Whalley, Lancashire

Description
Whalley, a village, a township, and a parish in Lancashire. The village stands on the river Calder, 4 miles S by W of Clitheroe, and 25 from Manchester, and has a post, money order, and telegraph office under Blackburn, and a railway station. The township comprises 2003 acres; population, 1142. There is a parish council consisting of six members. Moreton Hall is the seat of the Worsley-Taylor family. A Cistercian abbey was founded here in 1286, was purchased at the dissolution by the Asshetons and the Braddylls, and has left splendid ruins in Early Decorated and Later English architecture. The parish contains forty-eight townships in Lancashire and one in Yorkshire, and is the largest in the county, embracing 161 square miles, or nearly a ninth part of all Lancashire. It is divided into numerous ecclesiastical parishes. The living of Whalley St Mary (population, 2931) is a vicarage in the diocese of Manchester; net value, £370 with residence. Patrons, Hulme's Trustees. The church is an ancient building in the Decorated and Perpendicular styles, consisting of chancel, nave, aisles, and an embattled western tower. Three ancient crosses are in the churchyard. There are a Wesleyan chapel, an endowed grammar school founded by Edward VI., and six almshouses.