Southfield can be explored through two distinctive themes: walking along a section of the Pendle Way and the architectural history of chapels, farms and houses. There is also evidence of stoneworking, as well as the protected woodland along Catlow Brook. This gives you both a specific walking route and distinctive historic building styles to consider when planning your trip.
The Pendle Way in eight sections
The Pendle Way is a 45-mile circular walking route divided into eight sections. After the farm near Catlow and a Second World War bunker, the fifth section turns left into Catlow Quarry. It also passes Southfield Methodist Chapel and follows an avenue of lime trees; the route then crosses two cattle gates on its way to Walverden Reservoir. The eight-part division distinguishes the full circuit from its fifth section and places its landmarks within the longer walking route.
Chapel and architectural history
Southfield Methodist Church is housed in an 18th-century barn. The right-hand part of the barn was converted into a Methodist chapel around 1800. The building has rubble-stone walls and a slate roof; its central entrance has a segmental arch and a keystone inscribed “W&E/Sagan/1797”. A plaque on the barn also states that J Wesley preached there on 18 April 1786.
Farms and listed houses
Southfield Cottages 4, 5, 6 and 7 on Southfield Lane are Grade II listed buildings. Catlow House is also a Grade II listed stone house dating from the 18th century. It has two storeys and a symmetrical design; its slate roof has stone copings and kneelers, and the doorway has a moulded stone surround.
At Catlow Hall Farm, a central gabled façade forms part of an early farmhouse; a later wing from the 18th or 19th century stands on the west side. Features that contribute to the farm’s historic significance include its construction from local stone and stone flags. Catlow Farmhouse and Catlow Hall Farm include a house that probably dates from 1666 and has a core remodelled around 1600. The architectural styles have distinct features: a symmetrical house, a gabled façade and a later west wing.
Stone and landscape
Catlow Quarry supplied much of the local stone used in the Nelson area. Local stone and stone flags are also among the architectural features of Catlow Hall Farm. A cup-and-ring marking is set into a wall beside Southfield Lane, above Marsden Park Golf Course and the town of Nelson in Lancashire. The woodland along Catlow Brook is protected by Tree Preservation Order No. 7 of 1984.
Discover more destinations: Kirkham, Longridge, Fleetwood, Cockerham, Calder Vale, Whitworth, Ellel, Samlesbury.
For the main travel overview: Lancashire.
