Billington is a village 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. ...

district of

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 lies between the villages of Whalley and

Langho Langho is a small rural village north of Blackburn in the Ribble Valley, Lancashire, England. It is part of the parish of Billington and Langho. The village is linked with Blackburn and Clitheroe by the A666 road and is served by Langho railw ...

. It forms part of the

Billington and Langho Billington and Langho is a civil parish in the Ribble Valley district of Lancashire, England, covering the villages of Billington and Langho and the hamlets of York and Old Langho and the gated community called Brockhall Village. According to th ...

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 ...

and contains the schools St Augustine's RC High School, St Leonard's Primary and St Mary's Primary. The village population at the 2011 census was 1,409. The 16th century Chapel of St Leonard is a Grade I listed building. According to local tradition, the chapel was constructed using materials taken from

Whalley Abbey Whalley Abbey is a former Cistercian abbey in Whalley, Lancashire, England. After the dissolution of the monasteries, the abbey was largely demolished and a country house was built on the site. In the 20th century the house was modified ...

following the dissolution of the monasteries in the Tudor period, but this has never been conclusively proven.

History

In 798, early in his reign,

Eardwulf of Northumbria Eardwulf ( fl. 790 – 830) was king of Northumbria from 796 to 806, when he was deposed and went into exile. He may have had a second reign from 808 until perhaps 811 or 830. Northumbria in the last years of the eighth century was the scen ...

fought a battle at Billington Moor against a nobleman named Wada, who had been one of those who killed

Æthelred I of Northumbria Æthelred (; c. 762 – 18 April 796), was the king of Northumbria from 774 to 779 and again from 790 until he was murdered in 796. He was the son of Æthelwald Moll and Æthelthryth and possibly became king while still a child after ...

. Wada was defeated and driven into exile. A charter written in 1308 mentions a hermitage by the rocks on the eastern side of Billington.Farrer, W. and Brownbill, J. (editors) (1911
"Townships: Billington"
''A History of the County of Lancaster: Volume 6'', pp. 325–334, accessed 2 September 2014. The village has been known previously as Billindon (1203), Billinton (1208), Bilingdon (1241), Belyngton or Bilyngton (14th–16th centuries). In the 16th century, tenants of the village shared common land known as Billington Common with tenants of local villages

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- ...

and

Wilpshire Wilpshire is a village and civil parish in the county of Lancashire, England. It is north of Blackburn, and forms part of the town's urban area, although it is in the Ribble Valley local government district. In the United Kingdom Census 2001, ...

. There also existed a wood of approximately 60 acres named Elker, which contained oak trees, as well as hazel and alder. Oak and ash trees could also be found in the smaller Nab wood, which was around 40 acres.

References

External links

Billington & Whalley Web
Villages in Lancashire Geography of Ribble Valley {{Lancashire-geo-stub

History

See also

References

External links