“Tockholes is situated just a few miles from Blackburn and Darwen high up on the windswept moorland and though only small and well scattered it has a long and varied history dating back well before the Norman Conquest.  Today it is a mixture of farms, weavers cottages and a few more recent buildings, but much of the village is untouched by 'progress' and is indeed protected - some 25 buildings being Grade II listed.  Add to this the beautiful countryside of woodland, moorland and hedgerow and one can understand why many people enjoy walking in the area.  It is with this in mind that this collection of walks has been compiled, to help in the enjoyment by explaining points of interest and perhaps to show people something new.  None of the walks are strenuous affairs and are really intended to make a satisfying afternoon walk,  most being only a couple of hours duration, but it is possible to link one or more walks with another to make a more challenging trek.  Indeed Tockholes is criss-crossed by dozens of footpaths and having completed the walks given here you may like to try one of your own and for this purpose the Ordnance Survey Pathfinder 1 -25000 Map Sheet 62/72 Blackburn is strongly recommended.  However, for the walks discussed here we advise sensible footwear and clothing.  Please remember to observe the countryside code especially to close gates, keep to the path and to keep your dog under control if you have one with you, always respect other peoples property and please do not drop litter.  With these things done you can enjoy yourself - good walking!”

All eight walks have an accompanying map and an estimated time span is given for each walk.  Various historical points of interest are referred to along the way and many drawings are included to help with location. 

The following walk is an example of what you can expect from the Guide :

HOLLINSHEAD HALL

This walk takes you to the remains of Hollinshead Hall, the old Manor House of Tockholes, which is best approached from Slipper Lowe picnic and car park area, from which it is just a 10 minute stroll following the sign posts.  Alternatively, you can include it in one of the other walks mentioned in this book as a small detour, where this is possible it is mentioned in the description of the relevant walk.  

It is not clear how old the site of Hollinshead is, but some have suggested it may have even been the site of a homestead in Celtic times.  It may seem peculiar to pick such a high isolated spot for a home, especially as the village is quite a distance away, but in earliest times this would have been a heavily forested area, full of game.  Baines, in his History of Lancashire, written in 1870, mentions that the whole area was covered by a large forest which provided ample hunting ground during the reigns of the Anglo-Norman kings.  The whole area of Blackburn was a vast forest so the nature of Tockholes as a village would have been very different to that of today.  The name Hollinshead means Holly Hill, but a more important clue as to the hall's past may be gathered from the name of the nearest farm, now demolished, called Halliwell Fold Farm, and the old bridge over the River Roddlesworth nearby bearing the same name, which means Holy Well.  

The only building still standing today on the Hollinshead site is the one known as the Wishing Well which has a long and mysterious past.  All around this site are numerous springs and five of them collect in a large stone trough at the rear of the building.  The overflow from this trough runs down a channel and out of a carved lions head which is flanked by two ionic collonettes with the remains of a plaque above.  At either side are rectangular recesses with pools inside and on the walls at either side can be seen another two recesses which may have been cupboards.  The building itself, with its vaulted ceilings, diamond paved floor and well proportioned facade is probably 18th century but the well head itself is much older.  A theory put forward is that the lion represents the "Lion of Judah" an ancient reference to Christ from whose mouth poured forth plenty, an ideal design for a well, especially if it was considered a holy well.  There is a long held belief that the water has special curative properties, especially for eye problems, and even today one or two villagers still bottle it to send to friends and relations who suffer from ophthalmic complaints.  The belief in curative qualities may be a dim  memory from the days when the well was a place of pilgrimage and a stopping place for people on route to Whalley Abbey from the South.  The deep trough at the rear of the building is similar to others which were used to baptise people at other holy wells in the region in the days when baptism meant being fully immersed in the water.  This aspect of the well's past is extremely ancient, 

certainly medieval and perhaps Anglo-Saxon.  The carvings round the well spout are certainly very old and it may even be that these are the oldest remains in the Village.  Even the use of the 18th century building is unclear, whether just to shelter the well or to serve as a baptistery chapel.  The latter seems more probable as evidence emerges, it was once glazed with stained glass, so a religious use is very likely.  It has been suggested that the stone troughs to either side of the well spout were intended for baptisms, one trough being for men and the other for women.  In the 19th century a visiting Belgian priest remarked at the close similarity between this Well and similar baptistery chapels in his own native land.  Today this building is listed and protected as of historic interest and has been restored recently so that whatever its past its future is secure. 

The rest of the site comprised the remains of the hall and farmhouse which were both excavated recently by the Manpower Services Commission guided by the Central Lancashire Archaeological Research Unit.  There has been a hall or manor house on this site since the 14th century, the last building dating from the 17th century was at least partially rebuilt in 1776.  Its last owner was Eccles Shorrock who bought it in 1845, best known today for the campanile chimney of India Mill in Darwen which dominates the Town.  Eccles Shorrock did not live here and the place fell into decay and by 1886 it was a ruin.  It was finally demolished when in 1911 the new owners of the Hollinshead Estate, Liverpool Corporation, needed the stone to build a wall along the Tockholes road to keep sheep out of the newly planted woods, a sad and undignified end.

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