Colne in 1839
Colne is in the higher division of the hundred of Blackburn, 32 miles north of Manchester, and 218 from London. It is in the parish of Whalley, and near the border of Yorkshire. The chapelry of Colne contains 8,050 acres, and had in 1831, a population of 8,080. The town is situated on a dry and elevated ridge near the river Calder. The chapel is an ancient building repaired or rebuilt about the time of Henry VII : on three sides of the choir are portions of an old and elegantly carved wooden screen. An ancient manor-house of the Lacies in this town was lately used as a workhouse. The chief manufacture of the place is that of cotton : the market is on Wednesday. The Leeds and Liverpool canal passes near the town. The neighbourhood yields slate, coal, lime, and freestone. The living is a perpetual curacy, in the archdeaconry and diocese of Chester, of the clear yearly value of £179, with a glebe-house. There are several dissenting places of worship. The chapelry contained, in 1833, two partially endowed schools, with 82 children ; and ten other day-schools, with 302 children ; and eight Sunday-schools, with 1,540 children. |