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Lower Cunliffe farm is situated at the foot of the hills to the
North of Rishton.
Access is via
Cutt Lane, which goes
over the canal to the farm.
The farm is really closer to
Blackburn Old Road,
which runs above it.
It is said that the name comes from the Saxon landowner, Gunnhildr,
who lived at Cunliffe before the Norman Conquest.
It is also suggested that there is some connection between this
word and "Cunnus Diaboli", which was a monkish name for a hollow in a rock, through
which people crawled through to be healed of sickness.
It is possible that there was such a rock in the area, the many
springs giving greater emphasis to this this supposition, by wearing away the stone
to create such a hole.
The word Cunliffe was wrote "Kundaclyve" in a deed of 1200, and
this old spelling suggests a much earlier spelling than Saxon.
The Kunda is, like Dunscar Farm,
a Celtic word, and means hard or strong. The Clyve part belongs to a much later
date, and means a cliff or a deep descent. The Britons of Cunliffe would have known
of the stone lying just under the surface of the land, and therefore gave it its
name of Kunda, this stone being valuable to them in many ways.
As seen in the above picture, this particular farm building was built in
1892 by Henry Petre of the
Dunkenhalgh.
This large building could have been the farm house at this time, or
like many other farms in the district built by the Petres, may well have
just been a barn building.
An application was received from Mr. William Smalley of Lower
Cunliffe Farm, for registration under the Milk and Dairies Order 1926, to carry on
the trade of dairyman. The application was granted by the Council.
References
Council Minutes
Parish Church and School Jubilee, 1927, by
Carlton Noble.