West Bradford 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 ...

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, 2.5 miles (4 km) north of

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 at the 2011 census was 788. It covers some 2000 acres of 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 ...

. 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 is recorded as ''Bradeford'' and in the thirteenth century, ''Braford in Bouland''. It was part of the

West Riding of Yorkshire The West Riding of Yorkshire was one of three historic subdivisions of Yorkshire, England. From 1889 to 1974 the riding was an administrative county named County of York, West Riding. The Lord Lieutenant of the West Riding of Yorkshire, lieu ...

until 1974. "West Bradford" was introduced in the nineteenth century at the start of postal services to distinguish the village from the city of the same name. Along with Waddington,

Grindleton Grindleton is a village and civil parish in the Ribble Valley district of the English county of Lancashire, traditionally in the West Riding of Yorkshire. Its 3,700 acres sit within the Forest of Bowland. The population of the civil ward taken ...

and Sawley the parish forms the Waddington and West Bradford

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 ...

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. ...

Borough Council.

History

Since the fourteenth century, West Bradford has formed part of the

Liberty Liberty is the state of being free within society from oppressive restrictions imposed by authority on one's way of life, behavior, or political views. The concept of liberty can vary depending on perspective and context. In the Constitutional ...

Slaidburn Slaidburn () is a village and civil parish within the Ribble Valley district of Lancashire, England. The parish covers just over 5,000 acres of the Forest of Bowland. Historic counties of England, Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, ...

. In turn, Slaidburn was part of the ancient

Lordship of Bowland The Lordship of Bowland is a manorial lordship associated with the Forest of Bowland in Lancashire, England. The lordship fell into disuse between 1885 and 2008, during which time it was widely believed to have lapsed; it was revived in 2008. ...

which comprised a

Royal Forest A royal forest, occasionally known as a kingswood (), is an area of land with different definitions in England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland. The term ''forest'' in the ordinary modern understanding refers to an area of wooded land; however, the ...

and a Liberty of ten manors spanning eight townships and four parishes and covered an area of almost on the historic borders of

and

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...

. The manors within the Liberty were

(

Newton-in-Bowland Newton or Newton-in-Bowland is a village and civil parish in the Ribble Valley district, in the county of Lancashire, England, formerly known as ''Newton-on-Hodder''. The civil parish had a population of 237 in 2001, according to the United King ...

, West Bradford,

), Knowlmere, Waddington, Easington, Bashall Eaves, Mitton, Withgill (Crook), Leagram ( Bowland-with-Leagram), Hammerton and Dunnow (Battersby).

Mahatma Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (2October 186930January 1948) was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalism, anti-colonial nationalist, and political ethics, political ethicist who employed nonviolent resistance to lead the successful Indian ...

stayed here (Heys Farm Guest House) in 1931 when he came to visit the cotton mills of Lancashire.

Media gallery

File:3 Millstones Inn, West Bradford - geograph.org.uk - 759012.jpg, 3 Millstones Inn File:St Catherine's Church, West Bradford - geograph.org.uk - 758958.jpg, St Catherine's Church File:Waddington and West Bradford Primary School - geograph.org.uk - 758948.jpg, Waddington & West Bradford Primary School File:West Bradford Methodist Church - geograph.org.uk - 759021.jpg, West Bradford Methodist Church File:West Bradford Brook - geograph.org.uk - 759017.jpg, West Bradford Brook File:Horrocksford Bridge, West Bradford - geograph.org.uk - 241553.jpg, Horrocksford Bridge over the Ribble

References

External links

* {{authority control Villages in Lancashire Civil parishes in Lancashire Geography of Ribble Valley History of Yorkshire Forest of Bowland

History

Media gallery

See also

References

External links