Bygone Burnley: Gisburn, with historian Roger Frost MBE

Burnley Express

Bygone Burnley: Gisburn, with historian Roger Frost MBE 11-06-25

Transcript

00:00Today we're in Gisborne, which is a very pretty village,

00:06spoilt somewhat by the main road, but it's still worth visiting.

00:10And behind me you can see something you normally wouldn't see

00:14unless you stopped the car and got it and had a walkabout.

00:18These are the gates to Gisborne Park,

00:21which is a private estate of about 170 acres.

00:26And it was originally called Old Hall.

00:33And in 1614 the Lister family, who produced Lord Ribblesdale,

00:42purchased the estate.

00:44Previously it had been in other ownership,

00:49but they purchased it and in the next century they started building the house.

00:54The house itself is a grade one, built in the 1730s and 40s,

01:01was used until very recently as a private hospital.

01:06Now we're in Gisborne Park now, just sneaked in,

01:11and I'm standing in front of the entrance to the Gisborne Railway Tunnel.

01:18When the railway line was built, it was a late one,

01:24built in the late 1870s,

01:26and I think this tunnel dates from 1880,

01:30and the Old Hall of the Dessert Park in those days,

01:33which was still the Lister-Ribblesdale family,

01:37didn't want to see the railway lines cross their land.

01:42So at this point, a false tunnel was built over the top of the railway line,

01:49and either side, woodland was planted,

01:53so that the line and the locomotives couldn't be seen.

01:58But it's an interesting thing to have an example of that kind in this area.

02:04We hear about them all over the country.

02:07In Burnley, in the Burnley district, we've got another,

02:10but it's a canal company that built a tunnel at Fallridge,

02:14which isn't really a tunnel, it's a covered and cutting.

02:18And I suppose that is what this is,

02:20a covered railway cutting,

02:23and it's nice to have one around here.

02:26Still in Gisborne Park,

02:28we just thought you might like to have a look at the rolling acres of the park.

02:35In the past, it was famous, was the park,

02:39because of the wild white cattle.

02:43They were very small animals.

02:47A lot of our later agricultural cattle

02:51came from the stock of white cattle,

02:56the wild white cattle.

02:59And they had a big herd of them here

03:01in the days when the Listers owned the park.

03:05And that was supplemented by a large herd of deer as well.

03:10So, in this area,

03:12which is not particularly well known for white wild cattle these days,

03:19nor is it all that well known for deer,

03:22but it should be.

03:23It's not only that there were deer here,

03:27there were lots of deer parks in this part of the country.

03:30And there are more deer place names

03:33in the Burnley area, for example,

03:35than you could shake a hat at.

03:37Some of the interesting buildings in the village

03:39are the pub,

03:42which is the white bull,

03:44which you can see,

03:45an 18-centry building.

03:46And although we can't see it in this image,

03:49we can probably show you later on,

03:51is Ribblesdale Arms,

03:53which was a 17th-century building.

03:56The Ribblesdale Arms

03:57gets its name from Lord Ribblesdale,

04:01who, through four or five generations,

04:04controlled this area,

04:06owned most of it.

04:07And the white bull is so cold

04:09because it's named after the white cattle

04:12of Gisborne Park

04:13that we've already mentioned.

04:16We're in the churchyard now,

04:18and in the background,

04:20you can see the parish church.

04:23So we'll have a little word about the church

04:25and a bit about the history of Gisborne itself.

04:28Now, the church is first mentioned

04:31in the 1130s.

04:34Not directly, indirectly.

04:36You've got to make the assumption

04:38that the church was there,

04:39but the document does indicate

04:41that there was a church there.

04:43However, there is very little left

04:45of the 12th century.

04:48Perhaps the archway,

04:51directly behind me,

04:52the outer door,

04:53is a feature of that period.

04:59The inner door is later,

05:0113th century,

05:02early 14th century.

05:04So we get an idea of the age of the church,

05:08but it was rebuilt in the 14th century,

05:12largely, not entirely.

05:14And again, there was a rebuilding

05:15in the 16th century.

05:17So it's left a little

05:19stumpy church.

05:22I don't want to use that word, really.

05:24But it is typical

05:26of the northern churches

05:28of the medieval

05:30and early modern period.

05:33They all appear to be

05:34a little bit smaller

05:36than they should be.

05:38Now, we're not going inside,

05:39but it's full of memorials

05:40to families

05:42from this area.

05:47Now, this is a good place

05:50to tell you a little bit

05:51about the history of Gisborne itself.

05:54Now, it's first mentioned

05:55in the Doomsday book.

05:56I don't think there's

05:57an earlier reference

05:58to Gisborne than 1086.

06:02And we get the impression

06:05that it's not only about Gisborne,

06:07but about the area

06:09around the village.

06:11Because although it's a small town,

06:13with only about 500 to 550 people

06:17living in it these days,

06:19in the past,

06:20it was a very large parish

06:22covering a lot of the area

06:25that we're in now,

06:26a lot of the Ribble Valley itself.

06:28But the village was,

06:31even at an early date,

06:33a centre of commerce,

06:36they had cattle markets.

06:40And they continued until about 1911,

06:45when a new cattle market,

06:48an auction,

06:49was built on the road

06:50out to Clitheroe,

06:51from where we are now.

06:54And that is still in use.

06:57It's one of the few cattle markets

07:00that still survive around here.

07:02There used to be lots of them.

07:05But fortunately,

07:06we have some pictures

07:07of early cattle markets,

07:09old photographs,

07:11taken in the middle of the village,

07:12showing you how busy

07:14these markets were

07:17in the later Victorian

07:20and Edwardian period.

07:21Now, we can't say

07:24a vast amount

07:24about the history

07:26of the village.

07:27It rolls because

07:30of its significant place

07:32between Clitheroe and Skipton.

07:36There is one grave

07:39worth visiting.

07:40I suppose all graves

07:41are worth visiting.

07:43But the gentleman

07:45commemorated here

07:46is Francis Duckworth.

07:49Now, he was a composer

07:50of Hintunes,

07:52the most well-known

07:53being Rivington,

07:56which you will be able

07:57to see on this image

08:00that we are photographing.

08:03He was born in 1862.

08:06He died in 1941,

08:09only six years before

08:10I was born,

08:11incidentally.

08:12and the hymn that he is famous for,

08:17he didn't write the hymn,

08:18he wrote the tune.

08:20It's Jesus shall reign

08:22where'er the sun.

08:25So, that is the hymn

08:27that he was famous for.

08:29But he wrote lots of hymn tunes.

08:31In fact, it was a little bit

08:33of a Bernie industry

08:34or a Bernie area industry

08:36in the past.

08:36He himself

08:38was born here

08:39although he had

08:40a business in Colm.

08:42He was a shopkeeper

08:44in Colm.

08:46But worth remembering

08:48because lots of the hymns

08:49that you'll know about,

08:51the tunes were composed

08:52by Francis Duckworth.

08:53You'll all know

08:55of the Lancashire Witch Trials

08:57of 1612.

09:00However, one of them,

09:03Janet Preston,

09:04came from here.

09:05She came from Gisborne.

09:07She'd already been tried

09:08once for witchcraft

09:09and been let off.

09:11She'd escaped.

09:13But in 1612,

09:15she was one of the witches

09:16that appeared

09:17not in Lancaster

09:19but in York

09:21because in those days,

09:23Gisborne was in Yorkshire,

09:25not Lancashire

09:26as it is today.

09:28And she was tried at York

09:30for causing the death

09:31of Thomas Lister.

09:34Now, I've never looked this up

09:36but I have a feeling

09:36that he was a member

09:38of the Lister family

09:39that owned the Gisborne Park estate

09:43and much of the land

09:44around here.

09:47But,

09:48though she protested

09:49with her innocence,

09:51she was found guilty

09:52and hung

09:53at Knavesmire.

09:56Now, those of you

09:57who don't know

09:57where Knavesmire is,

09:58it's the name

09:59of York racecourse

10:01where people

10:03who were executed

10:04had to be taken to

10:06where they were

10:07publicly executed

10:08on the land

10:10years before

10:11it became a racecourse.

10:14We're in Gisborne

10:15at the cattle market

10:16which is directly

10:17in front of me.

10:18It, of course,

10:20replaced the street market

10:21after 1911.

10:23It's still operative.

10:25But we're here, really,

10:27because of the name

10:28Gisborne.

10:29Gisborne used to be spelt

10:31with an E on the end.

10:32And when the railway company

10:34opened the railway line

10:35in 1880,

10:37they decided to chop

10:40the E off

10:41and make the name

10:43shorter

10:44so that they didn't

10:46pay out as much money

10:47on the signs

10:48for the station.

10:49There were quite a lot

10:49of them.

10:50And they didn't have

10:52to go to the expense

10:53of financing them.

10:56However,

10:58those of you

10:59who know

10:59about Gisborne

11:00will also know

11:02that it has

11:03a role

11:04in the Robin Hood story.

11:06Now,

11:07it's really one

11:08based on

11:08Errol Flynn's

11:101950s film

11:11in which

11:13the baddie

11:14is

11:15Guy of Gisborne

11:16rather than

11:17the sheriff

11:17which it is

11:18in lots of other films.

11:21Now,

11:22Guy of Gisborne

11:23was

11:24the sort of

11:25constable

11:26of one of the

11:27castles

11:28in the

11:29Nottingham area.

11:32And

11:33he,

11:34in the film,

11:36was played

11:36by one of my

11:37relatives.

11:39Basil Rathbone

11:39was one of my

11:40mother's cousins

11:41and he played

11:42the role

11:43and became

11:45famous

11:46because of

11:47the

11:47sword fight

11:49between him

11:50and Errol Flynn

11:51in the final

11:52scenes of the film.

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