Chatburn


Chatburn is a village, civil parish and electoral ward in the Ribble Valley, East Lancashire, England. The population of the civil parish at the 2011 census was 1,102. It is situated in a hollow between two ridges north-east of Clitheroe, just off the A59 road. It lies near Pendle Hill, which is to the east of the village. The River Ribble flows to the west of the town. The town is approximately 400 feet above sea level.
The parish adjoins the Ribble Valley parishes of Grindleton, Sawley, Rimington, Downham, Worston, Clitheroe and West Bradford.

History

The village itself can be dated back to Anglo-Saxon times; it takes its name from one of the most distinguished characters of that time, St Chad, and having a brook hence the name. The village sits outside the Forest of Bowland and was never considered part of the ancient Lordship of Bowland.
A feature of the village is the spire of the parish church, which was erected around 1838. The steeple was struck by lightning in 1854, but was rebuilt in the same year.
Chatburn railway station was closed in 1962 before the report of Dr Beeching.
Bold Venture lime works and quarry provided much employment for villagers for many years. It was owned by Dixon Robinson from 1837, he also built the Pendle Hotel and Black Bull public houses.
The village also features Chatburn Post Office which was bombed during the Second World War.
Parts of the village and surroundings featured in the 1961 film Whistle Down the Wind starring Hayley Mills, Eric Titterington and children from Chatburn Primary School.

Governance

Chatburn was once a township in the ancient parish of Whalley. This became a civil parish in 1866, forming part of the Clitheroe Rural District from 1894 till 1974.
Chatburn also gives its name to a ward of Ribble Valley Borough Council, which also includes Downham and Twiston.
The ward had a population of 1,324 in 2001, falling to 1,316 in 2011. The ward elects a single councillor, who currently is Gary Scott of the Conservative Party.

Media gallery