In 1870-72, John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales described Aighton like this:
AIGHTON, one of three hamlets forming a township in the parish of Mitton, Lancashire. It lies near Hodder river, under Longridge fell, 3½ miles NNW of Whalley r. station, and 5 WSW of Clitheroe. It contains cotton factories, a workhouse, and the Roman Catholic college of Stonyhurst.-The other hamlets of the township are Bailey and Chaighley. Acres in the three, 5,780. Real property, £6,726. Pop., 1,500. Houses, 244.
The location is that of Stonyhurst College. The name 'Aighton' has not been found on a published map other than as part of the name of the township of Aighton, Bailey and Chaigley, but the Victoria County History says this: "Aighton and Bailey lie to the south of the Fell, to the east and west respectively, being parted by Dean Brook, while Chaigley or Chaigeley occupies the north-east slope. Stonyhurst, which as the residence of the lords of the manor has for centuries been the dominant house in the township, lies near the centre of Aighton" ('Blackburn hundred: Mitton', A History of the County of Lancaster: Volume 7 (1912), pp. 1-20; http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=53180, accessed 27 August 2012).
Aighton through time
A Vision of Britain through Time includes a large library of local statistics for administrative units. For the best overall sense of how the area containing Aighton has changed, please see our redistricted information for the modern district of Ribble Valley. More detailed statistical data are available under Units and statistics, which includes both administrative units covering Aighton and units named after it.
GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth, History of Aighton, in Ribble Valley and Lancashire | Map and description, A Vision of Britain through Time.
URL: http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/place/9816
Date accessed: 23rd May 2013
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