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A chronological list of dates Section One : Pre 1900 |
| 700 | First settlement seems most likely to have been during Saxon times when East Lancashire formed part of Northumbria under King Oswald. It was a sparsely populated primeval forest, the habitat of wild boar and wolves. |
| 800 |
The name seems to be Anglo-Saxon in origin but the meaning is uncertain. Tangible ideas are – · Hun’s cottage (Hun being a personal name) · Home of a cottar (on the medieval social scale of yeomen a cottar is mid-way between serfs who were the lowest and velleins who were tenant farmers) · A small house, animal shelter or hundred sheep fold · A place where honey is made or stored The spelling has varied from Hunnicot to Hunnicotes, Huntcotes, Hunecote and Huncote. |
| 910 | Edward the Elder, King of Wessex conquered the area south of the River Ribble and attached it to his Midlands Kingdom of Mercia. Ecclesiastically this brought the area under the Diocese of Lichfield. |
| 1017 | Danish kings ruled England for 25 years until the Saxons regained supremacy with the reign of Edward the Confessor. |
| 1042 | The local Saxon Thane was Leofwine who presided over a domain that included Huncoat and Accrington from a moated manor house at Altham. Oxen were employed to plough the land for growing wheat, rye and barley, cattle were pastured and the rivers provided good fishing. Wains or wagons were used for transport and people were allowed “waingate” right of way with corn to the mill and to return with flour, hence the name of the lane to Accrington of Millgate. |
| 1066 | Following the Norman conquest King William I divided up the country between his Barons and Roger of Poitou received the lands which included Huncoat as “Tenant in Chief” but Leofwine the Saxon was permitted to remain in control of local estates in return for homage to the new regime. |
| 1086 | The Domesday Book recorded that in 1066 “King Edward had had two carucates of land at Hunnicot” (about 250 acres or approximately the same size as the area now bounded by Burnley Road, Bolton Avenue, Enfield Road, Station Road, Lowergate and Highergate). In those days a carucate was supposed to be enough land to support one family. Domesday refers to two Norman Lords over Hunnicot, Roger de Bully and Albert Grelley. Only three other places in the Blackburn Hundred (North East Lancashire) are mentioned in Domesday and these did not include Altham. |
| 1100 | The Norman Barons appointed knights to govern individual areas and Huncoat and Altham came under the de Lacy’s of Clitheroe castle. |
| 1138 | During the reign of Stephen there was civil war with Scotland and to ensure his allegiance the de Lacy’s granted a charter confirming Hugh the Saxon son of Leofwine legal possession of the estates comprising Altham. |
| 1150 | Hugh the Saxon founded Altham church and Henry de Lacy founded a monastery at Barnoldswick but the monks later moved it to a better abbey at Kirkstall. |
| 1191 | Henry’s son Robert de Lacy detached the jurisdiction of Accrington and Huncoat from Altham and placed it with Kirstall Abbey. The Saxons of Altham contested this down the generations for 80 years. |
| 1241 | Hugh’s younger brother Edward de Billington inherited rights to various lands including Huncoat and it was one of his descendants William who in residing at Huncoat first acquired the name de Huncoat. |
| 1250 | The monks of Kirkstall defined a boundary between Huncoat and Accrington at Wormley Clough (Warm Leaf), a small stream on the north side of the Coppice. “The pointed stone in Fernihalgh” was a 13th Century boundary marker above the clough that remained in place until the early 20th Century, (see 1499 and 1844). |
| 1277 | William de Altham settled the long standing dispute with Kirkstall over Accrington and Huncoat rights by renouncing the claim in return for 80 marks of silver. |
| 1287 | Kirkstall Abbey got into financial difficulty and relinquished their Accrington and Huncoat estates back to the de Lacy family on leasehold. |
| 1300 | William de Huncoat was living in Huncoat Hall and the site on the hillside above the Griffin’s Head is possibly the earliest still surviving of any building in the village. |
| 1305 | The Halmot Court records of Accrington indicate that Huncoat tenants farmed 309 acres and paid an annual rent of around £5 to the de Lacy’s on the Feast of St Giles (1st Sept.). |
| 1316 | Following the Battle of Bannockburn North Lancashire was overrun by Scotch Borderers and lawless times ensued. Robert Bruce of Scotland laid the county waste as far as Preston but King Edward II and subsequently his son Edward III gradually restored order. |
| 1318 | John de Huncoat exchanged Huncoat Hall for a similar possession in Hapton belonging to a William de Birtwistle. Thus the family de Huncoat disappear from history and the Birtwistles’ start 426 years of association with the village. |
| 1322 | The de Lacy estates were sequestered by the Crown owing to the rebellion and disgrace of the then Earl of Lancaster and consequently the Abbott of Kirkstall had temporary difficulty in obtaining the annual revenue. |
| 1327 | King Edward II abdicated in favour of his son Edward III during whose reign the de Lacy estates were granted back to the Duke of Lancaster (John ‘o Gaunt). |
| 1395 | Brown Moor Farm known to have existed. |
| 1399 | The land belonging to the Duke of Lancaster including Huncoat passed to his son who became King Henry IV and thus remained a royal possession until the Civil War in 1649. |
| 1425 | Richard of Hill House named in documented records (fined by the Court for chasing sheep). |
| 1495 | Brown Moor Farm named in records as owned by Lettice, wife of Nicholas Towneley. |
| 1499 | There is evidence that Hillock Farm existed in "Tudor" times but originally called "Fernihalgh Vaccary." Vachery meant enclosure for cows. (See also 1250 and 1844). |
| 1507 | King Henry VII appointed a Commission to grant out forests which led to unprecedented development of lands. (But see 1602). |
| 1509 | Huncoat had its own Local Constable to uphold the law. |
| 1514 | Eight yeomen from the village prosecuted John and Thomas Riley for trespass on Huncoat Moor but gained no satisfaction in court. |
| 1520 | During the reign of King Henry VIII Huncoat came under the newly formed Diocese of Chester. |
| 1532 | Records indicate that Huncoat had a pinfold enclosure where stray cattle and sheep were placed. Also that people were being fastened in the village stocks for wrong doings. (Also see 1722). |
| 1534 | The first recorded enclosure of land in Huncoat Lane by Richard Birtwistle of Huncoat Hall was disputed in the Halmot Court (Local Government of Accrington). This may indicate that Old Hall Farm was in existence there then. |
| 1547 | A right of way for the trade of corn and flour between Huncoat and Accrington was contested before the Halmot Court by Oliver Birtwistle but he was only partially successful. However, this implies that a flourishing corn market must have existed in Huncoat at the time. (Also see 1952). |
| 1550 | Population of the area increasing with more and more waste land being enclosed and cultivated. These intakes were almost all held as copyholds with annual dues payable to the manor. It was a relatively peaceful era when yeomen tended crops and livestock for sale at market and packhorses carried a trade of lime and coal. |
| 1556 | Both Lower and Higher Brown Birks named in records. |
| 1560 | A coat of arms was granted to Oliver Birtwistle of Huncoat Hall. |
| 1560 | The original Hill House in Towngate was built in Tudor times. Towngate was the central area of Highergate and Lowergate.
The word gata is Danish (gate in Anglo Saxon) and means street. Ancient royal highways crossed at Towngate. These were the pack horse trails from Clitheroe to Haslingden via the Kings Highway and Accrington to Burnley via Millgate (Cleggs Lane). |
| 1577 | Huncoat was shown on Christopher Saxton's map of Lancashire. |
| 1580 | The date put on the oldest surviving stonework of Huncoat Hall. |
| 1584 | There is evidence that there was extensive lead mining on the slopes of Hameldon. |
| 1596 | The boundaries of "Huncoat" began to be properly defined, a total of more than 900 acres. The population seems to have been about 100. |
| 1602 | The new King James I disputed the legality of the 1507 tenures of copyholders and landowners because he wanted to raise revenue. To avoid the risk of losing their homesteads and lands the owners agreed to pay a levy on them. (Also see 1618). |
| 1608 | Slate Pits Farm built by the Hargreaves family below Moleside. |
| 1611 | Hard Farm known to exist on top of Whinney Hill, 'Hard' meaning head or top of. |
| 1617 | A total of 12 tenements in Huncoat were recorded as yielding copyhold rents. (See 1550). |
| 1618 | A Decree of Confirmation was granted by the Crown on 4th June recognising the tenures of copyholders and landowners but this did not resolve the dispute. (See 1662). |
| 1642 | Parliamentarian forces won the Battle of Whinney Hill on 2nd December (the actual battle site was Henfield or Enfield Moor - probably now quarried away). |
| 1643 | Lancashire was predominantly a Parliamentarian area but Thomas Birtwistle of Huncoat Hall had his estate sequestered for being a Royalist and religious non-conformist although he claimed never to have born arms against the Parliamentarians. |
| 1660 | Richard Birtwistle regained the estates on the restoration of Charles II but suffered penalties for recusancy (non-conformism). |
| 1660 | Hill House seems to have been re-constructed in stone around this time so is probably the oldest surviving intact building in the village. The 100 years from 1650 to 1750 was the period of great rebuilding in stone throughout England because timber, previously the main stay of all but the grandest houses was in short supply. |
| 1660 | Brown Moor Farm was occupied by the Bentley family. They were shoe makers and their descendants carried on the craft there for two centuries. | 1662 | An Act of Confirmation was passed by Parliament properly legalising copyholds etc. |
| 1666 | 37 hearths were declared in Huncoat for the "Hearth Tax" 7 of which were in Huncoat Hall and 4 in the next largest house. The tax was abolished in 1689 but the “Window Tax” began in 1695. |
| 1722 | John Hacking of Huncoat perfected one of the earliest cotton carding machines. He and his wife lived in a cottage in Town Gate and are buried in Altham church yard. The east window of the church commemorates several members of the hacking family. Handloom weaving was still a cottage industry in the area up to this time. |
| 1722 | The Huncoat Stocks are inscribed with this date but were clearly in use much earlier. (See 1532). |
| 1730 | Huncoat Hall reconstructed. |
| 1733 | Middle Hill House built. |
| 1738 | Stone Hey Barn and probably Stone Hey Cottage built. |
| 1744 | John Birtwistle sold Huncoat Hall and estates ending a 426 years family connection. |
| 1755 | Existence of Broad Meadows Farm recorded on a datestone. |
| 1756 | The date on the old barn of Woodnook Farm which later became a building adjoining the Whitakers Arms. |
| 1768 | The date on the famous Huncoat Old Hall Farm tablet. It bears the names of Daniel and Dorothy Barroclough and the Arms of the Birtwistle's because as Oliver Birtwistle's daughter she was the last of the family line. The datestone was originally over the doorway of the farmhouse but is is now preserved in the garden end wall of Flood Dyke Cottages on the corner of Burnley Lane. Huncoat Old Hall Farm was situated on the crest of Highergate Road below Huncoat Bank and its farmland is now the Old Hall Drive and Sutton Crescent (Waverley Chase) housing estate. |
| 1777 | The population of Huncoat thought to have been around 200. |
| 1780 | The present day buildings of the Black Bull and the White Lion date from around this time. Two slaughter houses once existed in the village, one next to the Black Bull and the other in Burnley Lane. |
| 1780 | The Industrial Revolution was well under way and Lancashire's cotton industry developing but it was slow to reach Huncoat. |
| 1782 | Richard Fort of Stone Hey in partnership with a Mr. Taylor and a Mr. Bury founded the Broad Oak Calico Print Works in Accrington. His father was also called Richard Fort but resided in Altham and was a leading member of the Oakenshaw Baptist community. It was he who facilitated the building of the Meeting House and Macpelah burial-ground on land he owned next to the Corn Mill on Hyndburn Road, Accrington. The grandfather was a Lawrence Fort who had lived at Hard Farm. |
| 1785 | The importance of the Kings Highway through Huncoat began to decline with the establishment of a new Manchester to Whalley road through Accrington. |
| 1790 | Highbrake Hall built by Richard Fort. |
| 1795 | Up until the end of the 18thC places like Mary's Holy Well (see both 1844 and the miscellaneous facts section) were places of pilgrimage and fairs on the first Sunday in May. |
| 1800 | Before the railway was built James Allen of Spout House Farm ran local stagecoaches, the horse for which were changed at the Walton Arms and brought up to be stabled in Burnley Road. Spout House Lane became known as Cleggs Lane because the Clegg family lived in Spout House Farm for over 100 years. |
| 1801 | Population of Huncoat thought to have been around 480. |
| 1801 | Around this time Baptists started to meet in a small cottage behind the White Lion. |
| 1801 | The Leeds Liverpool canal reached Huncoat. At 103¾ miles it was the longest built in Britain and the halfway point is at Church Kirk just 2 miles from Huncoat. The sections were built between 1770 and 1777 but then economic depression delayed its completion until 1816. The original budget for its construction had been £260,000 but by the time work was completed it had cost £1,200,000. Houghton Barn in Altham Lane was the canal packet station for passengers to Huncoat. |
| 1805 | The Baptists extended their building with another cottage next door to act as a meeting house. |
| 1810 | The Baptists extended again next door with a much bigger chapel and the access alongside the White Lion became known as Chapel Street. |
| 1811 | Population of Huncoat thought to have been around 514. |
| 1813 | The area had a very severe winter in 1813/14 when the canal froze and again about 20 years later Huncoat was cut off by deep snow falls. |
| 1815 | Highbrake Hall had become an elite boarding school. |
| 1821 | Population reached 629. |
| 1822 | Methodist services began to be held in various cottages. |
| 1830 | Local brick making industry founded. |
| 1831 | Hard Farm house on Whinney Hill rebuilt. |
| 1834 | Construction began of the new Burnley Road turnpike and it opened in 1838. |
| 1835 | A Methodist Sunday School was founded in the top floor room of an old cotton warehouse situated between the White Lion and Bank Terrace. |
| 1837 | Huncoat was included in Burnley Rural area for Poor Law and Registration. |
| 1838 | The Griffin's Head pub was built by Shaw's Brewery, although it was originally for a short time called the Cross Gates because it was at the cross roads of Burnley Road and Kingsway. |
| 1839 | Terrace adjacent to Read View erected in Station Road. |
| 1843 | The Whitakers of Simonstone put their Huncoat estates up for sale by auction on 24th July. These included Old Hall Farm, Spout House Farm, Lower Gate Farm and Broad Meadows Farm. |
| 1844 | Purpose built Methodist Sunday School completed in Burnley Lane. |
| 1844 | William Herd a former Baptist pastor started a day school in Broad Meadows Farm. |
| 1844 | The Ordnance Survey map of this date showed - * The centre of the village was clustered around the cross roads of Towngate * That there was a cross on Huncoat Bank (the knoll) before the War Memorial * The Whitakers Arms, White Lion, Black Bull and Griffin's Head Inn * The Baptist’s 1810 chapel showed as a long terrace behind the White Lion * Warm Leaf House opposite Hillock Vale * Higher Brown Birks (located at the top of Bolton Avenue) * Lower Brown Birks (located at the bottom of Bolton Avenue) * Within Grove, Spout House, Hillock Bank and Mount Farms * Rake Head Farm in the first field at the northern end of Miry Lane * Miry Lane, Ing Field, Slate Pits, White Riding and Windy Harbour Farms behind the Coppice * Hameldon Hall at the western foot of Great Hameldon * Hameldon Reservoir supplying “The Oak Print Works.” * May Road Well on the south western foot of Great Hameldon (See both 1795 and the miscellaneous facts section) * A boundary marker stone on the moor summit between Ing Field and Warm Leaf Clough this was probably the Fernihalgh Stone (see 1250 and 1499) * Brown Moor Farm (located just east of Grime Row) * Blind Lane End Farms (located a little north of Grime Row) * Brick Barn in the fields east of Blind Lane End Farms * The isolated buildings of Broad Meadows in what later became Station Road * Nearer Holker House (later the RSPCA sanctuary) * Further Holker House (located on the east side of Whinney Hill * Hard Farm on top of Whinney Hill (later a quarry and then the landfill site) * Sankey House Farm at the corner of Whinney Hill Road * Rabbit Hole; a cottage in the fields above Clough Brook * Pipers Row, a terrace of 6 houses forming a narrow throat in Highergate Road (See 1906 and 1993) * That the name Enfield was originally Henfield |
| 1846 | The first small reservoir was constructed at Hillock Vale (see 1890). |
| 1848 | East Lancashire Railway opened to Huncoat on 27th May. The original village station was off Altham Lane near what later became the Power Station site. |
| 1851 | Census gave the population as 598. The window tax was abolished on 24th July. |
| 1852 | Household handloom weaving was still a significant village industry but there was also a gradual expansion of dairy farming to supply the growth of Accrington. |
| 1853 | Huncoat Cotton Mill was built by John S. Grimshaw (later called Perseverance Mill and sometimes Highbrake Mill). It was located on the east side of the railway line to the south of the level crossing. |
| 1853 | Mill workers cottages built at Hillock Vale (Vale Court, South Street and Parker Street). |
| 1854 | Building of Hillock Vale Cotton Weaving Mill in Burnley Road completed by the Shutt Brothers. |
| 1859 | Stone Hey Terrace built by John Pollard. |
| 1861 | Census gave the population as 839, a 40% increase in 10 years largely due to the new cotton mills. |
| 1862 | Woodside House built by mill owner John Grimshaw. |
| 1864 | Cemetery opened off Burnley Road. A curved driveway led to the gates. |
| 1865 | White Lion first mentioned by name in a directory. In those days many pubs including the Black Bull were just classed as "Beerhouses". |
| 1866 | Huncoat became a Civil Parish in Burnley RDC. |
| 1866 | The date on the pediment of Highergate (or Howard's) Farm situated on the corner of Burnley Lane (see 1960). |
| 1868 | The Whitakers Arms had become known as the Cemetery Hotel. |
| 1869 | A larger Methodist (Wesleyan) Church and Institute were built in Station Road and the old Sunday School in Burnley Lane was sold. |
| 1871 | A Day School commenced in the Methodist Institute. |
| 1871 | Huncoat Hall reconstructed again (see 1730). |
| 1871 | Census gave the population as 990. |
| 1874 | Highbrake Hotel built for Bentley's Milnshaw Brewery (see 1893). |
| 1874 | The Baptist’s extended their terrace yet again with a large Sunday School next to their chapel. |
| 1878 | Accrington became a municipal authority in May but Huncoat was part of Burnley Rural District. |
| 1878 | Huncoat Bank (the war memorial knoll) was bequeathed to the village by the Peel family famous for founding the police force. It is known locally as the Rec because it is a recreation ground. |
| 1880 | Rockdale (later re-named Middleton House) built in Burnley Road (see 1909 and 1931). |
| 1881 | The railway station had been moved to the south side of the level crossing in Enfield Road but a local petition complained about "the disgraceful accomodation." |
| 1881 | Census list gave the population as 980 and included residents of Yorkshire Street, Prospect Terrace, High Brake Terrace, and Providence Terrace. |
| 1885 | Huncoat Pit founded with the sinking of the first shaft, which eventually reached 850 feet deep. There were two major seams worked at various times - the Lower Mountain and Upper Mountain. It was called the Broadmeadow Colliery and operated until 9 Feb 1968. |
| 1886 | Cooperative Society store built in Station Road but the village centre was still around Towngate with small shops at numbers 5 and 16 Burnley Lane. |
| 1886 | Holyrood Terrace erected in Burnley Road. |
| 1886 | St.Augustine's Chapel of Ease founded, later rebuilt as a full church (see 1908). |
| 1890 | The Ordnance Survey map of this date showed - * The main Burnley Road Reservoir had been built below the 1846 one * Industrial Terrace existed adjoining the Cooperative Society Store in Station Road * The extended Baptist terrace with it’s new Sunday School, corner to corner with the Methodist building of 1844 in Burnley Lane * Altham Brick and Tile Works had been established beside the canal at the end of Clough Brook * The Accrington Brick and Tile Works (original Nori) had been established at the western end of Whinney Hill Road but Hard Farm still stood on Whinney Hill * Huncoat Colliery was marked but the workings were not extensive at this time * St.Augustine's School existed in the unmade road called Church Lane (later Bolton Avenue) * Marl Place existed on Enfield Road * Whinney Hill Cottage had been built at the corner of Whinney Hill Road * Accrington Football and Cricket Ground had been established * Some rifle ranges existed below Rake Head Farm |
| 1892 | Carlton Terrace erected in Station Road. |
| 1893 | Highbrake Hotel became known as the Railway Hotel. |
| 1894 | Huncoat Plastic Brick and Terra Co. (trademark Redac) was founded in Yorkshire Street. Ore originally came from a quarry behind the works but later from the Coppice by means of a tramway passing under Burnley Road in a tunnel near Spout House Lane and in the last few decades of operation by aerial ropeway crossing over the road. |
| 1897 | Oak Bank Terrace built on Enfield Road. |
| 1899 | Perseverance Mill passed into the ownership of John Barnes. |
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