| Country: | England |
| Coordinates: | 53.775°N -2.384°W |
| Official Name: | Clayton-le-Moors |
| Map Type: | Lancashire |
| Area Total Sq Mi: | 2022NaN2 |
| Population: | 8,522 |
| Population Ref: | (2011) |
| Shire District: | Hyndburn |
| Shire County: | Lancashire |
| Region: | North West England |
| Post Town: | ACCRINGTON |
| Postcode District: | BB5 |
| Postcode Area: | BB |
| Dial Code: | 01254 |
| Os Grid Reference: | SD745315 |
| Constituency Westminster: | Hyndburn |
| Static Image Name: | Clayton-le-Moors, All Saints' Church - geograph.org.uk - 2941941.jpg |
| Static Image Caption: | All Saints', the parish church |
| Pushpin Map: | United Kingdom Borough of Hyndburn |
| Pushpin Map Caption: | Shown within Hyndburn |
Clayton-le-Moors is an industrial town in the Borough of Hyndburn in the county of Lancashire, England. located two miles north of Accrington. The town has a population of 8,522 according to the 2011 census.
To the west lies Rishton, to the north Great Harwood, and two miles to the south, Accrington. Clayton-le-Moors is situated on the A680 road alongside the M65 motorway.
It is thought that the town developed with the fusion of the two hamlets of Oakenshaw (bottom end) and Enfield (top end) which began during the construction of the Leeds Liverpool Canal, which pre-dated the railways. The merger continued with the development of the cotton textile industry, particularly that of weaving and cloth finishing. The stretch of canal between Burnley and Enfield Wharf (now alongside the Enfield Bridge on Blackburn Road) was opened in 1801. By 1808 it had been extended to the village of Church. The final link up between Leeds and Liverpool was completed 1816.[1] Clayton-le-Moors now lies at the midpoint of the Leeds Liverpool Canal although there is no marker. The canal continued to be used for the commercial transportation of coal between Bank Hall Colliery, Burnley and the now demolished power generating station at Whitebirk, Blackburn, until 1963.[2] During the harsh winter of 1963 the thickness of the ice on the canal prevented the movement of barges and coal had to be transported by road. Canal transportation was never resumed. The canal is now used solely for leisure boating and is managed and maintained by the Canal and River Trust, a charitable trust.
The Roman Catholic St. Mary's Church which opened in 1819, was originally sited on Burnley Road, east of the town, on the boundary with Altham, as a replacement for the chapel at Dunkenhalgh. The present-day St. Mary's in Clayton-le-Moors was built in 1959 and the old one demolished, with only the graveyard surviving. The Church of England, All Saints' Church was erected in 1840.[3]
The town's two main thoroughfares are the A680 Whalley Road, which still has some canal workers' cottages, and A678 which is named Blackburn Road to the west of the junction with Whalley Road and Burnley Road to the east.
Mercer Park, once the grounds of Mercer House, is freely open to the public, and contains an updated war memorial. The house was previously Oakenshaw Cottage, where John Mercer lived towards the end of his life. Mercer, a self-taught chemist born in Great Harwood, invented the mercerisation process for treating cotton which is still in use today. He was also a pioneer of colour photography.
Clayton-le-Moors is said to be a town of two halves. Residents were either 'top-enders' or 'bottom-enders', depending on which side of the Whalley Road canal bridge they lived. The two communities had firm opinions about each other and were said to rarely mix.[4] With the mixing of the town's children at common schools, this is no longer the case but the distinction between top and bottom enders still remains. There was, however, an annual football match between them at the running track at Wilson's Playing Fields (formerly the Woodlands Playing Fields), which lie behind woodland close to Sparth House in lower Whalley Road. The synthetic running track there is surrounded by football pitches, a cricket pitch and changing rooms. It also hosts Hyndburn parkrun, a timed 5 km run every Saturday morning.
Clayton-le-Moors was once a township in the ancient parish of Whalley, with Dunkenhalgh in the south-west and Hyndburn Brook forming the boundary with Rishton and Great Harwood as far as the River Calder. This became a civil parish in 1866.[5] Between 1894 and 1974 the area was administered by an Urban District Council.[6] As a consequence of the re-organisation of Local Government in 1974, Clayton became an unparished constituent of the Borough of Hyndburn, centered on Accrington.
In 2001 town had a population of 8,290.[7] There is also a ward with the same name in Hyndburn however it does not cover all of the town. The population of this ward at the 2011 census was 4,725.[8]
Clayton ABC have created dozens of North West Regional Champions, national and international Box Cup Champions and National Champions and continues to grow year on year.
Secondary education is no longer available within the town. 11 - 18 year olds now have to travel to schools in adjoining Hyndburn townships or beyond. Three primary schools provide education for the under 11s. They are Mount Pleasant Primary School on Earl Street, All Saints Church of England Primary School on Church Street and St Marys Roman Catholic Primary School on Devonshire Drive.[12]
Karrimor International, a world-renowned manufacturer of backpacks, footwear, and other outdoor pursuit equipment, was founded in Clayton-le-Moors in 1946. Prior to receivership and disposal of its UK manufacturing business and retail operations in 2004, it was considered to have a "tremendous tradition", a history that included "legendary" products, and a "very strong brand name",[15] and past owner Industrialinvest stated in 2002 that the company had an "international reputation for outstanding [products]".[16] A 1996 review of top British manufacturers by The Independent had also described Karrimor as "a leader in its... field" and one of Britain's great post war manufacturers, albeit one that it felt had (like other businesses) "failed to invest and expand".[17] The brand and product lines still exist as of 2013, and are owned by the Sports Direct group.