Baxenden is a village and ward in the Borough of

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 ...

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 ...

, North-West England. The ward population taken at the 2011 census was 4,042. Baxenden is sometimes known to locals as Bash.

History

Whilst people have inhabited the site for centuries, most of the village dates from the Victorian-

Edwardian The Edwardian era or Edwardian period of British history spanned the reign of King Edward VII, 1901 to 1910 and is sometimes extended to the start of the First World War. The death of Queen Victoria in January 1901 marked the end of the Victori ...

periods or is more recent. Historically a part of the

Blackburn Hundred Blackburn Hundred (also known as Blackburnshire) is a historic sub-division of the county of Lancashire, in northern England. Its chief town was Blackburn, in the southwest of the hundred. It covered an area similar to modern East Lancashire, in ...

the first record of Baxenden appears in 1194 as the site of a vaccary subject to

Kirkstall Abbey Kirkstall Abbey is a ruined Cistercian monastery in Kirkstall, north-west of Leeds city centre in West Yorkshire, England. It is set in a public park on the north bank of the River Aire. It was founded ''c.'' 1152. It was disestablished during ...

. In the records Baxenden appears under the name ''Bastanedenecloch'' likely meaning ''valley where baking stones are found'' from the

Old English Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain, Anglo ...

''bæc-stan'' meaning baking stone ''denu'' meaning valley (see '' dale'') and ''clōh'' meaning ravine (in Northern Middle English ''clōh'' evolved into ''cloghe'' which has survived in a number of local place names as ''clough''). By 1305 in the records of the

de Lacy de Lacy (Laci, Lacie, Lascy, Lacey, Lassey) is the surname of an old Norman family which originated from Lassy, Calvados. The family took part in the Norman Conquest of England and the later Norman invasion of Ireland. The name is first recorde ...

family the name of Baxenden had evolved to ''Bakestonden'' where records show 12s 2d were spent transporting seven loads of lead from Baxenden to Bradford. The lead mine closing as late as 1780. By 1494 the name had evolved to ''Baxtonden''. Local families of historic significance are the Cunliffes of Hollins, Holdens, Hargreaves & Kenyons. Historically farming was the main occupation of the residents of Baxenden. Development of the area began during the

Industrial Revolution The Industrial Revolution was the transition to new manufacturing processes in Great Britain, continental Europe, and the United States, that occurred during the period from around 1760 to about 1820–1840. This transition included going f ...

. The current road through the area was the last road built by Blind Jack Metcalf o' Knaresborough and was completed in 1791 with the old road becoming what is now known as Back Lane and Hollins Lane. It was one of the most challenging roads that he built and he made a loss of £40 on a contract worth £3,500. Alongside this road print works, mills and coal mines developed which led to the need for greater housing in the area and the associated services needed. The surnames Baxendale and Baxenden originate from this village.

Governance

The village is part of the constituency of

and is represented in Parliament by the

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...

Sara Britcliffe Sara Alice Britcliffe (born 21 February 1995) is a British Conservative Party politician, who has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Hyndburn since the general election of 2019. At the age of 24, she was the youngest Conservative MP el ...

. It is represented in

borough council by two

councillors. Hyndburn borough council devolves some limited powers and funding to the Baxenden Area Council for resolving minor local issues.

Geography

Baxenden lies south 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 ...

on the A680 otherwise known as Manchester Road. It is between 200m at its northern edge and 280m at its southern edge above sea level. It is sited in a wedge shaped valley between

Hameldon Hill Hameldon Hill is a Carboniferous sandstone hill with a summit elevation of , situated between the towns of Burnley and Accrington in Lancashire, England. It is listed as a "HuMP" or "Hundred Metre Prominence", its parent being Freeholds Top, a ...

and Oswaldtwistle Moor. Hameldon means ''scarred hill''. Oswaldtwistle Moor is a part of the

West Pennine Moors The West Pennine Moors is an area of the Pennines covering approximately of moorland and Reservoir (water), reservoirs in Lancashire and Greater Manchester, England. It is a Site of Special Scientific Interest. The West Pennine Moors are separat ...

. The valley presumably being carved out by the streams which flow through the area. These streams, Warmden Brook and Woodnook Water, merge beneath Accrington and are tributaries of the

River Hyndburn The River Hyndburn is a minor river in Lancashire, England. Beginning as Woodnook Water on the slopes of Goodshaw Hill, it passes through Stone Fold, Rising Bridge and Baxenden where it is augmented by streams from Thirteen Stone Hill and conti ...

; itself a tributary of the Rivers Calder and then Ribble.

Notable facts

Baxenden ward is site of Haworth Park home to the

Haworth Art Gallery The Haworth Art Gallery is a public art gallery"Haworth Art Gallery"
on the website of the

Tiffany glass Tiffany glass refers to the many and varied types of glass developed and produced from 1878 to 1933 at the Tiffany Studios in New York City, by Louis Comfort Tiffany and a team of other designers, including Clara Driscoll, Agnes F. Northrop, an ...

chiefly consisting of over one hundred and forty pieces of his

Favrile Favrile glass is a type of iridescent art glass developed by Louis Comfort Tiffany. He patented this process in 1894 and first produced the glass for manufacture in 1896 in Queens, New York. It differs from most iridescent glasses because the col ...

, or ‘hand-made', Glass. The gallery also has a collection of oil paintings and watercolours. Baxenden is probably best known as the home of

Holland's Pies Holland's Pies is a manufacturer of pies and puddings based in Baxenden, near Accrington in Lancashire, England. Owned by 2 Sisters Food Group, the company also produces pasties and sausage rolls. History Holland's was founded by father a ...

. Baxenden is also the home of the chemicals works Baxenden Chemicals. On the night of 6 September 1974, the so-called Black Panther,

Donald Neilson Donald Neilson (born Donald Nappey; 1 August 1936 – 18 December 2011), alias the “Black Panther,” was a British armed robber, kidnapper, and multiple murderer. From 1971, he committed a series of robberies of sub-post offices; in 197 ...

, shot the Baxenden sub-postmaster, Derek Astin, at his home, injuring him so that he died soon after arriving at hospital. The Irish republican social campaigner

Michael Davitt Michael Davitt (25 March 184630 May 1906) was an Irish republican activist for a variety of causes, especially Home Rule and land reform. Following an eviction when he was four years old, Davitt's family migrated to England. He began his caree ...

worked as a child at Stelfoxe's Victoria Mill (later the Victoria and Alliance Mill) in Baxenden. It was here, at the age of eleven, where his arm was lacerated so badly by a spinning machine it had to be amputated; for which he received no compensation.

Transport

Baxenden was once served by

Baxenden railway station Baxenden railway station served the villages of Baxenden in Hyndburn and Rising Bridge in Rossendale Valley, Rossendale. It was situated just inside the old boundary of Haslingden on the line from to , which was opened in 1848 by the East Lanca ...

however this was closed in 1951 before the lines themselves were removed in 1970-71 as recommended by the

Beeching Axe The Beeching cuts (also Beeching Axe) was a plan to increase the efficiency of the nationalised railway system in Great Britain. The plan was outlined in two reports: ''The Reshaping of British Railways'' (1963) and ''The Development of the ...

. This line was once notorious as one of the most difficult in the country due to its ‘alpine' nature involving a climb from the junction at Stubbins railway station for 5 miles at an average of 1 in 78 to a summit in Baxenden at 771 feet above sea level followed by a 2 and a quarter mile drop down Baxenden Bank, at times as steep as 1 in 38/40. Nowadays ‘the lines' as they are known is a well used footpath which has been recently incorporated into a network of paths that lead throughout the borough. Buses to

Rochdale Rochdale ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, at the foothills of the South Pennines in the dale on the River Roch, northwest of Oldham and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough ...

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 ...

and

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

pass through Baxenden.

Education

Baxenden has one primary school; St John's Primary built in 1880 to replace a school built in the 1833 sited near the modern junction of Manchester Road with Southwood Drive, and one high school;

The Hollins The Hollins (formerly known as The Hollins Technology College until 2017) is a coeducational secondary school located in Accrington in the English county of Lancashire. History In 2015, the school took part in a Channel 4 programme, ''Sex in Cl ...

Religious sites

There were two churches in Baxenden. St John the Baptist Church founded in 1875, site of the war memorial, and Baxenden Methodist Church, which closed in 2013. The modern vicarage, built in 1977, stands on the site of the old Baxenden House and the Baxenden vaccary of Henry de Lacy, Baron of Pontefract.

Sports

Baxenden Cricket Club, founded around 1868, play in the local cricket league from their grounds off Back Lane. There is a yearly race in the area called the Bash Grueller. Baxenden Golf Club, founded in 1913 a challenging 9 hole course.

Baxenden Allotments and Gardens Society

B.A.G.S. as it is known locally, has been in existence for over 50 years and was set up by and for local gardeners. BAGS holds an Annual Flower Show at Hollins Technology College (next door) on the first Saturday of September, which is open to the public as well as members of the Society. The show consist of Flower, Vegetables, Confectionery, Floral Art, handicrafts and children's classes, with many sections open to none members and is a great community event for all the family. For allotment information, advice and to learn more about the annual show visit the B.A.G.S. Website

Public services

Baxenden has the usual amenities of a village of its size such as a dentist, takeaway, newsagents, butchers, bakers, pharmacy, hairdressers, numerous pubs - Dog & Partridge, Alma, Victoria, Village Club, etc. As of 2013 Baxenden has had its own internet local radio station called Baxenden Radio.

References

External links

{{authority control Villages in Lancashire Geography of Hyndburn