Rossendale Valley

The Rossendale Valley is in the Rossendale area of Lancashire, England, between the West Pennine Moors and the main range of the Pennines. The area includes the steep-sided valleys of the River Irwell and its tributaries (between Rawtenstall and Bacup), which flow southwards into Greater Manchester. The rivers cut through the moorland of the Rossendale Hills, generally characterized by open unwooded land, despite the ancient designation of "forest". One of the earliest sites of historical interest in the valley is that of the dykes at Broadclough, which are associated with the Battle of Brunanburh. In late Middle Ages, the valley was part of the Royal Forest of Rossendale. The original medieval meaning of 'forest' was similar to a ‘preserve’, for example land that is legally kept for specific purposes such as royal hunting. So ‘forests’ were areas large enough to support species such as wolves and deer for game hunting and they encompassed other habitats such as heaths, open grassland and farmland, so not necessarily extensively wooded. Initial settlement would have been in "booths" or farmsteads and encroachment into the forest would have developed them into small hamlets. Rossendale was governed by a constable nominated by principal landowners who held the position of "The Greave of The Forrest" which after 1515 became a quasi-hereditary position held by the Whitacker family at the only ancient hall in the district: Broadclough Hall. In 1507 the land in the Forest of Rossendale was demised to copyhold farmers and a new church was established on the hillside at Seatnaze around 1511, presumably considered a convenient location for the population at that time. In 1789 an act authorised the construction of new Turnpike trust roads through the district, connecting Bury and Haslingden with Blackburn and Whalley, with a junction at Haslingden to Todmorden via Oakenheadwood, Newchurch, Stacksteads and Bacup. In 1826 the Haslingden and Todmorden trust built another new road along the valley bottom, from Stacksteads through Thrutch, Rawtenstall and Newhall Hey.

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Related concepts (11)

Rossendale Valley

Bacup

Bacup (ˈbeɪkəp , ˈbeɪkʊp) is a town in the Rossendale Borough in Lancashire, England, in the South Pennines close to Lancashire's boundaries with West Yorkshire and Greater Manchester. The town is in the Rossendale Valley and the upper Irwell Valley, east of Rawtenstall, north of Rochdale, and south of Burnley. At the 2011 Census, Bacup had a population of 13,323. Bacup emerged as a settlement following the Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain in the Early Middle Ages.

Rawtenstall

Rawtenstall (ˈrɒtənstɔːl) is a town in the borough of Rossendale, Lancashire, England. The town lies 15 miles/24 km north of Manchester, 22 miles/35 km east of Preston and 45 miles/70 km south east of the county town of Lancaster. The town is at the centre of the Rossendale Valley. It had a population of 23,000. The name Rawtenstall has been given two possible interpretations. The older is a combination of the Middle English routen ('to roar or bellow'), from the Old Norse rauta and the Old English stall 'pool in a river' (Ekwall 1922, 92).