Downham | |
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The village with the bridge crossing Downham Beck |
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Downham shown within Lancashire | |
Population | 214 (2011 Census) |
OS grid reference | SD785442 |
Civil parish |
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District | |
Shire county | |
Region | |
Country | England |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
Post town | CLITHEROE |
Postcode district | BB7 |
Dialling code | 01200 |
Police | Lancashire |
Fire | Lancashire |
Ambulance | North West |
EU Parliament | North West England |
UK Parliament | |
Downham is a village and civil parish in Lancashire, England. It is in the Ribble Valley district and as of the United Kingdom 2001 census has a population of 156, increasing at the 2011 Census to 214. The village is on the north side of Pendle Hill off the A59 road about 3 miles (4.8 km) from Clitheroe. Much of the parish, including the village is part of the Forest of Bowland Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB). It adjoins the Ribble Valley parishes of Rimington, Twiston, Worston, Chatburn and Sawley, and the Pendle parish of Barley-with-Wheatley Booth.
The manor was originally granted to the de Dinelay family in the fourteenth century by Henry of Grosmont, 1st Duke of Lancaster. It ceased to be a part of the Honour of Clitheroe in 1558 when it was purchased by the Assheton family. It still remains in Assheton ownership today but was reincorporated into the Honour of Clitheroe in 1945 when Ralph Assheton, later 1st Baron Clitheroe, bought the remnants of the Honour from the administrators of the Clitheroe Estate Company.
The 2nd Lord Clitheroe does not allow overhead electricity lines, aerials or satellite dishes, making the village a popular location for filming period dramas. Downham was one of the locations used in the 1961 film Whistle Down the Wind, and the BBC One series Born and Bred, set in the fictional village of Ormston, was also filmed in the village. The 2012 BBC drama The Secret Of Crickley Hall was also filmed in and around Downham.