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Whilst there are no Conservation Areas in Roughlee Booth, there are Nine Listed Buildings in the parish, as well as many other features of historical interest:
Roughlee’s biggest mill was built in 1787 by Robert Judson for cotton spinning. It was located in the centre of the village and known as Judson’s Mill. In the early twentieth century its lodge became a boating lake and pleasure gardens and was a popular day out for people from the local towns. The mill was demolished in 1961 and the former mill lodge is now a trout fishing lake. Refreshments were available at a small lakeside cafe as well as at the tea rooms at Happy Valley. On the site now is a thriving Village Centre.
The village of Roughlee has roots going back to before the time of the Norman Conquest. It has had various, earlier names including Rughelegh, Rughegh and Rughley.
Roughlee has a particular association with the infamous Lancashire Witch Trials of 1612, through one of its better known residents, Alice Nutter. There is a mistaken belief that she lived in Roughlee Hall, but there is now a greater certainty that she lived in a farm near to Crowtrees. In 1612 she was taken to Lancaster Castle for sentencing and subsequent hanging. During the renovations to the centre of the Village in 2006, a new fingerpost sign was erected pointing the way to the castle. To coincide with the 400th anniversary of the trials, a statue was erected in 2012.
The village is also associated with the early days of Methodism. In 1747, John Wesley preached here in one of the Waterfall Cottages and again at the bridge opposite the Bay Horse Inn. The Methodist Chapel, demolished in 1976, was situated behind these cottages. There are some gravestones remaining and whilst these are in private gardens they can be observed from the footpath. Opposite the cottages is a waterfall which was built up in height to provide power for the mill.
Roughlee was formed into a Civil Parish in 1866 and the 1868 National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland, described Rough-Lee-Booth as a township in the parish of Whalley, higher division of Blackburn hundred, county Lancaster, 3½ miles west of Colne railway station, and 6 miles northwest of Burnley.
The early pioneers of Socialism built the Clarion House to be a non-profit making co-operative with any excess money to be used in spreading the word of socialism. The Clarion (meaning – to proclaim loudly) was to be the instrument by which their message would be spread, uniting the world under one banner of socialism, peace and harmony. The first site was at Thorneyholme Square and the second at Nabs Farm before the third, and last, Clarion House was built in 1912, funded by a loan of £350 from the Nelson Weavers Association under the direction of the trustees of the Nelson Independent Labour Party Land Society. It was built in a place recognised for its natural beauty and scenic qualities. The history of the Clarion House is encapsulated in a book written by Roger Brown and the late Stan Iveson, titled: “Clarion House – A Monument to a Movement”.
The Clarion is a vision of the future, a vision of a socialist society, a commonwealth, based on co-operation and fellowship, not conflict and material greed.
There is a magnificent view to the North. Celebrated Pendle Hill is to the immediate North West, Blacko Tower and Weets Hill to the North East and a few miles to the East, Boulswourth Hill towers over the Pennine Way. The Clarion is situated in its own grounds within the “Hidden Valley” and is surrounded by a myriad of public footpaths. There is a 40K walk, The Clarion House Way, that links the Nelson Clarion House and the two former Clarion Houses at Burnley and Colne.
A memorial stone commemorating the 100th anniversary of the start of the First World War has been sited close to the statue of Alice Nutter.
A plaque dedicated to Maurice Waine (1929-2009) has been positioned in the bus shelter, and has the quote “once met, never forgotten”.
Listed Buildings in Roughlee
There are nine Listed Buildings in the parish, as follows:
Roughlee Old Hall, off Blacko Bar Road. NGR: SD8446440429. 6/209. Listed 01/04/1953. Grade II.
House with cottage extension to left. Late C16. Stone. Stone slate roof. H-shaped plan with hall and cross wings. Gabled wing to left is altered with sash windows and plain door. Stone inscription attached to gable, partly illegible but said to read, ‘This house was built by M.N. in the year of Our Lord, 1536’. Hall has two central plain doors inserted into a 9-light window, with one 3-light window either side and drip labels over. 1st floor has one 6-light window, one 4-light window, originally 6, and one 2-light window. Right-hand gable wing has modern door and one 8-light window on each floor, 2 central lights of upper window are blocked and both have drip labels over. All original windows have round headed lights and stone mullions. Projecting chimney on right.
The Hall is now on at the head of a private road named Old Hall Close. The Hall was the home of Miles Nutter at the time of the Pendle Witches. The Hall is now divided into private dwellings. Access: public footpath in front.
Yew Tree Cottage, Judson Fold. NGR: SD8426640281. 6/213. Listed 29/01/1988.
Grade II. Cottage at end of terrace. Late C17 or early C18. Rubble, (rendered 1980). Stone slate roof. 2 storeys. One C17 window opening with chamfered reveals, (probably of four lights originally). One square centre mullion. Hood mould. Plain doorway to left. Stepped chimney breast on north east gable. Gable chimney. Access: off Blacko Bar Road.
Fern Cottage, Lynwood, Waterfall Cottage, Willow Cottage, Glen View, and Rose Cottage, Blacko Bar Road. NGR: SD8403040070. 6/208. Listed 29/01/1988.
Grade II. Row of 6 cottages. Later C18. Dressed stone, stone slate roof. Each cottage is of two storeys, with one 3-light sash window with stepped head, no jambs. 1st floor: two 2-light windows rising to eaves. All mullions are flat. Plain doorway to left, all with altered doors. Most windows are sashed without glazing bars. One chimney on the right-hand gable of each cottage. Access: Adjacent to Blacko Bar Road.
Dam Head Farmhouse and barn abutting to west, Blacko Bar Road. NGR: SD83872400026/207 and 10/207. Listed 29/01/1988.
Grade II. Farmhouse and barn in one range. C17. Rubble, stone slate roof. Two storeys. One 6-light chamfered stone mullion window to left on ground floor, every other mullion removed. 1st floor: One C17 window to left with mullions removed. One Cl8 3-light stone mullion window to right. Doorway with deep, chamfered lintel. Lean-to extension to right has one 4-light chamfered stone mullion window. Barn to left is higher. Small, square ventilation openings. One irregular window.
Modern, lean-to extension over doorway. Access: behind school, public footpath close by to the northwest.
Thorneyholme Hall, Barley New Road. NGR: SD8355639998. 6/206 and 10/206. Listed 29/01/1988.
Grade II. House. Late C18. Now two dwellings. Dressed stone. Part stone, part blue slate roof. Stone coping, kneelers and moulded gutter corbels. Three storeys. Symmetrical. Entrance front is of three bays with large flat faced mullion windows, of two lights to either side but single over the door. Doorway has moulded imposts and round arch with keystone; fanlight and part-glazed door. Rear is to road. Three sash windows to outer bays, all of two lights decreasing in height towards eaves. Tall fixed round headed stair window. Small two-storey wing to right of this, with similar details. Access: Adjacent to Barley New Road.
Nabs House, off Jinny Lane. NGR: SD8310139216. 10/211. Listed 29/01/1988.
Grade II. House. Date stone in niche over door reads ‘William and/Elizabeth Nabs/1756/and their daughters’. Coursed rubble. (Stone painted 1980.) Stone slate roof, stone coping and moulded kneelers. Double pile plan, direct entry, rear centre stair hall. 2 storeys. Two 3-light stone mullion and transom windows. Mullions and window surrounds are square, the mullions recessed. Central doorway has cornice and frieze on pilasters behind modern porch. Gable chimneys. Rear elevation has 6-light stair window. Access: public footpath close to front.
Spen Barn Farmhouse, off Jinny Lane. NGR: SD8302439131. 10/212. Listed 29/01/1988.
Grade II. House, of later C18. Coursed rubble. Slate roof. Kneelers. Two storeys. Symmetrical. Two 4-light stone mullion windows to each floor. Plain surround, chamfered mullions. All mullions are replacements although they are said to match the originals. Modern gabled porch. Original mullion inserted as drip mould. Extension to right of little interest. One 8-light mullion and transome staircase window at rear, altered. Three C18 2-light stone mullion windows. One 3-light window, reused, C17 stone mullion remains to right on ground floor. Gable chimneys. Access: public footpath in front.
Dimpenley Top Farmhouse, off Jinny Lane. NGR: SD8284239009. 10/210. Listed 29/01/1988.
Grade II. Farmhouse. Probably early C18. Rubble. Cement rendered. Stone slate roof. Two storeys. One 3-light C17 window opening remains to right. Mullions removed. One 2-light window to left and 2 4-light stone mullion windows in 1st floor, with flat faced mullions. Wide gabled kitchen a later addition. Cottage adjoining to left is recent addition located on site of former barn. Gable chimneys, one now between house and cottage. Access: public footpath in front and by RHS.
Hollin Top Farmhouse, Stang Top Road. NGR: SD8419841061. 6/214. Listed 29/01/1988.
Grade II. House. C17. Rubble with stone slate roof. 2-cell gable entry plan. 2 storeys. Ground floor: One 2-light and 2 4-light stone mullion windows with chamfered mullions and surrounds. Plain doorway between the two larger windows. Later window inserted on right. One 2-light and two 3-light windows similar above. Porch on left-hand gable. Modern, flat-roofed extension to right not included. Gable chimneys. RCHM reports king post, queen strut roof. Access: public footpath(s) in front.