Clitheroe

]] The name Clitheroe is thought to come from the Anglo-Saxon for "Rocky Hill", and was also spelled Clyderhow and Cletherwoode, amongst others. The town was the administrative centre for the lands of the Honour of Clitheroe. The Battle of Clitheroe was fought in 1138 during the Anarchy. These lands were held by Roger the Poitevin, who passed them to the de Lacy family, from whom they passed by marriage in 1310 or 1311 to Thomas, Earl of Lancaster. The town's earliest existing charter is from 1283, granted by Henry de Lacy, Earl of Lincoln, confirming rights granted by one of his forebears between 1147 and 1177.

Clitheroe Castle is argued to be the smallest Norman keep in the whole of England. It stands atop a 35-metre knoll of limestone and is one of the oldest buildings in Lancashire. The castle's most prominent feature is the hole in its side which was made in 1649 as was ordered by the government. Dixon Robinson was in residence as Steward of the Honour of Clitheroe from 1836 until his death in 1878 and resided at the castle for the same period. His son Aurthur Ingram Robinson lived at the Castle after 1878, and inherited the Steward title too (see Honour of Clitheroe).