Bacup, Lancashire
From Free net encyclopedia
Bacup is an English town in the Rossendale borough of Lancashire, on the River Irwell. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 12,763. The town is located between Burnley, Todmorden, Rochdale and Rawtenstall, near the border with Yorkshire. It is an old mill town, previously specialising in footware. It was once described by English Heritage as the best preserved cotton mill town in England. It is home to the shortest street in the world, Elgin Street which is 17 feet long. Another claim to fame for the town is that the 1980s TV police drama, Juliet Bravo was filmed there. It is also the highest town in East Lancashire.
History
Bacup village is said to be around 800 years old as it is mentioned in a charter by Robert de Lacey in 1200. There is a small village included named "Fulebachope" which translates into Modern English roughly as the "brook in the shoot in valley". Another, more attractive (which probably also means 'unreliable') explanation for the name is that farmers from the nearby Deerplay Farm (which is now the name of a pub) would order the deer 'backup' the hill from Bacup. Bacup is said to be the oldest of the Rossendale towns by at least 200 years.
Bacup barely existed throughout the Middle Ages and Rennaisance age, and only began to grow during the Industrial Revolution when it, along with the rest of the East Lancashire area, grew in size as several cotton mills were built in the area.
Bacup began to decline during the 20th century as an industrial settlement. In the 1970s, it was allocated to the Rossendale borough along with Rawtenstall, Accrington, Haslingden and Waterfoot.