south
end the arrangement follows that of the ancient
screens with a low music gallery over a passage
4 ft. 6 in. wide, the division between which and
the room forms the screen. There is a dais at the
upper or north end of the hall or dining-r om, (fn. 151)
which is lit by a long window of seven lights, but the
floor to the bay is slightly raised. The fireplace is
on the west side and is modern, but the room retains
its original oak wainscot to a height of about 5 ft.,
with square panels in the lower parts and longer
fluted ones above. The screen (fn. 152) is a good example
of Jacobean woodwork with turned balusters to the
front of the gallery, access to which is gained from
the stone staircase. In the spandrels of the screen
doorways are four small shields, those on the east
door bearing the initials HS / G and RS / K, and those on the
west door LS / P and TS / G. (fn. 153) Over each door is the date
1605 The plaster ceiling, consisting of a rich geometrical pattern with pendants and the initials K S,
was designed by Barry.
Gawthorpe Hall
The drawing-room, originally the dining-room, is
29 ft. long by 18 ft. 6 in. in width, and is lit on the
south side by a five-light and a bay window corresponding to those of the entrance hall, with another
window of five lights at the west end. It is the
finest room in the house, and its original appearance
has been little altered, though at periods when the
house was abandoned in the 18th century it was
used as a granary or store-room. (fn. 154) The walls are
panelled to within 2 ft. of the ceiling with richly
wrought oak wainscot, surmounted by a cornice, the
whole being a very good example of Renaissance
woodwork. The two upper ranges of panelling are
of marquetry, the second row with arched heads.
The fireplace is on the north side opposite the
windows and is the original one, with a low stone
arch 6 ft. 6 in. wide, above which the panelling is
carried with three rows of five panels over the
opening. On either side the squareness of the
room is broken in the angles by a square partition
carried up to the ceiling in front of the doors.
Over the fireplace the central panel of the upper
row is dated 1604, and in the second row four of
the five panels are ornamented, the centre one with
the Shuttleworth arms and crest. In the lower row
immediately over the arch are the inlaid initials of
the chief connexions of the family at the period
when the house was built, as follows (fn. 155) :—
Plan of second Floor, Plan of first Floor
Initials inlaid in stone above arch
Above the panelling is a rich plaster frieze 18 in.
deep, ornamented at intervals with costumed figures,
and at the angles with lions and griffins holding
shields. The plaster ceiling is very elaborate and
has a vine pattern from which clusters of grapes
hang as pendants.
The library has been almost wholly modernized,
but retains its original plaster frieze, though
the ceiling is new. The staircase in the
tower belongs to 1850 and has the hardness
of the detail of the time.
On the first floor a rearrangement of some
of the rooms on the east side was carried out
by Barry, but generally the plan remains
approximately in its original form with four
large bedrooms and a dressing-room facing
south, two of these rooms retaining good
ornamental plaster ceilings. Over the mantelpiece of the 'Grey bedroom' is a panel
with the date 1604 and the initials of Lawrence Shuttleworth, and the arms of Shuttleworth impaling Fleetwood are carved on one
of the old oak beds. On the second floor
the whole of the front of the house is
occupied by the long gallery, which is lit by
the three great bay windows and two
windows of four lights between, together
with a slightly projecting bay of seven lights
at each end. The long gallery is 70 ft. in
length by 13 ft. 6 in., and has a good original
geometrical plaster ceiling and ornamental
frieze. The walls, however, are without
wainscot, being covered with modern wall
paper, and this, perhaps together with the
lengths of blank wall between the windows
and at the ends (which do away with the
effect of a continuous window as at Astley
Hall), somewhat detracts from what would
otherwise be the very fine effect of the room.
Over the fireplace in the middle of the north
wall is a plaster panel flanked by caryatides
supporting an entablature, and containing
the royal arms of James I within a garter and
surmounted by the crown with the royal
initials I.R. and the date 1603. Two other
plaster panels below, side by side, contain the
following inscriptions:—
NON POTESTAS
NEC FORTVNA
SED DEVS
CONSTITVIT
AMBVLA CORAM
DEO ET ESTO PFECT'
FEARE GOD
HONOR Ye KINGE
ESCHEWE EVIL
AND DOE GOOD
SEEKE PEACE
AND ENSVE IT
In a small lobby on the north side of the gallery
is a fragment of linen pattern wainscot. The other
rooms on the second floor are without interest.
The entrance hall and dining-room contain a
number of family portraits, (fn. 156) and old furniture
remains in other of the rooms.
To the north-west of the house and of contemporary date is the great barn, (fn. 157) one of the
loftiest and most spacious in the county. It is built
of stone, with stone slated roof, and measures
100 ft. by 60 ft. It consists of central and side
aisles and is divided into nine bays by eight low
square stone columns supporting wooden pillars
carrying the cross timbers and beams of the roof.
Two bays at the south end have been divided off and
made into stables.
The steward's accounts give the names of various
rooms and places at the time of the building of the
hall, but not all of these can be identified, and some
rooms are probably called by more than one name.
The following are mentioned:—
The hall
The gallery in the lower end of the hall
The dyning chamber
The little dyning chamber
The chamber next the dyning chamber
The little room or withdrawing place between the dining chamber and the hall
The kechinge
The pantery
The scullarye
The butterye
The over butterye
The lower butterye
The porch chamber
The chamber over the porch
The inner roum
The little roum
The mydle chamber
The chamber where Ivaby lay
The back starres
The little chamber at the starre foot
The under romes
The over romes
The chamber in the syed of the gallery
The hymost tower
The hymoste roum
The heighmost chamber in the weste side
The turret chamber
The milke-howse
The chamber over the mylkehowse
The deyhowse
The great barne
The oxe-howse in the great barne
The cowhowses in the new barne
The lower oxen-howse
The grouppe
The stable
The litle howse over the welle
The litle howse at the head of the garthen stares
In 1258 William de Ryland held 24 acres in
Burnley by a rent of 4s., (fn. 158) and Thomas de Rylands
held the same estate in 1311. (fn. 159) This may afterwards have come to a branch of the Whitaker
family, (fn. 160) for in 1510 William Whitaker and Alice
his wife made a feoffment of Ryland Hall, Healey,
and Parkenrode. (fn. 161) Yatefield was another part of
their estate. (fn. 162) Hollingreave, (fn. 163) Oakeneaves, (fn. 164) Pickup
and Hudhouse (fn. 165) were the subjects of various disputes. Hudhouse or Hood House was later owned
by the Halsteds of Rowley. After the death of Miss
Halsted, who resided there, a portion of the estate
was in 1895 purchased by the trustees of the late
John Hargreaves Scott of Burnley and presented to
the town as Scott Park, the house being demolished;
the remainder of the land was sold for building
purposes. (fn. 166) The 'manor of Moseley, otherwise
called Habergham,' was in dispute about 1500. (fn. 167)
Other small tenements also occur in the records. (fn. 168)
Richard Towneley complained that in May 1526
about eighty of the king's tenants had entered the
coal mines or 'coal beds' at Broadhead, which he
held by lease from the Crown. The tenants claimed
the right to 'sufficient coal for their fuel, for their
necessary occupation and burning within their houses,'
one of them declaring 'the lease is of none authority
to discharge us withall, except ye will discharge us by
the sword.' One witness deposed not only to his
getting coals there for his own use, but to selling them
to Burnley people. Another witness said that about
1450 two men who had a bloomsmithy in Bentley
Wood searched for iron at Broadhead and found
coal, going on mining it; the son of one of them set
up a 'turn or windlass.' A number of those who
had taken coal were ordered to pay 4d. a fother
for it. (fn. 169)
It was alleged in 1568 that Sir John Towneley
had about fifty years before unlawfully inclosed a
large piece of waste on the west side of Horelaw, his
answer to remonstrances being that he had a sufficient
deed which gave him the land 'for to keep a leash of
greyhounds.' Many of the injured commoners
thought the deed had been forged by 'one Roughneck.' (fn. 170) For this inclosure, says Dr. Whitaker,
'the malice and the superstition of the common
people have doomed (his) spirit . . . to wander in
restless and long unappeased solicitude, crying—
Lay out, lay out,
Horelaw and Hollinghey Clough.'
'Lay out' means 'throw open again.'
In 1617 there were thirty-seven tenements in
Habergham Eaves and eight in Burnley Wood held
of the manor of Ightenhill by copy of court roll. (fn. 171)
The first of the new churches of Burnley in
connexion with the Church of England was erected
in this township, namely that of Holy Trinity,
Accrington Road, built in 1835–6; a parish was
assigned to it in 1843, (fn. 172) and St. Aidan's Mission is
connected with it. The Hulme Trustees are patrons.
All Saints' was built in 1846–9, the parish having been
formed in 1845 (fn. 173) ; the Crown and the Bishop of
Manchester exercise the patronage alternately. The
rector of Burnley presents to the three churches
built more recently—St. Matthew's, 1879, (fn. 174)
St. Stephen's, Burnley Wood, 1879, (fn. 175) and St. John
Baptist's, Gannow, 1880. (fn. 176)
The Wesleyan Methodists have five churches,
including one at Park Hill, built in 1843; the
Primitive Methodists have four, including Bethel in
Hammerton Street, 1852, also a mission room; and
the United Free Methodists have three.
The Congregationalists have a church in Westgate,
dating from 1860, and another. The Baptists have
Mount Pleasant, 1868, and Mount Olivet, 1893. (fn. 177)
The Roman Catholic mission of St. Mary Magdalene, Gannow, dates from 1887; the new church
was opened in 1904. St. Augustine's, Lower House,
1896, is served from Burnley. The old Towneley
Hall chapel is noticed under Burnley.