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. Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, Slaidburn lies near the head of the River Hodder and Stocks Reservoir, both within the Forest of Bowland, an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Farming is still a major employer, but the area attracts tourists; for walking in particular. The civil parish of Slaidburn shares a parish council with Easington, a rural parish to the north of Slaidburn. According to the 2001 census, the parish had a population of 288, however the United Kingdom Census 2011 grouped the parish with Easington, giving a total of 351. The parish church of St Andrew has a superb Jacobean screen and a fine Georgian pulpit. The brass band composer William Rimmer composed the now-popular march, named Slaidburn after the village, for the Slaidburn Silver Band. A new village hall has opened to much fanfare and is being well used. There is a local pub, the Hark to Bounty, which upstairs houses the ancient halmote or courthouse of the Manor of Slaidburn
History
From early times, the Manor of Slaidburn formed part of the ancient Lordship of Bowland, being held in demesne from the second half of the 14th century. The Lordship of Bowland comprised a royal forest and a liberty of ten manors spanning eight townships and four parishes and covered an area of almost on the historic borders of Lancashire and Yorkshire. The manors within the liberty were Slaidburn, Knowlmere, Waddington, Easington, Bashall, Mitton, Withgill, Leagram, Hammerton and Dunnow. There was a major manorial reorganisation of Bowland in the second half of the 14th century, which may have been precipitated by a fall in population caused by the Black Death but was probably also a consequence of the absorption of Bowland into the Duchy of Lancaster. Among other changes, this saw Newton subsumed into the demesne of Slaidburn and the manorial caput shift from Grindleton to Slaidburn. Two of the Lord of Bowland's mesne manors – Battersby and Knowlmere – fell within the bounds of the township of Newton but did not become part of the demesne of Slaidburn. See Newton-in-Bowland for further information.
According to a leading local historian, the historic Manor and Liberty of Slaidburn covered a wide area, not equivalent to the Slaidburn parish boundaries, but comprising the villages and town fields of Slaidburn and Newton-in-Bowland, including Ingbreak, a town field to the west of Slaidburn village; Raw Moor, part of the enclosed land of 1619 north of Slaidburn village in the Croasdale area; Brunghill Moor, Burn Moor and Dunsop, also enclosed in 1619 and near Back Lane and Burn Hill; Champion, also enclosed in 1619 and to the east of Slaidburn village; Woodhouse, to the north west of Slaidburn village; Youlstone Wood, also enclosed in 1619, and to the south of Newton village; and most of West Bradford and Grindleton villages and their town fields. Title to the Manor and Liberty of Slaidburn, West Bradford and Grindleton, including the township of Newton-in-Bowland, was bought by Tory MP, Ralph Assheton, later first Baron Clitheroe, in 1950. In 1977, his second son, the Hon Nicholas Assheton, was granted title. Since 2003, the Lord of the Manor and Liberty of Slaidburn has been Thomas Assheton, son of the Hon Nicholas Assheton and nephew of the second Baron Clitheroe. Steward to the Manor of Slaidburn is Michael Parkinson. Parkinson, a land agent and chartered surveyor, also serves the Lord of Bowland as his Chief Steward of the Forest of Bowland.
The Roman road known as Watling Street, that runs from Manchester via Ribchester to Carlisle, passes in a NNE direction to the west of the village before turning NW on Low Fell. This section is also known as the Hornby Road. The River Hodder flows through the parish, joined by Croasdale Brook on the eastern edge of the village. To commemorate the 400th anniversary of the trials of the Pendle witches, a new long-distance walking route called the Lancashire Witches Walk has been created. Ten tercet waymarkers, designed by Stephen Raw, each inscribed with a verse of a poem by Carol Ann Duffy have been installed along the route, with the fifth located here.
People
Thomas Sanderson,, farmer of Woodhouse, Slaidburn. He was also for many years Overseer of the Poor for the Slaidburn District and an Officer of HM Customs & Excise. In 1850, he and his wife Frances and their children emigrated to Wisconsin, USA, on the SS Arctic, where several of his sons rose to prominence – see below.
Robert Parker, a prominent lawyer and attorney of Halifax, Yorkshire, was born at Gamble Hole Farm in Newton in Bowland. He was baptised at Slaidburn Parish Church in March 1731, the son of George Parker, a yeoman farmer. He is most famous for investigating and identifying the Cragg Vale Coiners who clipped gold and silver coins. He was also the attorney of choice for the owners of many of the large Yorkshire landed estates.
James Radley, one of the first English aviators, was born at Dunnow Hall in Slaidburn.
Tempest Slinger, prominent lawyer and attorney of Gray's Inn and Lincoln's Inn, London, and whose practice was the beginning of the law firm Farrer & Co, the Queen's solicitors, was born at Dunnow Hall in Slaidburn in 1683, the son of Nicholas Slinger.
Ancient parish
The historic parish of Slaidburn comprised the townships of Bowland Forest High, Easington, Newton and Slaidburn itself.
Church
The church of St Andrew was built in the Perpendicular style: the powerful stone tower contrasts with the long, low, rendered walls of the nave and aisles. There is a fine interior with a great variety of box and bench pews ranging in date from the 17th to the 19th century. The font-cover is Elizabethan, the screen Jacobean and the three-decker pulpit is Georgian. The church is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade I listed building, having been listed in 1954.
