Read, Lancashire
| Read | |
 Looking in the direction of Simonstone, the Martholme Viaduct 1 mile (1.6 km) south-west carried the defunct Great Harwood loop line of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway over the River Calder |
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  Read |
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| OS grid reference | SD765345 |
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| District | Ribble Valley |
| Shire county | Lancashire |
| Region | North West |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | BURNLEY |
| Postcode district | BB12 |
| Dialling code | 01282 |
| Police | Lancashire |
| Fire | Lancashire |
| Ambulance | North West |
| EU Parliament | North West England |
| UK Parliament | Ribble Valley |
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Coordinates: 53°48′20″N 2°21′18″W / 53.8056°N 2.355°W
Read is a village in the Ribble Valley in Lancashire, England about 1 mile (1.6 km) west of Padiham on the A671 which was originally a turnpike road from Portfield, near Whalley, to Padiham in the 1840s.
History
The name "Read" is a contraction of an Old English term meaning "roe (deer) headland."
The old village developed in the 16th century along the main mediaeval road between Whalley and Padiham.
The Battle of Read Old Bridge was fought in 1643 between the Royalist and Parliamentarian forces. The Royalist force of about 4,000 men, commanded by the Earl of Derby, had taken the village of Whalley. The Parliamentary force, numbering only about 400 men, were positioned near Read Old Bridge. As the Royalist forces approached the bridge they faced withering musket fire causing them to retreat in confusion. The Royalists gave up Whalley; about 400 largely untrained soldiers had beaten 4,000, winning Lancashire for Parliament.
Buildings
Read Hall and Park was the seat of the Nowell family from the 14th century and Roger Nowell was a magistrate at the time of the Lancashire Witches in 1612 sending them to Lancaster for trial and eventual execution.[1]
In the 1870s Victoria Mill, together with a few houses for employees, was built alongside the turnpike road by the Kemp family and this area of Read became known as Newtown. More houses and shops were built using stone quarried in the village and Read now has a variety of small businesses catering for many needs.
The parish church is dedicated to St John Evangelist by Henry Ross of Accrington, 1884, with the west steeple dating from 1911.[2]
The nearby Martholme Viaduct, about 1 mile (1.6 km) south-west carried the defunct Great Harwood loop line of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway over the River Calder between Simonstone and Great Harwood and was built by Sturges Meek, 1870–77, and consists of ten 65 ft high arches on a gentle curve[2]
References
- ↑ Burnley Express 12 January 2010 Victorian history of Read Hall – includes picture and gives the date of the hall as 1818–1825
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Pevsner, Nikolaus; Hartwell, Clare (revision) (2009). The Buildings of England – Lancashire: North. London and New Haven: Yale University Press. pp. 569, 310. ISBN 978-0-300-12667-9.
External links
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