Luxury Holiday Cottages and self catering cottages, Lancashire



Chipping is situated in the Ribble Valley on the edge of The Trough of Bowland within the area of the Forest of Bowland an area of outstanding natural beauty. Close to the Inn at Whitewell, the Gibbon Bridge Hotel and The Three Fishes. A well kept secret to many, This picturesque Lancashire village has won a number of best kept village competitions over the years. The village is known to be at least 1,000 years old and is named in the Domesday book as 'Chippenden' the name coming from the medieval 'Chepyn' meaning market place. Chipping really thrived during the Industrial Revolution when there were seven country mills located along Chipping Brook one of course being Wolfen Mill. Today only one survives the famous chairmaking factory of H.J.Berry where furniture has been designed and made since the 1890’s.

This is a conservation area with stone-built cottages, 17th century school and almshouses endowed by John Brabin, dyer and cloth merchant. The village also has a 13th century church, which was partly re-built in 1505 and in 1706 and again in the nineteenth century. The font has been in use for over 400 years. Chipping has a cheese maker, a chair factory, and a craft centre. Several attractive Inns are to be found in the village centre with tales attached such as the story of Lizzy Dean...

Lizzy Dean was a serving wench at the Sun Inn. She was engaged to be married to a local man. On the morning of her wedding, on hearing the church bells, she looked out of the window of her room in the Sun Inn and saw her bride-groom leaving the church with another bride on his arm. She hanged herself in the attic of the pub. Her last request was that her grave be dug in the path to the church so that her ex-boyfriend had to walk over it every Sunday. She died in 1835 aged 20 and is said to still haunt the Sun Inn.

The post office is one of the oldest buildings in the area, it is recorded as being the oldest continuelly used shop in England. The shop and adjoining house were completed in 1668 by one John Brabin, a London cloth merchant and dyer. Following his death in 1683, he left instructions to create a trust providing relief to the poor and education for the young. Outcomes of this can be seen on Windy Street today with the “old school house” and the “alms houses”, both completed a year after his death. His house next to the shop still bears the original date stone, and is said to be haunted by the ghost of John Brabin. Since Mr Brabin first set up in business in 1668, the shop has had a number of incarnations including; a bakers, a grocers, an undertakers, a filling station and a butchers the lettering of which is still just visible above the front door.

Chipping is a beautiful stone built village with medieval origins. By the early 12th century it was in the hands of the de Lacy family and from that time it was included in the lands of the lordship or 'honour' of Clitheroe.

The church of St. Bartholomew appears to date entirely from Victorian restoration but inside there are stone carved features that date to the 14th century. This quiet village has an lively industrial past, among the trades listed in the 17th century are those of gold beater, glove maker, hat maker and linen-weaver, while in 1825 this list included cotton spinners, roller and spindle maker at Wolfen Mill and later in the 19th century, lime burning, iron working and chair making were the principal activities. Of these the only industry to survive is chair making, which takes place at Berry's workshop in the village.

Chipping is a quiet village with a friendly atmoshphere and a great place to base a holiday.

 

---