Historic Book

Extract from “Black’s Guide to England and Wales … Tenth Edition” by Adam Black

Published in 1872

Page 340

“CLITHEROE is situated on an eminence on the east bank of the Ribble . Here
are the ruins of an ancient castle , erected by the Lacys , who came over with the
Conqueror . The male line of this family became extinct in 1193 , and the honour
of Clitheroe passed afterwards into the possession of the famous John of Gaunt
and when his son became Henry IV . It was vested in the crown , remaining so
till the time of Charles II . It is now the property of the Buccleuch family .

During the commonwealth , Clitheroe castle was dismantled by order of the Par
liament , and is now greatly dilapidated . Its stones contributed to build a modern
mansion , which stands within its precincts . Clitheroe has an excellent gram
mar school , and several churches and chapels . In the vicinity of the town are
extensive cotton printing works . Two miles distant is Pendle hill , 1808 feet
above the level of the sea . One M.P. Pop . 8000 .”

Extract from “Rambles by the Ribble – Volume 3” by William Dobson

Published in 1881

Pages 155-158

“Leaving Dule upo ‘ Dun , I came upon a spot which , even now , old
Clitheroe men and women can scarcely pass without a shudder .
In the same lane where Dule upo ‘ Dun stood , an event occurred
above a hundred years ago , which is yet talked about by the inhabi
tants of Clitheroe . On the night of the 25th of March , in the
year 1773 , one George Battersby , of Slaidburn , a cattle jobber ,
accustomed to attend the markets at Clitheroe and the neighbour
hood , was seen for the last time alive . On that night shrieks were
heard in this lane . Three years afterwards , a dead body , con
siderably decomposed , was found in the bone house of the church ,
having been apparently recently taken there , and presenting the ap
pearance of having been burned in a lime pit . Suspicion was di
rected against four men , and ultimately three were apprehended ,
and tried at Lancaster Assizes , in April , 1778 ; upwards of five years
after the commission of the alleged crime . They were ,
however , acquitted , the judge ruling in favour of the prisoners ,
because , the body being considerably decomposed , there was no
proof that it was Battersby’s . There was , however , very strong
circumstantial evidence to prove that the body was Battersby’s ,
and that the prisoners had murdered him , and such was ever the
belief of the Clitheroe people . The barbarity of the crime , the
respectable position of the accused ( one was a publican , one was a
butcher , and one a barber ) , the want of motive for such a crime
( for all that was alleged was a grievance felt by the butchers at

Battersby interfering with their business ) , the mystery which
shrouded the affair , the long time that elapsed between the com
mission of the crime and the trial , and the acquittal of the ac
cused , all made the affair the great topic of conversation in the
place for years afterwards ; and even at the present time , ” old
Battersby’s murder ” is considered , among a large portion of the
Clitheroe people , the great event in the annals of the borough .
It would need little more than a brief allusion to this crime to
exite the garrulity of a Clitheroe person . Indeed , conversation .
about anything else of interest connected with Clitheroe would ,
with many an old person , most assuredly drift to the tale of old
Battersby . Dr. St. Clare , afterwards of Preston , was then a
surgeon at Clitheroe , and he gave evidence at the trial , having
made an examination of the remains . At Clitheroe , the doctor
acquired the reputation of a skilful medical man , which led to his
removal to Preston , as a wider sphere of labour , where he lived
for many years . He died in the year 1822. A monument to his
memory , the proceeds of a public subscription , is in the chancel
of the Preston parish church .

Upon one occasion when I was at Clitheroe I met an old inhabi
tant who knew much of Clitheroe’s history and traditions , whose
memory extended to the days when Battersby’s murder was a
recent occurrence , who knew the men charged with the offence ,
and who could tell of remorseful sufferings which they were
believed to have undergone . He could also tell of the feud at the
election of 1780 , between the Listers and the Curzons , and of the
stirs at many an election in times past . He gossipped about the
bull baits which were formerly held at Chatburn , the discontinuance
of which he appeared sadly to lament , and which he attributed to
effeminacy , reminding one of the person in the same neighbourhood
who , during a season of commercial distress , remarked , not very
logically , it must be admitted , that there never had been any good
times since bull baiting was ” put down . ” He could tell , too , of
the larking of his younger days , and how , in Clitheroe and the
neighbourhood a day , or rather a night , was set apart for larks .
” Mischief night ” it was usually called , and on that night , the eve
of May – day ( April 30th ) , the young men of the district were ac
customed to remove gates from their posts , to take carts from farm
yards and upset them into ditches , or by the road side ; to open
stable doors and let horses at large , and , in short , as the name ex

pressed it , to do as much ” mischief ” as they could . Although not
observed to as great an extent as formerly , ” mischief night ” is
yet observed in Clitheroe and the neighbourhood , as well as in the
neighbourhood of Blackburn , Burnley , Colne , and other places in
East Lancashire , and , sometimes , with anything but pleasant re
sults to the parties concerned . Sometimes branches of trees or
shrubs were placed at the doors of parties , and every tree had its
significance , as every flower is supposed to have a symbol in the
” language of flowers . ” A thorn meant scorn ; a quicken or wicken
was ” for my dear chicken ; ” a branch of a holly meant ” great
folly . ” Salt before the door signified that inside dwelt an un
chaste female , and there were numerous other ways of testifying
popular or individual opinion of the merits or demerits of friends
and neighbours . The custom , I believe , had its origin in the
ancient worship of the goddess Flora , and is connected with the
worship of Baal , and the introduction of the Bel – tain , or fires
lighted in honour of Baal . The custom of lighting fires on the hills
is still observed in the highlands of Scotland , though Baal is no
longer thought of , for in later times the fires became useful as means
of warning or alarm . May – day has ever been a festival held
in high honour ; its eve is strangely celebrated .

On one occasion , several tall men passed , which occasioned a
remark that there were some ” big fellows ” about Clitheroe . ” Aye , “
we were told , ” but not like there used to be , ” for my informant
considered that there were giants in the olden time at Clitheroe . I
once heard of a caravan coming to Clitheroe fair , bearing a ” giant “
for exhibition . The fairs at Clitheroe , as at other places , have sadly
degenerated , although many people who visit them , were they , like
honest Nicholas Assheton , to keep a diary , and daily record their
sayings and doings , might enter therein , that , after being at Clithe
roe fair , ” we were late to our beds . ” But to the giant . As soon
as the exhibition opened , a tall fellow , some six feet six or seven
inches in height , went round the town , picked up two or three as
tall , or nearly as tall , men as himself , went to the caravan , paid
their penny each for admission , and waited to see the giant . None
was forthcoming ; however , the curtain was drawn a little aside ;
” stock was taken ” of the new comers ; it was seen that the least

of the party was taller than the ” giant ; ” a message was sent out
that the giant was ill , and could not exhibit ; the money was
returned to the would – be sight seers ; the caravan was put into
travelling order , and in a few hours was on its way , giant and all ,
to a district where the inhabitants partook more of the stature of
Lilliput than Brobdignag . Two of the tall visitors to the show on
that occasion long afterwards lived in Preston .”