CLITHEROE, a chapelry and market-town and borough (unincorporated),
in that part of the parish of WHALLEY which is in the higher division of the hundred
of BLACKBURN, county palatine of LANCASTER, on the eastern bank of the
Ribble, 30 miles (N.) from Manchester, 49 (N.E.) from Liverpool, 26 (S.E.) from
Lancaster, and 216 (N.N.W.) from London, containing 3213 inhabitants. Its ancient
name, Cliderhow, is of a mixed derivation, from the
British Cled-dwr, which signifies the hill, or rock, by the
waters, and H;he final syllable how, a Saxon word for
hill, being descriptive of its situation, which is on an
isolated eminence, terminating in one direction in a lofty
rock of limestone, on which stands the decayed keep of
a castle, erected either in the reign of William the Conqueror,
or in that of his son: some ascribe the foundr
ation to Robert de Lacy the first, but, on the authority
of a manuscript in the Bodleian Library, it is assigned
to Robert de Lacy the second, in 1179, which account
is confirmed by Dugdale, who states that the castle, and
the chapel of St. Michael annexed thereto, were built
by the latter. The castle originally consisted of a keep,
with a tower and arched gateway, and was surrounded
by a strong lofty wall built on the margin of the
rock: it was used as a species of fortress for dispensing
justice and receiving tribute by the Lacies, who were
lords paramount of the honour. This honour, which
extends over the parishes of Whalley, Blackburn, Chipping,
and Ribchester, the forest of Bowland, and the
manors of Tottington and Rochdale, and includes twenty-
eight manors, formed part of the possessions ol
the house of Lancaster, from the time of the marriage
of Thomas Plantagenet, Earl of Lancaster, with Alice,
sister and heiress of Henry de Lacy, until that ot tne
Restoration, when Charles II. bestowed it upon General
Monlc and his heirs: it is now divided between his
Grace the Duke of Buccleuch and Lord Montague; all
manors and estates, of whatsoever tenure, within its
limits, being held of the castle: it has also a court tor
the recovery of small debts, extending over the hundred
of Blackburn. During the wars of the roses,
Henry VI., on his deposition, sought a temporary refuge
here among the hereditary dependents of the house
of Lancaster, but was betrayed to his rival by the lalbots
of Bashall and Colebry, and sent bound to London!
In the civil war this fortress was among the last
surrendered to the parliament, by whose directions, in
1649, it was dismantled, the keep, a square tower rapidly
mouldering away, being all that remains: the site, and
a certain portion of ground occupied by the demesne
and forests of the baronial edifice, are extra-parochial,
and commonly designated the Castle parish. A modern
castellated edifice has been erected within the precincts
of the castle. Clitheroe was the scene of an engagement,
in 1138, between a small party-of the English
army and the Scotch, in which the former was totally
defeated by superior numbers; some traces of this san<-
gulnary conflict have been discovered near Edistorth
bridge and along the banks of the .Ribble. An hospital
for lepers, called the Hospital of Edisforth, was
founded here by some of the earliest burgesses, and dedicated
to St. Nicholas, which shared the fate of the
smaller monasteries at the dissolution.
The town, from its elevated position, is clean and
pleasantly situated; the houses, which are generally of
an inferior order, are built of stone; the streets are
well paved, but not lighted, and the inhabitants are
amply supplied with water from several springs. The
neighbourhood abounds with an almost inexhaustible
bed of limestone; and at Pimlico, a short distance north-
ward from the town, ten kilns are kept burning forty
weeks in the year, and produce in the aggregate four
thousand windles, or twenty-eight thousand strikes
weekly. . Horse-races of an inferior description were
re-established in 1821, and are held annually on the
21st and 22nd of June, on Salt-hill moor. There are
extensive cotton-manufactories and print-works in the
town and its vicinity, which have flourished to such a
degree that the population has nearly doubled during
the last ten years. A communication by water has
been opened with the principal navigable rivers and
canals, thus affording a facility of conveyance to all
parts of the kingdom. The market is on Tuesday;
fairs are held annually on the 24th and 25th of March,
1st and 2nd of August, on the fourth Friday and Saturday
after the 29th of September, and on the 6th and
7th of December; there is also a fair for cattle and
sheep every alternate Tuesday.
Clitheroe is a borough by prescription: its first charter,
dated in the time of Henry de Lacy, who died in
1147, was confirmed by Edward I., who granted the burgesses
the same privileges as those enjoyed by the citizens
of Chester, and subsequently by Edward III., Henry VIII:,
and James II. The civil power is vested in two bailiffs, chosen
annually by the burgesses at large, from their own body,
at a court held for that purpose on the first Friday after
the 9th of October: their joint authority is equal to
that of one magistrate; they are coroners and lords of
the manor, for which they hold a court leet twice a
year: in addition to this, there are a court baron and a
court of enquiry, held under one or both of the bailiffs:
these courts are held in the moot-hall, a neat modern
edifice, ornamented in front with the borough arms cut
in stone,' and surmounted by a spire sixty-two feet
high. There is also a court of pleas, having jurisdiction
to an unlimited amount in actions of debt arising
within the borough: it is holden every three weeks before
the two bailiffs, and has existed from time immemorial.
In addition to the bailiffs are the recorder,
who is elected by the burgesses, and officiates as assessor
to the bailiffs in the trial of causes in the borough
court; the town-clerk, who is also steward of the
court leet; and the town-serjeant, who is the executive
officer and keeper of the gaol: the two last officers are
appointed by the bailiffs. The borough did not return
members to parliament until the first year of the reign
of Elizabeth, since which period it has regularly sent
two: in consequence of a petition to the House of
Commons, that assembly determined, in 1694, "that
the right of election was in the burgesses and freemen;
the burgesses were such as had, in any land or houses
in the borough, an estate of freehold inheritance, and
they were of two sorts; out-burgesses, who lived out
of the borough, and in-burgesses, who lived in the borough,
and had such an estate in houses or land there,
and both these had a right of electing: the freemen
were such as lived in the houses within the 'borough
as tenants, and they had the right of electing when
the landlords did not vote for these houses, but when
they did, the tenants had no right of electing:" there
are about one hundred voters: the bailiffs are the
returning officers. The parliamentary influence is
principally possessed by Earl Brownlow and Earl
Howe, who concur in the nomination of one membereach.
The living is a perpetual curacy, endowed
with £10 per annum and £200 private benefaction,
£200 royal bounty, and £1900' parliamentary
grant, and in the patronage of Earl -Howe. The church,
dedicated to St. Michael, is of great antiquity; being
designated the church of St. Mary Magdalene, in'a
deed of the 13th of Edward IV.-: between the nave and
the choir is a fine Norman arch; and a brass plate
against the southern wall of the nave bears a curious
enigmatical diagram, and an inscription in Latin to the
memory of-Dr. John Webster, the celebrated judicial
astrologer, and formerly  curate of Clitheroe, who was
interred here, June 21st, 1682. There are places, of
worship for Independents, Methodists, and Roman Catholics.
The free grammar school was founded, in
1554, by Philip and Mary, and endowed with the rectorial
tithes of the parish of Almondbury, and with
certain messuages, burgages, and lands in the district
of Craven, in Yorkshire: its concerns are under the
superintendence of six governors, who appoint the master
and usher, subject to the approval of the Bishop
Chester, as visitor. The head-master receives a salary
of £ 200, and has a handsome residence, recently erected,
which he occupies rent-free: the second master is
allowed £100 per annum, and both receive gratuities at
Shrovetide. The surplus revenue of the institution is
appropriable to the repairs of the school, and to the
support of poor scholars at the university, but the latter
purpose is seldom carried into effect. The Rev.
James King, afterwards chaplain to the House of Commons,
and father of Captain James King, who accompanied
Captain Cook in his voyage of discovery round
the globe, also of the Right Rev. Walker King, late
Bishop of Rochester, was, during the early part of his
ministry, incumbent of Clitheroe.