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 Map of Huncoat (1848)
Image produced from the www.old-maps.co.uk
service with permission of
Landmark Information
Group Ltd. and Ordnance
Survey
 
Huncoat Hall circa 1994 by Arthur Birtwistle
Huncoat Hall seems to have been the
residence, of the Birtwistles. Birtwistles Ice Cream may have belonged
to the Hall.
The family of Richard and Dorothy Hargreaves, of Goodshaw, were Molly,
George, Sally, Richard, and John, all baptised at Goodshaw.
John Hargreaves settled at Haslingden as a yeoman
and he and his wife, Mary, were interred at Deardengate Congregational
Chapel, Haslingden, John, aged 62, in 1845, and Mary, aged 80, in 1852.
The termination of the association of the Birtwistle family with Huncoat
Hall is shown by their having mortgaged the estate and then selling
it:
"Indenture, 15th July, 1746. John Birtwistle,
of Huncote, gentleman, Oliver Birtwistle, his eldest son, and Ann, his
wife, 1st Part. Robert Hayhurst, late of Whalley, now of Eaves within
Wiswell, gentleman, 2nd Part. Miles Aspden, of Brookfoot, in Pendle
Forest, 3rd Part."-
Hayhurst had a mortgage on the property, but John
and Oliver Birtwistle finally sold the Hall to Miles Aspden, "absolutely
for ever." Later the Hall and estate again came into the possession
of two of the sons-in-law of Dorothy Barraclough, as the following sale
announcement shows:
"At Lawrence Rawcliffe's in Huncote, 3rd July,
1783. For sale, Huncote Hall, 87 acres, the property of Richard Hargreaves
and Richard Brewer, bankrupts."
In these transactions the name is spelt Huncote,
which shows that the present spelling of Huncoat was not in use in the
18th century.
After this period some members of the family clung
to the old Hall, for John Holden, yeoman, who married into the Birtwistle
family, resided there until his death.
Huncoat Hall was in the possession of Mr. Foot in
1825, but later acquired by the Towneleys, of Towneley Hall, Burnley,
and in 1839 was in the occupation of Henry Sudall. Later the Hall was
occupied by the Haworth family for many years. The last of the male
line of the Towneleys left two daughters who married Lord O'Hagan and
Lord Abingdon. When the estates were divided Huncoat Hall estate passed
into the possession of Lord Abingdon, who sold it to Mr. James Crook,
the present owner and occupier, a member of the last Huncoat Parish
Council previous to amalgamation with Accrington in April, 1929.
Huncoat Old Hall on Lowergate,
was only demolished in 1969. the family crest, in stone, which used
to be on the front of the building, was 'refound' a few years back (It
was at Haworth Art Gallery) and has now been displayed on a little walled
garden in Huncoat.
"Hillhouse has long been
the home of the Sudall family. First there was John Sudall and now his
son James, who was born in the old homestead. Mr and Mrs Sudall take
a pride in this, the oldest of Huncoat's homes that has preserved its
Tudor features intact. The rooms are spacious, with massive oak beams
and stout walls, one formerly being the loomhouse, where the handlooms
were installed, upon which members of the household worked in the intervals
of farming. In the porch is an interesting relic of other days - a massive
stone cheese-press, with a groove down each side and an iron ring at
the top. In the entrance hall of Oak Hill Museum is an illustration
of a similar one. Several of the mullioned windows are blocked up with
stone: this was done to evade the Window Tax. There are also stone benches
worn smooth through centuries of wear"
From "History
and associations of Huncoat and Altham"
Image produced from the www.old-maps.co.uk
service with permission of
Landmark Information
Group Ltd. and Ordnance
Survey
Slate Pits farm (seen at the
bottom middle of the above map) can be found by taking the road due
south from the Griffin's Head Inn (near Huncoat hall). The road due
north at the middle top of the above map ultimately leads to the Griffin's
Head Inn.
According to the book 'History
and associations of Huncoat and Altham', the Sudall family have resided
at Slate Pits Farm for many years.
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