Great Mitton is a village and a civil parish in the
Ribble Valley
Ribble Valley is a local government district with borough status within the non-metropolitan county of Lancashire, England. The total population of the non-metropolitan district at the 2011 Census was 57,132. Its council is based in Clitheroe. ...
,
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 Lancash ...
, England. It is separated from the civil parish of
Little Mitton
Little Mitton is a civil parish in the Ribble Valley district, in the county of Lancashire, England. In 2001 the population of the civil parish of Little Mitton was 42, but by the time of the census 2011 population details had been absorbed in th ...
by the
River Ribble, both lie about three miles from the town of
Clitheroe
Clitheroe () is a town and civil parish in the Borough of Ribble Valley, Lancashire, England; it is located north-west of Manchester. It is near the Forest of Bowland and is often used as a base for tourists visiting the area. In 2018, the Cl ...
. The combined population of both civil parishes at the
2011 census was 266. In total, Great and Little Mitton cover less than 2000 acres of the
Forest of Bowland
The Forest of Bowland, also known as the Bowland Fells and formerly the Chase of Bowland, is an area of gritstone fells, deep valleys and peat moorland, mostly in north-east Lancashire, England, with a small part in North Yorkshire (however ro ...
, making it the smallest township in the Forest. Historically, the village is part of the
West Riding of Yorkshire
The West Riding of Yorkshire is one of three historic subdivisions of Yorkshire, England. From 1889 to 1974 the administrative county County of York, West Riding (the area under the control of West Riding County Council), abbreviated County ...
, but was transferred to Lancashire for administrative purposes on 1 April 1974, under the provisions of the
Local Government Act 1972.
Great Mitton has an ancient church,
All Hallows, an ancient manor house and a pub, ''The Three Fishes'', where in former times manorial courts were held. A second pub, ''The Aspinall Arms'', sits across the Ribble in Little Mitton.
The ancient parish of Mitton took its name from the Old English, being a settlement at the ''mythe'', the confluence of the
Hodder and Ribble Rivers.
History
The
Domesday manor of Mitton encompassed both Great and Little Mitton, straddling lands on both sides of the Ribble. From the late eleventh century, it fell under the
Lordship of Bowland
The Lordship of Bowland is a feudal barony associated with the Forest of Bowland in Lancashire, England. The lordship fell into disuse between 1885 and 2008, during which time it was widely believed to have lapsed; it was revived in 2008.
In 1 ...
, the Lords of Bowland being
lords paramount of a
Royal Forest
A royal forest, occasionally known as a kingswood (), is an area of land with different definitions in England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland. The term ''forest'' in the ordinary modern understanding refers to an area of wooded land; however, the ...
and a
Liberty
Liberty is the ability to do as one pleases, or a right or immunity enjoyed by prescription or by grant (i.e. privilege). It is a synonym for the word freedom.
In modern politics, liberty is understood as the state of being free within society fr ...
of ten manors spanning eight townships and four parishes and which covered an area of almost on the historic borders of Lancashire and
Yorkshire
Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other English counties, functions have ...
. The manors within the Liberty were
Slaidburn
Slaidburn () is a village and civil parish within the Ribble Valley district of Lancashire, England. The parish covers just over 5,000 acres of the Forest of Bowland.
Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, Slaidburn lies near the head of ...
(
Newton-in-Bowland
Newton or Newton-in-Bowland is a village and civil parish in the Ribble Valley district, in the county of Lancashire, England, formerly known as ''Newton-on-Hodder''. The civil parish had a population of 237 in 2001, according to the United Kin ...
,
West Bradford,
Grindleton
Grindleton is a village and civil parish in the Ribble Valley district of the English county of Lancashire, formerly in the West Riding of Yorkshire. Its 3,700 acres sit within the Forest of Bowland. The population of the civil ward taken at the ...
),
Knowlmere,
Waddington,
Easington,
Bashall Eaves, Mitton, Withgill (Crook),
Leagram,
Hammerton and
Dunnow (Battersby).
Mitton was a
mesne Mesne (an Anglo-French legal form of the O. Fr. ''meien'', mod. ''moyen'', mean, Med. Lat. ''medianus'', in the middle, cf. English ''mean''), middle or intermediate, an adjective used in several legal phrases.
* A mesne lord is a landlord who has ...
manor from the early twelfth century. Its first lord, Radulphus le Rus, may have been a scion 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. Descendants of Radulphus assumed the surname ''de Mitton''. In the late thirteenth century, the family adopted the surname ''de Sotheron'', later ''Sherburne'', by marriage, thereby laying the foundation for the dynasty of Shireburne of
Stonyhurst
Stonyhurst is the name of a rural estate owned by the Society of Jesus near Clitheroe in Lancashire, England. It is centred on Stonyhurst College, occupying the great house, its preparatory school Stonyhurst Saint Mary's Hall and the parish ...
. The manor passed out of Shireburne ownership in the fourteenth century but was re-acquired in 1665. With the extinction of the Shireburne male line in 1717, the manor passed to the Hawksworth and finally, Aspinall families.
[Frederick George Ackerley, ''A History of the Parish of Mitton in the West Riding of Yorkshire'' (Aberdeen University Press 1947)]
The
Mitton Hoard
The Mitton Hoard is a hoard of silver coins found near Clitheroe in Lancashire, England, in 2006 or 2009. The hoard is now in Clitheroe Castle Museum. The documented treasure consisted of 11 silver coins or parts of coins.
Local history
Mitton ...
of eleven medieval silver coins (or bits of coins) was found to the west of the village near the River Hodder. The coins are now in
Clitheroe Castle Museum.
[Coin hoard BM-193206]
Finds.org.uk, Retrieved 16 September 2015
The manor of Withgill (Crook) lay within the boundaries of the township of Mitton but was small (around 40 acres in 1258). It was held by the ''de Bury'' family until the late fourteenth century. The Singletons held the manor from 1379-1503 after which it passed to the family of Sir William Leyland and finally, the Tyldesleys. The Tyldesleys, leading Jacobites, forfeited the manor for their role in the 1715
Preston Rebellion.
The historical Parish of Great Mitton comprised the
townships
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 ...
of
Old Laund Booth
Old Laund Booth is a civil parish in the Pendle district of Lancashire, England. It has a population of 1,459, and contains the villages of Fence and Wheatley Lane.
Old Laund Booth was once a township in the ancient parish of Whalley. This bec ...
, and
Aighton, Bailey and Chaigley
Aighton, Bailey and Chaigley is a civil parish in the Borough of Ribble Valley in Lancashire, England, just west of Clitheroe. The population of the civil parish at the 2011 census was 1,307, an increase from 1,249 in 2001.
The main settlemen ...
in
Blackburnshire
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 ...
, and the
chapelries of
Grindleton
Grindleton is a village and civil parish in the Ribble Valley district of the English county of Lancashire, formerly in the West Riding of Yorkshire. Its 3,700 acres sit within the Forest of Bowland. The population of the civil ward taken at the ...
and
Waddington, and townships of
Bashall Eaves,
West Bradford in
Staincliffe and Mitton itself which straddled the two.
Sir William Addison (1905–1992), historian and author, was born at Milton.
[Kneale, Kenneth (1992); ''Essex Heritage'', Leopards Head Press, pp. 3–14. ][Morris, Richard; "Sir William Addison (1905-1992) – a retrospective" in ]
Loughton and District Historical Society: Newsletter 165
', March/April 2005, pp. 3–5
Governance
The civil parish of Great Mitton was created from the ancient township with the same name in 1866.
Great Mitton was part of the
West Riding of Yorkshire
The West Riding of Yorkshire is one of three historic subdivisions of Yorkshire, England. From 1889 to 1974 the administrative county County of York, West Riding (the area under the control of West Riding County Council), abbreviated County ...
until it ceased to exist as an administrative entity in 1974. The parish currently shares a
parish council with the neighbouring civil parishes of
Bashall Eaves and
Little Mitton
Little Mitton is a civil parish in the Ribble Valley district, in the county of Lancashire, England. In 2001 the population of the civil parish of Little Mitton was 42, but by the time of the census 2011 population details had been absorbed in th ...
.
Church
All Hallows Church (previously known as the Church of St Michael) was built in the 13th century, with 15th and 16th century additions. It contains Shireburne of
Stonyhurst
Stonyhurst is the name of a rural estate owned by the Society of Jesus near Clitheroe in Lancashire, England. It is centred on Stonyhurst College, occupying the great house, its preparatory school Stonyhurst Saint Mary's Hall and the parish ...
family tombs. Since 1954, it has been designated a Grade I
listed building
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 ...
by
English Heritage
English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, medieval castles, Roman forts and country houses.
The charity states that i ...
.
Gallery
File:Great Mitton Hall - geograph.org.uk - 585410.jpg, Great Mitton Hall
File:River Hodder meets River Ribble - geograph.org.uk - 1421579.jpg, Confluence of the Hodder and Ribble
File:All Hallows Great Mitton - geograph.org.uk - 72288.jpg, All Hallows Church
File:View across the Ribble at Great Mitton - geograph.org.uk - 72290.jpg, View across the Ribble
See also
*
Listed buildings in Great Mitton
References
External links
Neighbourhood Statistics for Great Mitton (CP)
{{authority control
Villages in Lancashire
Civil parishes in Lancashire
Geography of Ribble Valley