Walton le Dale

"WALTON LE DALE, a township in the parish of Blackburn, lower division of Blackburn hundred, county Lancaster, 1½ mile S.E. of Preston, its post town, and 7 miles from Chorley. This township comprises a tract of elevated land overlooking the valleys of the Derwent and Ribble, and contains the hamlets of Brownedge, Cuerdon Green, Bamber Bridge, and Moon's Mill. The population in 1861 amounted to 7,383. The inhabitants are chiefly employed in the cotton mills and print works. Market gardening is carried on. The soil is fertile. The banks of the rivers are steep and clothed with wood. The living is a perpetual curacy in the diocese of Manchester, value £156, in the patronage of the Vicar of Blackburn. The church, dedicated to St. Leonard, was partly rebuilt in 1794. The parochial charities produce about £78 per annum, of which £16 go to a school. There are National schools for both sexes, a Sunday-school, and a workhouse. Sir H. B. Hoghton, Bart., is lord of the manor. This place was the scene of a battle fought 17th August, 1648, between Cromwell and the Duke of Hamilton. Here, in 1715, General, or Parson Wood and his congregation defended the passage of the Ribble against Scottish rebels. In 1701 the Duke of Norfolk, the Earl of Derwentwater, and other leaders of the Jacobites, incorporated themselves by the style of the "mayor and corporation of the ancient borough of Walton."