Baxenden

infobox UK place
country = England
latitude= 53.734183
longitude= -2.341116
population= 4,300
official_name= Baxenden
map_type= Lancashire
shire_district= Hyndburn
shire_county = Lancashire
region= North West England
constituency_westminster= Hyndburn
post_town= ACCRINGTON
postcode_district = BB5
postcode_area= BB
dial_code= 01254
os_grid_reference= SD7749926500

Baxenden is a village and ward located in the Borough of Hyndburn in Lancashire, North-West England. It is part of the constituency of Hyndburn and is represented in Parliament by the Labour MP Greg Pope. Baxenden ward is the most affluent ward with the lowest proportion of unemployed in Hyndburn. It is represented in the borough council by the Conservative candidates Kathleen Pratt and John Griffiths. Baxenden ward has a population of approximately 4300 and the village proper slightly less.

Baxenden lies south of Accrington on the A680 otherwise known as Manchester Road, built by Blind Jack Metcalf o’ Knaresborough in 1791/92, the old road became what is now known as ‘Back Lane’. The Bay Horse pub used to be a former coaching house and one of the four main ones in the borough. In 1848 the coach fare was 1 shilling for the four mile journey from Haslingden, through Baxenden, to Accrington.

Early court manor records spell the name “Backstonden”. The earliest known record dates from 1305 in the de Lacy records. The name is thought to derive from anglo-saxon bæc stan denu; ‘baking stone valley’. Possibly they were mined here or it was the site of a communal oven. The surnames Baxendale and Baxenden originate from this village. Whilst people have inhabited the site for centuries most of the village as seen dates from the Victorian-Edwardian periods or is more recent.

The village has one primary school; St John’s Primary, one high school; The Hollins Technology College and two churches; St John’s Church, site of the war memorial, and Baxenden Methodist. The modern vicarage (1877) stands on the site of the old Baxenden House and the Baxenden vaccary of Henry de Lacy, Baron of Pontefract. Baxenden has the usual amenities of a village of its size such as a post office, dentist, newsagents, butchers, bakers, pharmacy, hairdressers, numerous pubs - Dog & Partridge, Alma, Bay Horse, Victoria, etc.

Baxenden ward is site of Haworth Park home to the Haworth Art Gallery. Built in 1909 as Hollins Hill for the prominent local Haworth family; after Miss Anne Haworth died in 1920 she bequeathed it to the town and, in honour, the town named the Gallery for her family. The Gallery is home of probably the world’s most significant collection of Tiffany Glass chiefly consisting of over one hundred and forty pieces of his Favrile, or ‘hand-made’, Glass. The gallery also has a collection of oil paintings and watercolours.

Baxenden was once served by railway however its station was closed in 1951 before the lines themselves were removed in 1970-71 as recommended in the Beeching proposals. The line was once notorious as one of the most difficult in the country due to its ‘alpine’ nature. A climb from the junction at Stubbins near Ramsbottom for 5 miles at an average of 1 in 78 to a summit in Baxenden at 771 feet above sea level followed by a 2 and a quarter mile drop down Baxenden Bank, at times as steep as 1 in 38/40, locally known as ‘Accrington Broo’. Nowadays ‘the lines’ as they are known is a well used footpath which has been recently incorporated into a network of paths that lead throughout the borough. Baxenden is probably best known as the origin of Holland's Pies. As a part of a former mill town there are a number of ruins of Mills in the area – the best known being the Alliance and the Victoria Mills. Baxenden is also the home of the chemicals works Baxenden Chemicals.

Baxenden is sometimes known to the locals as ‘bash’.

External links

* [http://www.hyndburnbc.gov.uk Hyndburn Borough Council]
* [http://www.aboutbritain.com/HaworthArtGallery.htm AboutBritain.com - Haworth Art Gallery]
* [http://www.24hourmuseum.org.uk/museum_gfx_en/NW000057.html 24HourMuseum.org.uk - Haworth Art Gallery]
* [http://www.baxendenprimary.co.uk/ Baxenden Primary]
* [http://www.thehollins.com/ The Hollins Technology College]
* [http://www.stjohnsbaxenden.org.uk/ St John's Church]
* [http://www.bewron.co.uk/ Baxenden Online]
* [http://www.baxendengolf.co.uk/ Baxenden Golf Glub]
* [http://www.hollandspies.co.uk/ Holland's Pies]
* [http://www.ribblesdalecricketleague.co.uk/Baxenden.htm Baxenden Cricket Club]
* [http://www.neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/LeadDomainList.do?areaId=5945102 Neighbourhood.Statistics.gov.uk]
* [http://www.microloft.co.uk/bax_lads/bax_lads.htm Baxenden War Memorial]

References

cite book
last = Suggitt
first = Gordon
title = Lost Railways Of Lancashire
publisher = Countryside Books
date = 2003
pages = pp. 80-89
accessdate= 2007-07-24
isbn = 1-85306-801-2

cite book
last = Ashton
first = Brian
title = Accrington As It Was
publisher = Hendon Publishing Co. Ltd.
date = 1975
accessdate= 2007-07-24