Read is a village in

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 ...

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 2021 population of 78,266. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River B ...

and 2 miles east of Whalley. It is on the A671 which is the main road between Burnley and

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 ...

. 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 , 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 ...

words meaning female roe deer 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 form of human settlement or administrative subdivision. Its exact definition varies among countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, this tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, Canad ...

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. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

in 1866, forming part of the

Burnley Rural District Burnley was a Rural district of Lancashire, England from 1894 to 1974. It was named after but did not include the large town of Burnley, which was a county borough. The district and its council was created in 1894 under the Local Government A ...

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 t ...

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 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. ...

. 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.

Landmarks

Read Hall and Park Read Hall and Park is a manor house with ornamental grounds of about in Whalley Road, Read, a few miles west of Padiham, Lancashire, England. The current hall dates from the early 19th century and is a grade II* listed building. The landscape ...

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 Lancaster may refer to: Lands and titles *The County Palatine of Lancaster, a synonym for Lancashire *Duchy of Lancaster, one of only two British royal duchies *Duke of Lancaster *Earl of Lancaster *House of Lancaster, a British royal dynasty ...

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
/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 John the Evangelist ( – ) is the name traditionally given to the author of the Gospel of John. Christians have traditionally identified him with John the Apostle, John of Patmos, and John the Presbyter, although there is no consensus on h ...

by Henry Ross of

Accrington Accrington is a town in the Hyndburn borough of Lancashire, England. It lies about east of Blackburn, west of Burnley, east of Preston, north of Manchester and is situated on the culverted River Hyndburn. Commonly abbreviated by locals to ...

, 1884, with the west steeple dating from 1911. The nearby

Martholme Viaduct Martholme Viaduct is a railway bridge near Great Harwood in Lancashire, north-western England. It was built from 1870 and opened in 1877 after construction was beset by landslips. It closed in 1954 and is now a cycle way. It is a Grade II listed ...

, 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 part of the "Three Towns" conurbation along with the towns of Clayton-le-Moors and Ris ...

loop line of the

Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway The Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway (L&YR) was a major History of rail transport in Great Britain, British railway company before the Railways Act 1921, 1923 Grouping. It was Incorporation (business)#Incorporation in the United Kingdom, incorpo ...

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.

References

Notes Citations

External links

Read Parish Council website
{{authority control Villages in Lancashire Civil parishes in Lancashire Geography of Ribble Valley

History

Governance

Landmarks

See also

References

External links