Colne, Lancashire

Description
Colne, a town, a township, and a chapelry in Whalley parish, Lancashire. The town stands on the river Calder, and has a joint station on the M.R. and L. & Y.R., near the Leeds and Liverpool Canal. It is thought by .some to have been the Colunio of the Romans, but it has yielded no other evidence of Roman occupation than some Roman coins. It occupies a rising ground, presents chiefly a modern and manufacturing aspect, and has a head post office, three banks, two churches, a Roman Catholic chapel, many dissenting chapels, a cemetery, a church institute, police and fire brigade stations, and several schools. The town is governed by a local board, under whose control are the gas and water supply, and is connected with Marsden by three bridges over the Calder. The town-hall was erected in 1894, and contains the offices of the local board. The chief of the churches, St Bartholomew's, is an ancient building in the Norman and Later styles, has two chantry chapels, a fine screen, and an old font, and was restored and enlarged in 1857, and again restored in 1889-91. A market is held on Wednesdays and Saturdays, and a market for cattle on the last Wednesday of every month, and fairs on 7 March, 13 May, and 11 October. Manufacture of cotton is carried on, but the chief industry is in check and striped goods, and there are also a few small iron foundries. The township comprises 4635 acres; population, 14,023. Marsden was included in the local board district of Colne in 1894, and the population is now 19,000. The manor belongs to the Duke of Buccleuch. The surface is hilly; the rocks include coal, limestone, and slate; and a double-ditched camp, 360 feet by 330, is at Castor Cliff. The living of St Bartholomew is a rectory in the diocese of Manchester; net yearly value, £400 with residence, in the gift of Hulme's Trustees. Christ Church is an ecclesiastical parish formed in 1837 ; the church is in the Gothic style, and was thoroughly renovated in 1885. The living is a vicarage; gross value, £269 with residence, in the gift of Hulme's Trustees.