SLAIDBURN - Lancashire County Council

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Lancashire Historic Town SurveySlaidburnThere is only one archaeological survey known to have been undertaken in Slaidburn, atrial excavation to the rear of the church in 1984, in an area known as Balaam’s Grove.The excavations were of Bronze Age remains from a possible burial cairn(www.slaidburn.org.uk). A pilot survey of the buildings of Slaidburn was carried out by theWomen’s Institute in 1998 and 1999, using references from an earlier Ribble ValleyBorough Survey of 1983. The pilot survey comprises four volumes of photographs andnotes regarding the structural details of houses and other buildings, and can be consultedat the village visitor centre (Mason nd). A further volume deals exclusively with the lateseventeenthcentury house, Knott Gate (PRN 18144).© Lancashire County Council 2006 10
Lancashire Historic Town SurveySlaidburn4. HISTORICAL AND TOPOGRAPHICALDEVELOPMENT4.1 PrehistoricAn oval earthwork, measuring c 26m by 15m, to the rear of the church in an area known asBalaam’s Grove, is thought to have been a burial mound, and there has been a localtradition of human bones and other artefacts being dug up over the years (Higham 1978,109). A trial excavation on the site in 1984 uncovered cremated bones, flint implementsand Bronze Age pottery, amongst cobbles, which were interpreted as the remains of acairn (www.slaidburn.org.uk).There is no other known prehistoric activity within the defined urban area for Slaidburn. Tothe south, however, is Dunnow Hill, which is thought to possibly be the site of an Iron Agefort (Porter 1994, 20).4.2 Romano-BritishThe Roman road from Ribchester to Lancaster passes through Bowland only a few mileswest of Slaidburn (Greenwood and Bolton 1956, 25-7), but there is no evidence of anyRomano-British activity within the defined urban area for Slaidburn.4.3 Post-Roman and early medievalSlaidburn was one of a number of manors grouped around a chief manor, or caput, atGrindleton. It is thought that these manors may have formed an ancient multiple estate(Higham 1978 14-26), and that Slaidburn may have been a subsidiary, upland centre forthat estate (Higham 1978, 127). The most likely location for any pre-conquest settlementwould have been close to the church, where the land is slightly raised above the valley ofthe River Hodder (Higham 1985, 3-4; Porter 1994, 39).The only physical evidence for pre-conquest settlement are two pieces of early medievalstone sculpture. The first is known as the Angel Stone, and was found in a wall to the eastof the rectory, and was eventually presented to Whalley Abbey (Mills nd, 1; Bradley 1997,2). It has been classified as Norse-style figure drawing from the late tenth to eleventhcenturies (Collingwood 1927, 152). The second is the Foulscales Stone, which was foundin a wall near the place of that name and is said to have borne Christian emblems similar tosome at Whithorn, Dumfrieshire (Peel 1922, 9-10). The presence of a stone ‘Celtic head’also suggests early settlement origins (Higham 1978, 110).4.4 MedievalPlace nameThe name Slaidburn originally applied to the stream, now known as the Croasdale Brook,which bounds the settlement to the north. It is derived from the Old English slaeget orsleget meaning ‘a sheep pasture’ and burna meaning ‘a stream,’ and translates as ‘thestream by the sheep pasture’ (Smith 1961, 204). Slaidburn lies within the Forest ofBowland, the meaning of which has been the subject of speculation. Past interpretationshave associated it with the Old English boga and land, meaning land of the bow. Moreprobably, however, it is derived from either the Old Norse bol or baeli, or from the Celticbooa, all of which mean cow or cattle. The area was known for cattle farming in themedieval period, and this appears to be the most likely interpretation (LUAU 1997, 12).© Lancashire County Council 2006 11
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SLAIDBURN - Lancashire County Council

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