Altham is a village and

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authority ...

in the Borough of Hyndburn, in

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...

, England. It is the only parish in the borough – the remainder is an

unparished area In England, an unparished area is an area that is not covered by a civil parish (the lowest level of local government, not to be confused with an ecclesiastical parish). Most urbanised districts of England are either entirely or partly unparish ...

. The village is west of

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River Bru ...

, north of

Accrington Accrington is a town in the Hyndburn borough of Lancashire, England. It lies about east of Blackburn, west of Burnley, east of Preston, north of Manchester and is situated on the culverted River Hyndburn. Commonly abbreviated by locals to ...

, and north-east of

Clayton-le-Moors Clayton-le-Moors is an industrial town in the borough of Hyndburn in the county of Lancashire, England. located two miles north of Accrington. The town has a population of 8,522 according to the 2011 census. To the west lies Rishton, to the ...

, and is on the A678

Blackburn Blackburn () is an industrial town and the administrative centre of the Blackburn with Darwen borough in Lancashire, England. The town is north of the West Pennine Moors on the southern edge of the Ribble Valley, east of Preston and north-n ...

to Burnley road. The village is located in the north east corner of the parish on the River Calder, and in the south west is ''Altham West'', a suburb of Accrington. The census of 2001 recorded a population for the parish of 897, increasing to 1,137 at the 2011 Census. However the village's 2011 population was only 343. The

Ham class minesweeper The Ham class was a class of inshore minesweepers (IMS), known as the Type 1, of the British Royal Navy. The class was designed to operate in the shallow water of rivers and estuaries. All of the ships in the class are named for British place nam ...

HMS Altham HMS ''Altham'' was one of 93 ships of the of inshore Minesweeper (ship), minesweepers. Their names were all chosen from villages ending in ''-ham''. The minesweeper was named after Altham, Lancashire, Altham in Lancashire. ''Altham'' (pennan ...

was named after the village.

Governance

Altham is in

Hyndburn Hyndburn is a local government district with borough status in Lancashire, England. Its council is based in Accrington and covers the outlying towns of Clayton-le-Moors, Great Harwood, Oswaldtwistle and Rishton. The borough was created in 197 ...

, a

non-metropolitan district Non-metropolitan districts, or colloquially "shire districts", are a type of local government district in England. As created, they are sub-divisions of non-metropolitan counties (colloquially ''shire counties'') in a two-tier arrangement. Non-m ...

with

borough A borough is an administrative division in various English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely. History In the Middle Ag ...

status in

. Altham was once a

township A township is a kind of human settlement or administrative subdivision, with its meaning varying in different countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, that tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, Ca ...

in the ancient parish of Whalley, this became a

in 1866. From 1894 to 1974, the parish was in the Burnley Rural District. Hyndburn Borough Council has a total of 35 councillors, two of which are elected by the

ward Ward may refer to: Division or unit * Hospital ward, a hospital division, floor, or room set aside for a particular class or group of patients, for example the psychiatric ward * Prison ward, a division of a penal institution such as a pris ...

of Altham. , the ward is represented by two Labour Party councillors. Altham has a parish council; its meetings are usually in Altham village. The facilities at

Accrington Stanley Accrington Stanley Football Club is a professional association football club based in Accrington, Lancashire, England. The club competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. They have spent their complete history ...

Crown Ground The Crown Ground is a multi-use stadium in Accrington, Lancashire, England. It is currently used mostly for football matches and is the home ground of Accrington Stanley. Opened in 1968, the stadium has a capacity of 5,450. The ground is curren ...

stadium have allowed some meetings to be held there, a more convenient location for the residents of Altham West.

Industry

Coal mining was the major industry in Altham in the 19th and early 20th centuries. After the

Leeds and Liverpool Canal The Leeds and Liverpool Canal is a canal in Northern England, linking the cities of Leeds and Liverpool. Over a distance of , crossing the Pennines, and including 91 locks on the main line. The Leeds and Liverpool Canal has several small branc ...

was opened in the 1810s, pits were located near the canal, and supplied coal to the industries of East Lancashire. Later in the century Altham Colliery (later renamed Moorfield Colliery) was opened. The colliery closed in 1949, and Moorfield Industrial Estate is now on the site. An explosion at the colliery in 1883 resulted in the deaths of 68 people. Altham is now home to two

industrial estate An industrial park (also known as industrial estate, trading estate) is an area zoned and planned for the purpose of industrial development. An industrial park can be thought of as a more "heavyweight" version of a business park or office park, ...

s, Altham Industrial Estate within the village and Moorfield Industrial Estate in the southwest of the parish near

Education

Altham St. James C.E. Primary School is located in the village. The nearest secondary schools are in Accrington.

Religious sites

Altham has an

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * Chris ...

, dedicated to St James and situated on Burnley Road. The current building, which is

Grade II* listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

, was built in the 16th century. However, a church has existed in the village since 1140. At first, it was dedicated to St Mary. Until 1870 it was the

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in community activities, ...

Transport

Altham is on the

A678 road The A678 is a road in Lancashire, England, which runs between the towns of Blackburn and Padiham. The road was formerly the main route between Blackburn and Burnley before it was bypassed by the M65 motorway which opened in the 1980s. It curr ...

; the nearest motorway junctions are M65 junctions 7 (west of

) and 8 (near

Huncoat Huncoat is a village in Lancashire, England; situated in the North West. It is located to the east of Accrington. It is a ward of Hyndburn where the population taken at the 2011 census was 4,418. Huncoat railway station is on the East Lanc ...

). As of September 2016, the village is served by only one bus route; the 152 operated by

Blackburn Bus Company The Blackburn Bus Company operates both local and regional bus services in Greater Manchester and Lancashire, England. It is a subsidiary of Transdev Blazefield, which operates bus services across Greater Manchester, Lancashire, North Yorkshire ...

, which connects the village to

and Preston.

Notable People

Ian Ashworth (1958-) professional footballer

References

External links

{{authority control Villages in Lancashire Geography of Hyndburn Civil parishes in Lancashire