Altham, Lancashire

infobox UK place
country = England
latitude= 53.78
longitude= -2.34
official_name= Altham
population = 897 (2001 census) [cite web | url=http://www.lancashireparishcouncils.gov.uk/documents/information/Parish_headcount.pdf | title=Parish headcount | accessdate=2008-10-06 ]
shire_district= Hyndburn
shire_county = Lancashire
region= North West England
post_town= ACCRINGTON
postcode_district = BB5
postcode_area= BB
dial_code= 01254
os_grid_reference= SD775325
constituency_westminster= Hyndburn

Altham is a village and civil parish in the district of Hyndburn, in Lancashire, England. It is the only parish in the district – the rest of the district is an unparished area. The village is convert|6|mi west of Burnley and convert|2|mi north-east of Clayton-le-Moors, and is on the A678 Blackburn to Burnley road. The River Calder passes to the north of the village, and forms part of the parish boundary. Also within the parish is Altham West, a suburb of Accrington located in the south of the parish. The 2001 census recorded a population of 897.

The Ham class minesweeper HMS Altham was named after the village.

Governance

Altham is in Hyndburn, a non-metropolitan district with borough status in Lancashire. Before the district of Hyndburn was formed in 1974, the parish was in Burnley Rural District. [cite web | url=http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/relationships.jsp?u_id=10027366 | title=Burnley RD Lancashire through time: Administrative history of Local Government District: hierarchies, boundaries | work=A Vision of Britain through Time | publisher=University of Portsmouth & others | date=2008 | accessdate=2008-10-06 ]

Hyndburn Borough Council has a total of 35 councillors, two of which are elected by the ward of Altham. As of|2008 the ward is represented by one Conservative Party and one Labour Party councillor. [cite web | url=http://www.hyndburnbc.gov.uk/site/scripts/councillors.php?viewBy=specificWard&wardID=3 | title=Councillors – View by ward: Altham | publisher=Hyndburn Borough Council | accessdate=2008-10-06 ]

Industry

Altham Colliery, which was later renamed Moorfield Colliery [cite web | url=http://www.grimshaworigin.org/WebPages/MoorPit.htm | title=The Moorfield Pit Disaster | date=2000 | accessdate=2008-03-19 ] , was located within the parish. The colliery closed in 1949, [cite web | url=http://archive.prestwichandwhitefieldguide.co.uk/2003/7/10/543541.html | title=Digging deep for our dark secrets | work=Lancashire Evening Telegraph | publisher=Newsquest Media Group | date=2003-07-10 | accessdate=2008-10-06 ] and Moorfield Industrial Estate is now on the site. An explosion at the colliery in 1883 resulted in the deaths of 68 people. [cite web | url=http://www.accringtonobserver.co.uk/news/s/348025_thirteen_children_among_68_killed_in_pit_disaster | title=Thirteen children among 68 killed in pit disaster | work=Accrington Observer | publisher=M.E.N Media | date=2002-12-05 | accessdate=2008-03-19 ]

Altham is now home to two industrial estates, Altham Industrial Estate within the village and Moorfield Industrial Estate in the southwest of the parish near Clayton-le-Moors.

References