Chipping is a village and
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. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...
in the borough of
Ribble Valley
Ribble Valley is a local government district with borough status in Lancashire, England. Its council is based in Clitheroe, the largest town. The borough also includes the town of Longridge and numerous villages and surrounding rural areas. ...
,
Lancashire
Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...
, England, within 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 ...
Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty
An Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB; , AHNE) is one of 46 areas of countryside in England, Wales, or Northern Ireland that has been designated for conservation due to its significant landscape value. Since 2023, the areas in England an ...
. Its grid reference is SD6243, and the nearest substantial settlement is
Longridge, nearly to the south. In the
2001 census, the parish had a population of 1,046, falling slightly to 1,043 at the
2011 census.
The village has won several best-kept village competitions over the years. The village also won the village section of the
Royal Horticultural Society
The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), founded in 1804 as the Horticultural Society of London, is the UK's leading gardening charity.
The RHS promotes horticulture through its five gardens at Wisley (Surrey), Hyde Hall (Essex), Harlow Carr ...
Britain in Bloom competition in 2009, picking up RHS Tourism and Gold achievement awards in the process.
History
The village is known to be at least 1,000 years old and is mentioned in
Domesday
Domesday Book ( ; the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book") is a manuscript record of the Great Survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 at the behest of William the Conqueror. The manuscript was originally known by ...
. It lies on the south-western edge of the ancient
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 ...
abutting the civil parish of
Bowland-with-Leagram. Leagram Park, the site of one of the medieval deer parks of the Forest, is a short drive from the village. Despite this, Chipping was not a part of the ancient Forest and its manor did not fall within the
Lordship of Bowland.
In the 1230s, John son of Uctred de Dinckley gave to the
Cistercian monks who had founded
Sawley Abbey, an area of cleared woodland (a ridding) at Haselhurst. The monks later expanded their landholding in the area. In 1538, after the
dissolution of the monasteries, the site was among the former monastic lands owned by Sir Arthur Darcy.
Chipping thrived during the
Industrial Revolution
The Industrial Revolution, sometimes divided into the First Industrial Revolution and Second Industrial Revolution, was a transitional period of the global economy toward more widespread, efficient and stable manufacturing processes, succee ...
, when there were seven mills located along Chipping Brook. The last survivor was
Kirk Mill, the chair making factory of HJ Berry, but in 2010 the company went into administration, the factory closed, and on 7 March 2011 the works were bought by 53N Bowland Ltd.
Origin of the name
Chipping is named in the
Domesday Book
Domesday Book ( ; the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book") is a manuscript record of the Great Survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 at the behest of William the Conqueror. The manuscript was originally known by ...
as ''Chippenden''; the name is derived from the medieval ''Chepyn'' meaning market place.
Chipping is a prefix used in a number of place names in
England
England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
, and is probably derived from , an
Old English
Old English ( or , or ), 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 developed from the languages brought to Great Britain by Anglo-S ...
word meaning 'marketplace', though the meaning may alternatively come from (or via) the
Medieval English word with a more specific meaning of 'long market square'.
Local government
Chipping is 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. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...
, and formerly an ancient parish that also included
Thornley-with-Wheatley, which became a separate parish in the 19th century. Chipping was in
Clitheroe Rural District from 1894 until the reorganisation of local government in 1974,
It is now in
Ribble Valley
Ribble Valley is a local government district with borough status in Lancashire, England. Its council is based in Clitheroe, the largest town. The borough also includes the town of Longridge and numerous villages and surrounding rural areas. ...
, a
non-metropolitan district
Non-metropolitan districts, or colloquially "shire districts", are a type of Districts of England, local government district in England. As created, they are sub-divisions of non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties (colloquially ''s ...
formed in 1974. The parish of Chipping is combined, with
Bowland-with-Leagram and
Bowland Forest High, into the
ward of Chipping, which elects one councillor to Ribble Valley Borough Council. Local elections are every four years.
Chipping is part of the Longridge with Bowland ward of
Lancashire County Council
Lancashire County Council is the upper-tier local authority for the non-metropolitan county of Lancashire, England. The non-metropolitan county of Lancashire is smaller than the ceremonial county, which additionally includes Blackburn with Dar ...
and is in the
Ribble Valley
Ribble Valley is a local government district with borough status in Lancashire, England. Its council is based in Clitheroe, the largest town. The borough also includes the town of Longridge and numerous villages and surrounding rural areas. ...
parliamentary constituency. At all three levels of government (district, county and parliament) Chipping is represented by the
Conservative Party ().
Religion
The village contains the Anglican
Church of St Bartholomew and the
Roman Catholic
The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...
Chapel of St Mary, as well as a
Congregational
Congregationalism (also Congregational Churches or Congregationalist Churches) is a Reformed Christianity, Reformed Christian (Calvinist) tradition of Protestant Christianity in which churches practice Congregationalist polity, congregational ...
chapel.
St Bartholemew's
St Bartholomew's is an active Anglican parish church in the deanery of Whalley, the archdeaconry of Blackburn, and the diocese of Blackburn. Its benefice is united with that of St Michael, Whitewell. The church is designated 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, a battlefield, medieval castles, Roman forts, historic industrial sites, Lis ...
as a Grade II*
listed building
In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...
.
The ancient yew tree in the churchyard is well known in the county and thought to be more than a century old.
St Mary's
After the
Protestant Reformation
The Reformation, also known as the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation, was a time of major theological movement in Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the papacy and ...
, it was illegal to practise Catholicism in public, and those who adhered to that faith worshipped in secret, although some local landowners who remained Catholic established centres of worship on their estates. At Chipping, the Welds of
Leagram Hall ran such a centre. The 19th century saw the beginnings of
Catholic emancipation, and attendance at the chapel at Leagram was permitted. In the 1820s George Weld gave land and money to build an openly Catholic church, St Mary's, in the village, which was constructed at a cost of £1,130 (equivalent to £ in ). The current Priest in Charge is Fr. Anthony Grimshaw.
The church organ reputedly came from
Stonyhurst College. Dating from the early 18th century, it was built by Bishop Ltd of
Ipswich
Ipswich () is a port town and Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in Suffolk, England. It is the county town, and largest in Suffolk, followed by Lowestoft and Bury St Edmunds, and the third-largest population centre in East Anglia, ...
.
Congregational Chapel
The
Congregational Church
Congregationalism (also Congregational Churches or Congregationalist Churches) is a Reformed Christian (Calvinist) tradition of Protestant Christianity in which churches practice congregational government. Each congregation independently a ...
was built in 1838 as an independent non-conformist place of worship. A dedication stone carries an inscription: "Provident Chapel erected by subscription MDCCCXXXVIII" (1838). The chapel closed in 1882 but re-opened as a Congregational Church in the early 20th century. The church is currently active and, in January 2014, appointed its first pastor in over 50 years.
Landmarks

Chipping Craft Centre is said to be the property which has been used as a shop for the longest continuous time in the UK. The first shop was opened at this location in 1668 by a local wool merchant. Since then it has been used as an undertakers, a butchers and most recently as a
Post Office
A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letter (message), letters and parcel (package), parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post o ...
, amongst other trades. It is a now a newsagents, tea shop and craft centre, however, and operates as a Post Office only two days a week.
Hesketh End, on Judd Holmes Lane in the village, is a
Grade I listed building
In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...
, dating from 1591 and the early 17th century, restored in 1907. Woolfen Hall, at the foot of nearby
Parlick, is a
Grade II listed building
In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, H ...
, possibly 16th-century but altered in 1867–8.
Education
The village has two primary schools: St Marys RC and Brabin's Endowed School. Brabin's Endowed was established in 1684.
Culture and amenities
Chipping has its own
local history
Local history is the study of history in a geographically local context, often concentrating on a relatively small local community. It incorporates cultural history, cultural and social history, social aspects of history. Local history is not mer ...
society. Its archive, which contains Census Records, Graveyard Records, old documents, miscellaneous records and many old photographs of the local area, is available for private study, at St Mary’s Community Hall, Longridge Road, on the first Sunday of certain months and at other times by prior appointment.
Chipping Agricultural Show is a local country show that was first held in 1920. The show celebrates all aspects of farming and rural life with classes for sheep, cattle, light horses, ponies and
shire horse
The Shire is a breed of draft horse, draught horse originally from England. The Shire has a great capacity for weight-pulling; it was used for agriculture, farm work, to tow barges at a time when the Canals of the United Kingdom, canal system ...
s plus poultry, pigeon and egg sections. There are also competitions for cheeses, handicrafts, cakes and preserves, a large horticultural section plus children's, dog and baby sections.
Originally held in 1998 and intended as a one-off fund raising event for a new Village Hall, Chipping Steam Fair has now become a firm fixture in the village calendar. The fair now regularly attracts around 20,000 visitors and upward of 500 exhibitors over the
Spring Bank Holiday weekend each May.
One mile to the west of the village is
Bowland Forest Gliding Club, GB-0339, which is used by winch-launched
gliders.
The village has three public houses. The Sun is situated at the corner of Windy Street and Garstang Lane and The Tillotson's Arms is situated on Talbot Street. The Talbot Arms, also on Talbot Street, is currently closed for refurbishment. The Sun is reputed to be haunted by the ghost of scullery maid Lizzie Dean, who hung herself in the attic of the pub on 5 November 1835. She is buried at the entrance to the churchyard. Also in the locality is the Gibbon Bridge Hotel.
The village's
environmentally friendly
Environment friendly processes, or environmental-friendly processes (also referred to as eco-friendly, nature-friendly, and green), are sustainability and marketing terms referring to goods and services, laws, guidelines and policies that c ...
public toilet
A public toilet, restroom, bathroom or washroom is a room or small building with toilets (or urinals) and sinks for use by the general public. The facilities are available to customers, travelers, employees of a business, school pupils or pris ...
s won the best in Lancashire award at the county's
Best Kept Village competition every year since a renovation in 2009 until 2014.
Geography
Just to the north of the village 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 ...
access areas of
Clougha,
Fair Snape, Wolf Fell and Saddle Fell have been opened up to the public by access agreements negotiated between
Lancashire County Council
Lancashire County Council is the upper-tier local authority for the non-metropolitan county of Lancashire, England. The non-metropolitan county of Lancashire is smaller than the ceremonial county, which additionally includes Blackburn with Dar ...
and the owners. This means that over of open country are now open to walkers.
Transport
Bus routes operated by Holmeswood Coaches connect Chipping to
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 River Ribble, Ribble Valley, east of Preston ...
,
Clitheroe
Clitheroe () is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Ribble Valley, 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 to ...
and
Longridge.
In fiction
The ''
Spook's
''Spook's'', published as ''The Last Apprentice'' in the United States, is a children's dark fantasy series by English author Joseph Delaney. It is published by imprints of Penguin Random House in the United Kingdom and HarperCollins in the Un ...
'' series by
Joseph Delaney, frequently features the village of Chipenden, which is based on the village of Chipping.
See also
*
Listed buildings in Chipping, Lancashire
*
Toponymy of England
The toponymy of England derives from a variety of linguistic origins. Many English toponyms have been corrupted and broken down over the years, due to language changes which have caused the original meanings to be lost. In some cases, words u ...
*
List of generic forms in British place names
References
External links
Victoria County History – The parish of ChippingBritish History Online
St. Mary's R.C Primary SchoolBrabin's Endowed School, ChippingChipping Agricultural ShowChipping Steam FairChipping and Downham – Feasibility Study into the potential for zero carbon villagesBowland Forest Gliding ClubChipping Local History SocietyKirk Mill and former chairworksChipping Conservation Area Appraisal
{{authority control
Villages in Lancashire
Civil parishes in Lancashire
Geography of Ribble Valley
Aviation in Lancashire
Forest of Bowland