Origins and Place Names - Accrington - History - The White Goddess

Origins and Place Names - Accrington

Origins and Place Names - Accrington

Is probably well known for three things:-

1. Its Football team Accrington Stanley, one of the founding teams of the English Football League.
2. Its bricks, Nori's from the Accrington Iron Brickworks Factory. Called nori's because of the word iron on the chimney. The letter I is at the bottom and the letter N at the top.
3. The Accrington Pals, part of the Lancashire Regiment of the First World War.

Its other claims to fame include:-

1. Haworth Art Galleries collection of Tiffany Glassware, the largest collection in Europe.
2. James Hargreaves, inventor of the spinning jenny, was baptised and married in Accrington.
3. Accrington is mentioned in the Doomsday Book.

Over the centuries the spelling of the towns name has changed on several occasions.

Akeringastun

Here Aker is probably a tribal name, ingas is a saxon word meaning Clan of, and Tun means town or village, so we have The Village of the clan of Aker.

Akerington
From the 12th century according to the Rev Charles Williams means Oak Field Enclosure.

Other spellings include
Akaringtun (pre-1194)
Acrington (1277)
Akeringtone (1296)
Ackryngton (1311)
Ackrington (1654).

The Accrington Pals

The Accrington Pals were a Battalion composed entirely of local men in the first world war. Their blackest day was the 1st July 1916 at the Battle of the Somme when 235 Pals died and 350 were wounded. A memorial to them stands on the Somme Battlefield and there is one in Oak Hill Park.

Other towns and villages in the district.

Church Kirk

Is probably of Anglo Saxon origin. The word Church (sometimes spelt Chyrche) is of Mercian origin, and Kirk is Northumbrian (Old Norse Kirkja or Scandinavianised Old English Circe). The Gothic perpendicular tower of St James Church (Founded 642 AD, tower dates from 1284) is probably the oldest structure in the district. It is probably sited on a much older church now gone, indeed in 1335 the roof of the church was repaired because of rain pouring in through the roof. It has been rebuilt several times in 1545 and again in 1763. During the 18th Century between 1804 and 1879 the church was rebuilt and enlarged several times. A vestry was added in 1806, the tower was restored in 1844, in 1876 a peel of eight bells was added and in 1879 a Chancel was added. The church also features two beautiful art nouveau windows, designed by the renowned Edward Burns Jones.

Huncoat

Hun is an Anglo Saxon personal name, and Cote, meaning cottage or dwelling is Norse. References to Huncoat are mentioned in the Domesday Book, commissioned by King William (the Conqueror) in 1086. The oldest part of the village is at Town Gate, together with the village stocks.

Related Links:

The Domesday Book
Old Maps