Easington, Lancashire
Encyclopedia
Easington is a civil parish
within the Ribble Valley
district of Lancashire
, England, with a population in 2001 of 52. Prior to 1974, it formed part of Bowland Rural District
in the West Riding of Yorkshire
. It covers just over 9000 acres.
, the historic township had two divisions—Lower and Upper Easington—which are geographically non-contiguous. Mystery surrounds the origin of these two divisions.
From Norman times, Lower Easington formed part of the Liberty
of Bowland, being a possession of the Lords of Bowland. Its manor was subinfeuded
and by the thirteenth century was held by the De Wannervill family. Ownership passed to the Bannister family in the early sixteenth century, with the manor eventually being broken up and sold off piecemeal in the 1690s. The manor sat due south of Slaidburn
within the modern-day township of Newton-in-Bowland.
Upper Easington is the larger of the two divisions and includes Dalehead and Stocks Reservoir
. It abuts Gisburn Forest
and marks the easternmost extent of ancient Bowland. To the north of Upper Easington sits the Cross o'Greet, the ancient boundary point and watershed between the medieval lordships of Bowland and Burton-in-Lonsdale, Clitheroe
and Hornby; the route up to the Cross across what was anciently called "Gradale" is perhaps one of the most ruggedly beautiful in the Forest.
It is thought that the lands of Upper Easington may originally have been part of the Slaidburn
township but grants by the de Lacy
s to Kirkstall Abbey
in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries gave the area its own distinctive identity. The township of Rushton was granted by Robert de Lacy, 3rd Lord of Bowland, in 1180. This was to be the site of the area's monastic grange
(now submerged beneath Stocks Reservoir). In 1220 or thereabouts, John de Lacy, 5th Lord of Bowland, granted an area west of the Hodder
and north of Rushton known as "Gamellesarges". In Helen Wallbank's unpublished translation from the Latin, the description of Upper Easington from the grant of 1232–40 reads:
Gradalehals is the ‘grey dale’ at the head of Cross o'Greet; Kesedene is Keasden; Rowenumcnothes is Bowland Knotts; Hesbrithehawebroc is Hesberts Hill Brook (now known as Brown Hills Beck and, lower down, Dob Dale Beck); Thirnesetegilebroc is now known as Bottoms Beck, but was formerly known as Bridge House Beck, all these becks being names for the same beck at different locations.
For three centuries, Upper Easington remained Kirkstall Abbey's most westerly land holding before being forfeited by the Abbey in 1539. After the Reformation, Rushton Grange was acquired by the Braddyll family of Whalley and thereafter by the Johnson and Wiglesworth families. The Wiglesworths later built their imposing mansion, Townhead, in Slaidburn. Charles Towneley
, 13th Lord of Bowland, acquired the grange in 1860 before its eventual sale to the Fylde Reservoir Company
.
The mesne manor
of Hammerton also lay within Upper Easington until the time of the Reformation when the Hammerton family lands were confiscated by the Crown. The manor was later held by the Greenacres and Breres families.
Historians continue to puzzle over the existence of two Easingtons. The Coucher Book of Kirkstall Abbey suggests the lands of the upper Hodder north of Slaidburn were not known as Easington in the thirteenth century, merely as "Bouland". We might speculate that the manor of Lower Easington gained some influence over the area after the Reformation, with the civil administrative map being redrawn to reflect this change, perhaps during the seventeenth century. However, the evidence for this is slight, although a junior branch of the Bannister family was present at Newhouse, south of Catlow, from the early 1600s.
In 2009, a rare limeburners' clamp kiln was excavated at Halsteads in Upper Easington which carbon dating suggests was last fired somewhere between 1205 and 1280. This approximates to the period in the thirteenth century when John de Lacy, 5th Lord of Bowland, gifted his lands to Kirkstall.
There is evidence of prehistoric settlement in Lower Easington: with Skelshaw Ring, a Bronze Age monument, lying due south of Slaidburn.
of the same name in 1866. In 1938, the geographically non-contiguous lower division was transferred to Newton. Easington has shared a parish council with Slaidburn
since 1976. The council consists of 7 councillors, with council meetings held 6 times a year at Slaidburn Village Hall.
Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty
.
Civil parish
In England, a civil parish is a territorial designation and, where they are found, the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties...
within the Ribble Valley
Ribble Valley
Ribble Valley is a local government district with borough status within the non-metropolitan county of Lancashire, England. Its council is based in Clitheroe. Other places include Whalley, Longridge and Ribchester. The area is so called due to the River Ribble which flows in its final stages...
district of Lancashire
Lancashire
Lancashire is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in the North West of England. It takes its name from the city of Lancaster, and is sometimes known as the County of Lancaster. Although Lancaster is still considered to be the county town, Lancashire County Council is based in Preston...
, England, with a population in 2001 of 52. Prior to 1974, it formed part of Bowland Rural District
Bowland Rural District
Bowland was a rural district in the West Riding of Yorkshire from 1894 to 1974. It was named after the Forest of Bowland, which it included.It was formed under the Local Government Act 1894 from that part of the Clitheroe rural sanitary district which was in Yorkshire .The district was abolished...
in the West Riding of Yorkshire
West Riding of Yorkshire
The West Riding of Yorkshire is one of the three historic subdivisions of Yorkshire, England. From 1889 to 1974 the administrative county, County of York, West Riding , was based closely on the historic boundaries...
. It covers just over 9000 acres.
History
Part of the Forest of BowlandForest of Bowland
The Forest of Bowland, also known as the Bowland Fells, is an area of barren gritstone fells, deep valleys and peat moorland, mostly in north-east Lancashire, England. A small part lies in North Yorkshire, and much of the area was historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire...
, the historic township had two divisions—Lower and Upper Easington—which are geographically non-contiguous. Mystery surrounds the origin of these two divisions.
From Norman times, Lower Easington formed part of the Liberty
Liberty (division)
Originating in the Middle Ages, a liberty was traditionally defined as an area in which regalian rights were revoked and where land was held by a mesne lord...
of Bowland, being a possession of the Lords of Bowland. Its manor was subinfeuded
Subinfeudation
In English law, subinfeudation is the practice by which tenants, holding land under the king or other superior lord, carved out new and distinct tenures in their turn by sub-letting or alienating a part of their lands....
and by the thirteenth century was held by the De Wannervill family. Ownership passed to the Bannister family in the early sixteenth century, with the manor eventually being broken up and sold off piecemeal in the 1690s. The manor sat due south of Slaidburn
Slaidburn
Slaidburn is a village and civil parish within the Ribble Valley district of Lancashire, England. With a population in 2001 of just under 300, it covers just over 5000 acres of the Forest of Bowland...
within the modern-day township of Newton-in-Bowland.
Upper Easington is the larger of the two divisions and includes Dalehead and Stocks Reservoir
Stocks Reservoir
Stocks Reservoir is a reservoir situated at the head of the Hodder valley in the Forest of Bowland, Lancashire, England. The reservoir has a fly fishing club which is very popular in the summer months and a small cafe which is popular with walkers...
. It abuts Gisburn Forest
Gisburn
Gisburn is a village, civil parish and ward within the Ribble Valley borough of Lancashire, England. It lies northeast of Clitheroe. The parish of Gisburn had a population of 506, and the ward had 1287, recorded in the 2001 census....
and marks the easternmost extent of ancient Bowland. To the north of Upper Easington sits the Cross o'Greet, the ancient boundary point and watershed between the medieval lordships of Bowland and Burton-in-Lonsdale, Clitheroe
Clitheroe
Clitheroe is a town and civil parish in the Borough of Ribble Valley in Lancashire, England. It is 1½ miles from the Forest of Bowland and is often used as a base for tourists in the area. It has a population of 14,697...
and Hornby; the route up to the Cross across what was anciently called "Gradale" is perhaps one of the most ruggedly beautiful in the Forest.
It is thought that the lands of Upper Easington may originally have been part of the Slaidburn
Slaidburn
Slaidburn is a village and civil parish within the Ribble Valley district of Lancashire, England. With a population in 2001 of just under 300, it covers just over 5000 acres of the Forest of Bowland...
township but grants by the de Lacy
De Lacy
de Lacy is the surname of an old Norman noble family originating from Lassy . The first records are about Hugh de Lacy . Descendent of Hugh de Lacy left Normandy and travelled to England along with William the Conqueror. Walter and Ilbert de Lacy fought in the battle of Hastings...
s to Kirkstall Abbey
Kirkstall Abbey
Kirkstall Abbey is a ruined Cistercian monastery in Kirkstall north-west of Leeds city centre in West Yorkshire. It is set in a public park on the north bank of the River Aire. It was founded c.1152. It was disestablished during the Dissolution of the Monasteries under the auspices of Henry...
in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries gave the area its own distinctive identity. The township of Rushton was granted by Robert de Lacy, 3rd Lord of Bowland, in 1180. This was to be the site of the area's monastic grange
Grange
-Buildings:* Grange House , Bo'ness, Scotland, built in 1564, and demolished in 1906* Hamilton Grange National Memorial, a historic house in New York City...
(now submerged beneath Stocks Reservoir). In 1220 or thereabouts, John de Lacy, 5th Lord of Bowland, granted an area west of the Hodder
Hodder River
The Hodder River is a river of the northeastern South Island of New Zealand. It flows north from the northwestern slopes of Mount Tapuae-o-Uenuku, joining with the Awatere River 40 kilometres southwest of Seddon.-References:...
and north of Rushton known as "Gamellesarges". In Helen Wallbank's unpublished translation from the Latin, the description of Upper Easington from the grant of 1232–40 reads:
"all the land with woods and pasture, without reservation ... on the eastern part of the water of the Hodder in Bowland, just as the water of Hodder descends to the higher head of Gradalehals by the grange of the aforesaid monks as far as the town of Riston, and from the aforesaid head of Gradalehals to the higher head of Kesedene by the boundaries and divisions between my fee and the fee of William de Mowbray, and from the high head of Kesedene to the high head of Rowenumcnothes, and from the high head of Rowenumcnothes as far as the eastern head of Rowenumcnothes, and from the eastern head of Rowenumcnothes, as far as the high head of Hesbrithehawebroc, according to the divisions and bounds between my fee and the fee of William de Percy, and from the high head of Hesbrithehawebroc just as the water of Hesbrithehawebroc descends to the Thirnesetegilebroc, and the Thirnesetegilebroc just as the water of Thirnesetegilebroc descends to the water of the Hodder in the town of Riston".
Gradalehals is the ‘grey dale’ at the head of Cross o'Greet; Kesedene is Keasden; Rowenumcnothes is Bowland Knotts; Hesbrithehawebroc is Hesberts Hill Brook (now known as Brown Hills Beck and, lower down, Dob Dale Beck); Thirnesetegilebroc is now known as Bottoms Beck, but was formerly known as Bridge House Beck, all these becks being names for the same beck at different locations.
For three centuries, Upper Easington remained Kirkstall Abbey's most westerly land holding before being forfeited by the Abbey in 1539. After the Reformation, Rushton Grange was acquired by the Braddyll family of Whalley and thereafter by the Johnson and Wiglesworth families. The Wiglesworths later built their imposing mansion, Townhead, in Slaidburn. Charles Towneley
Towneley (family)
The Towneley or Townley family are an English recusant family whose ancestry can be traced back to Norman England. They take their name from Towneley Hall in Burnley, Lancashire, which was the family seat until its sale in 1901.-The Towneleys of Towneley Hall:...
, 13th Lord of Bowland, acquired the grange in 1860 before its eventual sale to the Fylde Reservoir Company
Stocks Reservoir
Stocks Reservoir is a reservoir situated at the head of the Hodder valley in the Forest of Bowland, Lancashire, England. The reservoir has a fly fishing club which is very popular in the summer months and a small cafe which is popular with walkers...
.
The mesne manor
Mesne lord
A mesne lord was a lord in the feudal system who had vassals who held land from him, but who was himself the vassal of a higher lord. A mesne lord did not hold land directly of the king, that is to say he was not a tenant-in-chief. His subinfeudated estate was called a "mesne estate"...
of Hammerton also lay within Upper Easington until the time of the Reformation when the Hammerton family lands were confiscated by the Crown. The manor was later held by the Greenacres and Breres families.
Historians continue to puzzle over the existence of two Easingtons. The Coucher Book of Kirkstall Abbey suggests the lands of the upper Hodder north of Slaidburn were not known as Easington in the thirteenth century, merely as "Bouland". We might speculate that the manor of Lower Easington gained some influence over the area after the Reformation, with the civil administrative map being redrawn to reflect this change, perhaps during the seventeenth century. However, the evidence for this is slight, although a junior branch of the Bannister family was present at Newhouse, south of Catlow, from the early 1600s.
In 2009, a rare limeburners' clamp kiln was excavated at Halsteads in Upper Easington which carbon dating suggests was last fired somewhere between 1205 and 1280. This approximates to the period in the thirteenth century when John de Lacy, 5th Lord of Bowland, gifted his lands to Kirkstall.
There is evidence of prehistoric settlement in Lower Easington: with Skelshaw Ring, a Bronze Age monument, lying due south of Slaidburn.
Governance
The civil parish of Easington was created from the townshipTownship (England)
In England, a township is a local division or district of a large parish containing a village or small town usually having its own church...
of the same name in 1866. In 1938, the geographically non-contiguous lower division was transferred to Newton. Easington has shared a parish council with Slaidburn
Slaidburn
Slaidburn is a village and civil parish within the Ribble Valley district of Lancashire, England. With a population in 2001 of just under 300, it covers just over 5000 acres of the Forest of Bowland...
since 1976. The council consists of 7 councillors, with council meetings held 6 times a year at Slaidburn Village Hall.
Geography
Easington is located within the Forest of BowlandForest of Bowland
The Forest of Bowland, also known as the Bowland Fells, is an area of barren gritstone fells, deep valleys and peat moorland, mostly in north-east Lancashire, England. A small part lies in North Yorkshire, and much of the area was historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire...
Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty
Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty
An Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty is an area of countryside considered to have significant landscape value in England, Wales or Northern Ireland, that has been specially designated by the Countryside Agency on behalf of the United Kingdom government; the Countryside Council for Wales on...
.