Laneshaw Bridge Tourist Information

At first sight you might think that Laneshaw Bridge, or The Bridge as it is affectionately know by the locals, with its quaint, underestimated cottages, is just a sleepy village tucked away near the Yorkshire border, but this attractive little village has a lot more to offer than that, and there is chapter and verse of history to go with it.

The villages roots date right back to the era of William the Conqueror, when he gave some land to the Emmott family, which they still own to this very day. It is thought that the family were given land for their military support and founded a hamlet know as Eamot which later became Laneshawbridge, and then for some reason was renamed Laneshaw Bridge before the millennium. The family resided at Emmott Hall, the first of which dated back to 131', but of course it was to be modified, rebuilt and finally catastrophically demolished in 1967.

Near to where the hall stood there still remains a most interesting building, Emmott House, which was a coach house to the main hall and dates back to 1737. In the nineties, the old boating lake was dug out to create Hullow'n Fishery, and this is run by the Choyce family for sporting purposes.

Next to the lake is Hullow'n Well, which has its own history. It is reported that in A.D 926 King Athelstan, one of the bravest Saxon Kings, confirmed a treaty of peace between the Welsh, Scots and Northumbrians.

The Emmott's owned much of the village, and provided a school, as well as Saint Andrews Church, both of which are residential properties to this day.

It would also appear that the family also had a public house, which was probably used as a shooting lodge. The first Emmott Arms is rumoured to be what is today Rye Flatt, which has just been lovingly restored to be the villages only Bed and Breakfast by Marion Turner and James Knowles. It is easy to see why people would want to come and stay in this idyllic village.

The current Emmott Arms has long been the hub of the village and it was where my Great Grandfather, Cec Ellis spent 3' years of his life serving the people of Laneshaw Bridge, and he still has many a tale and fond memories of those years.

Th'Emmott as the briggers call it, has just been taken over and been given a revamp to bring it more up to date whilst managing to retain its traditional village pub feel. It's good to see that they've still got four hand pulled ales on too, as well as some good pub grub.

A trip up Emmott Lane will take you past the village park, around which the village is built, to the Alma Inn, which seems to be doing very well. Accommodation is available here.

The village school has an excellent reputation and was built in 1912. The building has had some recent alterations to modernise it and increase its size and the school boasts its own before and after school club taking care of children from 7.45am until 5.3'pm.

We hope you will come and see our truly quaint little village, where the villagers like being tucked away in their own special corner of Lancashire.

Description by Paul White