Read is a village 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 Lancash ...
5 miles west northwest 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, Lancashire, Preston, at the confluence of the River C ...
and 2 miles east of
Whalley. It is on the
A671
The A671 is a road in the North West of England, that runs between Oldham, Greater Manchester and Worston, near Clitheroe, Lancashire. Major towns on the route include Rochdale and Burnley. The road is approximately long. Between Burnley and t ...
which is the main road between Burnley and
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 population of the civil parish as taken at the
2011 census was 1,419.
History
The name "Read" is a contraction of
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 settlers in the mid-5th c ...
words meaning female
roe deer
The roe deer (''Capreolus capreolus''), also known as the roe, western roe deer, or European roe, is a species of deer. The male of the species is sometimes referred to as a roebuck. The roe is a small deer, reddish and grey-brown, and well-adapt ...
and ridge or headland.
The old village developed in the 16th century along the main mediaeval road between
Whalley and Padiham.
The Battle of Read Old Bridge was fought in 1643 between the Royalist and Parliamentarian forces. The Royalist force of about 4,000 men, commanded by the Earl of Derby, had taken the village of Whalley. The Parliamentary force, numbering only about 400 men, were positioned near Read Old Bridge. As the Royalist forces approached the bridge they faced withering musket fire causing them to retreat in confusion. The Royalists gave up Whalley; about 400 largely untrained soldiers had beaten 4,000, winning Lancashire for Parliament.
Governance
Read 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, C ...
in the ancient parish of Whalley, with the
River Calder forming the boundary with
Altham and
Sabden Brook with
Whalley. This became a
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 authorit ...
in 1866, forming part of the
Burnley Rural District from 1894 to 1974. Parts of the parish transferred to
Sabden
Sabden is a village and civil parish in the Ribble Valley, Lancashire, England. Sabden is located south of Pendle Hill, in a valley about three miles north west of Padiham. The parish covers , of which is occupied by the village. It lies in the ...
on its creation in 1904. It has since become part of the borough of
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. ...
.
Together with
Simonstone, the parish forms the Read and Simonstone
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 Ribble Valley Borough Council. The ward had a population of 2,535 in 2001, rising to 2,573 in 2011. The ward elects two councillors, who currently are Richard Bennett and Lesley Graves, both of the
Conservative Party
The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right.
Political parties called The Conservative P ...
.
Landmarks
Read Hall and Park was the seat of the Nowell family from the 14th century and Roger Nowell was a magistrate at the time of the
Lancashire Witches
The trials of the Pendle witches in 1612 are among the most famous witch trials in English history, and some of the best recorded of the 17th century. The twelve accused lived in the area surrounding Pendle Hill in Lancashire, and were charged w ...
in 1612 sending them to
Lancaster for trial and eventual execution.
[Burnley Express 12 January 2010 Victorian history of Read Hall – includes picture and gives the date of the hall as 1818–1825](_blank)
/ref>
In the 1870s Victoria Mill, together with a few houses for employees, was built alongside the turnpike road by the Kemp family and this area of Read became known as Newtown. More houses and shops were built using stone quarried in the village and Read now has a variety of small businesses catering for many needs.
The parish church is dedicated to St John the Evangelist by Henry Ross of Accrington, 1884, with the west steeple dating from 1911.Martholme Viaduct
Martholme Viaduct is a 19th-century railway viaduct in the English county of Lancashire. It lies between the town of Great Harwood and the village of Read, and lies in both the district of Hyndburn and that of Ribble Valley. The viaduct was con ...
, about south-west carried the defunct Great Harwood
Great Harwood is a town in the Hyndburn district of Lancashire, England, located north east of Blackburn and adjacent to the Ribble Valley. Great Harwood is the major conurbation of the 'Three Towns'; the three towns being Great Harwood, Clayton- ...
loop line of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway
The Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway (L&YR) was a major British railway company before the 1923 Grouping. It was incorporated in 1847 from an amalgamation of several existing railways. It was the third-largest railway system based in northern ...
over the River Calder between Simonstone and Great Harwood and was built by Sturges Meek, 1870–77, and consists of ten 65 ft high arches on a gentle curve.
See also
* Listed buildings in Read, Lancashire
References
Notes
Citations
External links
Read Parish Council website
{{authority control
Villages in Lancashire
Civil parishes in Lancashire
Geography of Ribble Valley