Tockholes, ENG - Postcode - BB3 0NG

Description of Tockholes

A village and civil parish in the English county of Lancashire, Tockholes is located in the Blackburn with Darwen unitary authority. Population in Tockholes, which includes both the village and the neighboring hamlet of Ryal Fold, was 454 in 2001 and 478 in the most recent count taken in 2011. Situated on the West Pennine Moors, Blackburn, to the north, and Darwen, to the east, as well as the towns of Belmont, to the south, and Withnell, to the west, form its immediate neighbors. Tockholes is located south of the Roddlesworth Reservoirs and the Tockholes woodland plantation, and the M65 runs north to south across the area. To the east of Tockholes is the iconic Darwen Tower. Tockholes United Reformed Church and St. Stephen's Church are two of the local places of worship.

History of Tockholes

Tribal tribes were living in the Tockholes region as early as 2,000 BC, as evidenced by excavations. Anglo-Saxons and Celts may have coexisted in the region. A stone axe head, a bronze spear head, and later coins were all unearthed in the area, suggesting that it had been settled for quite some time. Bronze Age barrows, stone circles, towns, and a wide variety of artifacts may be found all over the surrounding region, suggesting a strong connection with early settlers. There is scant evidence of a Roman presence at Tockholes, despite the fact that the area lies close to a Roman road that once connected Preston and Bolton.

During the 13th and 14th centuries

Tockholes was discovered to be held in thegnage by a local family named Pleasington in the first half of the 13th century for a yearly service of 2s.

Robert de Pleasington and his brother Elias de Pleasington both took half of the manor. A Joice de Tockholes and a Geoffrey de Sutton afterwards owned the property in demesne. Around the year 1250, Joice de Tockholes conveyed his property to His Lord Elias de Pleasington, and during the early years of the reign of Edward I, a man named William de Livesey held the title of mesne tenant on the property, earning him the full complement of feudal privileges and services owed to Geoffrey de Sutton. Robert, son of John de Pleasington, granted Robert de Radcliffe the manor of Tockholes in fee in 1332 and sold some of his land to William de Holand in 1314-15.

During the Civil War, in 1833, a massive pit was discovered in Tockholes, in a field now known as "Pit Field" but formerly known as "Kill Field." Forty dead horses, several dozen cannonballs, several clubs, and several large buttons were discovered in the dungeon.

Severe battle took place around the lower portion of Tockholes, near the church, before moving on to Cartridge-hill and Hollinshead Hall during the Civil War, perhaps in 1643 or 1644 during the transit of Prince Rupert's army through Preston, Bolton, and Blackburn. One cannonball was discovered in a field near the Bethesda Chapel, and another was discovered on Cartridge-hill, a lofty fell about a mile to the south of Hollinshead Hall. In addition to the "Kill Field" Pit, musket bullets have been discovered in a field directly behind the Old Independent Chapel. The items found in Tockholes point to a fierce conflict that involved men, horses, and musketeers, and that saw at least one piece of ordnance put into service by one side or the other. For such a small settlement, a combat in which forty or more horses were slaughtered must have been terrible indeed.

The location of the pit, so near to the historic Church of Tockholes, suggests that the bodies of fallen warriors would have been exhumed and reinterred in sacred ground, with the victorious side taking possession of any valuables.

20th century to the present day

Approximately two miles south of the village center, past Victoria Terrace and the Bethesda Chapel, lie the ruins of Hollinshead Hall, the former Tockholes manor house and what may be an older Manor house. Top o't Low leads to Abbey Village. In the 1930s, someone was living in this Manor house, but it wasn't the original occupants.

The town of Tockholes itself is steeped in a rich heritage. Religious nonconformists flocked there to worship in the midst of the persecution. This edifice is not the original Long Lane Chapel, which was one of the first Congregational Chapels in Lancashire. I heard that one of the local farmers went to Liverpool and bought a slave to work on his farm back when slavery was still legal in England, but the villagers protested so vehemently that the farmer eventually declared the man a free man and paid him his wages nonetheless. Cottages in Silk Hall fold's row originate to the 17th century, when they were constructed to house the growing demand for silk. The original weaving chambers, accessible by a stone staircase, are located on the second floor.