Chipping (Lancashire)
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Chipping is a village situated in the Ribble Valley on the edge of the Forest of Bowland in Lancashire, United Kingdom. A well kept secret to many, this picturesque Lancashire village has won a number of best kept village competitions over the years.
The village is known to be at least 1,000 years old and is named in the Domesday book as 'Chippenden' the name coming from the medieval 'Chepyn' meaning market place. Chipping really thrived during the Industrial Revolution when there were seven mills located along Chipping Brook. Today only one survives, the famous chairmaking factory of H.J.Berry where furniture has been designed and made since the 1890s.
Chipping is a prefix used in a number of place names in England, probably derived from ceapen, an Old English word meaning 'market', though the meaning may alternatively come from (or via) the Medieval English word chepynge with a more specific meaning of 'long market square'.
Chipping is also home to a small grass airstrip which is used for gliding purposes.
[edit] The Forest of Bowland
The Forest of Bowland is both a delight and a pleasure with its rolling pastures, working farmland and dense forestry. The area is classed as an area of outstanding natural beauty and it certainly lives up to expectation. The Forest of Bowland occupies most of the north east of Lancashire. It consists of barren gritstone fells, deep valleys and peat moorland. It's an attractive alternative to the overcrowded Lake District, and today this grouse moorland is also used for walking and cycling.
The name 'forest' is used in its traditional sense of 'a royal hunting ground', and much of the land still belongs to the Crown. In the past wild boar, deer, wolves, wild cats and game roamed the forest. The origins of the name Bowland most likely came from the long-standing connection of the region with archery - the 'land of the bow'. Just to the North of the village the access areas of Clougha, Fair Snape, Wolf Fell and Saddle Fell have been opened up to the public by access agreements negotiated between Lancashire County Council and the owners. This means that over 3,260 acres of open country is now open to walkers.
