Bacup is a town in Lancashire, England, in the South Pennines close to Lancashire's boundary with West Yorkshire. The town is in the Forest of Rossendale and the upper Irwell Valley, 3.5 miles (5.6 km) east of Rawtenstall, 6.4 miles (10.3 km) north of Rochdale, and 21 miles (34 km) east of Preston. At the 2011 Census, Bacup had a population of 13,323.
Bacup emerged as a settlement following the Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain in the Early Middle Ages. For centuries, it was a small and obscure centre of domestic flannel and woollen cloth production, and many of the original weavers' cottages survive today as listed buildings. Following the Industrial Revolution, Bacup became a mill town, growing up around the now covered over bridge crossing the River Irwell and the North-South / East-West crossroad at its centre. During that time its landscape became dominated by distinctive and large rectangular woollen and cotton mills. Bacup received a charter of incorporation in 1882, giving it municipal borough status and its own elected town government, consisting of a mayor, aldermen and councillors to oversee local affairs.
In the late 20th century, Bacup became part of the borough of Rossendale. Bacup's historic character, culture and festivities have encouraged the town's suburbanisation and redevelopment as a more cosmopolitan[citation needed] commuter town for Manchester and other North West towns and cities, whilst English Heritage has proclaimed Bacup as the best preserved cotton town in England, and its town centre is designated as a conservation area for its special architectural qualities.
The name Bacup is derived from the Old English fulbæchop. The Oxford Dictionary of British Place Names translates this as "muddy valley by a ridge"; the ful- 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. The prefix ful- was dropped from the toponym. The -bæchop element is less clear, possibly meaning "ridge valley", or else "back valley" referring to the locale's position at the back part of the Irwell Valley.
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