- Newchurch, Lancashire
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This article is about the village in Rossendale district. For the village in Pendle district, see Newchurch in Pendle.
Coordinates: 53°41′57″N 2°15′13″W / 53.699031°N 2.253485°W
Newchurch, Lancashire — Village —
Newchurch, Lancashire shown within LancashirePopulation 3,000 District Rossendale Shire county Lancashire Region North West Country England Sovereign state United Kingdom Dialling code 01706 Police Lancashire Fire Lancashire Ambulance North West EU Parliament North West England List of places: UK • England • Lancashire Newchurch is a village in the Borough of Rossendale, Lancashire.
It is around one mile away from Rawtenstall and half a mile from Waterfoot.
It is also the home of Rossendale United F.C. home ground Dark Lane.[1]
The village has a mixture of large detached houses and farm houses, and smaller semi-detached housing on Staghills Council Estate where the majority of the villages population lives. There are two large manor houses, Heightside, a nursing home for the mentally ill[2] and Ashlands, a care home for the elderly.
Contents
History
Newchurch is one of the earliest settlements in the Forest of Rossendale. The township of Newchurch stretched from Bacup to Rawtenstall and in 1511 it was recorded as having a population of 1000 people. Before the building of St Nicholas in 1511, the village was called Kirk.
The village is built on a hill, Seat Naze. On this hill there is a stone circle with many rumours circulating about its original use. A mobile phone mast was erected on top of Seat Naze in the 1990's.
The hill also has a network of caves running underneath it, used for quarrying in the early 1900's. They stretch from Newchurch to Crawshawbooth around 4 miles away.
The original building for Bacup and Rawtenstall Grammar School was in Newchurch, on Turnpike. This site was used between 1701 until 1913 until they moved to their current site in Waterfoot. The site was then used as St Peters RC Primary School until they moved to a new site in the 1970's. It remained derelict until 2000, when it was demolished and the land was used to build a house.
The village is said to have been 'spoiled' post-war with the building of new homes and the council estate, Staghills. During the 1960's many of the historic buildings were demolished to make way for newer bungalows, before this it has been said the village was similar to that of historic tourist attraction town of Haworth in West Yorkshire.
Transport
The 483 bus service ran by Rossendale Transport passes through the village on a regular basis giving easy access to Bury and Burnley. The 273 bus provides transport through to Burnley and Bolton.[3]
Services
Newchurch has three churches, St Nicholas Church[4], St. Peter's R.C and a Methodist Church.
Most of the local village shops and the post office have closed in the last couple of decades due to increased transport making it easier to reach local supermarkets in nearby Rawtenstall. A takeaway, general store and hairdressers are the only remaining ones, as well as the two local pubs The Blue Bell and The Boars Head, the latter being open since 1674.
Newchurch has two primary schools; St Nicholas[5] and St Peter's as well as a nursery.
References
- ^ http://www.pitchero.com/clubs/rossendaleunitedfc/%7C Rossendale United FC
- ^ http://www.heightsidehouse.co.uk/index.htm
- ^ "Bus Times: Bus number 273". Transport for Greater Manchester. 2011-09-04. http://www.tfgm.com/upload/routemaps/273_28516.pdf. Retrieved 2011-09-08.
- ^ http://www.stnicholasnewchurch.co.uk
- ^ "Rawtenstall Newchurch St Nicholas C of E Primary School". http://www.newchurchcofe.lancs.sch.uk/index.php. Retrieved 2011-09-08.
External links
Media related to Newchurch, Lancashire at Wikimedia Commons
Towns Villages Hamlets Balladen • Bent Gate • Britannia • Chatterton • Cloughfold • Cowpe • Irwell Vale • Shawforth • Sharneyford • Stacksteads • Strongstry • Stubbins • Turn • WeirCategories:- Rossendale
- Geography of Rossendale
- Villages in Lancashire
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