Haggate is a small village within the parish of
Briercliffe
Briercliffe (historically Briercliffe-with-Extwistle) is a civil parish in the borough of Burnley, in Lancashire, England. It is situated north of Burnley. The parish contains suburbs of Burnley (including Harle Syke and Haggate), and the rur ...
, situated three miles north 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 ...
,
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 ...
. The village is mostly built around a small crossroads, with routes towards Burnley,
Nelson
Nelson may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* ''Nelson'' (1918 film), a historical film directed by Maurice Elvey
* ''Nelson'' (1926 film), a historical film directed by Walter Summers
* ''Nelson'' (opera), an opera by Lennox Berkeley to a lib ...
and
Todmorden
Todmorden ( ; ) is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Upper Calder Valley in Calderdale, West Yorkshire, England. It is north-east of Manchester, south-east of Burnley and west of Halifax, West Yorkshire, Hal ...
. The first buildings in the village date from the 16th century, when the Hare and Hounds
public house
A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...
, which still stands to this day, was built. The village was first officially documented in the 17th century. The origins of the name Haggate are unclear, although it is thought that it could mean, "the path by the hawthorn trees". The village itself is situated at the top of a hill, 800 feet above sea level. The buildings in the village are predominantly stone-built.
As of 2009, Haggate has two public houses, a school and a
Baptist
Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only (believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compete ...
church.
Haggate has direct road links with Burnley and Nelson, and is served by local bus services (111 and 112) operated by
Burnley Bus Company
The Burnley 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 a ...
.
History
The parish of Briercliffe has been present since at least 1235 when the Lordship of Briercliffe, Edmund de Lacy, was granted the Charter of Freewarden, allowing him to use the area for hunting
hare
Hares and jackrabbits are mammals belonging to the genus ''Lepus''. They are herbivores, and live solitarily or in pairs. They nest in slight depressions called forms, and their young are able to fend for themselves shortly after birth. The ge ...
s,
rabbit
Rabbits, also known as bunnies or bunny rabbits, are small mammals in the family Leporidae (which also contains the hares) of the order Lagomorpha (which also contains the pikas). ''Oryctolagus cuniculus'' includes the European rabbit speci ...
s and
fox
Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush'').
Twelve sp ...
es.
The earliest knowledge of the village dates back to the late 16th century when the Hare and Hounds public house, which took its name from the hunting activity in the region, was established. The first official documentation of the village was in the early 17th century, although historians have been unable to elucidate the exact roots of the name. Local folklore suggested that the name came from the fact that an elderly woman (a "hag") from the village was known to sit on a five-barred gate and watch the world. However, it is now believed that the name is more likely to have been derived from two words – "hack", meaning a
hawthorn
Hawthorn or Hawthorns may refer to:
Plants
* '' Crataegus'' (hawthorn), a large genus of shrubs and trees in the family Rosaceae
* ''Rhaphiolepis'' (hawthorn), a genus of about 15 species of evergreen shrubs and small trees in the family Rosace ...
tree and "gate", an archaic word for a path or route.
In 1644, during the
English Civil War
The English Civil War (1642–1651) was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Parliamentarians (" Roundheads") and Royalists led by Charles I ("Cavaliers"), mainly over the manner of England's governance and issues of re ...
, the village was the scene of an altercation in which five people, probably
Roundhead
Roundheads were the supporters of the Parliament of England during the English Civil War (1642–1651). Also known as Parliamentarians, they fought against King Charles I of England and his supporters, known as the Cavaliers or Royalists, who ...
supporters, were killed by
King Charles I's troops.
By the 1700s, the people of Haggate worked mostly as farmers and were major producers of
wool
Wool is the textile fibre obtained from sheep and other mammals, especially goats, rabbits, and camelids. The term may also refer to inorganic materials, such as mineral wool and glass wool, that have properties similar to animal wool.
As ...
. There was also a coal mine, which remained open until the middle of the 20th century, that supplied coal to the mills of Harle Syke and Briercliffe. In the mid-19th century a group of men from Haggate founded the village's first cotton mill, which is today known as 'Oxford Mill', which became the base of many Burnley cotton firms during the time when Lancashire was one of the cotton capitals of the world. There was a
cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...
field in the village where many
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 ...
cricketers played at the invitation of the Smith family who lived in the village. Haggate School, originally a
sunday school
A Sunday school is an educational institution, usually (but not always) Christian in character. Other religions including Buddhism, Islam, and Judaism have also organised Sunday schools in their temples and mosques, particularly in the West.
Su ...
for the Baptist Church, was built on the site of the cricket pitch in 1882. The school later became the village
primary school
A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary e ...
, and was more recently used by
Burnley College
Burnley College is a further education college based in Burnley, Lancashire
Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries ...
.
References
External links
{{authority control
Villages in Lancashire
Districts in Burnley