Clitheroe; The Alleys (The Gatehouse Record)

In the civil parish of Clitheroe.
In the historic county of Lancashire.
Modern Authority of Lancashire.
1974 county of Lancashire.
Medieval County of Lancashire.

OS Map Grid Reference: SD744422
Latitude 53.87540° Longitude -2.39014°

Clitheroe; The Alleys has been described as a probable Fortified Manor House, and also as a probable Pele Tower.

There are uncertain remains.

This is a Grade 2 listed building protected by law*.

Description

Outside the borough, on the north side, was the Alleys, thought to have been the manor house of the manor of Salthill (Whitaker 1876, 79). The manor may have comprised the two oxgangs of land granted in 1102 to Ralph the Red, as the Heriz family, who owned the Alleys, held a Clitheroe estate of that size in 1255 (Langshaw 1955, 6). In 1653, the Alleys was sold to the Oddy family, who held it for around 200 years. At the time of the sale, it was described as “that capital mansion house, the yards, orchards and gardens” (LUAU 1996). The house was still extant at the end of the eighteenth century, when it was described as a “strong tower-built house, of which some remains still exist and more are remembered. The whole, with a large inclosure behind, has been surrounded by a large moat” (Whitaker 1876, 79). The moat was infilled in the late eighteenth century (Baines 1825, 610-11), leaving only two small ponds to the rear of the property, which were still extant in 1844 (OS 1848 1:10560). Around the same time, a small chapel adjoining the manor house was demolished, because it was “built in popish times” (Baines 1825, 611). By the early nineteenth century at least part of the manor house had been demolished, and the remains were said to comprise only two cottages, with a portion of the old wall (Baines 1825, 611). This is probably the structure depicted on the Ordnance Survey map of 1848, and marked as an ancient place. It lies to the rear of a plot fronting Pimlico Road, and is similar to the structure shown on a map of 1740 (LRO DDX 1525) and on Lang's map of 1766. The two ponds, surviving elements of the moat, are also shown in 1848, and lie well to the rear of the house. Archaeological evaluations have revealed further sections of the moat closer to the house (LUAU 1996) and towards the front of the plot (Matrix Archaeology 2002). This suggests that the moat was either recut, or there had been a double enclosure. Indeed, the larger moat, represented by the ponds may have been enclosing the rear, large enclosure described by Whitaker (1876, 79). Given the high status of the Alleys in the medieval period, that latter interpretation cannot be discounted. (Lancs. CC, 2006)

Sources of information, references and further reading

National Heritage List for England Listed Building number(s) 1072356
County Historic Environment Record (or Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) 4838.

Books
- Lancashire County Council, 2006, Lancashire Historic Town Survey Clitheroe online copy
  Gibson, Leslie Irving, 1977, Lancashire Castles and Towers (Dalesman Books)
  Langshaw, A.L., 1955, Some Vanished Homesteads of Clitheroe (Clitheroe)
  Whittaker, T.D., 1876 (4edn revised and enlarged by J. G. Nichols and Ponsonby Lyons), An History of the Original Parish of Whalley, and Honor of Clitheroe Vol. 2 p. 79-82 online copy
  Baines, E., 1825, History, Directory and Gazetteer of the County Palatine of Lancaster Vol. 1 (London) p. 610-11 online copy
Other sources: Theses; 'grey' literature; in-house reports; unpublished works; etc.
- Lancashire County Council and Egerton Lea Consultancy, 2006, Lancashire Historic Town Survey Programme: Clitheroe; Historic Town Assessment Report (Lancashire County Council) online copy
  Lancashire University Archaeological Unit, 1996, Radeclyffe Street, Clitheroe, Lancashire: archaeological evaluation, unpubl client report Summary

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The bibliography owes much to various bibliographies produced by John Kenyon for the Council for British Archaeology, the Castle Studies Group and others.

Suggestions for finding online and/or hard copies of bibliographical sources can be seen at this link.
Minor archaeological investigations, such as watching brief reports, and some other 'grey' literature is most likely to be held by H.E.R.s but is often poorly referenced and is unlikely to be recorded here, or elsewhere, but some suggestions can be found here.

The possible site or monument is represented on maps as a point location. This is a guide only. It should be noted that OS grid references defines an area, not a point location. In practice this means the actual center of the site or monument may often, but not always, be to the North East of the point shown. Locations derived from OS grid references and from latitude longitiude may differ by a small distance.
Further information on mapping and location can be seen at this link.

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*The listed building may not be the actual medieval building, but a building on the site of, or incorporating fragments of, the described site.

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