Hapton

HAPTON, a township, in the parochial chapelry of Padiham, parish of Whalley, union of Burnley, Higher division of the hundred of Blackburn, N. division of Lancashire, 3½ miles (W. S. W.) from Burnley; containing 541 inhabitants. The manor was held by John Talbot, constable of Lincoln Castle, who sold it in the reign of Edward III. to Gilbert De la Legh. One of the De la Leghs, having married the heiress of Townley, descendants male of the deans of Whalley, assumed the name of Townley. In the 12th of Henry VII., Sir John Townley had a licence for making a park at Hapton; and again, in the 6th of Henry VIII., for emparking the plains of Hapton: this second inclosure comprised all the open fields and wastes in the township. Hapton was sequestrated after the battle of Marston-Moor; and its tower and castle, once places of note, and the residence of the ancient lords, fell into decay soon after the Restoration. The township comprises 3878 acres, of which 983 are common land or waste: the river Calder flows on the north, and the Leeds and Liverpool canal passes through. Immediately above the south bank of the Calder, built on a beautiful knoll commanding an extensive prospect, is the family mansion of the Haberghams; and Shuttleworth Hall, the seat of the Shuttleworths before their removal to Gawthorp, is also in the township: both have become farmhouses.