Hapton, Lancashire

Hapton

Shuttleworth Hall on the road to Padiham dates from 1638 and is still a working farm.
Hapton
 Hapton shown within Lancashire
Population 1,979 (2011)
OS grid referenceSD792315
Civil parishHapton
DistrictBurnley
Shire countyLancashire
RegionNorth West
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post town BURNLEY
Postcode district BB11; BB12
Dialling code 01282
Police Lancashire
Fire Lancashire
Ambulance North West
EU Parliament North West England
UK ParliamentBurnley
List of places
UK
England
Lancashire

Coordinates: 53°46′48″N 2°18′54″W / 53.780°N 2.315°W / 53.780; -2.315

Hapton is a village and civil parish in the borough of Burnley, in the English county of Lancashire. The village is 3 miles (4.8 km) west of Burnley town centre, and has a railway station on the East Lancashire Line. According to the United Kingdom Census 2011, the parish has a population of 1,979,[1] a decrease from 3,769 in the 2001 census.[2]

The Leeds and Liverpool Canal and M65 motorway both pass through the village.[3][4]

History

The castle of Hapton once stood on the eastern side of Castle Clough, on the edge of a precipitous slope. Nothing is known of its origin. Further up the hill in Hapton Park, however, Hapton Tower was constructed by Sir John Townley (1473-1541) and was inhabited until 1667. The tower was a large square building about 6 yards (5.5 m) high with, on one side, the remains of three round towers with conical bases. It reportedly had two main entrances opposite each other. Both castle and tower were in ruins after the Restoration and today hardly anything remains of either. The only masonry of the castle now visible is a length of wall about 12 feet (3.7 m) long and 4.5 feet (1.4 m) thick and four courses high under two trees.[5]

From the Haptons the land passed to the de Leghs, when John de Hapton's daughter Cecilia married Richard de Legh in 1205, and then to the Townleys. In the 12th century part of the manor was granted to William de Arches by Robert de Lacey. Sir John Townley succeeded to the estates at the age of nine. He was married to Isabella Pilkington, the daughter of his guardian and later served as a soldier, being awarded a knighthood in 1497. With Royal permission he enclosed the manors of Townley and Hapton, which he connected with the illegal enclosure of Horelaw at Hapton.[6] An astute businessman he bought land, corn mills and corn tithes. He was High Sheriff of Lancashire in 1532.[5]

In his will dated 1627, Richard Townley (1566-1629) left all his armour at Whalley to his son Richard. The will of Richard's wife Jane, dated 1633, provides the last recorded instance of the Townleys at Hapton Tower.[5]

Governance

Hapton was once a township in the ancient parish of Whalley. This became a civil parish in 1866, forming part of the Burnley Rural District from 1894 (until 1974). However in 1894, the Padiham Green area of the parish transferred to Padiham and Clowbridge to Dunnockshaw.[lower-alpha 1][lower-alpha 2] There were further boundary changes in 1935 when the parish lost another small area to Padiham but gained a detached part of Dunnockshaw.[8]

The village gives its name to the Hapton with Park ward of the Borough of Burnley.[9] In recent years this ward has shown high levels of support for the British National Party, electing a BNP councillor in 2003, 2004, 2006, 2007 and 2008. After the 2010 elections, the borough’s only remaining BNP councillors were those elected by this ward.[10] Sharon Wilkinson lost the final seat in 2012, a decade since the far-right group were first elected to the council.[11]

Buildings

Shuttleworth Hall is about 1 mile (1.6 km) north-west of the town along the A6068 road toward Padiham. The house dates from 1639 and is a working farmhouse.[12]

Facilities

Hapton has a railway station on the East Lancashire Line.

There is a Site of Biological Importance at Mill Hill, Castle Clough Woods. There are many native and visiting varieties of birds, plants and animals. In addition to UK common species, green and lesser-spotted woodpecker, willow tit, yellow wagtail, woodcock and herons have all been spotted in the area. Water vole, newt and frog can be found on the steeper-sided river embankments and in rge marshy wet areas by the stone bridge at the ford known as Castle Clough South and Childers Green. Bluebells grow in abundance.The entire area was classed as an area of Biological Heritage to be protected under Lancashire County Council's Local Plan for Burnley. There is free parking at Mill Hill Picnic area, about 25 metres (27 yd) upstream of the ford. [13]

Notable people from Hapton

See also

References

Notes

  1. ↑ The old township boundary with Padiham followed the River Calder and its tributary Green Brook.[7]
  2. ↑ The old township boundary with Dunnockshaw broadly followed Limy Water and is today beneath Clowbridge Reservoir.[7]

Citations

  1. ↑ "Key Figures for 2011 Census: Key Statistics". Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 1 July 2015.
  2. ↑ Office for National Statistics : Census 2001 : Parish Headcounts : Burnley Retrieved 4 February 2010
  3. ↑ "Burnley canal to get £27,000 upgrade". Lancashire Telegraph. Newsquest Media Group. 5 May 2008. Retrieved 9 May 2008.
  4. ↑ "Hapton - Leeds and Liverpool Canal - A Virtual Trip 59". Pennine Waterways. Retrieved 9 May 2008.
  5. 1 2 3 Leslie Irving Gibson (1977). Lancashire Castles and Towers. Clapham, North Yorkshire: Dalesman Books. p. 25.
  6. ↑ John A. Clayton (2007). The Lancashire Witch Conspiracy: Histories and New Discoveries of the Pendle Witch Trials. Barrowford Press. p. 31.
  7. 1 2 Lancashire and Furness (Map) (1st ed.). 1 : 10,560. County Series. Ordnance Survey. 1848.
  8. ↑ "Hapton Tn/CP through time". visionofbritain.org.uk. GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth. Retrieved 6 January 2016.
  9. ↑ "Hapton with Park". Ordnance Survey Linked Data Platform. Ordnance Survey. Retrieved 6 January 2016.
  10. ↑ Burnley Borough Council Accessed 2010
  11. ↑ "Live election results: Burnley". Lancashire Telegraph. Newsquest Media Group. 2 May 2012. Retrieved 31 July 2015.
  12. ↑ Pevsner, Nikolaus; Hartwell, Clare (revision) (2009). The Buildings of England – Lancashire: North. London and New Haven: Yale University Press. p. 321. ISBN 978-0-300-12667-9.
  13. ↑ "Burnley Borough Council » Local Plan » Locally Important Nature Conservation Sites". Burnley.devplan.org.uk. Retrieved 16 June 2015.
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