Knowle Green today.
(Extract from 1:25000 map by kind permission of the Ordnance Survey)
Knowle Green is a Lancashire hamlet without specific boundaries. It lies between Longridge, 2 miles to the west, Clitheroe 7 miles east, and Ribchester 2 miles south. The slopes of Longridge Fell rise to the north. It includes parts of the civil parishes of Dilworth, Ribchester and Dutton.
Knowle Green has a number of interesting old houses and farms, but the hamlet was largely created as a result of the construction of water powered mills along Cowley Brook in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Houses were built for the workers, followed by a Chapel and a School. Later the Institute/Village Hall was added. The school closed in 1962 but the Chapel and Village Hall remain and serve as a focus for people from a wider area of scattered dwellings. The people living in this area share a sense of community. This, therefore, is the area which has been taken as “Knowle Green” in the following account of a small community in the heart of Lancashire.