Bolton-by-Bowland is a village and

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

in the

Ribble Valley Ribble Valley is a local government district with borough status in Lancashire, England. Its council is based in Clitheroe, the largest town. The borough also includes the town of Longridge and numerous villages and surrounding rural areas. ...

district of

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

, England. Before 1974, the village was part of Bowland Rural District in the

West Riding of Yorkshire The West Riding of Yorkshire was one of three historic subdivisions of Yorkshire, England. From 1889 to 1974 the riding was an administrative county named County of York, West Riding. The Lord Lieutenant of the West Riding of Yorkshire, lieu ...

. According to the census of 2001, the parish had a population of just 498, rising marginally to 499 at the census of 2011.

History

In medieval times, it was known as Bolton-''in''-Bowland, reflecting the shifting boundaries of the ancient

Forest of Bowland The Forest of Bowland, also known as the Bowland Fells and formerly the Chase of Bowland, is an area of gritstone fells, deep valleys and peat moorland, mostly in north-east Lancashire, England, with a small part in North Yorkshire (however ro ...

on whose south east flank the village sits. The manor of Bolton-by-Bowland, however, was not included within the

Lordship of Bowland The Lordship of Bowland is a manorial lordship associated with the Forest of Bowland in Lancashire, England. The lordship fell into disuse between 1885 and 2008, during which time it was widely believed to have lapsed; it was revived in 2008. ...

, being a part of the

Percy family The Percy family is an old English noble family. They were among the oldest and most powerful noble families in Northern England for much of the Middle Ages. The noble family is known for its long rivalry with the House of Neville, another fam ...

fee from earliest times. It is thought that there has been a church on the site of St Peter and St Paul's Church since around 1190. The village is on Skirden Beck, near its confluence with the

River Ribble The River Ribble runs through North Yorkshire and Lancashire in Northern England. It starts close to the Ribblehead Viaduct in North Yorkshire, and is one of the few that start in the Yorkshire Dales and flow westwards towards the Irish Sea (t ...

. The village has a car park, toilet facilities and a

tourist information centre A visitor center or centre (see American and British English spelling differences), visitor information center or tourist information centre is a physical location that provides information to tourists. Types A visitor center may be a Civic ce ...

, is the starting point for many of the area's walks.

Governance

Bolton-by-Bowland was an ancient parish, part of the Western Division of

Staincliffe Wapentake Staincliffe, also known as Staincliff, was a wapentake of the West Riding of Yorkshire, England. The wapentake was named from a place called Staincliffe, now lost, in Bank Newton, not to be confused with Staincliffe near Dewsbury. Staincliff ...

. It became a

, probably in the middle of the 19th century, becoming part of Bowland Rural District when it was formed in 1894. In 1938 an area toward the northern end of the parish, that had formed a detached part of Tosside, was transferred to Bolton-by-Bowland. In 1974 the civil parish was transferred from the West Riding of Yorkshire to the

district of Lancashire. Bolton-by-Bowland shares a parish council with two other parishes, Sawley and Gisburn Forest. Along with Bowland Forest Low,

Slaidburn Slaidburn () is a village and civil parish within the Ribble Valley district of Lancashire, England. The parish covers just over 5,000 acres of the Forest of Bowland. Historic counties of England, Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, ...

Newton-in-Bowland Newton or Newton-in-Bowland is a village and civil parish in the Ribble Valley district, in the county of Lancashire, England, formerly known as ''Newton-on-Hodder''. The civil parish had a population of 237 in 2001, according to the United King ...

, and Easington, the parish forms the Bowland, Newton and Slaidburn

ward Ward may refer to: Division or unit * Hospital ward, a hospital division, floor, or room set aside for a particular class or group of patients, for example the psychiatric ward * Prison ward, a division of a penal institution such as a pris ...

Borough Council.

References

External links

* http://www.bolton-by-bowland.com
Bolton by Bowland Conservation Area Appraisal

New Ing Meadow SSSI
{{authority control Villages in Lancashire Civil parishes in Lancashire Geography of Ribble Valley History of Yorkshire Forest of Bowland

History

Governance

See also

References

External links