St Leonard’s Church stands proudly in the heart of Padiham, Lancashire, and is a striking example of Victorian Gothic Revival architecture that continues to serve its original purpose. While its current building dates from the late 1860s, the story of worship on this site stretches back further, more than 570 years, and traces the changing fortunes of the community from medieval village through industrial mill-town to the place we know and love today.
Tag Archives: #History
Northwest Recipes: Chekyns in Cretene (Chickens in Cretoneé)
The notion that traditional English food is inherently bland and unseasoned is a stubborn modern myth, one largely born from the austerity and rationing of the mid-20th century, when wartime shortages and postwar frugality stripped many tables of flavour and variety.
In truth, English cookery, especially in the medieval and early modern periods, was, as we can see here, rich with seasoning, colour, and aromatic complexity.
The Black Seam
On the 22nd of March, 1962, the tight-knit mining community of Hapton in Lancashire was shaken by catastrophe when an underground explosion ripped through Hapton Valley Colliery, the town’s main employer, claiming the lives of 19 men and injuring many others.
Coltsfoot Rocks!
Coltsfoot, Tussilago farfara, a member of the Asteraceae family, is a perennial herb known for its bright yellow, Dandelion-like flowers that emerge early in spring, often before its broad, hoof-shaped leaves appear. This unique blooming pattern has earned it folk names like ‘son before the father’ and ‘foal’s wort’.
The Red Rose of Lancashire
The story of the Red Rose of Lancashire begins in the 14th century with the royal House of Lancaster when this noble family, descended from John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, adopted the red rose as a heraldic badge, a simple yet striking emblem used to identify supporters in an era of shifting alliances and feudal loyalties.
The Structural History of Samlesbury Hall
The earliest phase of Samlesbury Hall dates to around 1325, when Gilbert de Southworth (Sir Gilbert de Southworth, Knight, Lord of Southworth, Croft, and Samlesbury, to give him his full title) constructed the Great Hall as his family seat, replacing a structure damaged during the Great Raid of 1322 by Scottish forces, a major raid carried out by Robert the Bruce during the First Scottish War of Independence.
Twenty Questions for Mega-project Developers
Last year news was released of a private initiative to build a £100 billion, 45,000 acre city of 400,000 homes in the countryside east of the city of Cambridge.
Upon hearing about the proposal, called Forest City 1, which would count as Britain’s largest ever such ‘mega-development’ and is intended to be the first of several, I scrutinised it in great detail.
Northwest Recipes: Lancashire Hotpot
Back in the 17th century, the term “hotpot” didn’t refer to food at all; instead it described a hot spiced ale drink, sometimes mixed with spirits. The word gradually shifted meaning, and by the 1830s to 1840s, “hot-pot” or similar terms started appearing for meat stews in places like Liverpool.
Northwest Nature and History 