Townships: Habergham Eaves

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)

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)

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:—

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 M^od^oXXX
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.

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.

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.

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) :—

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 Y^e 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.