Liberty of Slaidburn covered a wide area, not equivalent to the Slaidburn parish boundaries, but comprising the villages and town fields of Slaidburn and Newton-in-Bowland, including Ingbreak, a town field to the west of Slaidburn village; Raw Moor, part of the enclosed land of 1619 north of Slaidburn village in the Croasdale area; Brunghill Moor, Burn Moor and Dunsop, also enclosed in 1619 and near Back Lane and Burn Hill; Champion, also enclosed in 1619 and to the east of Slaidburn village; Woodhouse, to the north west of Slaidburn village; Youlstone Wood, also enclosed in 1619, and to the south of Newton village; and most of West Bradford and Grindleton villages and their town fields. Title to the Manor and Liberty of Slaidburn, West Bradford and Grindleton, including the township of Newton-in-Bowland, was bought by Tory MP, Ralph Assheton, later first Baron Clitheroe, in 1950. In 1977, his second son, the Hon. Nicholas Assheton, was granted title. Since 2003, the Lord of the Manor and Liberty of Slaidburn has been Thomas Assheton, son of the Hon. Nicholas Assheton and nephew of the second Baron Clitheroe. The Steward to the Manor and Liberty of Slaidburn is Thomas Manson who was appointed in 2019. He is a partner at the Clitheroe-based firm of Chartered Surveyors and Land Agents, Ingham and Yorke. His predecessor, Michael Parkinson, formerly advised the Lord of Bowland as the Chief Steward of the Forest of Bowland. Governance Historically administered as part of the Honour of Clitheroe for a long period, Dixon Robinson being the most prominent of the administrators. Along with Bowland Forest Low, Newton, Easington and Bolton-by-Bowland, the parish forms the Bowland, Newton and Slaidburn ward of Ribble Valley Borough Council. The ward had a population of 1,243 in 2001, rising to 1,325 in 2011. The ward elects a single councillor, who currently is Joan Elms of the Conservative Party. Geography The Roman road known as Watling Street, that runs from Manchester via Ribchester to Carlisle, passes in a NNE direction to the west of the village before turning NW on Low Fell. This section is also known as the Hornby Road. The River Hodder flows through the parish, joined by Croasdale Brook on the eastern edge of the village. To commemorate the 400th anniversary of the trials of the Pendle witches, a new long-distance walking route called the Lancashire Witches Walk has been created. Ten tercet