Tourist guide to Worsthorne

1:00pm Tuesday 24th July 2007

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WITH rumours abounding of an ancient witch lying imprisoned beneath the foundations of a pub, an alcoholic bar incorporated into part of the local church and a history which may have seen it witness one of the bloodiest battles of the Middle Ages, there is plenty to discover about Worsthorne and its surrounding area.

Worsthorne is an attractive amalgam of 16th century and 17th century cottages plus blocks of millworkers dwellings dated to the early years of the Industrial Revolution.

Modern building has not destroyed the tranquillity of the area

Some modern building has not destroyed the tranquillity of the settlement which is overlooked by the moorlands of Hameldon Hill. Close to Swinden reservoir about a mile to the north east of the village are a number of earthworks and the remnants of stone circles showing that the area has been settled since the late stone, bronze and iron ages.

Narrow roads and field paths link Worsthorne with the unspoiled hamlet of Hurstwood which is one of Lancashire's most remote gems of history and natural history.

Hurstwood is set in the valley of the River Brun from which Burnley takes its name. Hurstwood Hall and Spencer Cottage are both Elizabethan and are unspoiled.

Local belief is that Edmund Spenser courted a local lass called Rose Dyneley who was a relative of the Towneleys. Rose would, however, have "nowt" to do with a poet. Spenser went off to London to dedicate his Faerie Queen not to Rose but to Queen Elizabeth and thus made his fortune. If Spenser's works are read in a Lancashire accent the local "twang" is easily detected.

At the end of the hamlet an extensive car park has been built and informative posters show the circular route around Hurstwood reservoir which was only built in 1925. The circuit of around two miles is a naturalists' delight and on the circuit is said to be the scene of the battle of Brunenburk. Freeman, the historian writing in the 19th century, wrote that the "fight of AD 937 was the hardest victory that the Angles and Saxons ever won".

The Danes were a tough lot and our present language and dialect contains Scandinavian as well as Anglo-Saxon and later Norman words.

Worsthorne itself has a small but attractive green and a spacious square overlooked by the church of St John and the Crooked Billet pub.

It was a tradition in medieval England to have a religious settlement and a pub close together so that those travelling from a distance to worship could find somewhere to rest.

The present church only dates to the early 19th century but the influence of the Thursby family has meant that the building looks much older.

The entrance is guarded by some of the most impressive wrought iron work to be seen anywhere in Britain.

As for the rumours of the trapped witch, on the road to Haggate is the Roggerham Gate Inn close to which is the Noggarth Cross and it marks an ancient trade route.

Some say it is the weight of the building that holds down an evil witch.