View source for Bacup

== History ==
The name Bacup is derived from the [[Old English]] ''fūlbæchop''. The ''Oxford Dictionary of British Place Names'' translates this as "muddy valley by a ridge"; the ''fūl-'' element, which meant "foul" or "muddy" was used in the earliest known reference to the area, in a charter by Robert de Lacey, around the year 1200, as used in the [[Middle English]] spelling ''fulebachope''.<ref name=Mills/> The prefix ''ful-'' was dropped from the toponym.<ref name=Mills>{{harvnb|Mills|2003|p=28}}.</ref> The ''-bæchop'' element is less clear, possibly meaning "ridge valley",<ref name=Mills/> or else  "back valley" referring to the locale's position at the back part of the [[Irwell Valley]].<ref name=fen>{{harvnb|Fenton|2006|p=5}}.</ref><ref name=cam>{{harvnb|Cameron|1961|p=182}}.</ref>

Bacup and its [[hinterland]] has provided archeological evidence of human activity in the area during the [[Neolithic]].<ref>{{PastScape|mnumber=45228|access-date=27 October 2009|mode=cs2}}</ref><ref>{{PastScape|mnumber=887154|access-date=27 October 2009|mode=cs2}}</ref> [[Anglo-Saxons]] settled in the [[Early Middle Ages]]. It has been claimed that in the 10th century the Anglo-Saxons battled against [[Gaels]] and [[Norsemen]] at [[Broadclough]],<ref>{{cite web| url=https://visitbacup.com/broadclough-dykes-lancashires-most-important-unresolved-archeological-site/| title=Broadclough Dykes: Lancashire's Most Important Unresolved Archeological Site? - Bacup Business Association| access-date=29 September 2019| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190922142558/https://visitbacup.com/broadclough-dykes-lancashires-most-important-unresolved-archeological-site/| archive-date=22 September 2019| url-status=dead}}</ref> a village to the north of Bacup.<ref name=spin/><ref name=whit>{{citation|url=http://www.whitworth.gov.uk/local-info-indiv.php?id=127|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151016100304/http://www.whitworth.gov.uk/local-info-indiv.php?id=127|url-status = dead|archive-date=16 October 2015|author=Whitworth Town Council|publisher=Government of the United Kingdom|title=Town Overview|access-date=28 October 2009}}</ref><ref name=brief>{{citation|url=http://www.rossendale.gov.uk/info/200064/local_history_and_heritage/218/a_brief_history_of_rossendale/2|publisher=Government of the United Kingdom|author=Rossendale Borough Council|title=A Brief History of Rossendale; Bacup|page=2|access-date=3 September 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140318031530/http://www.rossendale.gov.uk/info/200064/local_history_and_heritage/218/a_brief_history_of_rossendale/2|archive-date=18 March 2014|url-status = dead}}</ref> From the medieval period in this area, the River Irwell separated the ancient parishes of [[Whalley, Lancashire|Whalley]] and [[Rochdale (ancient parish)|Rochdale]] (in the [[Hundred (county division)|hundreds]] of [[Blackburnshire|Blackburn]] and [[Salfordshire|Salford]] respectively). The settlement developed mainly in the Whalley [[Township (England)|township]] of [[Newchurch, Lancashire|Newchurch]] but extending into Rochdale's [[Spotland]].{{sfn|Farrer and Brownbill|1911|pp=437–441|ps=}}

The geology and topography of the village lent itself to urbanisation and domestic industries; primitive [[weavers' cottage]]s, coal pits and stone quarries were propelled by Bacup's natural supply of [[water power]] in the Early Modern period. The adoption of the [[factory system]], which developed into the [[Industrial Revolution]], enabled the transformation of Bacup from a small rural village into a [[mill town]], populated by an influx of families attracted by Bacup's [[cotton mill]]s, civic amenities and regional railway network. Locally sourced coal provided the fuel for industrial-scale quarrying, cotton spinning and shoemaking operations, stimulating the local economy. Bacup received a [[Charter|charter of incorporation]] in 1882, giving it honorific [[Borough status in the United Kingdom|borough status]] and its own elected town government, consisting of a mayor, aldermen and councillors to oversee local affairs.

Bacup's boom in [[textile manufacture during the Industrial Revolution]] resulted in the town developing into a prosperous and thickly populated [[industrial region|industrial area]] by early-20th century. But the [[Great Depression in the United Kingdom|Great Depression]] and the ensuing [[deindustrialisation]] of the United Kingdom largely eliminated Bacup's textile processing sector and economic prosperity.

Bacup followed the regional and national trend of [[deindustrialisation]] during the early and mid-20th century; a process exacerbated by the closure of [[Bacup railway station]] in 1966. Bacup also experienced [[population decline]]; from 22,000 at the time of the United Kingdom Census 1911, to 15,000 at the United Kingdom Census 1971. Much of Bacup's infrastructure became derelict owing to [[urban decay]], despite regeneration schemes and government funding. Shops became empty and some deteriorated. The houses along the main roads endured as the original terraces from Bacup's industrial age, but behind these, on the hillsides, are several [[council estate]]s.<ref name=joint>{{citation|url=http://www.thisislancashire.co.uk/archive/2009/07/04/Bacup+%28bacup%29/4475414.Joint_fight_to_get_Bacup_back_on_its_feet/|work=[[Lancashire Telegraph]]|publisher=lancashiretelegraph.co.uk|title=Joint fight to get Bacup back on its feet|date=24 July 2007|access-date=27 October 2009|first1=Ron|last1=Freethy|first2=Alex|last2=Willmott|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110611054749/http://www.thisislancashire.co.uk/archive/2009/07/04/Bacup+(bacup)/4475414.Joint_fight_to_get_Bacup_back_on_its_feet/|archive-date=11 June 2011|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name=Sop/><ref>{{citation|url=http://menmedia.co.uk/rossendalefreepress/news/s/507320_bacup_left_to_rot|title=Bacup 'left to rot'|access-date=11 November 2009|work=[[Rossendale Free Press]]|publisher=M.E.N. Media|last=Tonge|first=Jenny|date=16 December 2005|archive-date=24 September 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120924133937/http://menmedia.co.uk/rossendalefreepress/news/s/507320_bacup_left_to_rot|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Records in 2005 show Bacup to have some of the lowest crime levels in the county,<ref>{{citation|url=http://menmedia.co.uk/rossendalefreepress/news/s/506864_bacup_crime_levels_lowest_in_county|title=Bacup crime levels lowest in county|work=Rossendale Free Press|date=2 December 2005|last=Smyth|first=Catherine|publisher=M.E.N. Media|access-date=4 January 2013|archive-date=12 November 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121112095152/http://menmedia.co.uk/rossendalefreepress/news/s/506864_bacup_crime_levels_lowest_in_county|url-status=dead}}</ref> and the relative small change to Bacup's infrastructure and appearance has given the town a "historic character and distinctive sense of place".<ref name=joint/> In 2007, the [[murder of Sophie Lancaster]] attracted media attention to the town and highlighted its urban blight and lack of amenities and regeneration.<ref name=Sop>{{citation|url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2008/aug/03/ukcrime.sophielancaster|title=United in the name of tolerance|last=Hodkinson|first=Mark|date=3 August 2008|access-date=11 November 2009|work=[[The Observer]]|location=London}}</ref><ref>{{citation|url=http://www.thisislancashire.co.uk/archive/2008/04/29/Bacup+%28bacup%29/2232961.Bacup__is_the_same_as_any_town_/|first=Helen|last=Korn|publisher=thisislancashire.co.uk|title=Bacup is the same as any town|access-date=11 November 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140322090404/http://www.thisislancashire.co.uk/archive/2008/04/29/Bacup+(bacup)/2232961.Bacup__is_the_same_as_any_town_/|archive-date=22 March 2014|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{citation|url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2008/oct/29/goth-murderer-sentence-appeal|work=The Guardian|publisher=Guardian News and Media|date=29 October 2008|access-date=11 November 2009|title=Goth murderer wins shorter sentence|last1=Balakrishnan|first1=Angela|last2=agencies|location=London}}</ref>