Memory Lane
Black Bull, Ribchester
This picture shows the Black Bull in Ribchester. This pub, formerly known as the Old Bull, is over 250 years old. It was largely remodeled in the 19th century - the roof, chimney stack and the pedestal supporting the stone bull all date from this rebuilding.
The house on the left, with the railings and the porch, is 45 Church Street - one of the oldest houses in Ribchester. The railings were removed during the Second World War but the porch, along with the rest of the house, has recently been restored. The house once stood in a half acre field and was recorded as having been sold for £10 in 1680. The two houses to the left of number 45 were originally the barn. They were converted into houses for weavers by William Hayhurst who, along with William Fox also built on the croft at the back (the cottages around the corner on Blackburn Road and the little street known as Fold End) forming a square of properties. All these cottages once housed hand looms during the heyday of cotton weaving in the home, before it became concentrated in industrial mills.
Colin Hinkley, Ribchester Local History Society
This article was first published in the Memory Lane column of the Longridge News and is reproduced here with permission.