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Whalley, Lancashire

Civil parishes in LancashireGeography of Ribble ValleyUse British English from April 2015Villages in Lancashire
2012 07 24 Whalley St. Mary's 13
2012 07 24 Whalley St. Mary's 13

Whalley is a large village and civil parish in the Ribble Valley on the banks of the River Calder in Lancashire, England. It is overlooked by Whalley Nab, a large wooded hill over the river from the village. The population of the civil parish was 2,645 at the census of 2001, and increased to 3,629 at the census of 2011.The main road through Whalley is King Street, which leads through to Clitheroe Road. Neighbouring Whalley are the small villages of Wiswell, Billington, Barrow, and Read. Close by is Downham village and Pendle Hill which was made famous in William Harrison Ainsworth's book The Lancashire Witches.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Whalley, Lancashire (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Whalley, Lancashire
Brookes Lane, Ribble Valley

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Wikipedia: Whalley, LancashireContinue reading on Wikipedia

Geographical coordinates (GPS)

Latitude Longitude
N 53.824 ° E -2.404 °
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Address

Brookes Lane

Brookes Lane
BB7 9RG Ribble Valley
England, United Kingdom
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2012 07 24 Whalley St. Mary's 13
2012 07 24 Whalley St. Mary's 13
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Nearby Places

River Hodder
River Hodder

The River Hodder is in Lancashire, England. It is a County Biological Heritage Site. It rises on White Hill and flows for approximately 23 miles to the River Ribble, of which it is the largest tributary. The Hodder drains much of the Forest of Bowland Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and all but the last mile of its course is through this scenic area. The upper reaches of the river feed the large Stocks Reservoir, which provides water supply to the Fylde coast. After exiting the reservoir, the Hodder continues in a general southward direction. It collects many tributaries from the valleys of Bowland and, lower down, parts of the Ribble Valley. Most notable among the feeders of the Hodder are Croasdale Brook, Easington Brook, the River Dunsop, Langden Brook and the River Loud. Much of the land in the Hodder Valley further to the north is owned by the Crown as Duke of Lancaster, whilst further down, farming land on the Stonyhurst Estate is owned by Stonyhurst College and the Jesuits. The river runs close to the College and passes adjacent to the former preparatory school, Hodder Place. The river lends its name to the pre-preparatory department at Stonyhurst, "Hodder House" and also years three to five known collectively as "Hodder Playroom". The River Hodder eventually joins the River Ribble near Great Mitton, close to the River Calder. The relief of the river starts over 400 m above sea level and within a distance of 15 km it drops to 99 m above sea level. The Lower Hodder marks the historical county boundary between Lancashire and the West Riding of Yorkshire. It formed an important early feature in the development of the ancient Lordship of Bowland.

Portfield Hillfort
Portfield Hillfort

Portfield also known as Planes Wood Camp is a late Bronze Age or Iron Age hillfort situated close to the town of Whalley in Lancashire, Northern England. It is thought to have originally been constructed as a univallate structure and then modified into a small multivallate one sometime after. It is located on a slight promontory overlooking the valley of the River Calder, with the ground falling particularly rapidly to the west. A flat, possibly artificially levelled area measuring approximately 165 by 110 metres (541 by 361 ft), appears to have originally enclosed by a single rampart, with a least one entrance on the northern side. The irregularly-shaped site, with an area a little over 1.4 hectares (3.5 acres), is 120 metres (400 ft) above sea level. The surrounding land slopes fairly steeply on the southeast, and little less so on the northwest sides, while to the northeast the drop is only slight. No evidence remains of a bank on the western side and it could be that the slope here, which is most extreme on the upper 15 metres (50 ft), may have been considered defence enough.Generally the defences have not survived well, but at the northwest corner where they are best preserved, there is a section of triple bank and ditch up to 1.5 metres (4 ft 11 in) high, thought to represent later modifications.Today the site is protected as a Scheduled Ancient Monument, but it was not until 1981. Starting in the 1950s, the Haweswater Aqueduct was constructed through the site. As part of the work, limited archaeological excavation undertaken in 1957, discovered a section of cobbled pavement at the entrance and pottery dated to the second century AD. In 1966, workmen laying an additional pipeline across the hillfort, discovered a hoard of nine Bronze Age artefacts including a gold bracelet and lock ring. Additional small digs in the 1960s and 70s recovered finds dating from the Neolithic period through to Middle Ages.Planes Wood is an area of woodland on the steep slope to the west. Since at least the 16th century, the name Portfield has been attached to a farm at the northeast edge of the site. The English word 'port' may have been borrowed from the Latin portus, a possible meaning of which is haven or refuge.Historic England consider Portfield to be a rare example in north west England of a univallate hillfort subsequently modified to become multivallate.