Oldest Part Of Accrington!
 

I believe that this is Huncoat as Huncoat is actually mentioned in the Doomsday Book dated 1066 - perhaps they ought ta re-open the stocks up there for local thieves and robbers!?

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It would be hard to say for certain, without clear documentary evidence, but Church appears to have a much older claim. How does the 7th century grab you?

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I heard Huncoat is actually mentioned in this ancient book.The Doomsday book was an inventory initiated by William the Conquerer and is basically a list of all the assets of this country at this time! I think?OK Huncoat isn't Accrington but it's the darndest thing to it! But I havnt read this book and don't know how one goes about it but I think, they told us at school that Huncoat was mentioned in there!? If Church was anything major in the 7th then that would be mentioned in the book as it is a list of everything worth something partly for tax purposes etc.

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I've got a copy of the Domesday book, it may take some finding as we are having a major sort out of stuff but once I find it I'll have a look.

I remember my Granny telling me that Huncoat was mentioned in it too because her family came from there. They were Liveseys and Cleggs. (Ormerod Clegg)

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I remember my history teacher at Moorhead, Mr Tony Robinson, telling us that Oswaldtwistle derived it's name from, "The fork of land, between two rivers, belonging to King Oswald". The two rivers were assumed to be White Ash Brook and Tinker Brook. King Oswald was the King of Northumbria. He was born in AD 605, and died AD 642.
This pre-dates the Domesday book by over 400 years.

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I suppose if any part of the borough can claim the coconut (for want of a better word) on this then I suppose it has to be the area above Snipe Rake, which played host to our neolithic forebears.

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You should let Hyndburnlife into this gem of knowledge Sparky.
___________________________

................IF you can log on....:rofl38: :rofl38:

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So that land between the 2 rivers ( rather brooks ) is sacred ground or was,I suppose there was some kind of camp there? Maybe a fishing pier or some'at!

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I'm sorry kestrel but i must take exception on your comments about huncoat. Having been brought up in accy my career took me to all parts of Manchester. After my retirement 14years ago I bought a house near Huncoat village. I have never had anything stolen from me or from my property in that 14 years. Oh, except the two occasions whilst shopping in accrington that my car was broken into, oh and the other time when it was damaged with a key or something, Oh and when my old mother in law had her bag snatched, whilst shopping in ACCRINGTON. Their are some very nice people living in Huncoat, I think you are confusing a rather large local estate as being Huncoat when in point of fact it is just as close to Accrington.

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Where written history is absent then we have to rely on what evidence remains to date the places where we live.

Altham. Hapton, Accrington all contain elements of Saxon naming conventions. The "AL" element indicates a place of worship, the "HAM element indicates a home or village. Thus AL - T - HAM can be seen as a village with a temple or church. The "TON" element indicates a farm or village. These date places from the seventh century onwards (600 AD +). In the ninth century (800 AD +) Lancashire was invaded by "Norse" men (Vikings and Danes) and many Saxon settlements were taken over by the invaders as they settled in the area. The "Kirk" element in Church Kirk dates from this period.

Many Viking place names contain personal name elements too. Thus Accrington can be seen as a village belonging to a person named, perhaps, "Accaring" which he nicked off the original Saxon inhabitants.

Where does this place Huncoat? In much the same confused place it seems. The "HUN" element is a Viking personal name, while the "COT" element is Saxon and means a small hut. So Hun had a small hut there at some time in the ninth century.

All these places were in existence by 850 AD because they were included in the Parish of Whalley.

Does this help?

Re: Oldest Part Of Accrington!
 

I was told at school the name Accrington was "Acc" something to do with acorns."ing""ton"both mean town or settlement.Oswaldtwistle was "twistle"meaning patch of land "Oswld"obviously a name probably original owner.

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I was also told that "Acc" related to acorns or oak trees and that "Acc ring" meant a ring of oak trees or the implication that the "ton" or town was surrounded by oak trees. Acc ring ton = Oak encircled town.

I was also told that Oswaldtwistle was the land belonging to Oswald and that it literally meant "Oswald's boundary"

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Accrington is NOT named after a ring of acorn trees. THAT is STUPID.

Accra was a Saxon Lord his christian name was Inga and the village was a Tun.
Examining documents in the public record office in London shows Accrington with a variety of spellings, but by 1530 it was Accrington in most documents. I have at least 200 pages of material on the town from early times till 1666.
Retlaw.

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Accra? Inga? First I've heard of that. If Inga was his Christian name wouldn't that have made the town "Ingaccraton" ?

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Here's another variation on the ring of oaks version.

http://www.lancslinks.org.uk/linksco...nity/hyndburn/

Accrington Accrington is the main town of the Borough of Hyndburn named after the river which flows through a culvert beneath the Victorian shopping arcade. The name derives from the Old English words 'æcern' & 'tun' meaning where acorns are found. The first recorded use of the name was prior to 1194 when it was recorded as 'Akarinton' by 1277 it had become 'Acrinton' and by 1311 had become 'Ackryngton' much as it is pronounced today. The town is located some 5 miles east of Blackburn and is synonymous with brickmaking.

No mention of any Saxon Lord called Inga there. In fact in the 'g' doesn't seem to have come into the name until 1311. The old English æcern and tun seems more than plausible to me.

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Given that the whole of the Ribble Valley and Calder Valley were covered in northern deciduous woodland it might be expected that oak trees were not exactly in such short supply that places where they grew would need to be recorded by a specific place name. The use of the latin dipthong "AE" is not known in the Celtic, Saxon or later Anglo-Saxon English language prior to the Norman Conquest. In any case it is properly pronounced "eye" as in Kaiser, which together with Tsar are local corruptions of the Roman clan name Caesar which later develops into the generic term for the Emperors of Rome. It is also important to bear in mind that when dealing with a language which was seldom written, the sound of a word is more important than how it is spelt or mis-spelt.

The Saxon element TUN or TON describes a place of human settlement, not a general area of woodland. Following this logic is it reasonable to assume that the first parts of the word Accrington describe the owner or settler. This is even more pertinent when you consider the location, which is amply supplied with fresh running water.

If you are still not convinced look carefully at the the way the word develops from your first example to your last and imagine a similar process working in the opposite direction, 1194 back to 700 rather than 1194 to 1311.

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I have this from a Stoke on Trent based website...

"Tun is dated from around 750-950. In its original sense (i.e. where huts were built together within a stockade for protection), it soon became the commonest of all place name elements, often containing the name of the Anglo-Saxon chief or the name of the tribe who built it.

For example ....ington denotes the homestead of the people of ... So that Winnington near Mucklestone means "the homestead of Winna's people."

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That website doesn't say the dipthong is celtic. It says it's old English which could mean any number of things. How old is old?

The "ington" in its entirety meaning "homestead of" makes more sense than "Inga" being the Christian name of some Saxon Lord.

I could imagine a process of name change from 1194 back 700 years but I could be totally wrong. I'd love to be able to find some written evidence of what the town was known as prior to 1194, if there was actually anything here with that name. I know it wouldn't be anything like a town

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Old English is the language of Chaucer, so Norman-ish to Tudor approx?

Aker-ington = Homestead of the people of Aker? (or Akka.) Either way the first part is someones name and the second part describes the place.

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Willow what made you pick a date of 1194. There are records of a settlement in Acca Ingas Tun well before that date.

Retlaw.

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While we are on the subject of Accrington and its name, how many of you know why there was an Old and New Accrington till 1878.

Retlaw.

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I know there was old and new Accrington because I've seen it on old maps.

I didn't pick the date of 1194 myself. It was the earliest date mentioned on that website I found. I presume they must have taken it from some written record or map dating from that year.

I would love to see maps or records from earlier dates.

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Some interesting stuff here - someone told me that "Acca" was latin for Oak but checking my latin online dictionary it doesn't...

http://cawley.archives.nd.edu/cgi-bi...em=acca&ending=


Acca Larentia [a Roman goddess]; Larentalia or Accalia -ium , n. pl., [her festival at Rome in December].

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Oakleigh? Oak Street? Oakhill Park? Need I elaborate?

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Are there many Goddesses in Acca Town ? - I think the nearest the Roman's got to that area was Ribchester? It's interesting how these names develop from Acca?Acker to Accrington, the irony is that England comes from the word Angles and the Angles came from over the sea from what ironically is now Germany. So Angleland - becomes England?

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=WillowTheWhisp] hy willow the whisp intrested in the liveseys n clegs i was born in hapton n my ancesters are liveseys n clegs from huncote

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sorry ive taken so long 2 reply i used to live in castle st untill i was 5 then ruskin grove did the cleggs have a shop in hapton on manchester rd a fruit shop will ask my parents more and get back promise

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hy spoke to my parents we are related your grandmother was my grandads sister my grandad was james alan livesey your mother will be alice ethel or grace your grandmother used to babysit me your greatgrandad is james livesey lived in horsehill farm on the top road near huncote small world

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sent u a quick message yesterday not sure u got it so hear we go again your grandma was my grandads sister your mother must be Ethel Alice or grace i guess it is Alice going of what my mum told me your grandma used to babysit me according to my mum i was only young so i do not remember mind u i dont remember last week thees days my grandad was James Alan livesey he died before i was born your great grandad was James livesey who lived at horse hill farm on the top rode near huncote so u must be a distant cousin hope to hear from you soon gaz

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You're correct, Monsieur Nursery Crime, it is Church.

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Eh.

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As the conversation seems to have been oer 7 years ago, I'm wondering who the Nursery Criminal is?:D

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That's the only problem with raking up threads which are years old Cashy, lost too many grey sells to remember:D

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You need to take care of those grey seals Mr J :D

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Didn't realize you were Canadian;)

Re: Oldest Part Of Accrington!
 

Originally Posted by Retlaw
Eh.
Aye and its his 2nd post in 4 years, he's certainly gabby, talk the back leg off a donkey, in about 10years

Re: Oldest Part Of Accrington!
 

No, no, they're still firmly attached. :)

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:eek:What grey seals would they be:eek::D

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"There's some slippery goings on down by the old canal" as Wandering Walter used to say ;)

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Had to post this cartoon of Morecambe Bay ;)

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Ha ha that might be better on another thread at the moment - if it really is Morecambe Bay...


http://www.accringtonweb.com/forum/f...ml#post1044927

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mmm...... Susie, I was in a quandary where to shove it !! ;)

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Don't tempt me... sorry I'm being predictable!

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You predictable Susie!!!never:D

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From my various readings I believe that Accrington is considered to have been a deserted mediaeval village. So the oldest part of the town would be where that village was sited and that is probably buried now. Accrington then got going again as a creation of the industrial revolution. I would give my vote to either the area around the parish church, near the library (which I hope still exists) or the area near where the old VAT office was (now the misnamed 'Jobcentre').

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