Townships: Dunnockshaw

A History of the County of Lancaster: Volume 6. Originally published by Victoria County History, London, 1911.

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'Townships: Dunnockshaw', in A History of the County of Lancaster: Volume 6, (London, 1911) pp. 514. British History Online https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/lancs/vol6/p514 [accessed 25 April 2024]

DUNNOCKSHAW

Dunnockschae, 1296; Dunnockschaghe, 1305; Dunnokschaw, 1323.

The extra-parochial district of Dunnockshaw, with a detached portion to the west of 81 acres in extent called Dunnockshaw Close, lies between Hapton and Rossendale on the southern slopes of Hameldon, and has an area of 388½ acres. (fn. 1) A village has grown up on the road from Rawtenstall to Burnley, which passes north-east through the main portion, and in 1901 the township had a population of 164.

In 1894 Clow Bridge, the south-east corner of Hapton, was added to this township (fn. 2); its population in 1901 was 354, raising that of the enlarged township to 518. There is a parish council.

Dunnockshaw was one of the booths in the forest of Rossendale. Its rent in 1504 was fixed at £2 3s. 4d. a year, (fn. 3) and it was perhaps the Primrose Syke held by John Ormerod in 1527 at a rent of 53s. 4d. (fn. 4) In the 17th century it was the property of the Towneleys of Hurstwood, (fn. 5) probably by inheritance from the Ormerods. (fn. 6)

Footnotes

  • 1. The Census Rep. 1901 gives 666 acres, including 31 acres of inland water. The portion added in 1894 makes the difference.
  • 2. Loc. Govt. Bd. Order 32056.
  • 3. Whitaker, Whalley, i, 315.
  • 4. Duchy of Lanc. Rentals, bdle. 5, no. 12.
  • 5. Whitaker, op. cit. ii, 235. Mary Towneley was plaintiff respecting Swinshaw and Dunnockshaw in 1570; Ducatus Lanc. (Rec. Com.), ii, 402.
  • 6. Oliver Ormerod of Oakenhead Wood, Gamblehead and Dunnockshaw occurs in 1518 and John Ormerod of Dunnockshaw in 1526; Act Bk. of Whalley (Chet. Soc.), 59, 108.
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