- Aspden
Aspden is the historic name of a valley a mile west of Church and a mile north of
Oswaldtwistle , betweenAccrington andBlackburn , inLancashire ,England . The modern name of this location is Aspen.By 1990, there were three houses there: Aspen Cottage, a large ruinous farm, and a large house, apparently Elizabethan, which has in its grounds a small plain house, said to be older. The valley is bounded on three sides by a loop of the
Leeds and Liverpool Canal , and on the fourth by a high railway embankment (Aspen Viaduct). On the other side of the canal, overlooking the valley, is the [http://www.accrington-golf-club.co.uk/history.htm Accrington and District Golf Club] .The road into the valley is now called Lower Aspen Lane upon which is located Lower Aspen Farm. The OS grid reference is gbmapping|SD735284. The postcode is BB5 4NY. A map of the location may be found [http://www.multimap.com/map/browse.cgi?client=public&search_result=&db=pc&cidr_client=none&lang=&pc=BB54NY&advanced=&client=public&addr2=&quicksearch=BB5+4NY&addr3=&addr1= here] .
Aspen Colliery (disused by 1930) is now a scheduled ancient monument: details of this (including another map of the valley) may be seen [http://www.lancashire.gov.uk/environment/archaeologyandheritage/archsites/arch4.asp here] .
The national and international significance of Aspden is that it is the source of the
surname Aspden which is common in east Lancashire and has now spread elsewhere inEngland and theEnglish speaking world . Adam de Aspden is seen witnessing charters through a period beginning in 1262. By the 1380s the Aspden estate (inherited by Elizabeth, daughter of Roger de Aspden and wife of John Grimshaw) amounted to some convert|400|acre|km2, of which 40 was land, 40 was meadow, 20 was wood and 200 was pasture.References
* Articles by Arthur Howarth in the quarterly magazine of the "Lancashire Family History and Heraldry Society"
** August 1990 "A Lancashire Family: Aspden of Aspden, Burnley and Cliviger" (pp 25-31)
** November 1989 "Aspden/Astin of Habergham Eaves and Worsthorne" (pp 34-36)
* "A Dictionary of Surnames" P Hanks and F Hodges (1988) s.v. Aspden.
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