County Library and Information Service
Community History
Guide to the Local Collections
Clitheroe Collection
1. District
Ribble Valley District.
Church St
Clitheroe
Lancashire
BB7 2DG
Tel: 01200 428788
Fax:--
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Saturday
9:00 - 17:00
9:00 - 19:00
9:00 - 13:00
9:00 - 19:00
9:00 - 17:00
9:00 - 16:00
4. Scope and arrangement of collection
Clitheroe's collection has been in existence for 100 years and is constantly being expanded. It covers the whole of the Ribble valley with particular emphasis on Clitheroe and includes a considerable amount of material on places formerly in Yorkshire. It includes a large collection of books, which may be borrowed in cases where more than one copy is in stock. There is a large collection of photographs of the Ribble valley, a comprehensive collection of current and retrospective maps and a significant amount of printed material from other sources.
5. Catalogues and bibliographies
The collection is classified by the Lancashire Library Local Studies Classification Scheme. The majority of the collection is included on the Lancashire County Library and Information Service's online Talis catalogue.
All volumes of the Lancashire Bibliography published to date are held.
Some hard copies of BARRETT'S Directory of Blackburn and district are held but most of the information held is in the form of photocopied extracts from a selective range of directories covering the period 1828 - 1950.
Clitheroe Constituency. 1972 -
Borough of Clitheroe. 1835, 1851, 1852.
Townships of Chatburn. 1852.
Clitheroe Parliamentary division: 1947 to date
None. The main collection of rate books for the county is held at the Lancashire Record Office.
9. Census enumerators' returns
1801 and 1831 Clitheroe only (photocopies)
1841 - 1901 microfilms of the majority of the former Ribble Valley District. Some extra Yorkshire villages, especially of 1841.
Surname index to part of Ribble Valley for the 1851 census; surname and Christian name index to the 1871 census for all of Ribble Valley. Street-name indexes for Clitheroe for 1841 - 1891.
Mormon Index to 1881 Census for Lancashire and Yorkshire.
Printed volumes of the LANCASHIRE PARISH RECORD SOCIETY and YORKSHIRE PARISH REGISTER SOCIETY are held for the following parishes:
Blackburn 1600 - 1660
Bolton-by-Bowland 1558 - 1724, 1725 - 1812
Chipping 1559 - 1694
Clitheroe 1570 - 1680
Downham 1605 - 1837
Gisburne 1558 - 1812
Langho 1725 - 1837
Ribchester 1598 - 1695
Slaidburn 1600 – 1770, 1771 – 1837/52
Waddington 1599 - 1812
Whalley 1538 - 1601.
Printed registers, transcribed and indexed:
Houghton Chapel, Tosside, Gisburn Forest
Baptisms and burials 1811 – 1851
Mount Zion Chapel, Sandy Syke, Tosside
Baptisms 1811 – 1900, Burials 1814 – 1996
Rodhill Inghamite Chapel
Baptisms 1755 – 1834, Burials 1755 – 1890
Holden Chapel, Bolton-by-Bowland
Baptisms 1771 – 1897, Burials 1802 – 1908
Mitton, All Hallows
Baptisms and Burials 1720 – 1812
Photocopied registers, not indexed:
PENDLE HILL, Particular Baptist Church
Baptisms 1798 – 1902, Burials 1803 – 1812
SABDEN Baptist Chapel
Baptisms and Burials 1787 – 1867
WADDINGTON, St. Helen
Baptisms 1813-July 1844; Burials 1813 – 2nd October 1859
Parish Registers available on microfiche:
(C = Christenings, M = Marriages, B = Burials, Ba = Banns))
BALDERSTONE, St. Leonard
C 1751 – 1891 M 1838 – 1900 B 1751 – 1900
CHATBURN, Christ Church
C 1838 – 1900 M 1839 – 1900 B 1838 – 1867
CLITHEROE, St. James
C 1838 – 1900 M 1839 – 1900 B 1838 – 1867
CLITHEROE, St. Mary Magdalene
C 1570 – 1881 M 1570 – 1882 B 1570 – 1900
CLITHEROE, St. Paul, Low Moor
C 1866 – 1900 M 1871 – 1900
DOWNHAM, St. Leonard
C 1653 – 1887 M 1653 – 1838 B 1653 – 1812
GRINDLETON, St. Ambrose
B 1813 – 9/1/1924
LONGRIDGE, St. Lawrence with St. Paul
C 1760 – 1900 M 1838 – 1900 B 1794 – 1900
MELLOR, St. Mary
C 1829 – 1900 M 1839 – 1900 B 1830 – 1900
READ, St. John the Evangelist
C 1896 – 1900 Ba 1896 – 1900 B 1886 – 1900
RIBCHESTER, St. Wilfrid
C 1598 – 1921 M 1598 – 1900 B 1598 – 1900
Registers transcribed and indexed 1694 – 1837
SABDEN, St. Nicholas
C 1841 – 1900 M 1849 – 1900 B 1841 – 1900
SALESBURY, St. Peter
C 1538 – 1860 M 1538 – 1900 B 1538 – 1891
Banns 1801 – 1887
WHALLEY, St. Mary & All Saints
C 1538 – 1900 M 1538 – 1900 B 1538 – 1891
Banns 1801 - 1887
Bishops’ Transcripts on microfilm:
CHIPPING, St. Bartholomew
1678 – 1870, 1871 – 1881 (with gaps)
WHITEWELL
1756 – 1854 (with gaps)
CLITHEROE, St. Mary Magdalene
1572 - 1841
Other genealogical sources:
INTERNATIONAL GENEALOGICAL INDEX (I.G.I.) for Lancashire and Yorkshire on microfiche.
INDEX TO CRAVEN WILLS PROVED AT YORK, 1688 – August 1853, on microfiche.
The main collection of parish records for the county is held at the Lancashire Record Office.
Clitheroe Advertiser and Times 1888 - . Indexed on cards. Microfilmed.
Clitheroe Borough Record 1926 - 1964. Not indexed. Microfilmed.
(Longridge News 1969 - 1991. Not indexed. Microfilmed – relocated to Harris Reference Library, Preston)
Lancashire Lantern includes an index to stories from local newspapers covering several areas of the county.
CHETHAM SOCIETY. Miscellaneous volumes but series very incomplete.
HISTORIC SOCIETY OF LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE. Transactions. Miscellaneous volumes, but series very incomplete.
LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE ANTIQUARIAN SOCIETY. Transactions, 1891 - 1925. (Series incomplete).
Lancashire archaeological bulletin. Vol. 1- , 1975 -
Northern history. Vol. 1- , 1966 -
Palatine notebook. Vols. 1-4, 1881 - 4.
Where rivers meet, (WHALLEY AND DISTRICT HISTORICAL AND ARCHAEOLOGICAL SOCIETY) 1988 -
There is a large selection of maps relating to the area. 6" and 25" scales: current and retrospective sheets are kept for much of the area. There is also a collection of earlier maps and plans, mainly for Clitheroe.
14. Council minutes and minutes of official bodies
BOROUGH OF CLITHEROE. Minutes, 1925 - 74 (incomplete).
CLITHEROE TOWN COUNCIL. Minutes, 1984 -
LANCASHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL. Proceedings. 1 year plus current.
RIBBLE VALLEY BOROUGH COUNCIL. Minutes, 1974 -
There is a comprehensive collection of black and white photographs of the Ribble Valley District.
The Library is currently developing an online database of photographs from the county's various library collections; this is available as part of Lancashire Lantern.
16. Sound and video recordings
Jimmy Clitheroe: cassette tape of radio interview
Clitheroe woven in time: VHS, 2002
None. The main repository of archives for the county is held at the Lancashire Record Office.
None.
None.
Three microfilm readers (one of which is a reader-printer) and two microfiche readers. A booking system is in operation.
21. Books useful as introductory reading
AINSWORTH, C: Clitheroe from burgage plots to boundary stones, 2003
BEST, David. Short history of Clitheroe in Lancashire. Carnegie, 1988.
CLARKE, Stephen. Clitheroe in its railway days. Advertiser & Times, 1900.
HOLDEN, Sue. Clitheroe Ablaze with Glory. Landy Publishing, 1999
JONES, R.O., A New Look at Old Clitheroe. Carnegie Publishing, 1997.
LANGSHAW, A. Child's history of Clitheroe. Clitheroe Advertiser and Times, 1938.
LANGSHAW, A. Clitheroe 1,000 years. Borough Printing Co., Clitheroe. 1953.
LANGSHAW, A. Collected works of Arthur Langshaw, comprising
(a) How cotton came to Clitheroe.
(b) Some vanished homesteads of Clitheroe.
(c) Old inns & almshouses of Clitheroe.
(d) Clitheroe castle.
(e) Clitheroe Royal Grammar School.
Published in one volume by Kaydee Bookshop, Clitheroe, 1947.
McKAY, James. Pendle Hill in history and literature. Henry Davis, 1888.
PEEL, A. A History of the Parish of Slaidburn. Beeley Bros., Lancaster, 1922.
ROTHWELL, Mike. Industrial heritage: a guide to the industrial archaeology of the Ribble Valley. Bridgestone Press, 1990.
WEEKS, W.E.S. Clitheroe in the 17th Century. Advertiser & Times, 1925.
WHITAKER, T.D. History and antiquities of the deanery of Craven. 3rd. ed. E.J. Moreton and the Craven Herald, 1973.
22. Other Family History Sources
All our libraries provide free access to the Ancestry website which gives access to Census Records for England, Wales and Scotland 1841-1901) and indexes to Births, Deaths and Marriages for England and Wales (1837-2005).