Thornton in Craven Village History
 Thornton
in Craven's "Millennium Corner" occupies an important
position close to ancient highways and the manorial site. Bronze
Age artefacts and a Celtic stone head show it was occupied in
pre-historic times. The Roman road to Burwain Castle, Elslack's
ancient fort, passes close behind this corner. In 1824 the Colne
to Broughton Turnpike Trust road came through, replacing the steeper
remote Colne to Skipton Turnpike above Thornton moor. Thornton's
Toll Bar (see a photo), demolished in 1938, stood on the low side
of the present road.
 There
were three manors on virtually the same site. The first, built
in the 12th century, was burned down in 1645 during a Civil War
siege; the second only lasted one hundred and fifty years, and
the third, built by the Sutcliffe's in 1870, is now Thornton Hill.
The 1085 Domesday survey called the village 'Torentun', a thorn
tree farmstead. Nearby Eurebi (Earby) and Chelbrok (Kelbrook combined
into the ancient parish until the 19th century. In 1299 Walter
de Muncey obtained a Royal Charter 'of free warren' to hunt, and
to hold a market on Thursdays, and a fair for five days commencing
the eve of St Thomas.
 The
church built in the 13th century, was re-built in the 15th by
Thomas Lord Ros, James Carr added the tower in 1510. In 1764 Henry
Richardson covered the churchyard's ancient well and during the
mid 1800s Canon Lawrence Stuart Morris was Rector for fifty-one
years. Thornton moor was enclosed in 1825 as Rectory and Glebe
allotments by an Act of Parliament, then sold off in lieu of tithes.
With thanks to Bev Parker of The
Earby Local History Society
THE CHURCH WELL AT ST MARY'S THORNTON-IN-CRAVEN
Fontem hunc salutiferum et per antiquum Tecto munivit
Anno >Erae Christianas MDCCLXIV Quod
Publicae Sanitati bene vortat
H. RICHARDSON RECTOR
"This Health Giving and Ancient Well, H. RICHARDSON
Covered in the Year of the Christian Era 1764
May it Prove to be a Blessing to Mankind"
Scientifically a well or spring occurs due to a combination of climate and geology. The curative properties claimed could be due to the mineral content of the water or perhaps the purity of the water itself precluded some of the common ailments caused by impure drinking water.
However, the issuing forth of natural springs has been held in awe since earliest times. The Celts we are told worshipped springs as did the Romans. The early Christian missionaries were instructed to "Christianise" them by dedicating the wells and springs to saints.
Yorkshire boasts of nearly 100 natural holy wells and about 90 of these have connections with abbeys and churches Many more have been lost due to modern day draining operations.
Whitaker in his "History and Antiquities of the Deanery of Craven" states that, at the time of his writing, the Thornton church well had no dedication but one can speculate that it probably had one in former times. We have not found any traditions about the well; was the water claimed to have beneficial properties, was the well associated with any rites or ceremonies? All we have at present is the Latin inscription around the well itself.
For over a thousand years Thornton's existence has depended on its location straggling along a section of the Roman road which linked Ribchester and York via Ilkley. Originally this road linked the two Roman Legions advancing northwards on either side of the Pennines in their conquest of the Brigantes.
It can be imagined that with the road passing so close to the well that the Romans used the waters.
Mid Eighteenth Century
Evidence is sparse, but the Reverend Henry Richardson's responses to Archbishop Herring of York's Visitation questionnaire of 1743 provides some indicators as does a register of listed buildings held at Craven District Council and comparative data gleaned from the neighbouring parishes of Broughton with Elslack and Gillkirk, Barnoldswick. Mid 18th century Thornton was a much larger parish than today. Kelbrook, Harden and Earby formed part of the parish which Richardson recorded as having '..... 148 families. Of these 16 are dissenters, viz. 8 Quakers and 8 Anabaptists' If we speculate that the outlying hamlets of Kelbrook, Harden and Earby were made up of about 60 families then the remaining 88 in Thornton itself would probably equate to around 390 persons. Currently only 11 properties are listed as of 18th century origin. Although fewer than one might expect, the peace and prosperity from 1715-1793 encouraged land owners and other proprietors to remodel or rebuild their dwellings and subsequent 19th century rebuilding has further complicated the picture.
The parish registers, although incomplete at Thornton, indicate from neighbouring parishes - Gillkirk and Broughton - that births exceeded burials and thus a steady rise in population was maintained through out the 18th century. There is no evidence of epidemics causing concern and a need for covering the well on these grounds.
The main road link through Thornton was now the Skipton - Colne road. It was an artery that linked Thornton and its more prosperous inhabitants with the growing areas of new prosperity and industrialisation along the Aire Valley and the Colne and East Lancashire area. Richardson's account book (1748-1753) indicates a diversity of local commodities and services entering a wealthy clerical household.
Henry Richardson (1710-1778)
On the surface he appears as an enigmatic figure, reputed learned, well versed in Latin, literature and composition. He was the fourth son of a gifted botanist and landowner, Dr Richard Richardson (1663-1741) of North Bierley Hall near Bradford. As a member of the Royal Society, Dr Richardson was in correspondence with the leading literary and scientific figures of his day; men like Wray, Hans Sloane, Thoresby, Boyle, Newton and Petrie and on the continent where he studied with the likes of Drs Hartman, Boerhaave of Leyden, Von Swieten and Gronovious.
Henry's own literary background was sharpened in the Latin classics at Bradford School and at University College Oxford where he studied 'Classics', securing the 'Browne Scholarship' (1730-1736) and gaining a BA in 1733 and his MA in 1736. He spent time at St. John's College.
Cambridge before being presented to the Thornton living in 1735 by his brother-in-law, Sir John Lister Kaye. In 1747 he married Mary Dawson (1717-1800), the heiress of Benjamin Dawson, a 'Merchant' of Oldham and rebuilt Thornton Rectory in 1 754. His account book (1748-1753) reveals a man of considerable wealth, culture and of a meticulous nature in recording the minutiae of a mid 18th century clerical household. Unlike many clerics, Richardson farmed the church's glebe lands -perhaps some 200 acres - recording new crops like rapeseed and turnips, whilst maintaining a very productive rectory house garden. His stables contained horses whose price often exceeded ten guineas.
Henry died in March 1778, when his second son, also Henry, was in his first year at University College Oxford. The Richardsons had been granted three presentations to the Thornton rectorship by Sir John Lister Kaye and they had to use one of their three 'gifts' for a cousin, William Roundell, to watch over the living (1778-1783) until the younger Henry was ordained. The younger Henry gained his BA degree in 1 781 and was presented to the living in 1782/3 but died of consumption in 1784.
Perhaps the measure of Henry Richardson, the well restorer, is to be found in the enigmatic Latin quotation he chose to perpetuate his building legacy.
Published and Printed by Earby and District Local History Society November 2005 Drawing by Michael Bowley, Text by Derek Clabburn and Society members
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